A recent visit to Limehouse, Canary Wharf and Greenwich. A wet Limehouse and only the exterior of St Anne’s church accessible, too dim to get good photos but some record shots taken anyway.
St. Anne’s (built 1714-30) is one of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s six London churches, he is one of the great British Architects of all time and is featured in my blogs. He could do the Classical ‘fancy bits’ when required but his individualistic interpretations of both Classical and Gothic styles set him apart from other Architects (except perhaps Vanbrugh who he worked with on some buildings).
Hawksmoor’s bold, elemental and in some cases abstract detailing stands out, he is famous for his keystones! This was my first visit to St. Anne’s and particularly admired the tower which is its crowning achievement -he was particularly good at designing unique towers. The tower must have really stood out when it was first built but is now dwarfed by the tower blocks of Canary Wharf just down the road.
Leaving Limehouse a look around Canary Wharf some fantastic buildings but I love the underground station, some great concrete. Then followed by a visit to the Museum of London Docklands, contains some good exhibits about the importance to London of the River Thames and the docks.
Next a walk under the Thames via the Greenwich Foot Tunnel (built 1897-1902) currently the period buildings atop the shafts are undergoing restoration and the lifts are not working so many steps to descend and then ascend into Greenwich, the foot tunnel is an experience worth trying.
