"DREAMS IN STONE”

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 December 1945, Page 3

"DREAMS IN STONE”

RUINS OF CHURCHES A difficult problem that now confronts Londoners is deciding what is to be done with the ruins of 30 of the City’s famous churches, designed after the Great Fire of London by Sir Christopher Wren and affected by the 20th century Nazi blitz. Two of these churches were totally destroyed and of 28 others that were damaged by fire most are only burntout shells. Are they to be re-built as churches, kept as open spaces, or sold and the money used for building new churches needed by growing localities elsewhere? Herein lie tragic dilemmas into which the war has brought us, for there is so much that is near our hearts in the arguments of all sides, says a writer in a London journal. If they are sold it will mean that Wren’s “dreams in stone” which have endured for over 200 years will be gone for ever. On the other hand, the value of the sites on which the buildings stand is probably about £1,000,000. It has to be remembered that when these churches were built the citizens of London mostly lived within its boundaries. To-day hardly anyone lives inside the City itself. London on a Sunday is quieter than a country village—much quieter than the country when traffic takes possession.

London’s citizens began- to move out vzith the introduction of railways and trams and at the same time the growth of commerce turned the City’s buildings more and more into offices, shops and warehouses'. Before the., war there were certainly more churches than were needed to minister to the spiritual needs of the City, while outside more churches were badly needed for increasing populations.

Thinking people have always urged the preservation of all that is beautiful and of historic interest in our heritage, but human needs must come before everything and many will feel that it would be a wise course to sell some of the sites of the blitzed churches and use the money to shed spiritual light in places where it is at present sorely needed.