London's Churches
Clockwise from main: St-Mary-le-Bow;
St Bartholomew the Great, the second oldest church in London; the remains of
Christ Church Greyfriars, known as Christ Church
Unusually, it is octagonal in shape. Whitehall architect Inigo Jones was christened there. Dating from 1450, the church of St Olave, Hart Street is
another that escaped the Great Fire. It is a delightfully fussy, intricate little church with stone vaulting and whitewashed interior walls. Dickens called it St Ghastly Grim – a reference to the stone skulls and crossbones above the churchyard entrance. Samuel Pepys and his wife are buried here as is, reputedly, Mother Goose. A plaque opposite the church records the Navy Office where Pepys worked. St Mary Abchurch is acclaimed for having the most
complete, unaltered Wren interior. Set just off Cannon Street, it too has a dome and is furnished with pews and woodwork of a deep intensity. The star piece is the 17th-century Grinling Gibbons reredos (altarpiece carving). A victim of a wartime air-raid, tradition says it was smashed into more than two thousand pieces. Each was carefully collected, to be meticulously reassembled. In terms of originality, the 18th-century St Botolph Without in Bishopsgate is unusual. Markedly oblong in form, it has fine galleries running along each side. John Keats was christened here in 1795. However, as we know, many fine places of worship have failed to stand the test of time. Delightfully named
It is a breathtaking fact that prior to the Great Fire, this compact
little area – just one square mile – was home to 97 parish churches.
churches such as St Benet Sherehog and St Michael-le- Querne fell victim to the fire. Others such as St Benet Fink and St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange fell more recently. Most survive in spirit and memory only. A few, however, remain in more tangible form. Christ Church, Newgate Street, a large Wren church,
was a victim of wartime bombs. His tower and steeple remain, surrounded by gardens. No less than three queens were buried here, including the wife of Edward II. St Augustine-with-St Faith, in Watling Street – yet
another Wren church – suffered a similar fate. The tower, however, survived and was restored, where it stands under the watchful eye of St Paul’s Cathedral. Meanwhile, the brick tower of St Martin Orgar in the City’s Martin Lane is all that is left after the body of the church was destroyed by the Great Fire. The tower has been partially restored and a clock projects over the pavement, still marking time. Where the main building stood, there's now peaceful gardens. All told, the accumulated age of London’s churches
amounts to many, many millennia. Mighty cathedrals, churches humble, churches magnificent, some sumptuous, others fussy, functional or ruined, yet equally they stand, oblivious to time and season.
To view contact details for the churches mentioned in this article visit the BRITAIN website at
www.britain-magazine.com
32 BRITAIN
www.britain-magazine.com
PHOTOS: PAUL BARRATT/ © LATITUDESTOCK/ALAMY/VISITBRITAIN/ERIC NATHAN
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