Christ Church
It combines Roman massing with sublimely disproportionate elements to convey a wholesale impression of a force not native to this Earth bearing or even rushing down upon the viewer.
The Occult Miscellany of Augustus Darcy
Purpose / Function
Christ Church was the first "Commission Church," so named for the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, which was established in 1711 by an Act of Parliament.
Alterations
The interior was redesigned by Ewan Christian in 1841, following a fire caused by a lightning strike. Christian removed the side galleries, blocked in the windows at the corners of the central space, and combined upper and lower aisle windows to make tall, thin windows.
Architecture
The west front of the church is the most well-known facade, noted for its 200-foot tower and steeple, which looms over a semi-circular portico with Tuscan columns.
History
12 of the planned 50 churches were built, six of which were designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. Christ Church was built between 1714 and 1729 as an English Baroque-style church for the parish of Stepney, itself the home, primarily of French Protestant Hugenots.
by George Rex
Type
Temple / Church
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