St Alphage London Wall, London Genealogy

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St Alphage, the church of is situated in Aldermanbury and London wall, having an entrance from each. It derives its name from St Alphage or Elphage, a noble Saxon saint, and Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered at Greenwich by the Danes, in the year 1013. The former church, which was a small and mean edifice, escaped the flames in 1666, but has been recently rebuilt from the designs of the younger Mr. George Dance. It has the singularity of having elliptical columns instead of circular, where, being attached to the wall in a very narrow street, great projection could not be obtained,and consequently produce a better effect of light and shade from the depth of the undercutting, than either pilasters or half columns. The living is a rectory in the patronage of the Bishop of London...

[Adapted from: Topographical Dictionary of London by James Elms; published 1831]