St George's church, Bloomsbury
Beautifully restored church from the reign of George I.
(Photos/words © urban75, 18th February 2007)
Consecrated by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London on 28 January 1730, St. George's church was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil and former assistant of Sir Christopher Wren. It proved to be his last church.
St. George's has served as a centre of worship in Bloomsbury for over 250 years, and even provided a place of refuge during the Gordon riots of 1780.
You can now visit or worship at the church for free, and you can find it at 7 Little Russell St, WC1.
St George's church views
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-01.jpg)
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-02.jpg) The imposing frontage is claimed by some to be the most handsome Georgian portico in London, and was based on the Temple of Baalbek in the Lebanon.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-03.jpg) Steps leading to the Portico.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-04.jpg) Restoration work is nearly complete inside.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-05.jpg)
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-06.jpg) St George's was used as the setting for 'The Bloomsbury Christening' in Charles Dickens 'Sketches by Boz,' while the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope was baptised in the church in 1824.
The church hosted the funeral of Emily Davison, the suffragette who threw herself in front of the King's horse in 1913, and in 1937 the Emperor Haile Selassi of Ethopia attended a controversial requiem for the dead of the Abyssinian war.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-07.jpg) It's delightfully quiet inside and a great place to chill out and get a few moments to yourself!
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-08.jpg) Virgin Mary.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-11.jpg) Stained glass window detail.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-12.jpg) Hawksmoor's stepped tower - inspired by Pliny's description of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus - comes topped with the only statue of George I, and can be seen in William Hogarth's well-known engraving 'Gin Lane' (1751).
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-13.jpg) Beautifully restored plaster ceiling.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-09.jpg) Scene by the back of the church.
![St George's church, Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury, London, February 2007](images/st-georges-bloomsbury-10.jpg) Looking up at the tower.
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