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St Mary Aldermanbury
It was in December 2003, on a cold but thankfully dry day, that I adjourned to the London Guildhall and spent a couple of hours browsing its fascinating Library with my companion, top TTFF mover and shaker Pete G. Lunch was a visit to a sandwich shop just across the road, where a ciabatta and…Continue…
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St Martin in the Field
St Martin In The Fields is not only the most well known of the parish churches in London, it is probably one of the best known in the world. Thanks to its position overlooking Trafalgar Square, it has appeared in countless paintings and photographs, and its orchestra – the Academy of St Martins – has…Continue…
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St Leonards Shoreditch
**”When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch…’** Apparently the rhyme originally referred to ‘Fleetditch’ and the bells were those of St Brides. Why it changed appears to be unknown. The suburb of Shoreditch seems to have begun in late Saxon times, at the junction of two Roman roads leading to Bishopsgate. The earliest…Continue…
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St Lawrence Jewry
Standing proud on the south side of Guildhall Yard, the church of St Lawrence can owe its survival to its position as the Church of the Corporation of London. Originally, the Guildhall possessed its own Chapel but after this was turned into a court in 1782, the Corporation’s services moved to St Lawrence. The area…Continue…
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St Helens Bishopsgate
Perhaps the greatest irony with St Helens is that, as a monastic building, it managed to survive the Dissolution, the Great Fire and the Blitz… only to be hit by a double whammy of terrorist bombs during the 90’s. The 1992 St Mary Axe explosion saw it receive damage from the north, while the Bishopsgate…Continue…
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St Giles In The Fields
St Giles In The Fields is certainly a site of contrasts. To begin with, there have been no proper fields in this area of high urban density for a long time, unless one counts the large but somewhat shabby-looking churchyard, so the name is in conflict with the reality.The second noticeable contrast is the building…Continue…
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St Giles Cripplegate
Approaching St Giles. the impression given is that of a survivor. Surrounded by the Barbican development, the medieval church has endured several fires and one incendiary bombing. The surrounding area was shattered by the WW2 bombs and the Barbican rose from the ashes, but St Giles – after a Godfrey Allen restoration – carried on.…Continue…
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St Clement Danes
Oranges and Lemons, say the bells of St Clements…’ It is historically unsure whether the famous nursery rhyme refers to St Clement Danes or St Clements Eastcheap. Many researchers favour the latter. Nevertheless, it is the former that has appropriated the song, and proudly refers to itself as the ‘Oranges and Lemons Church’. Standing in…Continue…
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St Brides Fleet Street
St Brides has a long history, probably due to the proximity of a Holy Well once dedicated to St Bridget, from which the church received its dedication. Indeed, the name Bridewell has been synonymous with the area for centuries, and is now the name of a nearby theatre. On the site of the future church,…Continue…
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St Bartholomew The Great
Smithfield is not an attractive area, with the sprawling hospital complex of St Barts on one side and the untidy meat market on the other. A couple of plaques on the hospital wall remind the passerby of certain less savoury aspects of the area’s history, by memorialising Protestant martyrs who were burned here during the…Continue…
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St Andrew Undershaft
At the start of the new Millenium, after centuries of obselescence, St Andrew’s suffix has now gained new meaning, as it stands today in the shadow of the soaring Swiss RE building, more colloquially known as the Gherkin. Originally, however, the name had a different meaning. The history of the site may extend as far…Continue…
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All Hallows by the Tower
Barking Abbey, the remains of which still be seen, was founded by Erkenwald in the year 666. Owning land on the eastern edge of the City, the Abbey constructed the Saxon church of All Hallows Berkyngechirche on Tower Hill in 675. Over the centuries, the name mutated to All Hallows Barking. The exterior of the…Continue…
