Crown Shrine
A model for the world
James Gibbs' design — a giant Corinthian portico carrying a steeple above a rectangular nave — became the most copied church plan in the English-speaking world. From New England villages to colonial India, the silhouette of St Martin's was echoed thousands of times. Gibbs published the design in his Book of Architecture, and the rest is global pattern-book history.
A working parish
St Martin's has always been a busy, even noisy church — a contrast to the cool stone of Westminster Abbey or the high formality of St Paul's. The first record of a church on the site dates to 1222, when a dispute between the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of London over its ownership was settled in the abbot's favour. Under Vicar Dick Sheppard in the 1920s it became famous as "the church of the ever open door": it broadcast the first religious service on BBC radio in 1924 and ran London's first free lending library for soldiers during the First World War. Today it runs The Connection, one of London's largest day-centres for homeless people, and offers a renowned programme of evening concerts.
What to see
- Gibbs' great galleried interior with its plasterwork ceiling.
- The east window by Iranian-British artist Shirazeh Houshiary, installed in 2008.
- The crypt café, popular with Trafalgar Square visitors at lunchtime.
- The brass-rubbing centre.
- The bell tower and royal box.
Visiting
Free entry. Check the concert schedule — evening recitals here, particularly of Vivaldi by candlelight, are a London institution. The crypt is open all day for inexpensive lunches. The church is also famously LGBTQ-affirming and warmly welcoming to all visitors.
