Commission for Building Fifty New Churches

Not to be confused with Commissioners' church.

The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in London and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1710, the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710, with the purpose of building fifty new churches for the rapidly growing conurbation of London. It did not achieve its target, but did build a number of churches, which would become known as the Queen Anne Churches.

Churches built

Most of the churches were designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, with John James, Thomas Archer and James Gibbs also participating.

• Christ Church, Spitalfields Hawksmoor 1714–29
• St Alfege Church, Greenwich Hawksmoor 1712–18 (rebuilding of an existing church)
• St Anne's Limehouse Hawksmoor 1714–30
• St George's, Bloomsbury Hawksmoor 1716–31
• St George in the East Hawksmoor 1714–29
• St George's, Hanover Square James 1720–25
• St John Horsleydown Hawksmoor and James 1727–33
• St John's, Smith Square Archer 1713–28
• St Luke Old Street Hawksmoor and James 1727–33
• St Mary le Strand Gibbs 1714–23
• St Mary Woolnoth Hawksmoor 1716–24 (rebuilding of an existing church)
• St Paul's, Deptford Archer 1713–30

The Commission funded in part the rebuilding of five other churches – St George Gravesend, St George the Martyr Southwark, St Giles in the Fields, St Mary Magdalen Woolwich and St Michael, Cornhill. It bought and altered St George the Martyr Holborn and bought St John Clerkenwell.

Funding

The Commission was funded by a duty on coal coming into London. This tax was originally levied in 1670 to pay for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral and City churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London. When the Commission was set up the duty was assigned to it. In 1718 the duty became part of general government revenues but was still used to fund the Commissioners' work.