Landmark and sea mark
St Anne’s Limehouse, built between 1714 and 1727, is among the remarkable London churches designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. It is one of 12 churches built at this period and funded by a tax on coal coming up the Thames and these buildings are now known as Queen Anne churches, in honour of the reigning monarch of the time.
St Anne’s is probably less well known than Hawksmoor’s central London churches, such as St Mary Woolnoth or Christ Church Spitalfields (also a Queen Anne church), buildings that loom out of the city in a way that it’s impossible to ignore. St Anne’s, by contrast, is slightly less monumental, and is quite easy to miss in its leafy churchyard on Commercial Road. But the tower is a stunner, and Hawksmoor obviously designed it to be seen not from the main road but at the end of this little side street.
The way the very angular tower relates to the small half-domed vestibule and then steps back as it rises, is striking. The semi-circular arch beneath the clock, and the tiny semi-circular opening lower down, harmonize with the curving half-dome. But the rest of the tower is much more straight-edged, with its bold corner pilasters and unusual octagonal lantern at the top above the clock. This lantern has a set of pinnacles, just visible in my photograph, that are topped with tiny pyramids and look like miniature Hawksmoor towers.
This artful tower had a purpose beyond the usual one of housing bells. The church is not far from the river, and at the very top, higher even than the pinnacles, is a flagpole supporting a golden ball. This acted as a sea mark for shipping, and seamen were also aided by the clock (said to be the highest church clock in London), which originally struck every quarter. Even such off-the-wall structures as Hawksmoor towers had their practical uses.
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More soon on St Anne’s churchyard, with its rather spooky pyramid. Watch this space…
14 comments:
Love it. What a great idea - a flagpole that acted as a sea mark for shipping. I also like the idea that seamen were aided by the high clock.
But with buildings in front of the church, these elements might have been difficult to see. Were there any buildings at the end of this little side street, back in George I's time?
I really love the Hawksmoor churches, they stop me in my tracks whenever i walk by (very rarely these days)
Hels: I think the surrounding buildings were quite low in the early Georgian period.
Miss Rayne: Thank you for your comment. For some reason I received it six times; that's once for each of Hawksmoor's London churches - spooky! These stupendous buildings do indeed stop one in their tracks.
It took me a few moments to realise why your photo was so familiar and then realised that IanVisits was there last year - http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2011/05/24/hms-ark-royals-battle-ensign-not-on-display-in-docklands/
Thanks, Anon. I'd not seen that post.
i got called out the other day for saying that spitalfields was a hawksmoor church. it is, isn't it?
Pigtown Design: Yes! Christ Church Spitalfields is by Hawksmoor.
For half-a-second I thought the picture was Christ Church in Spitalfields. Hawksmoor is definitely my favour London architect and his churches are as easily recognised as a Van Gogh painting. There is something really pleasing and satisfying about your photograph.
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Bazza: Thank you. Yes, there's something very individual about Hawksmoor. It's interesting how one's impressions of a place or a building are influenced in retrospect by photography. When I visited this church, the main body of the building was in such deep shade that it was very difficult to photograph, so I concentrated on this view of the tower. No it;s the tower that I remember best.
Going home in the 80s I would often make a detour to see St.Annes. This church was also used for the baptisms of babies born at sea.
Peter: Yes, there's strong connection with the Navy and I read somewhere that this is the only church permitted to fly (or "wear", as they say) the White Ensign. No flag was up when I was there, though.
That ball on the flagstaff reminds me of a time ball. Did Captain Wauchope, who invented the time ball in 1829, get the idea from this church?
Good question - which is a way of saying I don't know the answer! The accounts of the church that I've read have not been very clear about the exact date of the ball and whether it was there from the beginning.
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