St Martin in the Fields (off Trafalgar Square) in London

The St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church is located at the northeastern corner of the Trafalgar Square. Designed by James Gibbs in 1726, The St. Martin's has always added a new dimension to the conventional definition of a Church. Be it being the first free lending library to hosting the first religious broadcast, St. Martin's has never stepped back from a new venture. The church is indeed an architectural marvel. The west front has a beautiful Corinthian portico, surmounted by a soaring steeple. The six columns of the portico are raised on a flight of steps above St. Martin's Lane. In the present, the church has to its credit a lot of activities, quite a few of them being charitable ones. Among others, the church helps the homeless (through The Connection), provides a lunchtime soup kitchen, free lunchtime concerts and also has an award-winning café. St. Martin's also has the graves of many famous people including Nell Gwynn, mistress of Charles II, painters William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds and the renowned craftsman Thomas Chippendale. It has always played an active and constructive role in the world around it, be it architectural, spiritual, social or cultural. St. Martin-in-the-Fields also happens to be the official parish church for the Buckingham Palace. A £34 million restoration and expansion project for the St. Martin's started in the year 2005.