St James’ Church, Piccadilly is one of the churches designed and built by Christopher Wren, the foundation stone being laid on 3 April 1676. It was paid for by the Earl of St Albans who owned the land and probably selected Wren personally for the job.
It’s a nice church, quite spacious considering it seems now to be surrounded by buildings on all sides. I didn’t explore too closely as there were a lot of homeless people sleeping in the pews and I didn’t want to disturb them, meaning I took less photos than I normally would.
The Piccadilly Market which was established in 1981 takes place in the courtyard of the church 6 days a week and was very busy when I visited with lots of different food stalls.
William Blake, the poet, was baptised here in 1757 and there is a plaque noting such inside the church’s entrance. Those buried at the church include Mary Beale, one of the first professional female painters who died in 1699.
You can find some more photos here.
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