A city in black and white
The capital and its churches
We crossed the river.
And when I say “we”, I mean, my Brompton and I.
I think it was hightime. This section-within-a-section-within-a-section has stayed north of the Thames for far too long. I hang out all over the gaff. You’ll see me in Brixton, Peckham, and Lewisham. I’ve never discriminated against neighbourhoods in London, even when I’ve been told to steer well clear of certain areas.
We start in Rotherhithe, SE16. That’s where I’ve been spending most of my weekends because my partner lives there. She’s lucky to have two gorgeous churches within walking distance.
The first one (photo at the top of this post) is St Mary’s. If association could be a building’s biggest claim to fame, then, this church deserves the accolade.
The present church replaced a 12th century building which was completed in 1716, following a revamp by John James, an associate of Sir Christopher Wren, he of St Paul’s Cathedral fame. This beats my sole “bragging rights” moment. I once said hello to a surprised-looking Danny Glover, who was sitting in the back of a cab, in Havana, on the corner of 23rd St and L St. He still managed to keep his smile on. I’ll give him that.
This church has strong maritime links with this part of London. After all, the building is almost opposite the oldest pub on this side of the Thames, the Mayflower. The Mayflower, the Pilgrim Fathers, you know the rest.
The other church in the vicinity of my girlfriend’s flat is the Norwegian Seamen’s Church. Sandwiched between Rotherhithe Tunnel and Albion Street St Olav’s Norwegian Church (its other name) stands tall and proud.
Scandinavian seamen finally had their own place of worship when this building opened its doors in 1868. Straight away the new institution was involved in fruitful cooperation with other Nordic missions in the capital. A good example is its links with the Finnish Church just down the road.
Apparently a Scandinavian Christmas market used to be held on the grounds of the church every year, with people coming from far away to sample goods from northern Europe. It’d be good to know if they still organise it.
A bit of a journey now, as this atheist saddles up again and takes his Brompton all the way to southwest London, via Bermondsey, Borough, and Elephant & Castle. I pull on my brakes on Brixton Road, outside Christ Church with Nina Simone’s Sinnerman echoing in my ears. For some reason, though, I change the line “where you gonna run to?” for “where you gonna cycle to?”. I wonder why.
This is a gorgeous, Byzantine-style building. Located in one of London’s most diverse areas (Brixton) and boroughs (Lambeth) the parish has now gone bilingual with Sunday mass being conducted also in Spanish.
From Brixton, we go southeast, to Camberwell and alight outside St Giles. On its website homepage the following caption greets the visitor:
… a Home … a Place … a Space
a Home for worshipping Church of England congregation
a Place for music & the arts, for gathering & community use
a Space of beauty, rest & refreshment
Welcomes don’t get better than this.
This is a building with a lot of history. It is believed that there’s been a church on this site for almost 1,000 years.
St Giles is the patron of people with disabilities, the poor, and beggars. Rebuilt after a fire destroyed the old church in 1841, St Giles was lucky to have as the leading architect for its resurrection none other than George Gilbert-Scott, the man who designed St Pancras Station.
I lead my Brompton over Southwark Bridge northwards, knowing that another installment of this (now) long-running section will feature other churches south of the Thames. That’s a promise.