St. Alban's Church | |
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St Alban's viewed from the south.
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Location | Churchillparken 6, Langelinie, Copenhagen |
Country | Denmark |
Denomination | Church of England |
Website | http://www.st-albans.dk/ |
History | |
Dedicated | 17 September 1887 |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Arthur Blomfield, Ludvig Fenger |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Years built | 1887 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe |
Clergy | |
Bishop(s) | Robert Innes |
Chaplain(s) | Darren McCallig |
St. Alban's Church, locally often referred to simply as the English Church, is an Anglican church in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built from 1885 to 1887 for the growing English congregation in the city. Designed by Arthur Blomfield as a traditional English parish church in the Gothic Revival style, it is in a peaceful park setting at the end of Amaliegade in the northern part of the city centre, next to the citadel Kastellet and the Gefion Fountain and Langelinie.
The church is part of Church of England's Diocese in Europe. It is dedicated to Saint Alban, the first martyr of Great Britain.
The first sizable British community in Denmark settled in Elsinore in the early 16th century. The town was an important logistical hub for the collection of Sound Dues. First to arrive was a community of Scots which had a Scottish altar dedicated to Saint Jacob, Saint Andrew and the Scottish Saint Ninian in the local Saint Olaf's Church. The altar has now been moved to the National Museum of Denmark. Much of the Øresund traffic was British (in 1850 7,000 out of 20,000 passing ships were British) and over the course of time many English shipping agencies were established in Elsinore. There even was a British consul there while Copenhagen only had a vice-consul. However, under the King's Law from 1665, which had instituted absolutism in Denmark, Lutheranism was the only faith allowed to hold religious services in Denmark. During the second half of the 18th century more and more foreign denominations were granted royal exemptions to this prohibition.