St Alfege Church: An Archbishop, a Composer and a General
Why is it significant?
Stand in front of the east end of this church, facing the massive portico with its four giant columns, and notice how heavy and theatrical it feels for a parish church in a riverside town.
Key Facts
| Place | St Alfege Church: An Archbishop, a Composer and a General |
|---|---|
| Address | Greenwich Church Street, London SE10 9BJ, United Kingdom |
| Geo Coordinates | 51.48050, -0.00970 |
| Part of Walk | Under the Thames to Longitude Zero: Maritime Greenwich, London |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand in front of the east end of this church, facing the massive portico with its four giant columns, and notice how heavy and theatrical it feels for a parish church in a riverside town. Stone as drama, weight as a statement: that is the signature of the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, Wren's brilliant and moody assistant.
The name goes back a thousand years. In 1011 a Viking army captured Ælfheah, Archbishop of Canterbury, and held him prisoner in their camp at Greenwich, demanding a huge ransom. He refused to let his poor tenants pay it. In April 1012, during a drunken feast, the Danes pelted him with bones and ox skulls, and then one of them finished him off with an axe. Tradition says the church stands on the spot where he died, and the English have honoured him ever since as Saint Alfege.
The medieval church that stood here before saw remarkable things. Henry the Eighth, born in the royal palace by the river in 1491, is said to have been baptised inside it. Thomas Tallis, the great composer who served four Tudor monarchs in the Chapel Royal, was buried in its chancel in 1585. Then, one stormy night in 1710, the old roof collapsed. The parish begged Parliament for help, and the new church, finished around 1714, became the first of the Fifty New Churches that Queen Anne's government promised London.
Beneath the floor lies another Greenwich man: General James Wolfe, who captured Quebec from the French in 1759 and died in the hour of his victory. His family lived on the edge of Greenwich Park, so his body was brought home and laid in the family vault here. You will meet him again, in bronze, at the top of the hill.
In 1941 a German firebomb set the roof alight and the interior burned. It was carefully restored after the war, and today the church holds concerts in memory of its great composer. Behind you, across the road, the covered Greenwich Market has traded in this block since the days when its rents helped pay for old sailors. Now walk east along College Approach and through the gates of the Old Royal Naval College.