Around St. Martin-in-the-Fields
The Crypt…with a downstairs cafe…
Oscar Wilde monument…in Adelaide Street, behind the church.
The wit of the man :).
yizhivika
A photo (or three) a day for 2012.
4 thoughts on “Around St. Martin-in-the-Fields”
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yizhivika 
Very interesting pics! 🙂
Is St. Martin-in-the-fields in the City? When I was a young law clerk and used to travel to town most days, to Law Courts, Somerset House etc ~ I am sure that I saw a little church which seemed quite out of place in it’s surroundings. At first I thought this could be the one ~ but it seems far too big compared to the one I remember….any ideas? 🙂
I never knew you were a law clerk! Were you a Northern Line commuter from Woodside Park? Anyway, to answer your question, no, St. Martin-in-the-Fields isn’t in the City of London (which lies further east), although it is in the City of Westminster. The church you remember near Somerset House is almost certainly St. Mary-le-Strand, which is a smaller, and rather beautiful, church that sits splendidly, rather like a stationary boat I think, in the midst of the Strand. In fact it’s quite close to the Duchess Theatre, where I saw the Hurly Burly Show yesterday evening. I know that area rather well, as I worked in Kingsway, on the corner of the Aldwych, from 1988 to 1996, and I’ve fond memories of those years :). Here’s a link to St Mary-le-Strand:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary_le_Strand
Yes ~ when I was 17 I went and lived with an Aunt and Uncle in Claygate, Surrey. I got a job as a law clerk in Wimbledon, so caught the train from there most days to go up to town, to the law courts, and for handing over documents for completion etc. I really enjoyed the work and managed to find my way around pretty well for a ‘green’ youngster from a little island. 🙂
After a nasty incident on a train, however, I got scared and just wanted to come home. I have always regretted it though, especially as the company had offered to pay to train me properly 😦
I am sure that is the church I remember and thought was beautiful too. I used to really enjoy going into Somerset House searching for information ~ such an interesting place.
I also worked in Holborn for a while, in Greys Inn Road ~ do you know it? My sister and her husband ran the Yorkshire Grey for a while and I helped out. I’ve been around ~ haha ~ in the nicest possible way of course! 🙂
Aaah ~ the memories 🙂
Ah, I see! I think it’s amazing how our whole futures are sometimes determined by chance happenings, such as that nasty train incident when you were a teenager. You may have ended up living a very different life if you’d caught a different train that day ;). Yes, I do know Gray’s Inn Road, though not as well as I know the area to the south-west of Holborn Tube station (which was my local station when I worked in Kingsway).
It was a joy working in Kingsway/Aldwych, as we were not only close to Covent Garden, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and the British Museum, but we were also within walking distance of Waterloo Bridge and the South Bank, where I spent many a happy lunch-hour listening to live, free jazz in the Royal Festival Hall Foyer, over a lunchtime pint 🙂
Yes, as you say…aah ~ the memories :).
PS. And I probably had a pint or two in the Yorkshire Grey too, but I forget now ;).