Summary : The present day Dutch Church is built on the site of the original Dutch Church which dated to 1550. This in turn stood on the site of the church of Austin Friars which was founded in 1253 (see TQ 38 SW 69). Edward VI gave the nave and aisles to Dutch and German erfugees in 1550. All but the nave was demolished in 1603, and in 1862 a fire destroyed most of the buiding. Restored 1863-5 by l'Anson and Lightly. Following the bombing of the early post-medieval Dutch Church by a direct hit in 1940, a new church was built in 1950-4 to the designs of Arthur Bailey. The church is symmetrically composed to the street, with a tall four-light window between low wings on a low rustic base. The entrance leads into a raised transept, with steps down to a lower hall. Its has an aisleless interior with a shallow coffered tunnel-vault abd ashlared walls with fluted pilaster-strips. The best stained glass in colour and design is Max Natua's large west window. |