St Mary le Strand (parish)

St Mary le Strand
Area
• 1881	15 acres (0.061 km2)
• 1901/1921	14 acres (0.057 km2)
Population
• 1881	1,989
• 1901	494
• 1921	85
History
• Abolished	1922
• Succeeded by	City of Westminster (parish)
Status	Civil parish
Contained within
• District	Strand (1855–1900)
• Poor Law Union	Strand (1836–1913) City of Westminster (1913–1922)

St Mary le Strand was an ancient parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. It was partly within the Liberty of the Savoy and partly within the Liberty of Westminster. It took its name from the church of St Mary and the Innocents. The church was demolished in 1548 during the construction of Somerset House and not rebuilt until 1723. The parish was de facto merged with the Precinct of the Savoy as "St Mary Savoy", but an attempt to merge the parishes de jure in the early 18th century failed. It was restored as a separate parish following the construction of the New Church in the Strand in 1723. The parish was grouped into the Strand Poor Law Union in 1836 and the Strand District in 1855. In 1889 it became part of the County of London and the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster from 1900. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1922.

The ancient parish church of St Mary and the Innocents was demolished in 1548 when Somerset House was constructed. Edward Seymour promised to provide a replacement, but it was never built. The parish was not counted separately from 1549 to 1723. Parishioners initially used the church of St Clement Danes and then the Savoy Chapel from 1558. The parish was de facto merged with the Precinct of the Savoy, becoming known as "St Mary Savoy". In 1606 "St Mary Savoy" was added to the returns of the Bills of mortality.

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Wikipedia