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St. James's Church Review

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St. James's Church

Address: 197 Piccadilly, St. James's, London, W1J 9LL | Map It
Phone: 020/7734-4511; 020/7381-0441 concert program and tickets
www.st-james-piccadilly.org

Category: Religious Sites
Location: St. James's and Mayfair

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Fodor's Review:

Completed in 1684, this was one of the last of Sir Christopher Wren's London churches and his own favorite. It contains one of Grinling Gibbons's finest works, an ornate limewood reredos (the screen behind the altar). The organ is a survivor of Whitehall Palace and was brought here in 1691. A 1940 bomb scored a direct hit here (a garden in the churchyard commemorates Londoners' fortitude during WWII), but the church was subsequently completely restored, albeit with a fiberglass spire. The interior is again showing signs of wear and water damage, and a new restoration project is in the planning stages. It's a lively place, offering all manner of lectures and concerts. The church itself is set back from the street behind a courtyard that hosts different markets: on Tuesday antiques and small collectibles; Wednesday to Saturday arts and crafts.