A visit to St Mary le Strand church

Sitting in the middle of the road outside Somerset House on Strand is a grand church with a tall steeple it shouldn’t have. This is St Mary le Strand, the second church of the name in the area – the original one being recorded as existing in 1222, so next year is its 800th anniversary.
Not this specific church though, as the original was slightly to the south, and demolished in 1549 to make space for Somerset House, and the current church dates to 1714-17.
The current church was one