Present Church
In 1710, the parishioners petitioned parliament for permission to rebuild the church on another site, but nothing was done. In 1723 the church was found to be irreparable and the parishioners petitioned again.Having obtained an act of Parliament, they set up a temporary building in the churchyard, and began to rebuild the church. The first stone was laid in 1725, and the new building was consecrated in 1728, though not completed until the next year. The designer was James Gold. or Gould. During construction, the foundations of the original Anglo-Saxon church were discovered.
To provide a striking frontage towards Bishopsgate, the architect placed the tower at the east end, its ground floor, with a pediment on the exterior, forming the chancel. The east end and tower are faced with stone, while the rest of the church is brick, with stone dressings.
The interior is divided into nave and aisles by Composite columns, the nave being barrel vaulted. The church was soon found to be too dark, so a large west window was created, but this was largely obscured by the organ installed in front of it in 1764. In 1820 a lantern was added to the centre of the roof.
The church was designated a Grade II* listed building on 4 January 1950.
By permission of the Rector, the Antiochian Orthodox Church worships there.
Read more about this topic: St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, History
Famous quotes containing the words present and/or church:
“The present is never our end. The past and present are our means; the future alone is our end. So we never live, but hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“It is a dogma of the Roman Church that the existence of God can be proved by natural reason. Now this dogma would make it impossible for me to be a Roman Catholic. If I thought of God as another being like myself, outside myself, only infinitely more powerful, then I would regard it as my duty to defy him.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)