Trafalgar Square’s St Martin-in-the-Fields gives up secrets of its stones
Church marks 300 years with exhibition and online archive telling of UK’s first Black voters, and history of compassion and protest
TL;DR
- St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar Square is celebrating its 300th anniversary.
- The 'Stories Behind the Stones' project is creating an online archive of lives buried in its churchyard.
- New research identifies William Fatt as potentially the joint-earliest documented Black voter in Britain, alongside John London, voting in 1749.
- The church's anniversary includes an exhibition titled '300 Years at the Heart and on the Edge', focusing on activism and those at society's edge.
- Memorials include Richard James Said, a young man believed to have been enslaved, and Henry Croft, the original pearly king.
- The church has a history of launching London’s first free lending library and is linked to the origins of The Big Issue, Amnesty International, and Shelter.
- Its steps are a known site for protests, including anti-apartheid demonstrations.
- The church's ethos as the “church of the ever open door” began with programs for the homeless during World War I.
- St Martin's formalised its fight against homelessness with the foundation of the Social Services Unit in 1948, and now cares for about 7,500 individuals annually through The Connection at St Martin.