The History and Antiquities of London, Westminster, Southwark, and Parts Adjacent, vol. 3
Allen, Thomas
1827
German Lutheran Church.
This church is a plain building of brick; the west front has a doorway in the centre surmounted by a large arched window, above which is a pediment; on each side are other windows; the flank walls have each tier of windows; the upper are arched, the lower are glazed with sashes and closed with shutters after divine service ; the east wall is destitute of windows; there is no steeple attached to the church, but a small cupola rises above the western front. The interior, though plain, assimilates in its decorations with a church of the establishment; the ceiling is slightly coved, and arched at the extreme ends; it springs from a simple impost cornice; the centre forms a large horizontal pannel bounded by mouldings. A large gallery occupies the north and south sides, and west end of the building; it is sustained on iron pillars, and in the western branch is an organ in a handsome case, enriched with gilt statues of David between angels. | |
The altar screen is exceedingly rich, and has much the appearance of Gibbons' workmanship; it is executed in dark oak, and is composed of columns of the Corinthian order, sustaining an entablature; the shafts of the columns are ornamented in a very curious manner. In the intercolumniations are arches containing inscriptions in German; over the central is a pelican; this intercolumniation is covered by an elliptical pediment; in the tympanum an open book with the dove; the pediment is surmounted by | |
722 | an attic also crowned with a pediment; instead of pilasters, the cornice is sustained upon small statues of boys. Upon the attic is painted a choir of cherubs encircling the Hebrew name of the Deity. The screen, in addition to these particulars, is enriched with pannels filled with palm branches, grapes, and wheat ears, in a bold and splendid style of alto relievo, and on acroteria above the principal and attic orders, are the golden candlesticks; the altar table is covered with crimson velvet, and upon it are silver candlesticks. The pulpit and desks are grouped together on the south side of the central aisle ; the former is hexagonal, and has a sounding board of the same form, enriched with pendant cherubs, and sustained on iron supports. Beneath the reading desk is the font, a circular white marble basin on a twisted column of red marble; the cover is oak, with the following arms and inscription, viz. a lion contourne, holding in his paws a bell. Crest. wings erect, and a crescent. Inscription,
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The monuments are not numerous, and are all modern, with little ornament. | |
The converting of the Holy into a church for Protestant foreigners, called Lutherans, is founded upon the king's letters patent, dated the , Car. II. to Theodore Jacobson, and other gentlemen named in the patent, and to their heirs and assigns, by the consent and approbation of the then archbishop of Canterbury, bishop of London, and lord mayor; free liberty being granted them to cause a temple to be erected on the ruins where the church of the Holy Trinity, before the fire of London, stood; which ground they had purchased of the city of London, for the free exercise of the Augustan confession in the German tongue; with divers other powers and authorities mentioned in the said letters patent. And according to those powers granted to the patentees, they made several orders or laws for the better regulating of themselves, and for the good of the said congregation. | |
Footnotes: [] Maitand, ii. p. 1027. |
