5 spiritual alternatives to St. Paul's Cathedral
1. St. Bride's, Fleet Street
A sign outside calls it the "world famous" journalists' church, but St. Bride's – tucked in a pocket park behind the busy Fleet Street – is by far eclipsed on any tourist trail by the enormous St. Paul’s, just up the street.
Were it not for the sign and its distinctive spire, this relatively small church might be mistaken for any other place of worship from its time. But inside, the "spiritual home of the media" shows its true colours, with journalists’ names adorning nearly every pew and several plaques memorialising those whose lives were lost in covering recent wars.
Not the spiritual type? No problem. St. Bride's is worth a look for its free (donation encouraged) museum and crypt below, which features, in addition to the typical tombstones and a few macabre surprises, a substantial section devoted to the history of journalists' roles in Fleet Street from before the printing press to the present day. Also, as with many places in a city steeped in ancient history, the remains of a Roman street are buried beneath the church's foundations, some of which can be seen here.
2. Holy Trinity Church, Dalston
If journalists need a spiritual home, so too, do clowns. Holy Trinity in Dalston is also called the "Clowns Church" for its annual Clowns International service, held the first Sunday of February, in honour of Joseph Grimaldi, known as the first modern clown. This unusual service, dotted with performance elements, has been going on since 1946 and draws clowns from throughout the world for worship in costume.
Clowning's role here has grown so much since that first service – with costumes, props and paintings filling the church – that a room behind it is dedicated as a museum to the art of making people laugh. Though the main archive of historic clown memorabilia moved out of London to a larger tourist complex in Somerset in 2007, this smaller collection is still open to the public as a museum-gallery at the back of the complex.
3. Teddy bear choir at St. Christopher's chapel
The elaborate decorations in St. Christopher's Chapel in the Great Ormond Street Hospital include many references to children. (Instagram: scottkelby)
As the clowns of Holy Trinity Church may know, offering a laugh or comfort in time of need is a blessing, especially if those in need are children. The small chapel at Bloomsbury's Great Ormond Street Hospital, outstanding on its own for its elaborate detailing referencing children, also includes a "teddy bear choir" at one end. The line of stuffed bears offer a comfort to sick children and their families, who have been coming to this chapel since 1875.
Other notable architectural flourishes in the chapel dedicated to St. Christopher, patron saint of children, include numerous biblical scenes referencing childhood.
St. Peter's Barge at Canary Wharf began its life not in London's canals, but in the Netherlands. (Ashley Winchester)
The Thames has served many significant and unexpected roles throughout London’s history, from transportation superhighway to line of defence and even plague sanctuary. But in Canary Wharf, it's also the site of an unusual place of worship.
St. Peter's Barge, London's only floating church, began its life in the Netherlands as a Dutch freight barge and motored its way to the Wharf across the North Sea in 2003. Its permanent mooring, once the site of the hustle bustle of London's shipping trade, sits in front of the Museum of London Docklands.
Although a relatively quiet sanctuary for religious contemplation, with Sunday services and other activities throughout the week, the buildings adjacent to the barge may soon change that.
If your body is your temple, and the idea of water still intrigues, then a North London location might fit both bills. Representing a prime example of London history reincarnated, the Virgin Active at Repton Park is a health club that, in another life, was a church.
Its most striking transformation is a 25-metre swimming area, which trades pews for pool and altar for jacuzzi. Even the confessional box has been elegantly repurposed: it is now a sauna for sweating away sins. Other architectural accents still in place include stained glass windows, pillars and archways, and a vaulted wooden ceiling.
