St Anne’s Church, Limehouse, was built by Nicholas Hawksmoor under an Act of 1711 which proposed the building of “..50 new churches of stone and other proper materials with towers or steeples”. It is one of the most impressive churches in East London and sailors on the Thames used its tower as a landmark. It was gutted by fire on Good Friday 1850 and was again restored following bomb damage in the Blitz of 1940.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
St Anne's Churchyard, Limehouse
Borough: Tower Hamlets
Grade: Local
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 1 ha
Description
Wildlife
The fine churchyard surrounding the church is mostly amenity grassland with numerous trees and shrubs. Headstones have been removed to the perimeter walls, where they are sparsely colonised by a few species, but the larger and more imposing tombstones remain where they are. One of the trees present is the nationally rare black poplar. A wide range of spring-flowering bulbs provide a spectacular display within the short grass, and a valuable early source of nectar for pollinators. Common pipistrelle bats have been seen feeding over the churchyard.Facilities
Sculptures/ monuments; historic features
Black popular in St Anne’s Churchyard © John Archer
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