Athens Revisited

Continuing our tour of Greenwich Hospital, we next visited The Chapel of St Peter and St Paul (above). Built by Wren, the interior (below) was completed to Thomas Ripley’s design in 1752, though in 1779 it was gutted by a fire, supposedly emanating from an adjacent tailor’s workshop after some particularly riotous New Year celebrations.


James 'Athenian' Stuart then came to the rescue, rebuilding it in the Greek Revival style which, as you can see, is particularly fine. Yet there are references closer to home too; the powdery blue ground overlaid with a pattern of white acanthus leaves reminded us of the work of Potteries hero Josiah Wedgwood, and there's a very delicate pink ground too, if you look carefully at the ceiling. I didn't much like the hideous yellow spotlights they'd installed, but you have to admit, it's not everyday you get to see such a perfectly preserved neoclassical building.


Photographs (including the entrance hall, above) © Memoirs of the Celebrated Mrs Woffington.

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