Sketch for “The Reconciliation of the Merhcant Taylors’ with the Skinners’ Company, in the time of Richard the Third” one of a series of paintings executed for the Royal Exchange, London, 1896

Photo credit: Yale University Art Gallery

Edwin Austin Abbey RA (April 1, 1852 – August 1, 1911) was an American muralist, illustrator, and painter. He flourished at the beginning of what is now referred to as the "golden age" of illustration, and is best known for his drawings and paintings of Shakespearean and Victorian subjects, as well as for his painting of Edward VII's coronation.^[1]^[2]^[3] His most famous set of murals, The Quest of the Holy Grail, adorns the Boston Public Library.

Edwin Austin Abbey - Wikipedia via kwout

Old St Andrew's Church, Kingsbury, is a Romanian Orthodox and former Anglican church in the London Borough of Brent, Greater London, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building,^[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.^[2]

The present church dates from the 12th or the 13th century,^[1] and it is considered to be the oldest standing building in Brent.^[2] However an earlier church had been on the site, possibly from the Saxon period.^[2] By about 1244–48 the church had been appropriated to the hospital of St John of Jerusalem. In 1393 it had a dual dedication to Saint Andrew and Saint John the Baptist. Additions and alterations were made to the church in the 14th and 15th centuries. However, by 1796 it was in a dilapidated state. In 1840 it had a major restoration; the south porch, the roof bosses and the rood screen were removed. The exterior was covered in roughcast, a gallery was added and a brick vestry was built. The bellcote was rebuilt in 1870, and another restoration took place in 1888 when the vestry was removed, and a new vestry built on the north side of the church. In 1906 the roof was re-tiled, and there was a further restoration in 1955.^[3]
In 1884 a new church had been built in the parish, dedicated to the Holy Innocents, and St Andrew's became its chapel of ease. By the late 1920s, due to an increase in the size of the local population, St Andrew's was too small. In 1933 a new church, also dedicated to Saint Andrew, was erected on a site close to the old church. This church had originated in 1847 in Wells Street in the Marylebone area of London. It was demolished and rebuilt in Kingsbury.^[3] The old church was declared redundant on 1 April 1977, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 7 October 2010.^[4]

Lease to the Romanian Orthodox Church

In 2008 the Church of England gave permission for Old St Andrew's Church to be used as a place of worship for north-west London's growing Romanian community. In 2012 the Romanian Orthodox Church was given a twenty-year lease for use of the church, and it is now once again a place of worship.^[5]