The Old Churches of London
In the rebuilding of London (and equally of the " Baedeker " dike ravaged by recent raids) the aim should be to strike a happ balance between the restoration of the old that can and deseu to be preserved and completely new building on sites that shoul be cleared. In an address at St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Suee on Monday, the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested that th designs should give " the greatest prominence and dignity to places which are the symbols of the common life." In consideric the claims of each of the many churches in London that have been destroyed or severely damaged a difficult choice will often preserl itself. Even some of the Wren churches in the City may occas doubts when a decision has to be made. The fifteenth ann report of the Chelsea Society, dealing with the future of Chelsea Old Church, shows how strong in some cases is the claim tot preservation and restoration. Pointing out that no English villagt church was ever so charged with famous memories, the report on to show that when the debris caused by the explosion removed it was found that much of intrinsic interest rema intact, and much that had fallen was capable of being replaced
Of 83 monuments and wall tablets, but nine have been recovered Here there seems to be a strong case for the respectful restoration of a building that had intrinsic artistic as well as historical inter, But in many cases a decision will be more difficult, when the cla of antiquity have to be weighed against insistent modem needs.
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