From The Times December 10, 1921:
To the Editor of The Times
Sir, I was interested and surprised to read Lord Knutsford’s view in your issue of yesterday — interested, because he states so clearly the purely materialistic standpoint; and surprised that a man of his liberal education, enlightenment, and wide sympathies should hold such views. The happy accident that their sites have grown into great value seems to me no reason why we should destroy the old churches standing on them. They are, mostly, of great historic and architectural value, and surely London is rich enough both to preserve them and to see that her clergy are not underpaid. Anglo-Saxons — except in America — do not seem to realize anything but the purely commercial value of the works of art of which they are the fortunate possessors, and we must look to the Latin races for a proper appreciation. In France, buildings of equally historic and artistic interest would long ago have been scheduled as Monuments Historiques, safe from the 20th century vandal. Lord Knutsford speaks of All Hallows, Lombard Street, as being “gloomy”. That is, of course, a matter of opinion. St Mark’s, Venice, might also be so characterized because it takes a few minutes for the eye to discern through the dimness the beauty within. But surely it is this very same “dim religious light” which enhances the attraction of so many of the old City churches. Will not Lord Knutsford leave the City churches alone and start a fund for the suffering clergy? Many laymen would the more willingly subscribe if they thought that, thereby, these sacred buildings of the greatest city in the Empire would be allowed to remain on the sites which they have adorned for so long. I remain yours obediently, frederick duleep singh, Carlton Club, Pall Mall, SWI. Sir, The question at issue is whether the not inglorious history of the most wonderful city in the world is to be obliterated. The City churches are our sole surviving links with old London. To destroy them is to destroy history; to rebuild them elsewhere is to falsify history. It is London’s unique good fortune to possess a heritage of architectural glory such as no other city on earth can show.
Edmund Walters.