| AdminHistory | The first French Protestant Church in London was set up in the City in 1550 under a charter of Edward VI. In the course of time congregations sprang up in Westminster, and began to emerge into historical record under Charles I and the Commonwealth. But it was not until 1661 that he seal of royal approval was set on a Westminster congregation, conditional on the use by the Church of the Book of Common Prayer, and submission to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. It was in that year and on those terms of conformity that Charles II granted the use of the Church in the Savoy to the French in Covent Garden. The story of the Church was told by J J Majendie, one of its preachers and its first historian, in 1784. It forms the substance of the memorial which he presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury in that year.
In 1748, the French Church of the Savoy had existed under that name for over 80 years, as its records showed. The French took possession of it under letters patent of Charles II dated 11 March 1661. There were at the time several French families in and about Covent Garden who used to meet together to worship. The Wallon Church in the City protested to the King and asked him to forbid their meeting in Covent Garden. The French families informed the King that they were ready to submit to the Church of England as by law established; and so the King granted them the Church of the Savoy for a place of worship, under the immediate jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. By 1684, the number of refugees in Westminster had increased to such an extent that the ministers and churchwardens of the Savoy sought to enlarge the Church. Charles II agreed, but died soon after; and it was James II who gave the necessary authority to the Savoy to carry on.
In 1682, the Savoy Church took over the Greek Church in Hog Lane (later Crown Street); and in 1709 built a chapel in Spring Gardens. The ministers of the Savoy also served the Church of St Martin Orgars in Cannon St, the only French conformist church in the City. Towards the end of the year 1730, owing to the decrease of congregation and loss of pew rents of the Savoy there was not enough revenue, even with the yearly pension of £60 granted by Charles II in 1675, to maintain the two ministers, a Reader, and a Sexton attached to the service of the Church. Application was made for an annual grant from the Royal Bounty to be settled on the Church or any of the chapels annexed to it. This was accepted and a grant of £150 a year was made and settled on the chapel 'commonly called the Greek Church' in Soho.
A few years later, the Savoy Church had to be closed owing to disrepair. Though the Church was useless, its title and privileges were still in being, and were enjoyed by its six ministers and their churchwardens; and the memorialist petitioned the Archbishop of Canterbury and other patrons to continue to support it and its associate chapels.
Majendie's account ends at this point. Nothing appears to have been done for the Church of the Savoy, and its members attended either the Spring Gardens Church or Les Grecs. In fact, the Spring Gardens Church was the meeting place for the governing body of the Savoy Church from October 1736 to July 1757, when the Church itself was abandoned. Thereafter the Church of Grecs became the only home of the Savoy congregation. In 1822, the congregation in Greek St moved to Edward St (now Broadwick St), St James's, and hence in 1845 to Bloomsbury St (now Shaftesbury Avenue), for the remainder of its existence. Latterly it became known as the French Protestant Episcopal Church. It was sold in 1925. |