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A splendid sight on the north side of Queen Victoria
Street, the proportions just about perfect, pattern-book
classical intended to impose, as if it were an art
gallery in a northern provincial city. This was one of
the hardest City churches to see inside for many years
when it was in use by the Free Presbyterian Church of
Scotland, a denomination not noted for its keenness for
outsiders to experience a sense of the numinous. The
church was destroyed in the Great Fire but was one of the
first to be rebuilt - Wayland Young pleasingly notes
mentions in the churchwardens' accounts of dinners and
drinks provided to the workshop to encourage them to give
the church priority. An 1870s restoration was paid for
with compensation from the District Railway after the
construction of an underground line had disturbed the
foundations.The church was
gutted in the firestorm of 29th December 1940, and this
time there was no hurry to rebuild it, the restored
church being opened in 1962. After the Free Presbyterians
left, the church lay dormant for a number of years but
has now reopened as a café called Wren. The most
singular feature is the excellent glass by Keith New, an
outstanding artist whose legacy is a small one and is to
be treasured. Pevsner traced the influence of Marc
Chagall.
Simon Knott, December 2015
location: Queen Victoria Street 3/050
status: Café
access: open daily
   
        
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