St Martin's Church, Westminster c, 1810

(St Martin-in-the-Fields)

A medieval church originally stood on this site, possibly for the use of the monks of Westminster. It was replaced by an early seventeenth-century church, which was in turn replaced by the above structure, designed by Mr James Gibbs and built between 1722-1726. Gibbs originally wanted this to be a round church, but that design was rejected on grounds of expense.

As with most churches, St Martin's has witnessed its dramas. On 10th September 1729 an armed man entered the church during evening prayers. He fired his two pistols at the Reverend Mr Taylor. Taylor escaped unharmed (although his surplice was singed) although one of the bullets lodged in a farrier, Mr Williams. The offender, Roger Campaznol, was apprehended and incarcerated in Newgate, where he tried to commit suicide first by hanging (from which he was prevented) and then by eating crushed glass. No word of his eventual fate survives.