Precinct of the Savoy

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Precinct of the Savoy
Savoy St John the Baptist
Westminster Civil Parish Map 1870.png
Area
  1881–19217 acres (0.028 km2)
Population
  1881245
  1901166
  192133
Density
  188135/acre
  190124/acre
  19215/acre
History
  Abolished1922
  Succeeded by City of Westminster (parish)
Status Extra-parochial area
Civil parish (1866 – 1922)
Contained within
  District Strand (1855–1900)
  Poor Law Union Strand (1836–1913)
City of Westminster (1913–1922)

The Precinct of the Savoy, also known as Savoy St John the Baptist, [1] was a component of the Liberty of the Savoy in the metropolitan area of London, England. It was located between the Strand and the River Thames. Formerly extra-parochial, it was a civil parish between 1866 and 1922. It now forms part of the City of Westminster in Greater London.

Contents

Geography

The area was occupied by Savoy Palace, the Savoy Hospital and the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy.

To the south it had a boundary with the River Thames, to the east with the parish of St Mary le Strand, to the west and north with the parish of St Clement Danes. The boundary in the north was formed by the Strand. It was within the Savoy ward of the Liberty of the Savoy.

Plan of the savoy 1736.png

Governance

The precinct of the Savoy formed part of the Liberty of the Savoy and was part of the Duchy of Lancaster.

The parish was effectively merged with St Mary le Strand from 1564 to 1727 when the inhabitants shared the Savoy Chapel, becoming known as "St Mary Savoy" [2] and appearing in the bills of mortality from 1606. [3] In the early 18th century an attempt was made to formally combine the parishes. This was opposed and never carried out. The parishioners of St Mary le Strand were made to renounce their claim before they were permitted to use the Savoy Chapel again. [4] The matter was finally resolved when a new church of St Mary le Strand was constructed. "Precinct of the Savoy" appears in the bills of mortality from 1728. [3]

In 1855 the precinct of the Savoy was included within the area of the Strand District and became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster in 1900. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1922.

It now forms part of the City of Westminster in Greater London.

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St Clement Danes (parish)

St Clement Danes was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England; an ecclesiastical version remains. The parish was split between the Liberty of Westminster and the Liberty of the Duchy of Lancaster. The area is colloquially split between Aldwych and Adelphi areas associated with the larger Strand area in the extreme east of the City of Westminster. It includes hotels, restaurants, the Indian and Australian High Commissions and the London School of Economics. To its west is Charing Cross station which faces Trafalgar Square.

St Mary le Strand (parish)

St Mary le Strand was an ancient parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. It was partly within the Liberty of the Savoy and partly within the Liberty of Westminster. It took its name from the church of St Mary and the Innocents. The church was demolished in 1548 during the construction of Somerset House and not rebuilt until 1723. The parish was de facto merged with the Precinct of the Savoy as "St Mary Savoy", but an attempt to merge the parishes de jure in the early 18th century failed. It was restored as a separate parish following the construction of the New Church in the Strand in 1723. The parish was grouped into the Strand Poor Law Union in 1836 and the Strand District in 1855. In 1889 it became part of the County of London and the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster from 1900. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1922.

St Martin-in-the-Fields (parish)

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St Paul Covent Garden

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St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster

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Westminster St Margaret and St John

St Margaret was an ancient parish in the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex. It included the core of modern Westminster, including the Palace of Westminster and the area around, but not including Westminster Abbey. It was divided into St Margaret's and St John's in 1727, to coincide with the building of the Church of St John the Evangelist, constructed by the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches in Smith Square to meet the demands of the growing population, but there continued to be a single vestry for the parishes of St Margaret and St John. This was reformed in 1855 by the Metropolis Management Act, and the two parishes formed the Westminster District until 1887. St Margaret and St John became part of the County of London in 1889. The vestry was abolished in 1900, to be replaced by Westminster City Council, but St Margaret and St John continued to have a nominal existence until 1922.

References

  1. "Precinct of the Savoy ParLib/CP through time | Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit". Archived from the original on 17 January 2014.
  2. London in the nineteenth century, (1829), Jones & Co.
  3. 1 2 Collection of Yearly Bills of Mortality, from 1657 to 1758 Inclusive, A. Miller, (1759)
  4. The Church chronicle, a monthly record of Church life and Church work, (1869)

Coordinates: 51°30′35″N0°07′12″W / 51.5097°N 0.1200°W / 51.5097; -0.1200