I was wandering past the front door of the old-established Lutheran church on Alie Street and luckily realised that there might be someone able to let me in. It’s an extraordinarily pure survival of the German community in eighteenth-century London, who came in search of work (they ran the local sugarhouses) or service at the Hanoverian court. The church was consecrated on 19 May 1763. It cost £1,802 10s 6d, most of which was provided by Dederich Beckmann, a local sugar refiner and father-in-law of the first pastor. The builder was Joel Johnson who had a workshop nearby, had been involved in the construction of the London Hospital, and is said to have been the architect of the church of St. John in Wapping:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Dear Charles
Your attention to Detail continues to delight. It’s that that will make your London book unlike any other, and worth waiting for.
But it will be essential that your publisher understands this and is able to be very generous about photographs. But, I hope, not quite as expensive was NEW ANNALS !
We are off to the opening of the new John Hubbard show at Roche today.
Thank you for the Lutheran Church, of which I was totally ignorant.
Mark
Dear Mark, Enjoy Roche, always a pleasure… Charles
Would recommend a trip to the German Catholic Church St Boniface in nearby Adler Street. A lovely church and, in our experience, an even lovelier welcome. Details are here: http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Archdiocese-of-Westminster/St-Boniface-German-Church
Best wishes, Joan
Thank you. Yes, I looked out for it, but it seemed to have been subsumed by all the new building. Must try harder next time. Charles