Церковь Святого Мартина в Полях: История и Археологические Открытия

St Martin in the Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval period. This location, at that time, was farmlands and fields beyond the London wall. It became a principal parish church west of the old City in the early modern period as Westminster's population grew. When its medieval and Jacobean structure was found to be near failure, the present building was constructed in an influential neoclassical design by James Gibbs in 1722–1726. The church is one of the visual anchors adding to the open urban space around Trafalgar Square.

Excavations at the site in 2006 uncovered a group of burials dating from c A. D. 350, including a sarcophagus burial dating from c A. D. 410. The site is outside the city limits of Roman London (as was the usual Roman practice for burials) but is particularly interesting for being so far outside (1.6 km or 1 statute mile west south west of Ludgate), and this is leading to a reappraisal of Westminster's importance at that time. The burials are thought by some to mark a Christian centre of that time (possibly reusing the site or building of a pagan temple) or possibly even developing around the shrine of a martyr.

What is extraordinary is that the Roman burial ground was acknowledged by the Saxons, who also buried their dead there. To have such a long time span as a burial ground makes St Martin in the Fields relatively unusual. It is possible that the Saxon town of Lundenwic essentially grew eastwards from the early burial group (Museum of London Archaeology).

The earliest extant reference to the church is from 1222, when there was a dispute between the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of London as to who had control over it. The Archbishop of Canterbury decided in favour of Westminster, and the monks of Westminster Abbey began to use it. At the same time, the church was, in the phrase of the time, thoroughly "repaired and beautified". but the commissioners considered this scheme too expensive. Gibbs then produced a simpler, rectilinear plan, which they accepted. The foundation stone was laid on 19 March 1722, and the last stone of the spire was placed into position in December 1724. The total cost was £33,661 including the architect's fees. The design was criticised widely at the time, but subsequently became extremely famous, being copied particularly widely in the United States. Although Gibbs was discreetly Catholic, his four wall, long rectangular floor plan, with a triangular gable roof and a tall prominent centre front steeple (and often, columned front portico), became closely associated with Protestant church architecture world wide. In Britain, the design of St Andrew's in the Square church (built 1739–56) in Glasgow was inspired by the church. In the American Colonies, St. Michael's Anglican Church (Charleston, South Carolina) (built 1751–61), was heavily influenced by St Martin in the fields, though the columns of its front portico are of the Tuscan order, rather than the Corinthian order. St. George's Church, Dublin (built 1802), though obviously influence by St Martin's in the fields, that influence seems to be via St Andrews in the Square, as exampled in the copying of its Ionic columns instead of St Martin's Corinthian columns. In India, St Andrew's Church, Egmore (built 1818–1821), Madras (now Chennai), is another example. In South Africa, the Dutch Reformed Church in Cradock is modelled on St Martin in the Fields. Various notables were soon buried in the new church, including the émigré sculptor Louis François Roubiliac (who had settled in this area of London) and the furniture maker Thomas Chippendale (whose workshop was in the same street as the church, St Martin's Lane), along with Jack Sheppard in the adjoining churchyard. This churchyard, which lay to the south of the church, was removed to make way for Duncannon Street, constructed in the 19th century to provide access to the newly created Trafalgar Square. Two small parcels of the churchyard survived, to the north and east of the church. The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association laid them out for public use in 1887; unusually for the MPGA, it paved them with flagstones as well as planted them with trees. For many years covered in market stalls, the churchyard has been restored including with the provision of seating. Before embarking for the Middle East Campaign, Edmund Allenby was met by General Beauvoir De Lisle at the Grosvenor Hotel and convinced General Allenby with Bible prophecies of the deliverance of Jerusalem. He told General Allenby that the Bible said that Jerusalem would be delivered in that very year, 1917, and by Great Britain. General Beauvoir de Lisle had studied the prophecies, as he was about to preach at St Martin in the Fields.

Because of its prominent position, St Martin in the Fields is one of the most famous churches in London. Dick Sheppard, Vicar from 1914 to 1927 who began programmes for the area's homeless, coined its ethos as the "Church of the Ever Open Door". The church is famous for its work with young and homeless people through The Connection at St Martin in the Fields, created in 2003 through the merger of two programmes dating at least to 1948. The Connection shares with The Vicar's Relief Fund the money raised each year by the BBC Radio 4 Appeal's Christmas appeal. The crypt houses a café which hosts jazz concerts whose profits support the programmes of the church. The crypt is also home to the London Brass Rubbing Centre, established in 1975 as an art gallery, book, and gift shop. A life sized marble statue of Henry Croft, London's first pearly king, was moved to the crypt in 2002 from its original site at St Pancras Cemetery. In January 2006, work began on a £36 million renewal project. The project included renewing the church itself, as well as provision of facilities encompassing the church's crypt, a row of buildings to the north and some significant new underground spaces in between. The funding included a grant of £15.35 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The church and crypt reopened in the summer of 2008. Its present vicar is Sam Wells (since 2012), who as well as being a priest is a renowned theologian and writer. Twelve historic bells from St Martin in the Fields, cast in 1725, are included in the peal of the Swan Bells tower in Perth, Australia. The current set of twelve bells, cast in 1988, which replaced the old ones are rung every Sunday between 9am and 10am by the St Martin in the Fields Band of Bell Ringers. The bells are also rung by the Friends of Dorothy Society each year as part of London Pride.

The church has a close relationship with the royal family, whose parish church it is, as well as with 10 Downing Street and the Admiralty.

The church established its own almhouses and pension charity on 21 September 1886. The 19 church trustees administered almshouses for women and provided them with a weekly stipend. The almshouses were built in 1818, in Bayham Street (to a design by Henry Hake Seward), on part of the parish burial ground in Camden Town and St Pancras and replaced those constructed in 1683.

The St Martin in the Fields charity supports homeless and vulnerably housed people. The church has raised money for vulnerable people in its annual Christmas Appeal since 1920 and in an annual BBC radio broadcast since December 1927. The Connection at St Martin's is located next to the church, and works closely with the church's charity. It supports 4000 homeless people in London each year, by providing accommodation, medical and dental care, skills training, and creative activities.

The church is known for its regular lunchtime and evening concerts: many ensembles perform there, including the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, which was co founded by Sir Neville Marriner and John Churchill, a former Master of Music at St Martin's.

The organ is housed in the west gallery. The first organ to be installed in the new Gibbs church of 1726 was built by Christopher Schreider in 1727. The current instrument was built in 1990.

In 1699 the church founded a school for poor and less fortunate boys, which later became a girls' school. It was originally sited in Charing Cross Road, near the church. At one time it was known as St Martin's Middle Class School for Girls, and was later renamed St Martin in the Fields High School for Girls. It was relocated to its present site in Lambeth in 1928. The school badge depicts the eponymous Saint Martin of Tours. The school's Latin motto Caritate et disciplina translates as "With love and learning".