St Martin-in-the-Fields

Famous as much for its classical music concerts and its restaurant in the crypt as for religious worship, St Martin-in-the-Fields is a beautiful and historic church and a quiet haven within spitting distance of bustling Trafalgar Square…

A medieval chapel, probably built for the monks of Westminster Abbey who came to work in their convent garden nearby, once stood on the site of the present St Martin-in-the-Fields church. The chapel was rebuilt in 1542-4 and was gradually adopted as the parish church of the royal parish. Anne Boleyn is said to have encouraged Henry VIII to have plague victims buried at St Martin’s, as she objected to infected corpses being carried past the Palace of Whitehall on their way to be buried at St Margaret’s. At this point, St Martin’s was still standing literally “in the fields” between Westminster and London.

The Tudor St Martin's chapel

By the beginning of James I’s reign, the Tudor church (left) was too small for the greatly-increased congregation and in 1721 it was pulled down. A new building was commissioned from the architect James Gibbs. Gibbs originally favoured a circular structure, but this proved too costly. George I took a great interest in the building of the new church and is said to have been so delighted at its completion that he gave £100 to be distributed among the workmen employed on it, and £1500 more to purchase an organ (now long since replaced).

1828 watercolour by George Scharf

The new St Martin’s became the most fashionable church in 18^th century London, with pews available to rent for £10 a year. One London newspaper commented that the church could produce “… as handsome a show of diamond rings, pretty snuff boxes and gilt prayer-books as any cathedral.”

As a result of further population increases, by the early 19^th century (before the creation of Trafalgar Square in the 1820s), St Martin’s was well and truly hemmed in on all sides by other buildings. J.P. Malcolm, writing in 1807, described the sides of the church as “lost in courts, where houses approach them almost to contact”. George Scharf’s watercolour (right) is of Church Lane (St Martin’s looms in the background), one of the many squalid little streets close to the church.

1825 drawing by George Scharf

St Martin’s has long since lost its churchyard. Note the railings in a drawing by George Scharf of 1825 (left). These enclosed the church’s burial ground, removed c.1827 to make way for Duncannon Street. The dead were disinterred, and their remains removed to vaults under the church. By the end of the 19^th century, however, 3000 coffins had amassed in the crypt, so a new parochial cemetery was opened in Pratt Street, Camden Town. Among the most famous people originally buried at St Martin’s are the miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard (1619), Nell Gwynne (1687), William Hogarth (1764) and Sir Joshua Reynolds (1792).

The style of St Martin-in-the-Fields (widely copied throughout America) is very distinctive. It has a temple front, a pedimented portico on huge columns, and a fine steeple. When it was consecrated in 1726, the ‘new’ church must have looked very grand in its modest setting. Only really a century later, with the construction of Trafalgar

Painting by Wm. Logsdail (1888)

Square, did its vast proportions seem less extravagant. Its interior features an unusually wide nave, and galleries on three sides. Its ornate plasterwork drew criticism from some quarters for being “a little too gay and theatrical for Protestant worship”. The font dates from 1689 and the choir stalls, box pews and pulpit from the 18^th century.

More modern features include a huge Venetian-style altar window, installed after the war to replace a stained glass window destroyed by bombing. The design, a stylised cross depicted rippling as if in water, was the subject of some controversy.

Altar window

These days, the church has become synonymous with charitable works. This is particularly apt, given that it is dedicated to St Martin of Tours, one of whose charitable deeds - sharing his cloak with a beggar - is depicted on the church door handles and nearby lamp-posts.  After World War I, the crypt was opened up to homeless soldiers returning from France, and after that it was used for many years as a shelter for down-and-outs. The St Martin’s Christmas Appeal still raises money every year for the homeless and others in need.

The church and its crypt were given a £34 million-pound makeover in 2008, with £16 million pounds coming out of lottery funds.

References:

London’s Churches Christopher Hibbert (1988)

The London Encyclopedia ed. Ben Weinreb et al (2008)

George Scharf’s London: Sketches & Watercolours of a Changing City 1820-50 Peter Jackson (1987)