St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current building was completed in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren. Wren's building was gutted by Luftwaffe bombing raids during the Blitz and not restored until 1958, when it was adapted to its current function as the central church of the Royal Air Force.
The church is sometimes claimed to be the one featured in the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons" and the bells do indeed play that tune every day at 9 am, noon, 3pm and 6pm—as reported in 1940 the church's playing of the tune was interrupted during World War II due to Nazi bombing.[4] However, St Clement's Eastcheap, in the City of London, also claims to be the church from the rhyme. St Clement Danes is known as one of the two 'Island Churches', the other being St Mary-le-Strand.
There are several possible theories as to the connection between the Danes and the origins of the church. A popular theory is that in the 9th century, the Danes colonized the village of Aldwych on the river between the City of London and the future site of Westminster. This was during the Danelaw and London was on the dividing line between the English and the Danes. The Danes founded a church at Aldwych, hence the final part of its name[5] (in Latin it was known as Ecclesia Clementes Danorum). However; Aldwych is an English name and doesn't seem to have any Danish influence. An alternative view is that after Alfred the Great had driven the Danes out of the City of London and they had been required to accept Christianity, Alfred stipulated the building of the church.[6] In either case, being a seafaring people, the Danes named the church they built after St Clement, patron saint of mariners.[7]
Other possible ideas are that in the 11th century after Siward, Earl of Northumbria, killed the Dane Tosti, Earl of Huntingdon, and his men, the deceased were buried in a field near London and a memorial church was subsequently built to honour the memory of the Danes. Also possible is that the Danish connection was reinforced by a massacre recorded in the Jómsvíkinga saga when a group of unarmed Danes who had gathered for a church service were killed.[5] The 12th-century historian William of Malmesbury wrote that the Danes burnt the church on the site of St Clement Danes before they were later slain in the vicinity. Another possible explanation for the name is that, as King Harold I "Harefoot" is recorded as having been buried in the church in March 1040, the church acquired its name on account of Harold's Danish connections.[6]
A new chancel was built over part of the churchyard in 1608, at a cost of more than £1,000, and various repairs and improvements to the tower and other parts of the church cost £496 in 1618.
Shortly after the Great Fire of 1666, further repairs to the steeple were attempted, but these were found impractical, and the whole tower was rebuilt from the foundations. Work was completed in 1669. Soon afterwards it was decided that the rest of the church was in such a poor state that it too should be completely rebuilt.[9] Wren employed Edward Pierce (with whom he worked on many churches) to create the ornate interior.[10]
Seventeenth-century rebuilding
Interior of the church, looking east
St Clement's was rebuilt between 1680 and 1682 to a design by Sir Christopher Wren, incorporating the existing tower which was reclad. The new church was constructed from Portland Stone, with an apse at the east end.[11]
A steeple was added to the tower in 1719 by James Gibbs.[11]
The interior has galleries on three sides supported by square pillars, continued above gallery level as Corinthian columns, supporting, in turn, a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Wren used the same scheme again at St James's Church, Piccadilly, begun two years later. Above the galleries, each bay has a cross vault, allowing the building to be lit from large round-headed windows on the upper level.[12]
Later history
St Clement Danes ablaze on 10 May 1941
William Webb Ellis, often credited with the invention of Rugby football in 1823, was once rector of the church and is commemorated by a memorial tablet.
In 1844, St. Clement Danes School was constructed on land on Houghton Road, Holborn which the churchwardens had purchased in 1552. It opened in 1862 and remained there until 1928, then moved to Shepherd's Bush until 1975, when it was finally re-established as a comprehensive school in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.
The church was almost destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing raids during the Blitz on 10 May 1941. The outer walls, the tower and Gibbs's steeple survived the raids, but the interior was gutted by fire. As a result of the blaze, the church's ten bells fell to the ground. Subsequently, they were placed in storage and were recast after the war.[13]
As the Central Church of the Royal Air Force
Following an appeal for funds by the Royal Air Force, the church was completely restored under the supervision of Sam Lloyd.[14] In 1958, St Clement Danes Church was reconsecrated in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and his Royal Highness Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh as the Central Church of the Royal Air Force.[15]
As part of the rebuilding, the following inscription was added under the restored Royal coat of arms:
AEDIFICAVIT CHR WREN AD MDCLXXII DIRUERUNT AERII BELLI FULMINA AD MCMXLI RESTITUIT REGINAE CLASSIS AERONAUTICA AD MCMLVIII
which may be translated as: "Christopher Wren built it 1672. The thunderbolts of aerial warfare destroyed it 1941. The Royal Air Force restored it 1958."[16] [Error in the inscription: MDCLXXII should be MDCLXXXII, i.e. 1682 not 1672]
Current worship and services
The church is known for its excellent Anglican choral tradition of Eucharist and Matins (on Sundays, at 1100) At its roots it is Anglican and is also known for its ecumenical representation of the RAF Chaplains Branch. Services are regularly held and open to the public. Special services take place to commemorate prominent occasions of the RAF and its associated organisations. Royal Air Force Music Services provides first class musical support. The King's Colour Squadron, formerly the Queen's Colour Squadron, attends at events and ceremonies charged with the safe-keeping of the King's Colour for the Royal Air Force and other ceremonial duties at the RAF's central church.
Saint Clement is commemorated every April at St Clement Danes, a modern clementine custom/revival. The Reverend William Pennington-Bickford initiated the service in 1919 to celebrate the restoration of the famous church bells and carillon, which he'd had altered to ring out the popular nursery rhyme. This special service for children ends with the distribution of oranges and lemons to the boys and girls. Formerly William Bickford, William Pennington-Bickford (died 1941) was Rector from 1910 to 1941 and he and his wife Louisa became known for their devotion to the welfare of the parish. (He had succeeded his father-in-law in the benefice.)[17]
In 2008, the church was one of the venues where people gathered as part of the Armed Forces Day of Prayer.[18]
On the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the RAF, celebrations took place at St Clement Danes.[20]
Community of the Cross of Nails
The Central Church of the RAF is a member of Coventry Cathedral Community of the Cross of Nails. The three guiding principles are Healing the wounds of history, Learning to live with difference and celebrate diversity, and Building a culture of justice and peace. The Community of the Cross of Nails is guided by the words ‘Father Forgive’, and praying the Litany of Reconciliation.[21] "The Cross of Nails is a symbol of hope and friendship in the aftermath of conflict." ArchbishopJustin Welby.[22]
The erection of the statue of Harris was controversial due to his responsibility for the bombing of Dresden and other bombing campaigns against German cities. Despite protests from Germany, including from the mayors of Dresden and Hamburg as well as some in Britain, the Bomber Harris Trust (an RAF veterans' organisation) erected a statue of him outside the RAF Church of St. Clement Danes in 1992. It was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother[45] who looked surprised when she was jeered by protesters. The line on the statue reads "The Nation owes them all an immense debt". The statue had to be guarded by policemen day and night for some time as it was frequently sprayed with graffiti.
Memorials
The Polish Air Forces memorial on the floor of the church
The floor of the church, of Welshslate, is inscribed with the badges of over 800 RAF commands, groups, stations, squadrons and other formations. Near the entrance door is a ring of the badges of Commonwealthair forces, surrounding the badge of the RAF.
A memorial to the Polish airmen and squadrons who fought in the defence of the United Kingdom and the liberation of Europe in the Second World War is positioned on the floor of the north aisle.
Books of Remembrance listing the names of all the RAF personnel who have died in service, as well as those American airmen based in the United Kingdom who died during the Second World War.
In the gallery hang the Queen's Colours and Standards of active RAF squadrons, (these Colours/Standards having been retired and replaced by newer versions), along with standards of several now disbanded squadrons plus the Royal Banner of the Royal Observer Corps, (most standards of disbanded squadrons hang in the rotunda of the RAF College Cranwell).
1634–1678† Richard Dukeson (sequestered in 1643, his place taken by Daniel Evans, Richard Vines, and George Masterson;[56][57] Dukeson was restored in 1660[58])
1889–1910† J. J. H. Septimus Pennington[67] (surnamed Sparrow until 1886)
1910–1941† William Pennington Bickford (son-in-law of Septimus Pennington)
† Rector died in post
Organ
The organ of 1958
The earliest records of an organ are from 1690, when an organ was installed by Bernard Smith. This went through several rebuildings over the next 250 years, but was finally destroyed in the Second World War. A new organ, situated facing the altar in the gallery, was installed by the builder Harrison and Harrison in 1958. This was a gift from the United States Air Force. The case was made as a replica of the Father Smith organ previously destroyed. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.[68]
In 1871 a Masonic Lodge was consecrated at the request of several local Freemasons, who wanted to meet in a local Lodge instead of having to travel out of the parish. The petition was accepted by the then Grand Master, the Earl de Grey and Ripon; accordingly the St Clement Danes Lodge was formed and granted a Warrant of Constitution, along with the registration number 1351 on the register of the United Grand Lodge of England. The first meeting of the Lodge was on 4 May 1871 at the King's Head public house at 265 Strand, and the Rector of the Church, the Reverend R J Simpson, was the first Chaplain of the Lodge. The Lodge held meetings at various hotels and restaurants within the parish for many years, before amending its Constitution to allow it to meet at Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street, London, where it still meets today.
In fiction
The statue of Dr Samuel Johnson at the eastern end of the church land, comes to life as the character "Dictionary", in Charlie Fletcher's 2006 children's book about unLondon, Stoneheart.
The 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has the protagonist encountering a picture of the church from prior to the war – a building which he has known only as a ruin, never having been rebuilt.[71] (The plot of the book, written in 1948, assumes a Third World War breaking out in the early 1950s, followed by a period of deep crisis and civil war in Britain and the rise of a totalitarian regime banning all religion; thus, no one in this future had any reason to rebuild the church).
Richard Puttenham, the possible author of The Arte of English Poesie and brother of George Puttenham (writer and literary critic), was buried in St Clement Danes on 2 July 1601[72]
The Twinings tea family lived and did business in the parish and, consequently, many members of the Twining family were baptised in the church, including the social reformer Louisa Twining in 1820.
James Weddell, discoverer of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, was buried in the churchyard in 1834.
Katherine de Roet, daughter of a Herald, mistress and then third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, mother of the Beauforts and ancestor of Tudor and Stuart monarchs, married Sir Hugh Swynford here in c.1366
Margaret Thatcher's funeral procession paused here, where her coffin was transferred from the hearse to a gun carriage before being taken to St Paul's Cathedral.
Reg Pellant, "St. Clement Danes: Church of the Royal Air Force", Saint Clement Danes (Royal Air Force) Appeal Fund, 1971.
Eirwen E.C. Nicholson, "The St Clement Danes Altarpiece and the Iconography of post-Revolution England" in Jonathan Clark and Howard Erskine-Hill (eds.), Samuel Johnson in Historical Context (Palgrave, 2002) pp. 55–77.
Richard Sharp, "The Religious and Political Character of the Parish of St Clement Danes" in Jonathan Clark and Howard Erskine-Hill (eds.), Samuel Johnson in Historical Context (Palgrave, 2002), pp. 44–55.
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