St Andrew Holborn - St Andrew Street, London, UK
N 51° 31.039 W 000° 06.422
30U E 700713 N 5711323
St Andrew Holborn has been a site of worship for at least 1000 years so was most certainly around when Charles Dickens wrote 'Oliver Twist'.
Waymark Code: WMGF8M
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/25/2013
Views: 3
The relevant passage from Chapter 21 -
'The Expedition' in Charles Dicken's novel 'Oliver Twist' can
be found here.
It reads:
"Mr. Sikes, dragging Oliver after
him, elbowed his way through the thickest of the crowd, and bestowed very little
attention on the numerous sights and sounds, which so astonished the boy. He
nodded, twice or thrice, to a passing friend; and, resisting as many invitations
to take a morning dram, pressed steadily onward, until they were clear of the
turmoil, and had made their way through Hosier Lane into
Holborn.
‘Now, young ‘un!’ said Sikes,
looking up at the clock of St. Andrew’s Church, ‘hard upon seven! you
must step out. Come, don’t lag behind already, Lazy-legs!’
Mr. Sikes accompanied this speech
with a jerk at his little companion’s wrist; Oliver, quickening his pace into a
kind of trot between a fast walk and a run, kept up with the rapid strides of
the house-breaker as well as he could.
They held their course at this
rate, until they had passed Hyde Park corner, and were on their way to
Kensington: when Sikes relaxed his pace, until an empty cart which was at some
little distance behind, came up. Seeing ‘Hounslow’ written on it, he asked the
driver with as much civility as he could assume, if he would give them a lift as
far as Isleworth."
Sikes and Oliver Twist were travelling
from east to west London. Hosier Lane, like St Andrew's church, still exists
today. It is about 250 metres east of the Church close to Smithfield
market.