St Anne's Churchyard | |
---|---|
Location | Wardour Street, Soho |
Coordinates | 51°30′45″N0°07′56″W / 51.5124°N 0.1323°W |
Operated by | Westminster City Council |
Open | All year |
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 by Act of Parliament.
It is believed that up to 60,000 bodies remain buried there. This explains why the ground is so high above the entrance on Wardour Street. [1]
It was laid out as a garden by the landscape gardener Fanny Wilkinson on behalf of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association in 1891. It was opened to the public by Lady Hobhouse on 27 June 1892. The London plane trees remain a notable feature of the garden. [2] It is managed by Westminster City Council and has received the Green Flag Award. [3]
War memorials to WWI and WWII are located in the churchyard on the wall of the church tower. [4] The WWII memorial was only installed in 2012. [5] There are a small number of memorials remaining within the churchyard, including the essayist William Hazlitt, whose gravestone was restored in 2003. [6]
The gardens contain a memorial to the victims of the 1999 Admiral Duncan pub bombing. [7] There are three art installations, all of which serve practical purposes: "Wall of Light" (an illuminated security fence), "Art Loo" (a WC with art displays) and "Table" (a monumentally-sized picnic table). [8] [9]
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster in 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 West End of London is a district of Central London, London, England, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres, are concentrated.
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 West End street became a centre for the British film industry and the popular music scene.
Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London, named after Henry Compton who raised funds for St Anne's Church in 1686. The area, particularly this street, became home to French Protestant refugees in 1681. Known for its diverse and artistic traditions, the street housed businesses, artists, philosophers, and was frequented by communists and proto-beatniks. The Algerian Coffee Stores, one of the oldest shops on the street, was established in 1887. Post World War II, the street became a center for modern and trad jazz. Since the 1970s, Old Compton Street has been a focal point for London's gay community, with numerous gay bars, restaurants, and specialty shops. The Admiral Duncan pub, a notable gay venue, was bombed in 1999 in a hate crime attack. The street is also home to the Prince Edward Theatre.
Burgess Park is a public park situated in Camberwell in the London Borough of Southwark. It is close to Walworth to the north, Bermondsey to the east and Peckham to the south. At 56 hectares, it is one of the largest parks in South London.
The Admiral Duncan is a public house in Old Compton Street, Soho, in central London that is well known as one of Soho's oldest gay pubs.
Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a de facto public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered statue of the monarch has stood in the square, with an extended interruption, since 1661, one year after the restoration of the monarchy.
The Garden Museum in London is Britain's only museum of the art, history and design of gardens. The museum re-opened in 2017 after an 18-month redevelopment project.
St Anne's Church serves in the Church of England the Soho section of London. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the parish church of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster, created from part of the parish of St Martin in the Fields. The church is under the Deanery of Westminster in the Diocese of London.
St Peter's Church is the parish church of the village of Petersham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is part of the Diocese of Southwark in the Church of England. The main body of the church building dates from the 16th century, although parts of the chancel date from the 13th century, and evidence in Domesday Book suggests that there may have been a church on the site in Saxon times. Nikolaus Pevsner and Bridget Cherry describe it as a "church of uncommon charm... [whose] interior is well preserved in its pre-Victorian state". The church, which is Grade II* listed, includes Georgian box pews, a two-decker pulpit made in 1796, and a display of the royal arms of the House of Hanover, installed in 1810. Its classical organ was installed at the south end in late 2009 by the Swiss builders Manufacture d'Orgues St Martin of Neuchâtel, and a separate parish room was added in 2018. Many notable people are buried in the churchyard, which includes some Grade II-listed tombs.
Gilbert Ledward, was an English sculptor.
The Intrepid Fox was a pub at 97–99 Wardour Street, Soho, London, established in 1784 by the publican Samuel House, who named it after the prominent British Whig statesman Charles James Fox. The pub was located on the corner of Wardour Street and Peter Street.
The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association is a charity in London for the purposes of the preservation of public parks and gardens, established in 1882. It facilitated the creation of new public open spaces, including from philanthropic landowners within its membership. The MPGA was involved in the formation and development of other amenity organisations. The charity still exists; in recent decades its emphasis has changed to smaller parcels of land and smaller projects within larger spaces, as well as to themed projects. The MPGA was the starting point for the careers of the ground-breaking female landscape gardeners Fanny Wilkinson and Madeline Agar.