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William Niven: The Thames Cathedral

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William S Niven designed in 1886 what will be later called the Thames Cathedral, or St. Albans Church. It was commissioned by the then vicar Rev. Francis Leith Boyd. The construction of the new parish was needed after the railway line contributed to an exponential increase of the population. Its construction was made thanks to an extensive fundraising by the parishioners and the first foundation stone was laid in 1887. Niven designed the Church in the French Gothic style which in those years was a very popular style. All structural details are similar to the Parisian Cathedral, with very few exceptions, like the absence of Gargoyles (Mythological figures used to keep water away from the facade). Similarity we can find in the construction but

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