Wren and Anglican churches

Before the Great Fire of London in 1666, the City of London had around 100 churches in an area of only one square mile (2.6 km²). Of the 86 destroyed by the Fire, 51 were rebuilt along with St Paul's Cathedral.^[1] The majority have traditionally been regarded as the work of Sir Christopher Wren, but although their rebuilding was entrusted primarily to him, the role of his various associates, including Robert Hooke and Nicholas Hawksmoor especially, is currently being reassessed and given greater emphasis.^[2][3]

With regard to Anglican churches, as opposed to Catholic churches, nonconformist chapels or meeting houses, the designs of the Wren office provided a new standard for British church architecture ever since,^[4] as well as giving a distinctive face to the Anglican church in London.^[5] Wren also designed a number of Anglican churches outside the City, including St James's, Piccadilly and St Clement Danes. After the Wren era, Hawksmoor was responsible for six of the great Anglican churches in the East End of London (for example Christ Church, Spitalfields), and other architects such as Hooke, James Gibbs and John James contributed significantly to Anglican church architecture in London.

Metropolitan area

London's churches and chapels are extraordinarily numerous and diverse. Anglican and nonconformist churches and chapels are most numerous, but there are also many Catholic churches as well as places of worship for non-Christian religions.

Most of the Anglican churches lie within the Anglican dioceses of London to the north and Southwark to the south. For historical reasons, the Anglican churches in London north of the Thames but east of the River Lea fall within the Diocese of Chelmsford, and those in the London Boroughs of Bexley and Bromley fall within the Diocese of Rochester. A few Anglican churches in the Barnet area fall into the Diocese of St Albans, reflecting the historical association of Barnet with Hertfordshire. The Catholic dioceses that cover Greater London are, north of the Thames and west of the Lea, the Diocese of Westminster; south of the Thames the Archdiocese of Southwark; and north of the Thames and east of the Lea, the Diocese of Brentwood. There are still some two thousand Anglican churches alone, across the capital and if nonconformist and other denominations are included, they cover every age and style, in the design and evolution of which at least six hundred different architects have made contributions. As London expanded during the early 19th century, many new churches and chapels were built independently by the growing nonconformist urban population; to match the growth in nonconformist churches and chapels, the Anglican "Waterloo church" building programme saw numerous Anglican churches constructed across south London in the first half of the century.

Significance

Although many churches and chapels were entirely or partly lost to 19th-century demolitions and to bombing in the Second World War, many historic, architecturally significant and religiously significant buildings remain, particularly in the City of London and the neighbouring City of Westminster. A number of the churches are mentioned in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons. Churches in this list belong to various denominations, as indicated.

Barking and Dagenham

Barnet

Bexley

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Brent

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Bromley

Camden

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Croydon

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Ealing

Enfield

Greenwich

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Hackney

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Hammersmith and Fulham

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Haringey

Harrow

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Havering

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