St Mary le Strand
St Mary le beach is one of James Gibbs built 1714-1723 Baroque parish church of the Church of England in central London . Its location on a traffic island in the middle of the busy Strand street that runs parallel to the Thames is remarkable .
history
A high medieval building was demolished in 1549 because it was in the way of the Duke of Somerset in the construction of his city palace. A new building a little further to the north came after Parliament had set up a commission in the “Act of the 50 New Churches” in 1711 to ensure that new churches were built in the rapidly growing city. James Gibbs was entrusted with the first new building funded in this way. The Scottish architect had returned from Rome in 1708, where he had studied with Carlo Fontana . In 1713 he was able to realize his first independent new building as a member of the aforementioned commission. While it was still under construction, he also drafted the plans for his other important sacred building, St Martin-in-the-Fields amTrafalgar Square .
architecture
Compared to other contemporary hall churches in London, this building is strongly modeled: the apse in the east corresponds to an open vestibule on the opposite side of the entrance with semicircular columns based on Roman models ( Cortona : Santa Maria della Pace ). The two-storey exterior structure corresponds to high baroque secular buildings. The interior of the ceiling is slightly curved with a relief decoration rich in white and gold. The tower, originally not planned by Gibbs at this height, is reminiscent of corresponding components by Christopher Wren .
literature
- Heinfried Wischermann: London. Stuttgart 1985, pp. 303-304 (with floor plan).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ St Mary le Strand. In: Christopher Hibbert, Ben Weinreb: The London Encyclopedia. 1995, p. 763.
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 '43.8 " N , 0 ° 7' 0.9" W.