St Clement Danes, Strand
St Clement Danes, Strand
St Clement Danes is a Grade I church on an island in the Strand, Westminster, rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1680–82, given a steeple by James Gibbs in 1719, and restored after the Blitz as the Central Church of the Royal Air Force.
- Location
- Strand, Greater London
- Country
- England
- County
- Greater London
- City / town
- Strand
- Address
- Strand, Greater London, WC2R 1DH
- Postcode
- WC2R 1DH
- Built
- 1680–82 by Wren; steeple 1719; restored 1955–58 after wartime gutting
- Consecrated
- 19 October 1958 (reconsecrated as Central Church of the RAF)
- Architect
- Sir Christopher Wren; steeple by James Gibbs; post-war restoration by W. A. S. Lloyd
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Clement
- Diocese
- London
- Parish
- St Mary le Strand with St Clement Danes
- Grade
- I
- Style
- English Baroque
- Materials
- Portland stone
- Grid reference
- TQ 309 810
- Opening hours
- The church is open daily between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday and from 10am to 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Closed on Bank Holidays.
- Access
- Non-accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Historic England records a rebuild of 1680–82 by Wren, reusing but recasing fifteenth-century masonry of the west tower, which Gibbs completed above the clock stage with a steeple in 1719. The church was gutted in the Second World War and restored in 1955–58 by W. A. S. Lloyd. The fabric is Portland stone, with west tower and steeple and an apsidal east end. Domed two-storey lobbies flank the tower; the steeple rises in three diminishing octagonal stages. The restored interior has a broad tunnel vault, galleries and groin-vaulted aisles continued as an ambulatory around the east end — unique in a Wren church — with a further semi-domed apse.
A church on the site is traditionally associated with Danish settlers in the ninth century. Wren’s building was gutted by incendiary attack on 10 May 1941; walls, tower and steeple survived. After an RAF appeal the church was reconsecrated on 19 October 1958 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II as the RAF’s central church. Books of Remembrance name more than 150,000 casualties; the nave floor incorporates carved RAF squadron badges in Welsh slate. The parish is St Mary le Strand with St Clement Danes, in the Diocese of London.