St Luke Old Street (church)

Infobox church
name = St. Luke Old Street
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caption = 2006 photo
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denomination = Church of England
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parish = St. Luke's
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founded_date =
founder =
architect = John James and Nicholas Hawksmoor
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constructed_date = 1773
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address = Old Street, London
country = United Kingdom
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St Luke is a historic Anglican church in the London Borough of Islington.

The church is sited on Old Street, north of the City of London, and was built to relieve the church of St Giles-without-Cripplegate, Cripplegate [ [http://www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/localtim.htm Timeline of London] accessed 25 Apr 2007] , under the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, an attempt to meet the religious needs of London's burgeoning 18th century population. It was completed and the corresponding parish of St Luke's created in 1733.

The church was designed by John James, though the obelisk spire and its base are by Nicholas Hawksmoor. The church was closed by the Diocese of London in 1964 and lay empty, the roof being removed and the shell becoming a ruin for 40 years, despite being a Grade I listed building. The parish was reunited with St Giles in 1959, and the font and organ case moved there.Buried in the small churchyard, are architect George Dance the Elder, at one time a member of the vestry, and in a chest tomb, father and son type founders William Caslon [web cite|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wsimes/com00062.htm|title=St Luke Old Street|work=Rootsweb] .

After several proposals to redevelop it as offices, It was converted by the London Symphony Orchestra as a concert hall, rehearsal, recording space and educational resource. The conversion was designed by Levitt Bernstein Architects [web cite|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/critic/feature/0,1169,892444,00.html|title=Invasion of the bodysnatchers|work=The Guardian] . A total of 1053 burials were recorded and removed during the restoration of the crypt.

During 2006, the BBC used the venue to record intimate concerts by Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon for broadcast. Sir Elton John also recorded an intimate concert which was used to publicise his then recently-released album "The Captain & The Kid". In 2007, MTV used the venue to record an intimate concert from Editors, which is due to be broadcast in the UK in June 2007.
Van Morrison will perform a concert that was recorded at this venue on BBC Four Sessions on April 25, 2008 that will feature some of the songs from his 2008 album, "Keep It Simple". [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/wk17/fri.shtml BBC Four sessions] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.lso.co.uk/lsostlukes/ LSO site on church]
* [https://lso.co.uk/downloadables/lumps/upload/277-12.pdf "The Archaeological Experience at St Luke's Church, Old Street, Islington" Angela Boyle, Ceridwen Boston and Annsofie Witkin (Oxford Archaeology, 2005}]