Tuesday 25 May 2010

The Greatest Plainess of Structure

St Mary's Church in Twickenham is just along the river from Orleans House. It was designed by John James - the original architect of Orleans House. Of course John James' part of Orleans House no longer stands. The only remaining part of the house - the Octagonal banqueting room - was added later to James Gibbs' design. So it is interesting to get a feel for John James's style and taste. There's a lovely lightness and elegance to the church - it exemplifies James' belief that

"The beautys of architecture may consist with the greatest plainess of structure"



Though the columns perhaps show a little more fancy...

The church boasts a number of very illustrious parishioners over its history. Amongst my guest list for 'Place Setting' are Alexander Pope, his nurse Mary Beach, and the actress Kitty Clive - a favourite of both Walpole and Garrick.

No comments:

Post a Comment