St Alfege Churchyard, Greenwich
Visited November 2020
This splendid building on the main street in Greenwich is a Georgian baroque church built on the site where St Alfege, Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed by the Danes in 1012CE, and where a church was built shortly afterwards. It was the first of 6 London churches built by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of Christopher Wren, in the early 18th century after the roof of the old church collapsed. That old church was where Henry VIII was baptised - there's a lot of history going on at this site!
The church has a churchyard with stones (many clearly moved and lined up) around it. On the side away from the main street is St Alfege's park, formerly part of the burial ground, which contains a number of stones around the walls and some chest tombs and other graves in situ. The crypt is accessed from outside the church on both sides (although it's not open of course!) with over 1000 burials in there in 64 vaults. Grates around the base of the church give a little view inside. It's a beautiful place, with a lovely park behind, away from the hustle and bustle of Greenwich but only minutes walk to Cutty Sark or the park.
No comments:
Post a Comment