St Martin-in-the-Fields church reveals secrets of its stones for 300th anniversary
As Trafalgar Square's St Martin-in-the-Fields marks 300 years, a new exhibition and online archive uncover lives of forgotten Londoners, including one of Britain's earliest known Black voters and a youth believed to be enslaved.
Stories etched in stone
The engraved memorial stones set into the floor and walls of the crypt and café at St Martin-in-the-Fields are yielding glimpses into long-lost lives of ordinary Londoners. The project "Stories Behind the Stones" is building an online archive of those once buried in its churchyard as part of the church's 300th anniversary celebrations. These also include a free exhibition, "300 Years at the Heart and on the Edge," focusing on the church's history as a place of activism and protest.
New research reveals that William Fatt, a chimney sweep for the Admiralty and Royal Hospital Chelsea, was the son of a Black chimney sweep of the king's palaces who voted in the 1749 Westminster byelection. Historian Dr Robin Eagles says Fatt is likely the joint-earliest known Black voter, alongside John London who voted in the same election, both predating the writer Ignatius Sancho by 31 years.
Another memorial stone commemorates Richard James Said, "a native of Africa" who died aged 19 in 1810. The inscription says "the family whom he served for seven years" placed the stone. Volunteer archivist Dan Kaszeta notes he could have been a freed slave, but the "weight of evidence" from a time when "the majority of black residents were slaves" points to enslavement. The stone would have cost £20 in 1810 (about £2,000 today), indicating the family was not poor.
Other notable figures include Huguenot physician Théodore de Mayerne, who championed free hospitals for plague victims, and Henry Croft, the original pearly king.
A church at the heart of social change
The exhibition features art and artefacts, including a royal chair last used by Queen Mary, the original 1726 door handle depicting St Martin sharing his cloak, and the Lampedusa Cross made from a boat that sank in 2013. Audio includes 1928 choir recordings, highlighting the church's innovation since the 1890s when services were relayed via the Victorian Electrophone.
St Martin's launched London's first free lending library and can trace the origins of the Big Issue, Amnesty International, and Shelter. Its steps are a well-known protest site, notably anti-apartheid demonstrations. During World War I, the vicar Dick Sheppard began programmes for the homeless, establishing the ethos of "the church of the ever open door." Today, The Connection at St Martin cares for about 7,500 individuals each year.
The exhibition runs from 24 June to 15 November 2026.
