Trafalgar Square’s St Martin-in-the-Fields gives up secrets of its stones | London

As St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square celebrates its 300th anniversary, it still has secrets to share, from a chimney sweep family that includes one of Britain’s two oldest documented Black electors to the mystery of a 19-year-old teenager believed to have been enslaved.

At the heart of London’s political and cultural life for three centuries, rows of carved memorial stones set into the floor and walls of the burial chamber and café offer glimpses into the long-forgotten lives of ordinary Londoners.

Stories Behind the Stones project Online archive of the lives of those once buried in the churchyard part of the anniversary celebrations. These also include a parish church and performance venue, as well as a free exhibition 300 Years at the Heart and on the Border, which showcases the history of the church as a site of activism and protest and focuses on “those on the margins of society.”

New research on the stones shows that he was the son of William Fatt, a chimney sweep of the Admiralty and Chelsea Royal Infirmary, a Black chimney sweep of the king’s palaces who voted in the 1749 Westminster by-election, making him one of the first known Black electors.

It turned out that John London was the first Black voter. It seems very likely that William Fatt, who voted in the same election, was the earliest, predating Ignatius Sancho, both well-known Black British writers and composers, by 31 years. historian Dr. According to Robin Eagles.

Another commemorates Richard James Said, a “native of Africa” ​​who died in 1810 at the age of 19, with the inscription: “The Family whom he served with uniform honesty and attention for seven years caused this Stone to be placed upon his Grave, in memory of his worth and the regret occasioned by his loss.”

Dan Kaszeta, a volunteer archivist at St Martin’s, said: “It’s a bit of a mystery. He could have been a freed slave.” But he added that the “weight of the evidence” pointed to slavery at a time when “the majority of black residents were slaves.” The cost of the stone was £20 in 1810, but today it is approximately £2,000. “So these people were not poor.”

The gravestones were moved from the churchyard during the development of the area, some were reused on the grave floor, and some were mounted on the walls. Louisa Price, St Martin’s archivist, said: “We have some really wonderful stories coming out. By putting it all online we can enable others to tell us beautiful stories about the people represented here.” These also included the famous Huguenot physician Théodore de Mayerne, who advocated the establishment of free hospitals for plague victims; and Henry Croft – the original pearl king.

Artworks and artifacts, including a royal chair last used by Queen Mary, illustrate its colorful history not only as a church used by royalty, but also founding London’s first free lending library and where the origins of the Great Trouble, Amnesty International and Sanctuary can be traced. Its steps are a well-known site of protest, particularly anti-apartheid demonstrations in the 1980s.

The church’s original doorknob, dating from 1726 and featuring the design of St Martin, a Roman soldier sharing his cloak with an almost naked beggar, is on display alongside the Lampedusa Cross, made from wood made from a boat that sank off the Italian island in 2013 with the loss of 360 of the 500 people seeking asylum in Europe and is now the symbol of the church’s Nazareth Congregation. The audio includes a 1928 recording of its choir, highlighting its history of innovation from the 1890s, when its services were transmitted over the Victorian telephone sound system Electrophone.

The Rev Sam Wells, vicar of St Martin’s, said: “The phrase we use is ‘heart on the edge’, so the heart obviously refers to issues around homelessness or the compassion that has emerged since the First World War.”

That’s when St Martin’s famous vicar, Dick Sheppard, launched programs for the area’s homeless, describing its ethos as “the church of the ever-open door”.

St Martin opened its doors to shelter soldiers heading to France in the First World War. “And he ignored who they had spent the night with, which would be pretty radical now, but we could say he was particularly embracing at the time,” Wells said.

He formalized his fight against homelessness with the establishment of the Social Services Department in 1948. Today Connection in St Martin cares for around 7,500 people each year.

• You can find the details of the exhibition, which will take place between 24 June – 15 November 2026, here. Here