St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden

St. Paul's Church, Covent-Garden,—on the W. side of Covent-Garden-market.

St. Paul, Covent Garden, The church of, is situated on the western side of Covent Garden Market, and was erected by the Earl of Bedford, as a chapel of ease to St. Martin's in the Fields, for the convenience of his neighbouring tenantry, which were then much on the increase. It is in the form of a Vitruvian Tuscan temple, and was designed by Inigo Jones. In 1638, as appears from a manuscript in the Harleian collection at the British Museum, printed in the Gentleman's Magazine of November, 1789, a dispute had arisen between the above named earl and the vicar of St. Martin in the Fields, relative to the right of patronage to this newly build church, and that it was heard before the Privy Council, who determined that it should be a chapel of ease to St. Martin's, till an act of parliament should be passed to make it parochial. It was then consecrated by Juxon, Bishop of London, on the 27th of September, 1828.

In 1645, the precinct of Covent Garden was separated from the parish of St. Martin, and made parochial, by an ordinance of the Lords and Commons, sitting at Westminster; but, being considered an illegal ordinance, an act of parliament was obtained immediately after the restoration of Charles II., in 1660, by which the patronage was vested in the Earl of Bedford and his heirs for ever.

The church was built by Inigo Jones, by direction of the earl, as a mere barn, to which the architect replied that it should be the handomest barn in Europe. The walls were of brick, but were cased with stone about the year 1788 and with other repairs cost £11,000. In 1795, the roof and interior was consumed by fire, which have been since substantially repaired and reinstated by the late Thomas Hardwick, Esq.

By the before-mentioned act, the patron has the privilege of nominating one of the churchwardens, the rector another and the parishioners elect a third. The church is by the same authority a rectory, in the county and archdeaconry of Middlesex, in the diocese of London, and in the patronage of the Duke of Bedford. The present rector is the Rev. F. Randolph, D.D., Prebendary of Bristol, and Vicar of Banwell, who was instituted in 1817.

Paul's (St.), Covent Garden, a parish church on the west side of the market, the design of which is attributed to Inigo Jones, begun 1631² at the expense of the ground landlord, Francis, Earl of Bedford, and consecrated by Juxon, Bishop of London, September 27, 1638. The great delay between the period of erection and the period of consecration was owing to a dispute between the Earl of Bedford and the Rev. William Bray, Vicar of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, on the right of presentation; the earl claiming it as his own, because he had built it at his own expense, and the vicar claiming it as his, because, not being then parochial, it was nothing more than a chapel of ease to St. Martin's. The matter was heard by the King in council, on April 6, 1638.

May 10, 1638.—The new church in the Covent Garden is now at length to be consecrated. The King, upon a petition preferred unto his Majesty by the inhabitants thereof, put an end to the long dispute which hath been betwixt the Earl of Bedford and Mr. Bray, curate or Vicar of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. It must be a Chapel of Ease until a Parliament settle it a district parish. Mr. Bray must put in an under curate to serve the place. My Lord Bedford's £100 a year, and an house he builded for the minister in cure he presented will not be accepted.—Garrard to Wentworth (Strafford Letters, vol. ii. p. 168).

In 1645 the precinct of Covent Garden was constituted a separate parish. In consideration of the building and endowment of this church Oliver Cromwell remitted the sum of &pund7000 to the sons of the Earl of Bedford, out of the fines to which they were liable under the Act to prevent the multiplicity of buildings in and about London.³

The church was repaired in 1688, and the exterior is thus described in Hatton's New View of London (1708): "The walls are of brick rendered over, but the coins are stone, rustic work." The portico, which had been altered and defaced by the parishioners, was restored by the Earl of Burlington in 1727, at a cost of between three and four hundred pounds: "it had cost the inhabitants about twice as much to spoil it."⁴ In 1788 the parish expended £11,000 in improving the building. An ashlering of Portland stone was added to the walls in lieu of the plaster which had previously covered them, and the rustic gateways imitated by Jones from Palladio, which, like the church, were of brick and plaster, were rebuilt in stone. This work was carried out under the superintendence of Thomas Hardwick. The church was totally destroyed by fire, September 17, 1795, and rebuilt (Thomas Hardwick, architect) on the plan and in the proportions of the original building. When first erected the church was greatly admired for its classic simplicity of form and outline, and especially for its "noble Tuscan portico," exactly in accordance, as was said, with one described by Vitruvius. Gay, in his Trivia (1716), speaks of it as the "famous temple, with columns of plain magnificence"—

That boast the work of Jones' immortal hand.

Walpole, however, who could "see no beauty" in it, called the building a barn, and a barn it has been called ever since, and the portico "a sham."

The barn roof over the portico of the church strikes my eyes with as little idea of dignity or beauty as it could do if it covered nothing but a barn. In justice to Inigo, one must own that the defect is not in the architect, but in the order; who ever saw a beautiful Tuscan building? Would the Romans have chosen that order for a temple? Mr. Onslow, the late Speaker, told me an anecdote that corroborates my opinion of this building. When the Earl of Bedford sent for Inigo, he told him he wanted a chapel for the parishioners of Covent Garden, but added he would not go to any considerable expense; "In short," said he, "I would not have it much better than a barn." "Well! then," replied Jones, "you shall have the handsomest barn in England." The expense of building was £4500.—Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting, ed. 1786, vol. ii. p. 274, and note.

For the portico being a sham, the true entrance being elsewhere, the defect is not in the architect The architect intended it for a real entrance, but when it was decided that, for ecclesiastical reasons, the altar must occupy the usual position at the east end, the entrance at that end had of necessity to be given up. There were two small doors which were sometimes opened in the summer time.

Of the old church there is a view by Hollar, and a part of it is to be seen in Hogarth's print of "Morning." It was built of brick, with stone columns to the portico, and the roof covered with red tiles. The apex of the pediment was originally ornamented with a stone cross, preserved in Hollar's engraving, and commemorated in an old play.

Come, Sir, what do you gape and shake the head at there? I'll lay my life he has spied the little crosse upon the new church yond', and is at defiance with it.—R. Brome's Covent Garden Weeded, or the Middlesex Justice of Peace, 1659.

The roadway in front of the church has been widened and the footway has been carried beneath the portico. In 1888 the stone casing was cleared away and the red brick walls were exposed to view. At the same time the small bell turret at the west end was pulled down. The clock was the first long pendulum clock in Europe, and was invented and made, as an inscription in the vestry records, by Richard Harris, of London, in 1641.

The interior was rearranged, and the galleries cleared away under the superintendence of Mr. Butterfield in 1872.

Mrs. Saintly. Of what church are you?
Woodall. Why, of Covent Garden church, I think.
Gervase. How lewdly and ignorantly he answers! She means of what religion are you?—Dryden's Limberham, 4to, 1678.

Maggot. At your similes again! O you incorrigible wit! let me see what poetry you have about you. What's here? a Poem called a "Posie for the Ladies' Delight,"—"Distichs to write upon Ladies' Busks,"—"Epigram written in a Lady's Bible in Covent Garden Church."—A True Widow, by T. Shadwell, 4to, 1679; and see his Miser, 1672.

The parish register records the baptism of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu:—

26 May 1689.—Mary daughter of Evelyn Peirpoint, Esq., by the Lady Mary, his wife.

Also the marriage (1764) of Lady Susan Strangways to O'Brien, the handsome actor. It records also the marriage, August 29, 1773, of William Turner, of Maiden Lane, to Mary Marshall, also of the parish of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, and the baptism, May 14, 1775, of their son, Joseph Mallord William Turner, the great landscape painter. The elder Turner was buried here, 1830, and a tablet (the inscription written by the painter) records that "In the vault beneath and near this place, were deposited the remains of William Turner, many years an inhabitant of this parish." Eminent Persons buried in.—The notorious Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset (d. 1645). Sir Henry Herbert (d. 1673), whose "office book" as "Master of the Revels" throws so much light on the history of our stage and drama in the time of Charles I. (He was brother to Lord Herbert of Cherbury, and George Herbert.) Samuel Butler (d. 1680), author of Hudibras. He died in Rose Street.

He [Butler] dyed of a consumption, Septemb. 25 (Anno Dⁿⁱ 1680), and buried 27, according to his owne appointment in the church-yard of Covent Garden; sc. in the north part next the church at the east end. His feet touch the wall. His grave, 2 yards distant from the pilaster of the dore (by his desire), 6 foot deepe. About 25 of his old acquaintance at his funerall: I myself being one.—Aubrey's Lives, vol. ii. 263.

Sir Peter Lely, the painter. He died (1680) in the Piazza. His monument, with his bust by Gibbons and his epitaph by Flatman, shared the fate of the church when destroyed by fire in 1795; and Sir Dudley North, the great merchant and political economist, afterwards occupied Lely's house, and died there, December 31, 1691. He was buried near the altar in this church, but twenty-five years afterwards his body was removed to Glemham in Suffolk. Dick Estcourt (d. 1711–1712), the actor and wit. Edward Kynaston (d. 1712), the celebrated actor of female parts at the Restoration; a complete female stage beauty, "that it has since been disputable among the judicious, whether any woman that succeeded him so sensibly touched the audience as he."¹ William Wycherley (d. 1715), the dramatist. He died in Bow Street. Pierce Tempest (d. 1717), who drew the Cries of London, known as Tempest's Cries. Grinling Gibbons (d. 1721), the sculptor and carver in wood. Susannah Centlivre (d. 1723), author of The Busy Body and The Wonder. Robert Wilks (d. 1732), the original Sir Harry Wildair, celebrated by Steele for acting with the easy frankness of a gentleman. James Worsdale, the painter (d. 1767). He carried Pope's letters to Curll; and was buried in the churchyard, with an inscription (removed 1848) of his own composing:—

Eager to get, but not to keep the pelf,
A friend to all mankind except himself.

Dr. Thomas Arne (d. 1778), composer of "Rule Britannia." Dr. John Armstrong, author of the "Art of Preserving Health," a poem (d. 1779), in the vault under the communion table. Tom Davies, the bookseller (d. 1785), and his "very pretty wife" (d. 1801). Sir Robert Strange, the engraver (d. 1792), in the churchyard. He lived in Henrietta Street, at the sign of "The Golden Head." Thomas Girtin, the father of the school of English water-colour painting, died "at his lodgings in the Strand, November 9, 1802, at the early age of twenty-seven years; but intemperance and irregularity have no claim to longevity."^l Charles Macklin, the actor (d. 1797), at the age of 107, buried in the vault under the communion table. There is a tablet to his memory in the church. John Wolcot (Peter Pindar), died 1819, "in a very appropriate position," says his biographer, "for it was so contrived, at his own request, that the coffin of the author of the Lousiad should be so near as to touch that of the bard who had produced Hudibras, whose genius and originality he greatly admired."² Fielding's "Inimitable Betty Careless," the "charming Betty Careless" of the mad scene in the Rake's Progress, was buried here from the parish poorhouse. William Linley (d. 1835), tne celebrated musician, and father of Mrs. Sheridan. The whole of the churchyard has been levelled and all the gravestones cleared away. In front of this church the hustings were raised for the general elections of Westminster. Here, before the Reform Bill, raged those fierce contests of many days' duration in which Fox, Sir Francis Burdett, and others were popular candidates.³ Archbishop Usher is said to have been preaching in this church when sent for by Charles I. to resolve his scruples respecting the signing of Strafford's death- warrant. The learned Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely, was many years rector of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, and his name, in his own handwriting, is still to be seen affixed to the pages of the parish register.

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² "In Covent Garden there is a particular parcel of ground laid out, in the which they intend to build a church or a chapel of ease."—Howes, ed. 1631, p. 1049.
³ Noorthouck, p. 733 note.
⁴ Parker's Penny Post, Wednesday, April 19, 1727.

¹ Downes's Roscius Anglicanus, 8vo, 1708.

¹ Edwards, Anecdotes of Painting, p. 280.
² Ann. Biog., 1820.
³ In the Microcosm of London is a good view of the election hustings in front of the portico.