St George's, Hanover Square

St George's, Hanover Square, was built in the early eighteenth century to serve a rapidly expanding London population. The project was part of a government initiative to construct fifty new churches across the city. When construction began in 1721, the surrounding area was still rural enough that you could find people hunting snipe and woodcock in the nearby meadows. General William Steuart, a local resident and military commander, donated the land for the site and famously marked the start of construction by pouring a libation of wine over the first stone.