‘I do not know, say the Great bells of Bow’ The bells of Bow are indeed famous, and not just because of the song. They are the bells that called back Dick Whittington, they were used during the Second World War by the BBC as a signal for those secretly listening abroad, and legend tells…
St Mary Abchurch is one of the easiest of the City Churches to actually miss. Rather than occupying any lofty position, or possessing a high steeple that towers over the surrounding vista, it is situated halfway down a narrow and easily overlooked thoroughfare called Abchurch Lane, linking the more formidable highways Cannon Street and King…
It was ten to four on a weekday afternoon when I slipped through the door of St Mary, just as its courteous and bow-tied custodian was about to lock it. ‘Sorry,’ I said, ‘I’ll come back another time.’‘Not at all,’ he beamed, and gave me a guided tour. He was proud of his church, and rightly so; one…
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…
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…
**”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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…