St. Mary le Strand (London)
St. Mary le Strand is one of the fascinating churches of London.
It is situated on an island site in the Strand.
St. Mary`s was built by James Gibbs between 1714 and 1717 by James Gibbs, and was one of the first to be built under the Fifty New Churches Act of 1711. The interior was completed in 1723.
The original siting was behind the palace, such as the surviving Somerset House, which lined the bank of the River Thames. When it was being built, the original "strand", or beach, was discovered 17 feet below the surface.
Gibbs constructed a tower that is both tapering and soaring, and woodwork has been attributed to Grinling Gibbons.
It was at St. Mary le Strand that Charles Dickens` parents were married.
St. Mary`s is known as "the Wrens` church", having been adopted by the Women`s Royal Naval Service after the Second World War.