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St Anne's Churchyard, Limehouse

 

There's a lot of history in a small place along the Commercial Road in London's east. Along with 18th and 19th century canals, old rail lines and warehouses, there's St Anne's Church, with its own histories.

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The church itself, built in 1730 by Nicholas Hawksmoor, is a product of history: London was growing rapidly, and Parliament appropriated funds for a dozen new churches to serve the eastern end of the city. Together, they're referred to as the Queen Anne churches, and this one is named for her saint.

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Because St Anne's lies so close to the Thames shore, it was designated as a registry for ship's captains to register births, deaths and other events that had taken place at sea. The gold ball on top of its tower is an official maritime mark for navigation, and it's one of few churches allowed to fly the Royal Navy's White Ensign.

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The churchyard started out as a place for burials, as was common in most parishes at the time, but in 1852, London banned any more churchyard burials, and large 'suburban' cemeteries such as High Gate and Kensal Green replaced them.

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When burials ended, numbers of churchyards became public gardens. In St Anne's case the western end of the grounds, with remaining graves, is left wild, while the major area, below, was laid out by Fanny Wilkinson for the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. Wilkinson, the UK's first female professional landscape designer, was responsible for more than 75 public gardens in London. The war memorial at left was added in 1918.

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Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the churchyard is the pyramid. Like many other visitors, I at first assumed it was a trophy of empire, like Cleopatra's Needle elsewhere in London, but no: It's purely local. It's engraved with the legend "The Wisdom of Solomon," and was designed by Hawksmoor, who was a member of the Masonic Order.

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The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

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