St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge

St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge is a Grade II* listed Anglican church of the Anglo-Catholic tradition located at 32a Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London.[1]

St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge
Location32a Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 8SH
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipAnglo-Catholic
Websitestpaulsknightsbridge.org
History
DedicationSaint Paul
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade II*
Designated24-Feb-1958
Architect(s)Thomas Cundy the younger
StyleVictorian Gothic
Years built1843
Administration
ParishSt Paul, Wilton Place
DeaneryWestminster (St Margaret)
ArchdeaconryCharing Cross
DioceseLondon
ProvinceCanterbury
Clergy
ArchbishopArchbishop of Canterbury
Bishop(s)Bishop of London
Vicar(s)The Revd Alan Gyle
Honorary priest(s)The Rt Revd Michael Colclough
The Very Revd Victor Stock

History

The church was founded in 1843, the first in London to champion the ideals of the Oxford Movement, during the incumbency of the Reverend W. J. E. Bennett. The architect was Thomas Cundy the younger.[2]

American heiress Jennie Churchill married British aristocrat George Cornwallis-West in this church.[3] Albert Basil Orme Wilberforce married his wife, Charlotte Langford, here in 1865.[4]

A memorial in St Paul's Church commemorates 52 members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry who died on active service in World War II, carrying out secret intelligence work for the Special Operations Executive in occupied countries as well as providing transport drivers for the ATS. It includes three holders of the George Cross.[5]

St Paul's sister-parish is the Church of St. Paul's, K street, in Washington, DC in the United States.

Architecture

After the building's consecration in 1843 the chancel with its rood screen and striking reredos was added in 1892 by the noted church architect George Frederick Bodley who also decorated St Luke's Chapel, which stands in the place of a Lady Chapel to the south of the sanctuary; the Lady Chapel of St Paul's having been traditionally seen as being the church of St Mary's, Bourne Street.

The tiled panels around the walls of the nave, created in the 1870s by Daniel Bell, depict scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. The Stations of the Cross that intersperse the tiled panels, painted in the early 1920s by Gerald Moira, show scenes from the Crucifixion story. The font dates from 1842 and is carved with biblical scenes from both the Old and New Testaments. There are statues of the Virgin and Child (1896) above the entrance to the Chapel, and of St Paul (1902) above the lectern.[6]

References
  1. Historic England, "Church of St Paul (1066084)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 26 September 2014
  2. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, subscription-based online edition, retrieved 25 November 2011.
  3. MacColl, Gail; Wallace, Carol McD. (2012). To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery. New York: Workman Publishing. p. 364. ISBN 9780761171959. OCLC 883485021.
  4. Russell, George William Erskine (1918). Basil Wilberforce; a memoir. London: J. Murray. p. 22.
  5. "Women's Transport Service | St Paul's Church Memorial, Belgravia, London". stephen-stratford.com. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  6. "History | St Paul's Church - Knightsbridge". www.stpaulsknightsbridge.org. Retrieved 29 September 2017.

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