St. Lawrence, Whitchurch, is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

Little Stanmore Little Stanmore was an ancient parish of Middlesex which is today the residential area of Canons Park in the London Borough of Harrow, England. Toponymy The name 'Stanmore' means "pond made of stone". Little Stanmore was named to distinguish i ...

in the

London Borough of Harrow The London Borough of Harrow () is a London borough in northwest London, England; it forms part of Outer London. It borders four other London boroughs Barnet to the east of ancient Watling Street (now the A5 road), Brent to the southeast, Ea ...

, England. The building is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It retains a stone tower dating from ca. 1360, but the main body of the building was constructed in the 18th century in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style.

History

The original medieval church was reconstructed by the architect John James, working for a wealthy client James Brydges. Brydges, who was later 1st Duke of Chandos, started rebuilding the church and

Cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during ...

, his nearby

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

, around the time he succeeded his father as ninth Baron Chandos in 1714. Brydges had a habit of changing his architect and in 1715 John James was replaced as architect for the house by

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transi ...

, who may have been involved in the completion of the church prior to its reopening in 1716. Brydges later constructed a private chapel in the house, but he continued to take a personal interest in the church, where he had a gallery for the use of himself and his entourage. He had the right to nominate the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

, and chose

John Theophilus Desaguliers John Theophilus Desaguliers FRS (12 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had studied at O ...

FRS, noted for his achievements in water engineering, who served as his chaplain and engineering consultant.

Description

Interior of Whit-Church, Middlesex (BM 1875,0508

The highly decorated interior of the church is unusual in England, Continental Baroque rather than

English Baroque English Baroque is a term used to refer to modes of English architecture that paralleled Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London (1666) and roughly 1720, when the flamboyant and dramatic qualities of Baroque ...

in style.

Decoration

The decorative painter

Louis Laguerre Louis Laguerre (1663 – 20 April 1721) was a French decorative painter mainly working in England. Born in Versailles in 1663 and trained at the Paris Academy under Charles Le Brun, he came to England in 1683, where he first worked with Anton ...

and other painters worked on both the church and the house.

The Chandos Mausoleum

Towards the end of his life Brydges had lost much of his wealth, but in 1735 he had a mausoleum, designed by Gibbs in a European Baroque manner, attached to the East end of the church. Burials here include the 1st Duke of Chandos and his namesake

James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos PC (27 December 1731 – 29 September 1789), styled Viscount Wilton from birth until 1744 and Marquess of Carnarvon from 1744 to 1771, was a British peer and politician. Background Chandos was the onl ...

. The centrepiece, documented by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and other ...

, 1717, is a

monument to the first duke and his first two wives. Prior to the construction of the mausoleum, this monument was located in the church. Like the church itself, the mausoleum is remarkable for wall-paintings, in this case by Gaetano Brunetti.

The organ and the Handel connection

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

was employed by Brydges in 1717/18 as his composer-in-residence. This resulted in a number of works including the '' Chandos Anthems'' (settings of texts from the

psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

for use in the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

liturgy). The church is believed to be where the Chandos Anthems were first performed. St Lawrence in Whitchurch plaque

At the east end of the church is the organ, which is recognised as a historic instrument by the

British Institute of Organ Studies The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

. It is assumed to have been played by Handel. Having been modernised over the years, it was reconstructed in 1994 by

Goetze and Gwynn Goetze and Gwynn is an organ builder in England which has a specialism in restoring pre-Victorian British organs. Company Dominic Gwynn started organ building with Hendrik ten Bruggencate in Northampton in 1976, before going into partnership wit ...

, a firm specialising in pre-Victorian organs. The surviving parts of the original 1716 single-

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

instrument were used as the reference point for this reconstruction. The organ is used for recitals as well as services, and has been recorded, for example in Handel's

organ concerto An organ concerto is a piece of music, an instrumental concerto for a pipe organ soloist with an orchestra. The form first evolved in the 18th century, when composers including Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach wrote ...

s. The

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

(mechanism) is reportedly rather noisy.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence, Whitchurch Whitchurch Grade I listed churches in London Diocese of London John James (architect) buildings History of the London Borough of Harrow