St George the Martyr Southwark

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St George the Martyr is a church in Borough in London, UK on Borough High Street.

It is named after Saint George the Martyr. Built of red brick and Portland stone in the Classical style, it is dominated by its west tower and was rebuilt by John Price between 1734 and 1736, partly funded by the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches.

In September 2005, St. George the Martyr received funding via the lottery regeneration fund (check to see the exact name of that foundation!!) for refurbishments. At present, the church is coved head to toe in scaffolding. Services have been moved to another location during the refurbishment.

The church has strong associations with Charles Dickens, whose father was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea prison. The surviving wall of the prison adjoins the north side of the churchyard. Dickens himself lived nearby, in Lant Street, lodging in a house that belonged to the Vestry Clerk of St George’s. This was during the darkest period of his life when, as a teenager, with his father in prison, he had to work in the `blacking factory’, and his literary career must have seemed an impossible dream. Later, he was to set several scenes of the novel "Little Dorrit" in and around St George’s Church. There is a small representation of Little Dorrit in the east window of the church.

[edit] See also

• List of churches and cathedrals of London