London (England) -- Antiquities; London (England) -- History
Within the limits of our space it is only possible to glance at the
interiors of a few of these churches, and note some of the treasures
therein contained. St. Andrew's, Holborn, has its original fifteenth
century tower, recarved in 1704. It is known as the "Poet's Church,"
on account of the singers connected with it, including a contemporary
of Shakespeare, John Webster, Robert Savage, Chatterton, and Henry
Neele, and can boast of such illustrious rectors as Bishops Hacket
and Stillingfleet, and Dr. Sacheverel. The spire of Christ Church,
Spitalfields, built by Hawksmoor, is the loftiest in London, and
has a fine peal of bells. In the church there is an early work of
Flaxman--the monument of Sir Robert Ladbrooke, Lord Mayor. The name
of St. Clement Danes reminds us of the connection of the sea-rovers
with London. Strype says that the church was so named "because Harold,
a Danish King, and other Danes, were buried there, and in that
churchyard." He tells how this Harold, an illegitimate son of Canute,
reigned three years, and was buried at Westminster; but, afterwards,
Hardicanute, the lawful son of Canute, in revenge for the injury done
to his mother and brother, ordered the body to be dug up and thrown
into the Thames, where it was found by a fisherman and buried in this
churchyard. There seems to be no doubt that there was a colony of
peaceful Danes in this neighbourhood, as testified by the Danish word
"Wych" given to a street hard by, and preserved in the modern Aldwych.
It was the oldest suburb of London, the village of Ældwic, and called
Aldewych. Oldwych close was in existence in the time of the Stuarts.
These people were allowed to reside between the Isle of Thorney, or
Westminster, and Ludgate, and, having become Christians, they built a
church for themselves, which was called _Ecclesia Clementis Danorum_.
There is a wild story of the massacre of the Danes in this church in
the days of Ethelred, as recorded in Strype's _Continuation of Stow_,
and in the _Jomsvikinga Saga_. As Mr. Loftie has not found space in
_Saxon London_ to mention this colony of Danes and their doings, I
venture to quote a passage from Mr. Lethaby's _Pre-Conquest London_,
which contains some interesting allusions to these people:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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