St Annes and King Theodore


St Annes and King Theodore

The

Location: 55 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 6AF

Description: St Annes Church in the heart of the West End and Soho was designed by William Talman, the clerk of works to Sir Christopher Wren.

The church was consecrated in 1686, and burials were banned here from 1854 after a sexton illegally dumped bodies here after selling the coffins for firewood. It is rumoured that tens of thousands were buried here, a reason why the ground is raised so high out front.

The church was destroyed during the Blitz in 1940. The unusual tower (added in 1803 to replace the former tower from 1711 which had become unsafe) has a clock which is still wound by hand today. The tower houses the historic Allen Room - the only surviving part from the blitz.

After being derelict and partially a car park, church was rebuilt in 1990 and the award winning re-designed entrance was introduced in 2016.

The essayist William Hazlitt is buried in the churchyard, as is Theodore I of Corsica, who has a Horace Walpole epitaph on a plaque on the tower wall:

Near this place is interred Theodore King of Corsica, who died in this parish, December 11th, 1756 immediately after leaving the Kings Bench Prison by the benefit of the Act of Insolvency; in consequence of which he registered his kingdom of Corsica for the use of his creditors.

The crime author Dorothy L. Sayers was Churchwarden here (whilst there was no church building!) and her ashes are buried in the base of the tower.

One of the clergy here Ken Leech started the renowned charity for young homeless people Centrepoint out of this church, a project which continues today.

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St Annes and King Theodore

The

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