Church Of St Andrew

CHURCH OF ST ANDREW, HOLBORN

This is a Grade I listed church standing on a site previously occupied by a mid-15th century church. It was rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren in 1686–7, with the original 15th century tower retained and refaced in 1703–4, possibly with the involvement of Nicholas Hawksmoor. Following severe bomb damage in 1941, the church was restored by Seeley and Paget, with work completed in 1961.

The building is constructed of Portland stone with a copper-covered roof. The plan consists of an aisled nave of seven bays with a shallow chancel and a west tower. The tower is flanked by vestibules on the west front, and the chancel is flanked by vestries to the east.

The 15th century tower retains its angle buttresses and pointed lower windows. Its balustraded top stage is an addition of 1703–4, finished with pinnacles topped by vases. The upper windows of the tower are large, with segmental pediments on pilasters set within round-headed frames. On the west front are statues of schoolchildren from the former Parish School in Hatton Garden. The main body of the church features balustrading and two tiers of windows: large round-headed openings above segmental ones, with pedimented doorways in the end bays. The low vestries to the east are crowned with domes.

The interior was originally designed by Wren as a lofty barrel-vaulted space, faithfully recreated during the 20th century restoration. Groin-vaults over the aisles rest on Corinthian columns rising from the gallery fronts. A two-storeyed Venetian window lights the chancel. A circular skylight over the chancel was probably introduced by J.H. Good during alterations in 1818. All furnishings date from the 20th century, many brought from other historic churches. The 19th century font and pulpit, and the late-20th century organ in a mid-18th century case originally given by George Frideric Handel, came from the chapel of the Foundling Hospital in Coram's Fields, which was demolished in 1926. Thomas Coram's tomb was brought to St Andrew's in 1961. The altar rails and part of the reredos come from the Church of St Luke, Old Street. Other fittings were provided by Seeley and Paget.

Excavation of the crypt in 2001 revealed Roman remains dating between AD 150 and 300, indicating that the site was in use during this period. King Edgar's renewal of the Charter of Westminster Abbey around 959 mentions a timber church at this location, which was replaced by a stone church in the mid-15th century. By the late 17th century, the church had become ruinous. Although it lay outside the area devastated by the Great Fire of 1666, it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren alongside 50 City churches destroyed by the fire. The 15th century tower was retained, refaced, and raised in 1703–4. In 1818, John Henry Good was appointed to repair the church and undertake alterations, including the creation of a new gallery at the west end, which was later removed. The construction of Holborn Viaduct from 1863 onwards led to the removal of the parish court house and rectory to the west of the church. Samuel Sanders Teulon was commissioned to build Gothic replacements—a rectory, court house, and vestry clerk's office of 1868–71—arranged around a courtyard to the south and listed at Grade II. Teulon also undertook a restoration of the church interior in 1869–72, though nothing from this phase is thought to survive. An incendiary bomb struck the church on 16 April 1941, causing severe damage. Restoration by Seeley and Paget was completed in 1961. The church is now the headquarters church of the Royal College of Organists.

Notable figures associated with the church include John Gerard, the herbalist, who was buried here in 1618, and Benjamin Disraeli, who was baptised here as a twelve-year-old in 1817.

The Church of St Andrew holds particular significance in the history of Black presence in Britain. James Somerset, who had been enslaved in Africa and sold in Virginia to Charles Stewart, a colonial customs official, was brought to London by Stewart in 1769. On 12 February 1771, Somerset was baptised at the Church of St Andrew, Holborn. When he left Stewart's service in October 1771, Stewart had Somerset seized and confined in irons aboard a ship bound for Jamaica on 26 November. Somerset's white godparents, who had witnessed his baptism at St Andrew's, secured a writ of habeas corpus from Lord Mansfield, demanding that Somerset be presented to the court. Somerset then engaged Granville Sharp, already renowned for his opposition to slavery, to support his case. The Somerset case opened in January 1772 with eight hearings culminating in the final decision in June of that year. The case centred on whether slavery was legal in England and whether English courts should uphold colonial laws without English parallel. The ruling delivered on 22 June 1772 asserted that slavery lacked a firm foundation in English law, and was understood by many at the time to grant freedom not only to James Somerset but to all enslaved Black people in Britain. This was a significant milestone on the path to Britain's abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and of slavery itself in 1833.