A project rebooted

Over a decade ago I started a project to photograph all the churches within the Square Mile of the City of London. Once upon a time there were over 100, but the Great Fire, a dwindling resident population, historical town planning and the Blitz have gradually whittled this number down. Yet even today over fifty remain and before Covid struck I’d visited about four fifths of these with my camera. After the pandemic many of the churches were slow to reopen so I’ve focused my photographic interests in other areas for the last five years.

Last week I decided the time had come to reboot my dormant project and I began with a revisit to St Dunstan in the West, in Fleet Street. Over the intervening years my skills and style have evolved so I fear this could become the photographic equivalent of painting the Forth Bridge, but I’m looking forward to improving upon some of my earlier efforts.

St Dunstan in the West is one of two churches with the same name, but St Dunstan in the East, near the Tower of London, remained an empty shell after being bombed during the Blitz and is now a beautiful garden space. Its western cousin is an unusual building. From Fleet Street it looks like a typical, rectangular City church, but when you head inside you find an octagon nave! Although an Anglican church, it shares its space with the Romanian Orthodox Church and London’s Romanian community. This is evident on one of the eight sides, which has an ornately carved wall, creating a private chapel, as you can see above. The three photos below show more details from this corner of the church.

Looking up at the beautiful vaulted ceiling, with the organ below.

The sword rest is a curiosity of most of the City Churches - intended as somewhere for the Lord Mayor to place his sword while at prayer.

The ornately carved pulpit, covered with angels and with a canopy above to help project the speaker’s voice to the congregation.

I found a moment when I had the church to myself to lie on the floor and take this photo!

Smaller details from around St Duntan’s.

Above and below - details and beautiful light among the pews. Each pew is equipped with a number of wooden pegs to hang one’s hat!

Photos taken 28 June 2025

The remains of a Liverpool landmark

One of the places which remained tantalisingly out of reach when I visited Liverpool in 2019 was St Luke’s - a church in the city centre which was no,bed during the Blitz. On my latest visit I was delighted to find the railings were unlocked and I could finally take a look inside. Of course, with pouring rain and no roof I got rather wet, but it was worth it!

Photos taken 16 April 2025

Chester Cathedral

The last time I visited Chester was in April 2003, when I was teaching on a course in the city and it’s long been on my list of places I’d like to return to. As we prepared to drive home from Liverpool last November that moment finally came as it was a fairly easy detour to Chester via the Mersey Tunnel. We spent an hour or so in the Cathedral and I was thrilled when the sun finally appeared, creating some beautiful play of light on the stonework.

Photos taken 22 November 2024

Salisbury Cathedral

I never pass up the chance to visit a Cathedral, even if it’s one I’ve been to many times before. In April we passed near Salisbury on our way to a concert so naturally we popped in for a look around. I’ve photographed here in detail before, so on this occasion I ended up shooting two mini projects - the first was to explore the many different animals I found lurking among the choir stalls.

My other mini project was looking for interesting light and as the sun came out there was no shortage of that…

Photos taken 19 April 2025

A tale of two cathedrals

It was inevitable we’d visit both of Liverpool’s Cathedrals while we were there last November. It never fails to amaze me that both of these buildings were completed during my own lifetime and they’re so different. When we arrived at the Anglican Cathedral the sun was gradually dropping in the sky, creating some beautiful effects as it hit the stonework.

Downstairs in the Lady Chapel.

The seats had all been removed from the nave, creating a very uncluttered view as I looked back towards the crossing.

When in Liverpool it’s only correct to photograph a Liver Bird!

The last time I visited the Metropolitan Cathedral I took lots of photos, documenting the modern architecture, so this time I decided to take a more abstract approach, using the shapes and light I found around me.

One thing I missed out on last time was seeing the crypt as it was being used for university exams. This time it was open and it was wonderful to finally see a glimpse of what Edwin Lutyens had in mind in his design for the Cathedral. This huge crypt was built from millions of bricks, but the advent of World War II stopped construction and the Cathedral which was eventually built above it is very different (and much smaller) than Lutyens’ original design. It’s estimated that is Lutyens’ design had been built in its entirety it still wouldn’t be finished today!

Photos taken 19 & 20 November

A hidden gem

It’s been a while since I took a diversion from one of my work trips to explore a new church, but when I realised my route down to Sussex took me within easy reach of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Warminghurst on a sunny day I built an extra hour or so into my travelling time for a spot of church hunting.

With most churches that I visit capturing a good shot of the exterior is usually scuppered by a lack of space or dreary weather. On this occasion, I didn’t have me either of those problems as the sun was out and a short stroll down to the end of the Churchyard gave me this lovely view of the building.

Inside, I found some equally beautiful light, pouring through the windows, and throwing shafts of sunshine across the box pews. This gem of a church may be tucked away in the depths of the Sussex countryside, but the welcome was as warm as the sunshine that day. As well as the beautiful harvest festival displays, there was a large flask of hot water for visitors to make themselves a cup of tea or coffee and even some home-made flapjacks for those who were peckish, presumably provided by the volunteer who opens and closes the church each day.

Above my head, I spotted some beautiful wall paintings – I’m not sure how old they are, but I suspect they’ve been there for several centuries.

The leaded light windows cast such beautiful patterns across the floor in combination with the autumn sunshine.

Naturally, my eye was drawn to some of the small details around the church, such as these mouldings on the box pews, a solitary chair and light flooding onto one of the wooden pillars.

Photos taken 11 October 2024