An Orange Church
This church is Protestant, but the title comes from the street it is in - Orange Street behind the National Gallery. Actually, I reckon the street was named after the church, as it has been here since 1686. I love the way the big buildings are trying but failing to squash it, Isaac Newton lived next door, but his house was demolished before WWI. You can read more about the church on their website here.
posted by Ham at 00:02 --
Comments here: 6
Comments on "An Orange Church"
-
Steve A said ... (01:28) :
-
Oakland Daily Photo said ... (03:55) :
-
Forex EA Review said ... (16:18) :
-
Anonymous said ... (18:49) :
-
Ham said ... (09:56) :
-
Anonymous said ... (12:40) :
post a commentWouldn't the church be Protestant even had it been named after William of Orange? You know, the one that invented the mixed drink via his death and the subsequent invention of the toast to "the little gentleman in grey," after which an orange is crushed over the liquor.
Small but sturdy.
Thats good one. i am not from london but really wants to visit in such a beautiful place.
The website says the street name came first. It was created in the early 1690s, partly over the site of the stables of the Duke of Monmouth, known as the "Orange Mews". There was also a Green Mews and a Blue Mews nearby, with a Green Street and a Blue Street. The Green Mews seems to be associated with the Earl of Leicester; I wonder who the Blue Mews belonged to. These three stables all seem to be associated with the Royal Mews.
http://www.orange-street-church.org/text/church-history.htm
Now, it is said that the Monmouth's Orange Mews took their name from a colour in his coat of arms, but as far as I can tell he seems to have used a differenced version of the Royal arms (with a baton sinister to denote his illegitimacy) with no orange in sight (an unusual colour in English heraldry). Perhaps it relates to the colour of paint they used; perhaps it relates to the facings of different troops of the horse guards... more research required
That's very interesting, Anon. Not entirely certain that coincidence holds up to examination, but of course it might.
Thought I had posted this the other day:
It seems that the Blue Mews belonged to Lord Howard of Escrick at one stage. There was also a Back Mews, known as Dunghill Mews (also some references to a Black Mews - not clear if this was the same place).
One source suggests that the Chapel was being used by the Huguenots from 1693 and the street dates from c.1696. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68423 As this was shortly after 1688, there there could be an obvious reason for the name.
The Royal Mews at Charing Cross had an interesting history - in use for about 500 years, originally for hawks as well as horses, later as a barracks and menagerie (with animals from Exeter Change) before being demolished to create Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery site.