London - St. Martin-in-the-Fields Crypt (now a cafe) - postcard c.1950s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  The Crypt, St. Martin-in-the-Fields [Trafalgar Square, London] (This is now a very popular cafe and jazz venue)
• Publisher: none stated (probably the church)
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

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Postage and packing charge should be showing for your location (contact if not sure).

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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St Martin-in-the-Fields is an English Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since the medieval period. The present building was constructed in a Neoclassical design by James Gibbs in 1722–1726.

Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave from about 410 AD.^[3] The site is outside the city limits of Roman London (as was the usual Roman practice for burials) but is particularly interesting for being so far outside, and this is leading to a reappraisal of Westminster's importance at that time. The burial is thought by some to mark a Christian centre of that time (possibly reusing the site or building of a pagan temple^{[citation needed]}).

The earliest extant reference to the church is from 1222, with a dispute between the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of London as to who had control over it. The Archbishop of Canterbury decided in favour of Westminster, and the monks of Westminster Abbey began to use it.^[4]

Henry VIII rebuilt the church in 1542 to keep plague victims in the area from having to pass through his Palace of Whitehall. At this time, it was literally "in the fields", an isolated position between the cities of Westminster and London.

By the beginning of the reign of James I, the church had become inadequate for the size of its congregation, due to the great increase in population in the area. In 1606 the king granted an acre of ground to the west of St. Martin's Lane for a new churchyard,^[5] and the building was enlarged eastwards over the old burial ground, increasing the length of the church by about half.^[6] At the same time the church was, in the phrase of the time, thoroughly "repaired and beautified".^[6] Later in the 17th century capacity was further increased with the addition of galleries. The creation of the new parishes of St Anne, Soho, and St James, Piccadilly, and the opening of a chapel in Oxenden Street also relieved some of the pressure on space.^[5]

As it stood at the beginning of the 18th century, the church was built of brick, rendered over, with stone facings. The roof was tiled, and there was a stone tower, with buttresses. The ceiling was slightly arched,^[6] supported with what Edward Hatton described as "Pillars of the Tuscan and Modern Gothick orders".^[6] The interior was wainscotted in oak to a height of 6 ft (1.8 m), while the galleries, on the north, south and west sides, were of painted deal.^[6] The church was about 84 ft (26 m) long and 62 ft (19 m) wide. The tower was about 90 ft (27 m) high.^[6]

A number of notables were buried in this phase of the church, including Robert Boyle, Nell Gwynne, John Parkinson and Sir John Birkenhead.

Because of its prominent position, St Martin-in-the-Fields is one of the most famous churches in London. Dick Sheppard, Vicar from 1914 to 1927 who began programmes for the area's homeless, coined its ethos as the "Church of the Ever Open Door". The church is famous for its work with young and homeless people through The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields,^[13] created in 2003 through the merger of two programmes dating at least to 1948. The Connection shares with The Vicar's Relief Fund the money raised each year by the BBC Radio 4 Appeal's Christmas appeal.^[14]

The crypt houses a café which hosts jazz concerts whose profits support the programmes of the church. The crypt is also home to the London Brass Rubbing Centre, an art gallery and a book and gift shop. A life-sized marble statue of Henry Croft, London's first pearly king, was moved to the crypt in 2002 from its original site at St Pancras Cemetery.

In January 2006, work began on a £36-million renewal project. The project included renewing the church itself, as well as provision of facilities encompassing the church's crypt, a row of buildings to the north and some significant new underground spaces in between. The funding included a grant of £15.35 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The church and crypt reopened in the summer of 2008.^[4]

Twelve historic bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields, cast 1725, are included in the peal of the Swan Bells tower in Perth, Western Australia. The current set of twelve bells, cast in 1988, which replace the old ones are rung every Sunday between 9am and 10am by the St Martin in the Fields Band of Bell Ringers^[15]