Hawksmoor's Church of Saint Alfege

In the heart of Greenwich sits the church of St. Alfege. It is dedicated to an Archbishop of Canterbury who was martyred in 1012. (His name is sometimes spelt Alphege). He was killed at Greenwich by the Danes after a ransom demanded for him was not paid. A church was built on the site soon after, rebuilt in 1290. This was the church in which the future Henry VIII was baptised. The Tudor musician Thomas Tallis (d. 1585) was buried here.
The medieval structure collapsed in a storm in 1710, and a new church took its place as part of the Fifty New Churches scheme. Most of these were to be the work of Sir Christopher Wren, but St. Alfege fell to his assistant and favoured pupil Nicholas Hawksmoor. Peter Ackroyd fans may be pleased to know that I will be discussing Hawksmoor in more detail at a later date.
Work began in 1711, and was completed in 1714, though the new church was not consecrated until 1718.
General Wolfe, of the Battle of Quebec fame, is amongst those also buried here.
The church was damaged by incendiary bombs which fell on the roof in March 1941. The roof was destroyed and the interior gutted. It was restored in 1953.

The narrow St. Alfege Passage runs along the north side of the church, This is lined with some fine 18th Century houses.
At the end of the Passage lies the entrance to St. Alfege Park. It is very evident when you enter this that the graveyard of the church extended well beyond its current limits, as there are tombs and headstones everywhere you look. It was quite odd, when I visited recently, to see youths playing football in a fenced off section that had gravestones lined along its wall. Sadly, the elements have destroyed many of the inscriptions on the stones. On the Passage, however, was one facing away from the church building, which was still quite legible. No-one famous, but it does say much about about mortality rates - especially child mortality - in the late 18th Century.

Sarah Fountain died in 1790, at the age of 44. She had 10 children, half of whom predeceased her.
Some views of the church and the main churchyard...

And some images from the nearby Park...

Greenwich attracts many visitors each year - for the park, Royal Observatory, the Cutty Sark, the market, and the Maritime Museum. On a warm Spring afternoon, I was virtually alone in the churchyard of St. Alfege, and its little park. One of the hidden gems of the district. And The Mitre pub next door is certainly worth stopping at - purely in the interests of historical research, you understand...