St Dunstan-in-the-West
 Main portal on Fleet Street |
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| Basic data | |
| Denomination | Anglican , Romanian Orthodox |
| place | London , UK |
| diocese | Diocese of London |
| Patronage | Dunstan of Canterbury |
| Building history | |
| construction time | 1830-1833 |
| Building description | |
| Architectural style | Neo-Gothic |
| Construction type | Octagon |
| 51 ° 30 '50.9 " N , 0 ° 6' 36.6" W | |
St Dunstan-in-the West is a Gothic-style Anglican church rebuilt in 1830-33 located on London's Fleet Street . To distinguish it from the church of St Dunstan-in-the-East , which was rebuilt by Christopher Wren at the end of the 17th century , the church named after Dunstan of Canterbury is referred to with the addition "in the West". St Dunstan-in-the-West is since 1950 listed building ( Grade I Listed Building )
history
The current building stands immediately north of the original medieval church at this location. The first church was probably built in the 10th or 11th century, the building is first mentioned around 1170. Although the church was barely saved in the great London fire of 1666, the original building was rebuilt in the 19th century.
St Dunstan's is the last of the City of London's medieval churches to be rebuilt in modern times. In order to give a street more space, the location was moved slightly.
The tower, damaged by German bombers in 1944 , was rebuilt in 1950 thanks to a generous donation from the newspaper founder William Berry , Viscount Camrose. Since 1952, St Dunstan's "Guild Church" has been dedicated to the people who work in Fleet Street .
St Dunstan-in-the-West is now the only church in England that shares its building with a Romanian Orthodox community. In the chapel on the left side of the high altar there is an iconostasis from the Bucharest Anthim Monastery .
architecture
The octagonal floor plan with orientation towards the center, used by the architect John Shaw due to the limited space, was rather uncommon in the 19th century and, like the prominent tower and the clad brick walls, refers to the architecture of Christopher Wren . The tower of limestone from Ketton , also the main entrance of the church is in the basement, crowned by a delicate lantern in the Perpendicular style - a copy of the tower lantern medieval church All Saints, Pavement in York . To the right of the tower is a large clock made in 1671, which protrudes below an aedicule in which two men are shown striking bells. Further to the right, not directly next to the church building, there is a statue of Elizabeth I in a wall niche . Both the aedicula and the statue come from the nearby city gate ( Ludgate ), which was demolished in 1760 . In addition to the main entrance in the tower, the church is also accessible from the west from the Clifford's Inn Passage.
The octagonal interior opens diagonally into four vaulted niches with ribbed vaults, the chancel in the north, as well as the west entrance and the entrance to the sacristy in the east are vaulted with ogival barrels. Above the main central area of the church bulges above the clerestory a stellar vault with eight identical windows.
organ
The organ was built in 1905 by the organ builder Halliday, and rebuilt in 2009 by the organ builder David Wells (Liverpool). The instrument has 36 registers on three manuals and a pedal. The actions are electric.
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literature
- Simon Bradley, Nikolaus Pevsner: London 1, The city of London, 1997, London: Penguin, pp. 214-217
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1064663 , accessed December 1, 2012
- ↑ a b c d Simon Bradley, Nikolaus Pevsner: London 1, The city of London, 1997, London: Penguin, pp. 214-217
- ↑ a b http://www.stdunstaninthewest.org/history
- ^ National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR ) last accessed April 9, 2013
