St George's Hanover Square

About St George's Hanover Square

Church in the City of Westminster, London, England, UK

St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church and the parish church of the upmarket Mayfair district in the City of Westminster, London, built in the early 18th century as part of the project to build fifty new churches around London known as the Queen Anne Churches. It was designed by the architect John James, its site was donated by General William Steuart, who laid the first stone in 1721, and it was completed in 1724; it stands on St George Street one small block south of Hanover Square, near Oxford Circus. The church is distinguished by its grand Palladian-style portico with six Corinthian columns, the first of its kind on a London church, and its stone tower; inside are an east window of 16th-century Flemish stained glass and an altarpiece attributed to the circle of William Kent, and the composer Handel, a parishioner who lived nearby, played here, so concerts of his music are still held. Because of its location in the heart of Mayfair it has for centuries been the favoured venue for society and celebrity weddings, from the poet Percy Shelley to the prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and the American president Theodore Roosevelt, who married here in 1886. For Muslim visitors the church is an elegant Georgian landmark on a shopping walk between Regent Street and Bond Street, seen from outside and inside outside service times.

Where:

London, United Kingdom