St. John's, Smith Square

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St. John's, Smith Square in the 18th century.
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St. John's, Smith Square in the 18th century.
St Johns Concert Hall
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St Johns Concert Hall

St. John's, Smith Square is a church in the middle of Smith Square, Westminster, London. It is not deconsecrated, but it is now used almost exclusively as a concert hall.

The church was designed by Thomas Archer and was completed in 1728. It is regarded as one of the finest works of English Baroque architecture, and features four corner towers and monumental broken pediments. It is often referred to as 'Queen Anne's Footstool' because as legend has it, when Archer was designing the church he asked the Queen what she wanted it to look like. She kicked over her footstool and said 'Like that!', giving rise to the building's four corner towers.


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