St Mary at Hill Church is on St Mary Hill between Eastcheap
and Lower Thames Street. A church has existed here since before
1177, probably Norman in construction. Records from 1420 show two
small churchyards for burials. The most popular was the little area
to the south, near the present rectory. The tower and steeple were
replaced in 1787-1789 by Gwilt's square brick tower, but the bells
in the original tower were rung for the coronation of Henry VIII.
More recently they were removed as the cost to
restore them was too high. The Great Fire of 1666 gutted the
interior of the church, leaving only the walls and the brickwork of
the tower. The church was rebuilt, perhaps to Robert Hooke's
designs, using as much of the original fabric as possible. It was
reopened in 1677. Another fire in 1848 and yet again in 1988 saw
further changes to the fixtures and fittings inside the church,
including the rebuilt ceiling.
The Guild Church of St Margaret Pattens is
on Rood Lane where it meets Great Tower Street. For at least nine
hundred years a church dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch has stood
in what is now Eastcheap. The earliest known reference is to a small
wooden building in 1067. In 1411, after holding the patronage for a
short time, Lord Mayor Richard Whittington gave it to the Mayor and
Commonalty of London. The old building was pulled down and
reconstructed in 1538.
Seventeenth century repairs were destroyed in the
Great Fire. Christopher Wren handled the rebuilding work, probably
on its medieval foundations, at a cost of nearly £5,000 between
1684-1687. Damaged during the Second World War, St Margaret's was
restored in 1955-1956. In 1954 the church ceased to be a parish
church and became one of the City's so-called 'guild churches',
within the living of the Lord Chancellor and under the jurisdiction
of the bishop of London.
St Gabriel Fen stood on what later became
Fenchurch Street, in the middle of the crowded and busy street
opposite the entrance to Cullum Street. The church, which was a
little way north of St Margaret Pattens, was first mentioned in 1321,
taking its name from the marshy ground on which it was built. It
received three new bells in 1552 and was tidied up in 1631. Just
three decades later, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire and
was not selected for rebuilding.
St Dionis Backchurch is a little way west
of St Gabriel Fen, still on Fenchurch Street on the north-eastern
corner with Lime Street. The church was dedicated to the patron
saint of France and is first mentioned in 1538. Services were later
attended by Samuel Pepys. The church was destroyed by the Great Fire
and rebuilt by Wren in 1674. A steeple was added in 1684, and a new
organ added in 1724. The church was deemed unnecessary in 1878 and
demolished.
St Benet Gracechurch used to
stand at St Benet's Place. Its approximate location
is now St Benet's Lane on the eastern side of Gracechurch Street,
close to the junction with Fenchurch Street. The name is short for
Benedict of Nursia, the sixth century founder of monasticism in the
West, while 'Gracechurch' comes from 'grass' which was sold as hay
nearby. The first reference to the church is from 1053, and it was
improved in 1630 and 1633, but lost in the Great Fire.
All Hallows Lombard Street was on the
north-western corner of Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street. Also
known as the 'Hidden Church' when it was hemmed in by tall City
buildings, its first mention comes from 1054. It was built up in
stages, with the bell tower finally being added in 1554. Badly
damaged in the Great Fire it was rebuilt in 1694. In 1879 ten bells
from St Dionis Backchurch were added but in 1937 the building was
condemned as being unsafe and demolished.
St Edmund King & Martyr is on the
northern side of Lombard Street, just a few metres west of where All
Hallows used to stand. The church was first recorded in 1292, when
it was known as Saint Edmund towards Garcherche. Another mention in
1348 called it Saint Edmund in Lombardestrete. John Stow's Survey
of London 1598 calls it St Edmund Grass Church. The medieval
church building was destroyed by the Great Fire and rebuilt by Wren
between 1670-1679.
The new church had a tower designed like a
lighthouse, ornamented at the angles by flaming urns in an allusion
to the Great Fire. The position of the church is unusual as it is
orientated with the altar at the north, instead of the east. The
church was restored in 1864 and further work was undertaken in 1880,
but damaged by bombing in 1917. The church is still consecrated, but
since 2001 it has been the home of The London Centre for Spirituality.
Additional editing to one photo on this page by
Dana Grohol.
Find us on Facebook
