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St. Clement Danes
St Clement Danes derives its name from the earliest church to stand on the site, founded by descendants of the Danish invaders, whom Alfred the Great allowed to remain in London in the 9th century.
The body of the present church was rebuilt in 1680 - 82 by Sir Christopher Wren, and in 1669 Joshua Marshall created the west tower, the familiar spire added by James Gibbs in 1719.
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St Clements Danes was damaged by bombing in 1941, and the restoration work was carried out by Anthony Lloyd in 1955.
Since 1958 St Clement Danes has served as the central church of the Royal Air Force. The naive and aisles have the crests of hundreds of RAF squadrons, and below the aisle windows are the RAF rolls of honour. The unusually wide aisle of the church has over 700 squadron badges in slate set into the floor. At the west end is a larger badge for the RAF, surrounded by the badges of overseas allies, together with carved stalls for the commanders of the RAF.
