Saint Anne's Church serves in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

the

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

section of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of

St Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come ...

, created from part of the parish of

St Martin in the Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the medie ...

. The church is under the Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret) in the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the nort ...

. Parts of its churchyard around its west including tower are now the public park of

St Anne's Gardens St Anne's Churchyard, also known as St Anne's Gardens, is a public park on Wardour Street in Soho, London. Formerly the churchyard of St Anne's, Soho, it was closed to burials in 1853. It rises 6 ft above the pavement, because of the 13,00 ...

, accessed from the

Shaftesbury Avenue Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadilly ...

end of

Wardour Street Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the street became a ...

. The church is accessed via a gate at that end of Dean Street. The parish, having spawned new churches to Saints Thomas and Peter in the era of compulsory church attendance, reconsolidated on Saint Anne's in 1945.

History

1677–1799

The parish was dedicated to

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

because Compton had been tutor to Princess Anne before she became Queen. Construction commenced in 1677 on a plot in what was then the countryside of Soho Fields, with William Talman and/or

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 church ...

as architect(s). The church was designed as an long and wide

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

n church, with a high west end tower. In 1699 a tuition-free parish school was founded for boys and in 1704 it started to admit girls. The church received an organ in 1699 from the Dowager-Queen's

Chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Alt ...

and from 1700 the church's first organist was William Croft (composer of the "Saint Anne" tune to '' O God, Our Help in Ages Past''). That organ (which was by Father Bernard Smith) was removed in 1798 and installed in St Michael Paternoster Royal. The church's tower was only completed in 1718, with the addition of a timber spire by local carpenter John Meard.

Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...

was buried in the church's churchyard in 1714 as was the actress Hester Davenport in 1717, while in 1724/5 the church saw the marriage of Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, and in 1743 Prince William Henry (younger brother of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

) was baptised here. The actress and dancer

Arabella Menage Arabella Menage (5 July 1782 – 9 January 1817), also known as Mrs. Sharp,Miss Menag ...

was baptised here in 1782.

1800–1939

The tower, however, became unstable by 1800 and, after 41 meetings of a "Tower Rebuilding Committee" came no closer to solving the problem, the architect

Samuel Pepys Cockerell Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1753–1827) was an English architect. He was a son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the elder brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezinc ...

was commissioned to design a replacement. The original tower was demolished (though the 1 ton clock bell, cast in 1691 and still in use, was retained) and the new tower's brickwork was completed by 1801, its bell chamber's

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building ...

work by March 1803, and its copper

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, f ...

by May 1803. The new tower's ground floor room became the parish's

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

room, and later (in the 20th century) a robing room for the clergy, and in the deep brick chamber beneath it are interred the ashes of the novelist Dorothy L Sayers, who was a longtime Churchwarden of the parish and member of the St. Anne's Society. 19th century burials in the churchyard included David Williams (1816) and

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

(1830). Also placed in the crypt was the body of Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford in 1804. The church's choir and musical, famous since its consecration, continued with Sir

Joseph Barnby Sir Joseph Barnby (12 August 183828 January 1896) was an English composer and conductor. Life Barnby was born at York, as a son of Thomas Barnby, who was an organist. Joseph was a chorister at York Minster from the age of seven, was educat ...

(later Precentor of Eton), who served as its organist from 1871 to 1888 and introduced the first UK performance of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

's " Saint John Passion", and with royal command performances (in 1886 for

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

at Windsor, singing Louis Spohr's "Last Judgement"; and later, at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, for

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of ...

). The first religious service with music broadcast by radio came from this church in the 1920s.

1939–present

The whole church was left burned out on the night of 24 September 1940 during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, apart from the tower, which was left derelict. St Thomas's Regent Street (now demolished) and the adjoining Saint Anne's House in the "Upper Room" (now known as the "Allen Room") were used for worship from then on. Though

Jacques Groag Jacques Groag (5 February 1892 – 28 January 1962) was an architect and an interior designer, originally from Moravia. Early life and education Jacques Groag was born in 1892 in Olomouc to a well known Jewish family who lived in a malt ho ...

in 1945 proposed keeping the ruins as a war memorial, it was by 1949 assumed that the church would not be rebuilt, so in 1953 the remains of the east wall (the only significant parts left standing) were demolished, the site deconsecrated and prepared for sale and the parish amalgamated with those of the churches of St Thomas's

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Plac ...

and St Peter's

Great Windmill Street Great Windmill Street is a thoroughfare running north–south in Soho, London, crossed by Shaftesbury Avenue. The street has had a long association with music and entertainment, most notably the Windmill Theatre, and is now home to the Ripley ...

(creating the Parish of St Anne with St Thomas and St Peter, centred on St Thomas's). The tower was used as a chapel for a time in the 1950s, partly restored in 1979 by the Soho Society, and fully restored in the 1990–91 rebuilding of the whole church – the tower is now a Grade II* listed building. That reconstruction had been the result of

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...

's policy to keep Soho as a residential area, was facilitated by a new private act of parliament in 1965 allowing the site to be cleared and began in earnest with a foundation stone laid by

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

on 12 March 1990. The new complex was completed in time for an opening and rededication on St Anne's Day, 26 July 1991. The new church and its associated complex is not ''per se'' a reconstruction of the old and can be varied from a large to a small space. It is set within a community centre and is a community focus such as for grief surrounding the 1999 Admiral Duncan pub bombing. Despite the lack of a building at that time, from 1941 to 1958 the St. Anne Society under Father Patrick McLaughlin encouraged links between the literary world and the Church of England, with members such as Fr Gilbert Shaw,

J. C. Winnington-Ingram ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

, Charles Williams,

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fiction ...

, T. S. Eliot, Fr Max Petitpierre, Dom

Gregory Dix George Eglinton Alston Dix (4 October 1901 – 12 May 1952), known as Gregory Dix, was a British monk and priest of Nashdom Abbey, an Anglican Benedictine community. He was a noted liturgical scholar whose work had particular influence on the ...

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...

and the churchwarden

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel '' The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritu ...

. Continuing the work of the church's 18th and 19th century philanthropic rectors, in the 20th and 21st centuries the "Vestry of St Anne's" (now called the Parochial Church Council) has been active in social work with London's poor and homeless ( Kenneth Leech founded the charity Centrepoint in St. Anne's House's basement in December 1969 whilst he was assistant priest at St Anne's and it remains based at the church). The Church is currently thriving as a church community and as venue for many local community and charitable events and meetings; it also houses the Soho Society, the archives of MoSoho (the

Museum of Soho The Museum of Soho is a virtual museum with a physical collection. The museum was started circa 1991. It is an independent, community-based group committed to creating a safe haven for artefacts, documents, etc., relating to Soho, London So ...

) and (from June 2016) anti-homophobic bullying charity Diversity Role Models. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the rebuilding of the church a redesigned entrance on Dean Street was unrevealed on 8 December 2016. The new entrance was designed by students Lina Viluma and Sherief al Rifa’i, who were chosen as a result of a competition to redesign the entrance of Saint Anne's. The judges of the President's Award for alterations to a church building in the 2017 Church Architecture Awards said that "The design has a strong idea but has been carefully refined employing subtle geometries in the ceiling and joinery. These elements have been combined with a striking lighting scheme to make a dynamic and inviting entrance to the church."

Rectors of St Anne's Church, Soho

*1686–1704† John Hearne *1704–1750† John Pelling *1750–1766† Samuel Squire (as Dean of Bristol from 1760, Bishop of St David's from 1761) *1766–1778 Richard Hind *1778–1781† Robert Richardson *1781–1806†

Stephen Eaton Stephen Robert Eaton, OAM (born 15 September 1975) is an Australian athlete with cerebral palsy from Toowoomba, Queensland who competes at the national and international level in discus throwing and shot put at events such as the Paraly ...

(as Archdeacon of Middlesex) *1806–1845† Roderick MacLeod *1846–1891 Nugent Wade *1891–1914 John Henry Cardwell *1914–1929† George Clement Wilton *1930–1933 Basil Bourchier (resigned after mountaineering accident or due to scandal) *—— *1953–1962 Patrick McLaughlin *1963–1975 John Frear Hester *1978–1984 Michael Barnabas St Leger Hurst-Bannister *1985–1998 Frederick Crichton Stevens *1998–2007 Clare Marguerite Herbert *2007–2011 David Samuel Gilmore (sacked for unbecoming conduct) *2011–2013 William Mungo Jacob *2013– Richard Simon Fildes Buckley † ''Rector died in post''

References

External links

Detailed description
from the '' Survey of London'' online
Official website
of this church; domain: stannes-soho.org.uk
The Soho Society

360° Panorama inside the church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soho, Saint Anne's Church Church of England church buildings in the City of Westminster Christopher Wren church buildings in London Grade II listed churches in the City of Westminster Diocese of London Churches completed in 1686

Saint Anne's Church Burial sites of the Pitt family 1686 establishments in England