Editing Nicholas Hawksmoor (section)

==Hawksmoor's six London Churches==
[[File:St George-in-the-East (35944948224).jpg|thumb|St George in the East (1714–29), east end]]

{{Commons category|Nicholas Hawksmoor}}

In 1711, [[Parliament of Great Britain|parliament]] passed an ''Act for the building of Fifty New Churches in the Cities of London and Westminster or the Suburbs thereof'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=15258&inst_id=118&nv1=search&nv2=|title=St Anne, Limehouse, Commercial Road, Tower Hamlets|date=2010|work=Archives in London and the M25 area|publisher=AIM25|access-date=8 February 2012}}</ref> which established a [[Commission for Building Fifty New Churches|commission]] which included [[Christopher Wren]], [[John Vanbrugh]], [[Thomas Archer]] and a number of churchmen. The commission appointed Hawksmoor and [[William Dickinson (architect)|William Dickinson]] as its surveyors. As supervising architects they were not necessarily expected to design all the churches themselves. Dickinson left his post in 1713 and was replaced by [[James Gibbs]]. Gibbs was removed in 1716 and replaced by [[John James (architect)|John James]]. James and Hawksmoor remained in office until the commission was wound up in 1733. The declining enthusiasm of the Commission, and the expense of the buildings, meant that only twelve churches were completed, six designed by Hawksmoor, and two by James in collaboration with Hawksmoor.{{sfn|Downes|1970|p=103}} The two collaborations were [[St Luke Old Street (church)|St Luke Old Street]] (1727–33) and [[St John Horsleydown]] (1727–33), to which Hawksmoor's contribution seems to have been largely confined to the towers with their extraordinary steeples.

The six churches wholly designed by Hawksmoor were [[St Alfege Church, Greenwich]]; [[St George's, Bloomsbury]]; [[Christ Church, Spitalfields]]; [[St George in the East]], [[Wapping]]; [[St Mary Woolnoth]]; and [[St Anne's Limehouse]]. They are his best-known independent works of architecture, and compare in their complexity of interpenetrating internal spaces with contemporaneous work in Italy by [[Francesco Borromini]]. Their spires are essentially Gothic outlines executed in innovative and imaginative Classical detail. Although Hawksmoor and John James terminated the commission by 1733, they were still being paid "for carrying on and finishing the works under their care" until James's death.

After the death of Wren in 1723, Hawksmoor was appointed [[Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey]]. Parliament had voted £100 for the repair and completion of the Abbey in 1698. The west towers of the Abbey were designed by Hawksmoor but not completed until after his death.

===Gallery of churches===
<gallery>
File:Southeast View of Saint Alfege's Church, Greenwich (03).jpg|[[St Alfege Church, Greenwich|St Alphege Greenwich]] (1712–18)
File:St Alfege Church 1, Greenwich, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|Interior of St Alphege Greenwich (1712–18)
File:Christ Church exterior, Spitalfields, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|[[Christ Church, Spitalfields]] (1714–29)
File:Christ Church, Spitalfields Interior, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|Interior of Christ Church, Spitalfields (1714–29)
File:St Anne, Limehouse (36640179641).jpg|[[St Anne's Limehouse]] (1714–30)
File:St Anne Limehouse2.jpg|Interior of St Anne's Limehouse (1714–30)
File:StGeorgeInTheEast.JPG|[[St George in the East]] (1714–29)
File:St George, Bloomsbury.jpg|[[St George's Bloomsbury]] (1716–1731)
File:St. George's Church, Bloomsbury, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|Interior of St George's Bloomsbury (1716–1731)<!--NB: The camera appears to be pointing north. Liturgical east is left of centre in this photograph-->
File:Church of St Mary Woolnoth (8288489619).jpg|[[St Mary Woolnoth]] (1716–23)
File:St Mary Woolnoth Interior Entrance, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|Interior of St Mary Woolnoth (1716–23)
File:St Lukes Islington.jpg|[[St Luke Old Street|St Luke's Old Street]] (1727–33), joint work with John James, tower by Hawksmoor.
File:Horsleydown.jpg|[[St John Horsleydown]] (1727–33), joint work with John James, tower by Hawksmoor, bombed in [[The Blitz]] then demolished.
</gallery>