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Key Image St George Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury Way
WC1A 2SA London (Bloomsbury)
United Kingdom
Denomination: Anglican
Congregation: St. George Bloomsbury with Christ Church, Woburn Square (Diocese of London, Archdeaconry of Hampstead, South Camden)
Geogr. Coordinates: 51.51762° N, 0.12465° W
Geo Location
Reference year: 1730
Architectural style: Baroque
Building type: Saalkirche
Description: Baroque church consisting of a cubic central body with a rounded apse on the east side and narrow aisles on the north and south sides, bell tower over the west portal, large portico on the sout east façade
Name derivation: From St George, the patron saint of England
Noteworthy
  • The stepped tower is influenced by the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, its statues of fighting lions and unicorns symbolise the recent end of the First Jacobite Rising.
  • Portico based on that of the Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek
History:
1711:   Parliament passes a bill for the construction of 50 new churches in London (so called “Queen Anne Churches”), of which only twelve were built, six of them by Nicholas Hawksmoor
1716:   Start of construction (architect Nicholas Hawksmoor)
28/01/1730:   Consecration
1781:   Re-orientation on the north-south axis (since then reverted to the original east-west axis)
1956:   Used as the church of the University of London (until 1968)
Important persons:
Architect:  Hawksmoor, Nicholas (1661–1736, English architect)
Patron:  George (?–305, martyr, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers)
Sources
St. George’s Bloomsbury: History, London, http://www.stgeorgesbloomsbury.org.uk/history.htm, retrieved 02/02/2018
Wikipedia: St George's, Bloomsbury, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George's,_Bloomsbury, retrieved 02/02/2018
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TuK Bassler
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