Restoring St. George’s 
Peter Campbell looks out of the window of 28 Little Russell Street
The steeple of the church of St George, Bloomsbury is an astonishing confection. A square tower rises from the ground to above roof level. It is topped by a little pedimented temple. The temple supports a stepped pyramid and the pyramid a sacrificial altar. On the altar, like a doll on a wedding cake, is a statue of George I in Roman dress. It was paid for by Mr Huck, brewer to the royal household. The lion and unicorn from the royal arms once played around the base of the pyramid: they were finally removed in a dilapidated state during G.E. Street’s renovation of 1871 – he was probably embarrassed by them in any case. Funds permitting, current restoration work will see them back in place, newly carved.
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Peter Campbell is the London Review’s resident designer and art critic.
Other articles by this contributor:
At the National Gallery · Vermeer and de Hooch
At the Saatchi Gallery · London’s new art gallery
In the Park · John Nash stucco and Aussies with frisbees
At Tate Britain · Reynolds’s theatrical portraits
In the Park · Frank Gehry’s Pavilion
At the British Library · Peter Campbell takes the lie of the land
At the Science Museum · The Rolls-Royce Merlin and other engines
At the Courtauld · Giambattista Tiepolo
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