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St Stephen Wallbrook
The Walbrook once divided the City of Londinium, flowing between the two hills upon which the City was constructed. Today, the river flows subterraneously, but the gradients leading down to its valley are still highly visible. At one time there were several churches upon its banks: St Mary Woolchurch Haw, now the site of the Mansion House, and St John Walbrook, both victims of the Great Fire. St Stephen, despite various traumas throughout its history, is the sole survivor. The original Saxon church stood on the west bank of the Walbrook, but in the year 1428 the Mayor Robert Chichley donated to the parish a plot of ground on the east bank for the purpose of erecting a Gothic church with its own churchyard. The foundation stones were laid the following year by various benefactors, including Chichley himself, the current Mayor Henry Barton, a contributor called William Stodden and the wealthy draper Richard Whittington, who later purchased the patronage of the church from the powerful Duke of Bedford, uncle to the youthful Henry VI. This Gothic building was completed in 1439. A notable burial took place during the building's lifetime: John Dunstable, master of astronomy and music, who was once described as 'the greatest composer in Europe', d.1453.
The church was destroyed during the Great Fire and was rebuilt by Wren as his major City Church, an experimental baroque variation on his classicism. It cost £7,672, was completed in 1679 with a later tower probably by Hawksmoor, and was highly lauded. It was said to be '...famous all over Europe and justly reputed... perhaps Italy itself can produce no modern buildings that can vie with this in taste and proportion'. The sculptor Canova expressed a desire to visit London merely to see St Paul's, Somerset House and St Stephen Walbrook. Even the great Palladio himself remarked that the church was 'the finest proportioned enclosed building in the world.'
In his recent publication 'The Real Wren Churches', Stephen Wheatley claims that St Stephens is 'almost impossible to describe'. I will endeavour to prove him wrong, but the sentiment is understandable - dry descriptions fail to do much credit to a building that was very much designed as a feast for the eyes.
The exterior is plain. Wren rightly refused to create anything too ornate for the exteriors of his churches, reasoning - quite correctly - that there would be little point in elaborate exterior pretensions when the churches were destined to be closed in and mostly concealed by surrounding buildings. It is ragstone, with a Portland stone steeple which rises in stages to four balls and a vane. Entering the church from its western door, one is immediately confronted with a fairly steep stone stair which leads to the lobby. On the wall to the left is a large stone tablet, carrying a Latin inscription in praise of Wren.
The church interior itself is entered through a baroque screen below the organ case. It is actually a rectangle, its bays arranged to form a longitudinal Latin cross, but other architectural elements such as a Greek cross have also been observed; as Betjeman noticed, Wren showed how to make 'a plain rectangle interesting and full of vistas'. Clever design techniques actually make it feel almost circular and centrally planned. Sixteen columns create a colonnade effect, and twelve of these support the glory of the church - its Dome. Two of Wren's churches contain domed ceilings (the other is St Mary Abchurch), experimental practice runs for what would later become the great Dome of St Pauls Cathedral. Light streams into the building through the clear glass of the windows, lantern and clerestory, and together with the perfect proportions of the interior, an impression of airiness and lightness pervades.
Incendiaries struck the church during the second world war, and Wren's Dome was fatally damaged. Under the auspices of a less sympathetic restorer, this could have been a tragedy but instead, Godfrey Allen reconstructed it in replica in 1951-2. Thirty years later the church was forced to close again, as the waters of the Walbrook were seeping into the foundations and threatening to collapse the Dome. Under the charge of Lord Palumbo, the church underwent extensive underpinning while, at the same time, the interior was controversially re-ordered. Traditional pews were dispensed with and a new stone altar was commisioned from the sculptor Henry Moore. Likened by critics to a 'ripe camembert cheese', it sat in a field near Moore's studio at Much Hadham while the controversy was the subject of a rare sitting of the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved. Originally carved at a quarry near Rome, the same quarry from which Michaelangelo drew his material, the altar was accepted and now forms the centrepiece of the church. The controversy did not prevent the church hosting a Royal Wedding - that of Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones, the Queen's niece, and it remains the parish church of the Lord Mayor and his Mansion House staff.
Since the addition of Moore's altar, two other modern sculptures, tinted red and blue, have been added to the interior. Despite these modern additions, many of the elements are contemporary with Wren. The stone font dates from 1679 and was carved by Thomas Strong, Wren's master mason - its wooden cover is decorated with representations of Christ, Faith, Hope and Charity as well as the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. The canopied pulpit, with elaborate panelling, is by William Newman. Over the vestry door hangs 'The Adoration of the Magi' by Lodovico Cardi.
The most unusual relic is an old telephone, standing on a plinth in the corner of the church. In 1953 the Rector, Chad Varah, set up this telephone in the vestry as a hot line for the depressed and suicidal. This grew into the organisation now known as The Samaritans, with 203 branches across the country, and in 1974 Varah founded Befrienders International in the church, to link the 350 branches which exist in 41 countries.
The walls are covered with memorials, the most notable of which is an early twentieth century plaque to John Dunstable, set up by a Company of Musicians. Dr Nathaniel Hodges also has a memorial. He was a brave physician who refused to flee the Great Plague of 1665, staying in London to treat the afflicted. He was buried here in 1688.These, in my opinion, highlight the curious fact that St Stephen's most famous interment currently lacks a memorial. The playwright and architect Sir John Vanbrugh was buried in a family vault inside St Stephens in 1726, his original epitaph amusingly reading 'Lie heavy on him, earth, for he laid many heavy loads on thee!' This reflects the grand Palladian style of Vanbrugh, which is best seen today with his famous works Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. The epitaph has since disappeared, probably during one of the refittings, and it seems a shame to me that the man who created Blenheim - itself now a World Heritage Site - should be in want of a monument of his own.
In essence, then, from the outside St Stephens Walbrook seems a typical Wren church, but for those with an eye for architecture the interior is a rare treat. Even those who do not concern themselves with the niceties of baroque and classicism will realise quickly that the interior is something very special. I find it impossible these days to actually walk past the building... no matter how often I visit it, St Stephen's Walbrook never fails to inspire!
Author Mark McManus
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