Symbols & Secrets

Walking the City of London

My favourite London scenes from the Guildhall Art Gallery (and the return of a popular masterpiece).

Regular readers will know that I love the Guildhall Art Gallery! It describes itself as one of the City’s best kept secrets and that certainly seems to be true since when I visit I often feel like I almost have the place to myself.

This week I popped in to see what was on display with particular reference to London. My usual favourites were there along with some interesting new additions.

Among the new arrivals was this painting by Doreen Fletcher (b.1952) 0f the Carlyle Hotel, Bayswater, around 1981 …

I think her paintings are fabulous and I am the proud owner of a signed copy of a book about her work published by The Gentle Author. I also own two of her prints, Still Standing – Commercial Road

And Hot Dog Stand, Mile End

You can read more about her here and here. The book I own is now out of print but you may be lucky and find a copy on eBay.

Another new arrival at the Gallery is this work by Grete Marks (1899-1990) entitled London Wharves (1972) …

I really like the textures of the material she has incorporated …

Margarete or Grete Marks was born in Cologne, Germany, where she studied at the School of Arts and later at Dusseldorf Academy before entering the Bauhaus School of Arts in Weimar in November 1920. At this time the Bauhaus was in its first incarnation under Walter Gropius and enjoyed enormous influence over the fine and decorative arts throughout Europe.

A painting by Sharon Beavan (b.1956) entitled View from Rotherfield Street to the Barbican (1989) …

I really get a sense of the higgledy piggledy that is London. You can read more about Sharon here.

Another newcomer I like is this oil on canvas Camberwell Flats by Night (1983) by David Hepher (b.1935) …


Hepher first started painting South East London’s high-rise architecture in the 1970s, inspired by the scale and impact of the tower blocks on the London skyline. Camberwell Flats by Night reflects Hepher’s sustained focus on residential architecture, and the details of ordinary, everyday life. He refers to his architecturally-themed works as landscape paintings, equating the powerful effects of the built environment on human experience to those of the natural world. He has said, “I think of myself as a landscape painter; I live in the city, so I paint the urban landscape.”

The Gallery acquired the painting in 2022 and it required some conservation. You can read about what that entailed here.

I looked up a few old favourites as well.

Two examples of City pomp and ceremony.

First, The Ceremony of Administering the Mayoralty Oath to Nathaniel Newnham, 8 November 1782. Nathaniel Newnham (before a sugar-baker and a founder of the private bank of Newnham) became Lord Mayor in 1782 and is seen here in his black and gold state robe being admitted in Guildhall on November 8 in the Silent Ceremony …

He faces William Bishop, the Common Cryer, who holds the book from which he reads his Oath with William Rix, the Town Clerk; behind stands Heron Powney, the Sword Bearer with the upraised Sword of State and beside him is William Montague, the Clerk of the Chamber of London …

The two small boys at the bottom right are nephews of the Lord Mayor …

The other is one of my favourites, William Logsdail’s painting entitled The Ninth of November 1888

Although it’s the Lord Mayor’s procession in this picture he is nowhere to be seen and the artist has concentrated on the liveried beadles (who he actually painted in his studio)…

… and the people in the crowd …

There is a minstrel in blackface with his banjo and next to him a little boy is nicking an orange from the old lady’s basket. On the right of the picture the man in the brown hat, next to the soldier with the very pale face, is Logsdail’s friend the painter Sir James Whitehead.

Naughty boy!

It’s a sobering thought that, not far away in the East End that afternoon, police were discovering the body of Mary Kelly, believed to be the last of Jack the Ripper’s victims.

A view of Blackfriars Bridge and the City from Lambeth about 1762 by William Marlow (1740-1813) who was, as can be seen, very influenced by Canaletto. The City’s wharves are viewed through the Portland Stone elliptical arches while St Paul’s stands out in the background. At the north end are the buildings of New Bridge Street and the spire of St Martin Ludgate. In the centre of the picture, a wherry conveys passengers and their belongings downriver …

The demolition of old London Bridge increased the flow of the river under Blackfriars Bridge, weakening it. It therefore had to be replaced with the current iron and granite bridge built between 1860 and 1869.

The Thames and Southwark Bridge in 1884 by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) are represented here on a quiet night under the moonlight. St. Paul’s prominent dome is seen on the right side, along with the spires of St Augustine, St Mary-le-Bow and St Antholin. A few vessels are in the dark on the left. The river and the sky are open pathways for the flood of light …

John Atkinson Grimshaw began working as a railway clerk for Great Northern Railway and had no formal training. Despite parental opposition, he took up painting at the age of twenty-five. In the 1880s, he began to paint London views, concentrating on moonlight subjects. From 1885 to 1887 Grimshaw had a studio at Trafalgar Studios, Manresa Road, Chelsea and knew Whistler well. It is said that Whistler confessed he had regarded himself as the inventor of nocturnes until he saw Atkinson Grimshaw’s ‘moonlights’.

The Monument from Gracechurch Street after Canaletto (artist unknown). We are looking towards Fish Street Hill and old London Bridge, with the Church of St. Magnus the Martyr in the background. Many reproductions were made after Giovanni Antonio Canal, who was colloquially known as Canaletto. These were in high demand after various British nobles and even King George III started collecting them …

This painting shows the wide thoroughfares of eighteenth century London and the bustle of the city. The Monument, designed by Dr Robert Hooke and the architect Christopher Wren, was erected between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the fire and the rebuilding of the City.

Finally, if you visit the Gallery now you will see a notice about the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch …

and the nearby garden …

It’s really nice to see some green space in the Guildhall courtyard …

And art by the children of serving families …

As the notice says, the painted dolls at the front of the garden represent unity and love for children everywhere who are suffering in times of conflict …

Oh, and by the way, one of Gallery’s most popular paintings is back on display after being featured in Tate Britain’s ‘The Rossettis’ exhibitions in London and the Delaware Art Museum. Described by the Pre-Raphaelite artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti as “my very best picture”, ‘La Ghirlandata’ was acquired by the City of London Corporation in 1927 for its permanent art collection and is displayed in the gallery’s main Victorian exhibition space …

The 1873 oil on canvas depicts ‘the garlanded woman’ playing an arpanetta and looking directly at the viewer. The artist’s muse for the central figure was the actor and model, Alexa Wilding, with two ‘angels’ in the top corners posed by William and Jane Morris’ youngest daughter, May Morris.

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Famous monarchs with City connections.

What better place and person to start with than the Tower of London and William I (a.k.a ‘The Conqueror’ and ‘The Bastard’).

As everyone knows, he invaded England and defeated King Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066. His reign is primarily remembered for the compilation of the Domesday Book in 1086 and for the building of many castles.

The castle which later became known as the Tower of London was begun in 1066 and was originally a timber fortification enclosed by a palisade. In the next decade work began on the White Tower, the great stone keep that still dominates the castle today …

William was keen to keep the City of London placated and not to disrupt commerce. In order to do this, after his coronation but before he entered the City, he issued the William Charter.

Written on vellum (parchment) in Old English, it measures just six inches by one-and-a-half inches …

Translated into modern English, the Charter reads as follows:

‘William the king, friendly salutes William the bishop and Godfrey the portreeve and all the burgesses within London both French and English. And I declare that I grant you to be all law-worthy, as you were in the days of King Edward; And I grant that every child shall be his father’s heir, after his father’s days; And I will not suffer any person to do you wrong; God keep you.’

City of London historians point out that one of the citizens’ primary concerns, as expressed by the words – “And I grant that every child shall be his father’s heir, after his father’s days” – was to ensure that their property handed down to the son and heir, rather than attracting the interest of the Crown.

Here he is as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry …

There are two main accounts of his death in 1087. While some vaguely state that he became ill on the battlefield, collapsing through heat and the effort of fighting, William of Malmesbury added the gruesome detail that William’s belly protruded so much that he was mortally wounded when he was thrown onto the pommel of his saddle. Since the wooden pommels of medieval saddles were high and hard, and often reinforced with metal, William of Malmesbury’s suggestion is a plausible one. There’s a witty article about William’s demise here in the journal Historic UK.

William was followed as king by his third son, also called William but commonly called Rufus because of his ruddy complexion and red hair. The gossipy William of Malmsbury hinted that the King was homosexual since he surrounded himself with young men who ‘rival young women in delicacy’. Here he is as illustrated in the miniature from Historia Anglorum, c. 1253 …

Whilst hunting in the New Forest on 2 August 1100 he was accidentally killed by an arrow from one of his own men …

A relic of Rufus’s time is the crypt of St Mary-le-Bow which I wrote about a few weeks ago. I wonder if any of Rufus’s ‘delicate’ young men ever walked down these beautifully worn steps …

You will find some very interesting history and more images in the crypt Conservation and Management Plan of 2007.

William II was followed on the throne by his youngest brother, Henry. He was crowned three days after his brother’s death (3rd August 1100) against the possibility that his eldest brother Robert might claim the English throne on his imminent return from the Crusade. His life was blighted in 1120 when the ‘White Ship’ bearing both his sons sank in the channel. This is a 13th century depiction of the tragic event …

Subsequently he made his barons swear to accept his daughter, Matilda, as his heir. Henry died on 2nd December 1135 from ‘a surfeit of lampreys’ – probably food poisoning.

For a sense of Henry’s time, make a visit to the church of St Bartholomew the Great.

St Bartholomew’s was established by Rahere, a courtier and favourite of the king. It is thought that it was the death of the Henry’s wife, Matilda, followed two years later by the White Ship drownings, that prompted Rahere to renounce his profession for a more worthy life and make his pilgrimage to Rome.

In Rome, like many pilgrims, he fell ill. As he lay delirious he prayed for his life vowing that, if he survived, he would set up a hospital for the poor in London. His prayers were answered and he recovered. As he turned for home the vision of Saint Bartholomew appeared to him and said “I am Bartholomew who have come to help thee in thy straights. I have chosen a spot in a suburb of London at Smoothfield where, in my name, thou shalt found a church.”

True to his word Rahere set up both a church, a priory of Augustinian canons, and the hospital. He lived to see their completion – indeed he served as both prior of the priory and master of the hospital – and it is possible that he was nursed at Barts before his death in 1145. His tomb lies in the church.

He wears the habit of an Augustinian canon and the angel carries a shield with the arms of the priory.

You get a nice view of the flint and Portland Stone western facade of the church from the raised churchyard. An old barrel tomb rests in the foreground …

Bear in mind that the original church was vast and also covered the area now occupied by the graveyard and the path. This used to be the nave, as illustrated in this plan on display in the church …

Stepping into the church seems to transport you to another time and place …

The patchworked exterior gives no hint of the stunning Romanesque interior, with its characteristic round arches and sturdy pillars. It’s a rare sight in London; indeed, this is reckoned to be the best preserved and finest Romanesque church interior in the City. I visited it back in 2020 and you can read the blog here.

Nearby is this impressive statue of Henry VIII over the main entrance to St Bartholomew’s hospital, the only outdoor statue of the king in London. If you have seen and admired the famous Holbein portrait, the king’s pose here is very familiar. He stands firmly and sternly with his legs apart, one hand on his dagger, the other holding a sceptre. He also sports an impressive codpiece …

Bart’s, as it became known affectionately, was put seriously at risk in 1534, when Henry VIII commenced the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The nearby priory of St Bartholomew was suppressed in 1539 and the hospital would have followed had not the City fathers petitioned the king and asked for it to be granted back to the City. Their motives were not entirely altruistic. The hospital, they said, was needed to help:

the myserable people lyeing in the streete, offendyng every clene person passyng by the way with theyre fylthye and nastye savors.

Henry finally agreed in December 1546 on condition that the refounded hospital was renamed ‘House of the poore on West Smithfield in the suburbs of the City of London, of King Henry’s foundation’. I suspect people still tended to call it Bart’s.

You can see the agreement document, along with Henry’s signature, in the hospital museum

It also bears Henry’s seal, the king charging into battle on horseback accompanied by a dog …

The King finally got full public recognition when the gatehouse was rebuilt in 1702 and his statue was placed where we still see it today. The work was undertaken and overseen by the mason John Strong, who was at the same time working for Sir Christopher Wren on St Paul’s Cathedral. Such were the masons’ talents, no architectural plans were needed to complete the work.

And finally, poor Queen Anne, whose statue stands outside St Paul’s Cathedral.

Wearing a golden crown, she has the Order of St George around her neck, a sceptre in her right hand and the orb in her left.

She was close to the architect, the brilliant Christopher Wren, who wrote to her to ask her to help when his salary was being witheld and his work obstructed …

The letter is held in the National Archives SP34/29 f 133.

It’s difficult not to feel sorry for Anne. Her personal life was marked by the tragedy of losing 18 children (including twins) through miscarriage, stillbirth and early death. Two of her daughters, Mary and Anne Sophia, died within days of each other, both aged under two years, of smallpox in 1687.

Anne was 37 years old when she became queen in 1702. At her coronation she was suffering from a bad attack of gout and had to be carried to the ceremony in an open sedan chair with a low back so that her six-yard train could pass to her ladies walking behind. Her medical conditions made her life very sedentary and she gradually put on a lot of weight. She died after suffering a stroke on Sunday 1st August 1714 at the age of 49. You can read much more about her in my blog Queen Anne – tales of tragedy, love and vandalism.

For a glimpse of the architecture of her time there are no finer City examples than 1 and 2 Laurence Pountney Hill …

They were built in 1703 as a pair of red brick, four-storey houses, on the site of a single post-fire house. They are considered to be finest surviving houses of this period in the City with elaborately carved foliage friezes around the doors and cornice above and ornate shell-hoods over the doorways.  The virtuosity of the woodwork is explained by the fact that the houses were built by a master carpenter, Thomas Denning. He had worked on Wren’s church of St Michael Paternoster Royal nearby and would later contribute to Hawksmoor’s St Mary Woolnoth. Like other ambitious craftsmen, Denning branched out into the cut throat world of speculative building. At Laurence Pountney Hill he appealed to the market by ingeniously contriving two basements beneath the houses. This created an abundance of storage space that would be attractive to the London merchants, whose houses doubled as business premises. Denning’s speculation paid off; on 15 July 1704 he sold both houses to Mr John Harris for £3,190, a tidy sum.

The delightful doorway hoods. Look closely – the cherubs on the right are playing bowls!

Here is a close-up (you may have to concentrate – they are not always obvious) …

The date is still visible despite years of over-painting …

The buildings in 1905 with the door to number 1 open revealing the lovely original curved staircase …

There are other fine architectural examples of the period in the very appropriately named Queen Anne’s Gate in Westminster …

The lady herself has a statue there …

When I worked nearby I was told that, at midnight on her birthday, she would step off her plinth and promenade along the street inspecting the houses. The statue has an interesting history which you can read about here.

There is also a fascinating description of the street’s cannopies and carvings in the excellent London Inheritance blog.

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Bunhill Birds, being told to ‘be quiet’ politely and other information curiosities. And ducks – lots of ducks.

For some reason lately I have been more aware of notices, signs, plaques and other sources of information. I’m usually a bit fixated on the next week’s blog but every now and then a piece of displayed information catches my eye and I take an image of it. So here’s a selection – I hope you find them interesting.

Bunhill Burial Ground is one of the places I love to walk through and indulge in a bit of quiet contemplation. It’s also a haven for bird wildlife as this informative notice shows …

The sighting of ring-necked parakeets is a bit ominous!

A polite way of telling customers to keep the noise down …

This pop up garden has really thrived …

I know at least four people who have had their bike stolen despite them having a locking device. There’s an extraordinary range of bike-stealing methods which you can read more about here if you’re interested. I was prompted to include a comment here because of this friendly warning posted outside the garden …

Around the City there are a number of signs for various City walks. You can do the old City Gates

Or follow the route of the original Roman and Medieval Wall

Here’s my favourite front door just off Whitecross Street …

Everything about it, for example paint colour and style of lettering, just seems so reminiscent of the 1970s. My theory is that people kept knocking on the door because they couldn’t see the bell so the owner fixed the problem with a painterly flourish.

In Whitecross Street itself is this spoof blue plaque erected by the ‘British Hedonists’ and ‘Mad in England’ …

The prison was capable of holding up to 500 prisoners and Wyld’s map of London produced during the 1790s shows how extensive the premises were …

Here is a view of the inside of the prison with probably more well off people meeting and promenading quite normally …

‘Inside the Debtors’ Prison, Whitecross Street, London’ by an unknown artist : City of London Corporation, Guildhall Art Gallery.

You can read more about it, and debtors’ prisons generally, in my blog Mansions of Misery.

This sign in Errol Street made me stop and think …

Nearby is the new YMCA. It seems like a fun place, I liked the colourful signage in the window …

The old multi-storey Whitbread stables in Garrett Street …


Read all about them in my blog Horses and Ale – the end of two eras.

A 17th century ‘price list’ at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate …

Everyone has probably heard of the Blitz and the carnage brought about by German bombing during the Second World War but it’s sometimes forgotten that aerial attacks on civilians were also a terrifying feature of World War 1. A plaque in Central Street commemorates the action of a brave man …

You will also find him on the Watts Mamorial …

PC Smith, 37 years old, was on duty in Central Street when the noise was heard of an approaching group of fourteen German bombers. One press report reads as follows …

In the case of PC Alfred Smith, a popular member of the Metropolitan Force, who leaves a widow and three children, the deceased was on point duty near a warehouse. When the bombs began to fall the girls from the warehouse ran down into the street. Smith got them back, and stood in the porch to prevent them returning. In doing his duty he thus sacrificed his own life.

Smith had no visible injuries but had been killed by the blast from the bombs dropped nearby. He was one of 162 people killed that day in one of the deadliest raids of the war. I have written about him, and other brave officers, in my blog The brave policemen of Postman’s Park.

Proud boast by an Australian removal man …

In case you are wondering, a redback is a highly venomous Australian spider. What an informative blog this is!

What to watch out for …

An old shopfront with very old ads – once upon a time I smoked No.6 fags – really cheap if rather small!

The Players No6 brand, introduced in 1965, was Britain’s best selling cigarette brand for most of the 70s. Player’s advertising claimed it was ‘Part of the British Scene’. Packaging from 1965 to 1980 …

What finished the brand off wasn’t just the fact that more people were giving up smoking, it was the EU. In 1978, tobacco taxation was harmonised with the EU and cigarettes were taxed by retail price, rather than by weight of tobacco and this changed the cigarette market overnight.

Before this change small cigarettes were cheap and big ones were expensive. So King Size cigarettes were a luxury and small ones, like Player’s No 6, were popular. After the tax change, the price difference between a pack of Player’s No 6 and a pack of up-market Benson & Hedges Special Filter was almost incidental; 20 No 6 cost 52p and 20 Benson & Hedges cost 57p. Overnight sales of No 6 tumbled and in the status conscious 80s, No6 was about as popular as a pair flares and a kipper tie. The brand quietly disappeared in 1993.

An early morning visitor to my office …

What about this little chap …

He lives with his friends near the concourse at Liverpool Street station …

A duck for every occupation (and literally hundreds of other versions!) …

And now even more windows I have looked through recently …

The view from my table at the Ivy Asia restaurant …

The HYLO building on Bunhill Row has a virtual fishpond just inside the door …

The ‘fish’ move like they’re alive (it’s a bit spooky, to be honest).

Costumes and props at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama theatre on Silk Street …

I’m pleased this little tailor’s shop on Whitecross Street has survived …

A cute mini-jacket in the window …

A very big teddy!

For some reason this plaque at the Barbican Centre makes me feel a little sad …

And finally, thank you so much to those of you, my lovely subscribers, who made a donation to the Spitz Charitable Trust whom I featured on my blog last week. My friends at Spitz have been really thrilled by your generosity, which will go towards the life-enhancing services they provide. If you didn’t get a chance to read last week’s blog, this is a charity which brings live music to folk who may be feeling isolated or are experienceing dementia. Not just the elderly, but also young people in hospitals like Great Ormond Street who may be spending much of their life receiving care. All charities are having tough times at the moment so do, please, see if you can make a contribution, however modest, to help them in their work. Click here for their crowdfunding page and to find out more about them.

I also think that you might find the interview that Jane Glitre, Spitz’s founder, gave to Robert Elms on Radio London interesting. It’s only 11 minutes long and has a lovely song at the end! Here’s the link.

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Why WFH when you can WFC?

WFC? Working From Church, of course!

Forever trying to move with the times, some of the City churches have adapted brilliantly to take advantage of new technology which allows people to work virtually anywhere. This has also enabled me to indulge two of my main passions – churches and their history and cake.

St Nicholas Cole Abbey was the first church to be rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire (1672-78). You can see one of its most interesting features before you actually go in the door. The beautiful galleon weathevane came from St Michael Queenhithe, another Wren church, demolished in 1876 under the Union of Benefices Act 1860 …

The view from the south side of Queen Victoria Street …

The interior is spacious and light …

My orange and cranberry cake was delicious and tasted home-made. The tea was good too (£6.70 in total – well, it is the City!) …

A striking ‘wall’ of innovative, modern glass depicts Christ’s Kingdom Spreading throughout the World (1962). Abstract elements connect all three windows with details of landscapes from across the globe at their base. Igloos, tepees and skyscrapers for the Americas, towers and domes for Europe, and minarets and domes for Africa and Asia …

The maker was Keith New (1926-2012), a pioneering British modernist stained glass artist. His career was launched by the 1952 Royal College of Art commission to design the windows for Coventry Cathedral.

On the way to the loo you encounter some old grave markers that have been re-sited on the floor ..

Somerset Place was a very posh address in the 18oos – no wonder Mrs Stewart wanted it on her gravestone.

Onward to St Mary Aldermary and its witty advertising board …

It was 12:15 when I got there and there was already a formidable queue for the food stall in the churchyard …

Before you head into the church, look down at what I believe is the most accurate grave marker in the City …

There is a well preserved coat of arms which includes four beavers suggesting involvement in the fur trade which was flourishing at the time. It’s a tribute to the quality of the stone and the carving that (even assuming it wasn’t laid until Henry died) it has survived so well after 200 years of footfall.

Under the coat of arms the inscription reads as follows …

Mrs Anna Catharina Schneider. Died 15th of June 1798 at half past Six O’clock in the Evening. Aged 57 Years, 3 months and 9 Days

I have written more about this memorial and others in my ‘favourite tombs’ blog from February 2021.

Having looked down outside the door, look up on entering and admire the fabulous intricate fan-vaulted ceiling that I wrote about in last week’s blog

The cafe food selection …

There’s plenty of room to sit in the church …

St Mary-le-Bow is just 100 yards or so to the north. This is the view from Cheapside …

You can see the dragon weathervane very well on a sunny day like this …

The cafe in the crypt …

The menu is very comprehensive and you can view it here.

As I walked down the steps to the cafe I was struck by the incredibly worn nature of the stone – this could well have been the crypt entrance long before the 1666 Great Fire and Wren’s rebuilding of the church …

The church was totally gutted during the Blitz but it’s very much worth a visit to see the beautiful post-war stained glass. For example, to the north (left) of the sanctuary is depicted the Patron of the parish, the Blessed Virgin Mary, holding (and thus symbolising her care for us) the church built by Wren. She is clothed in blue (the traditional colour for Our Lady) and her feet appear to be resting on the arches of the crypt. Surrounding Our Lady’s image are seventeen Wren churches which survived the Second World War, each held by the patron saint of the parish …

You’ll find her and other fabulous examples of City church stained glass in my blog dedicated to the subject.

Alongside the church is another set of steps …

This is a place for silent prayer and contemplation …

I was fascinated by some of the gravestones …

And the fine collection of heraldic symbols …

And last, but by no means least, St Mary Woolnoth, designed by Christopher Wren’s esteemed protégé Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661 – 1736) …

The food service area is tucked away just inside the door …

Do visit the interior where you can admire the memorial to John Newton, the reformed slave trader who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace …

The stunning, bulging pulpit dates from Hawksmoor’s time and Newton delivered his sermons from it. It was made by Thomas Darby and Gervaise Smith …

Don’t miss the 1810 ‘price list’ hanging on the west wall …

You can eat outside and watch the world go by. The air is a lot cleaner now that Bank Junction is closed to most traffic …

I have written about St Mary Woolnoth before and you can find my blog here.

Now, an important message: It has been proven time and time again that music, particularly live music, can have immense beneficial psychological effects. This is especially true for folk who may be feeling isolated or are experienceing dementia. And it’s not just the elderly who can benefit, but also young people who may be spending much of their life receiving care in hospital. There is a lovely charity, the Spitz Charitable Trust, who have delivered this life enhancing service for over ten years and, because I love what they do, I am for the first time promoting a charity in my blog. All charities are having tough times at the moment so do, please, see if you can make a contribution, however modest, to help them in their work. Click here for their crowdfunding page and to find out more about them.

Remember you can follow me on Instagram …

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St Mary Aldermary – the most spectacular of the ‘Marys’.

In 1500 there were 15 churches in the City of London dedicated to a St Mary. It was by far the most popular dedication with the next most popular being All Hallows (8 churches) and St Michael (7 churches). This, of course, was helped by the fact that there are two St Marys – Mary the Virgin, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene one of Jesus’s followers who was present at the crucifixion. But even if we count only the churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it is still the most popular dedication with a total of 13.

I’ve already written in some detail about the six Marys still in existence but for some reason I rather neglected paying serious attention to St Mary Aldermary – an omission I intend to put right in this week’s blog. Incidentally, the name ‘Aldermary’ possibly derives from ‘Older Mary’ meaning the oldest church in the City dedicated to her.

As every guide to the church will tell you – when you enter just look up!

The nave …

The south side aisle …

The north side aisle …

The fabulous plaster fan-vaulted ceiling is more reminiscent of a cathedral and St Mary’s is the only parish church in England known to have one.

It is unclear why Wren chose to rebuild the church (1679-82) in an uncharacteristically Gothic style. Funding came from a personal estate, so it may have been the desire of the executors, or possibly the will of parishoners. Whatever the cause, the fortunate result is arguably the most important late 17th century Gothic church in England.

A quirky feature of the church is the angle of the east wall which followed the line of a pre-1678 passage …

One of the the east windows by Lawrence Lee (1955) is ‘a fusion of sacred and secular with St Thomas, St John the Baptist and Madonna and Child above and panels depicting important episodes from the dramatic history of the church below. The gothic church tower powerfully depicted appears engulfed in the flames of the Great Fire of London of 1666’ …

In close up, Sir Christopher Wren kneels to present his plans for the new church …

The west window by John Crawford commemorates the defence of London against air attack in the 1939-45 War. It depicts the Risen Christ in Glory with the Hand of God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove. Above are the Instruments of the Passion, while below are the emblems of the four Evangelists. The lower lights show St Michael overcoming the Dragon, representing the force of good vanquishing evil, with St Peter (left) and St Paul (right). At the base is a panorama of London and at the top the arms of the various Services involved …

A blocked off window above the north door, dating from 1876, depicts the Transfiguration …

The pulpit is thought to have been carved in 1682 by Grinling Gibbons

The organ was built by George England in 1791 …

This beautiful, rare wooden sword rest dates from 1682 …

You can read more about the fascinating history of sword rests here.

The font was a gift from a wealthy parishoner called Dutton Seaman in 1627. One commentator describes it as having been ‘designed with jacobean gusto’ …

There is a plaque to James Braidwood, who was married in the church in 1838. He was the first Superintendent of the London Fire Engine Establishment and formed the world’s first municipal fire brigade in Edinburgh. He died tragically whilst fighting the terrible Tooley Street Fire of 1861. You can read all about him and the fire in which he perished in my Tooley Street Fire blog

René Baudouin was a Huguenot refugee from Tours in France. He established himself in Lombard Street, London, with a silk merchant Etienne Seignoret. The pair were successful but they were fined for continuing to trade with France during the Anglo-French war (1689-1697) …

There is also a memorial to the brilliant surgeon Percivall Pott who I wrote about in last week’s blog.

St Mary is the regimental church of the Royal Tank Regiment – ‘Once a Tankie always a Tankie’ …

The nearby old City church of St Antholin was demolished in 1875 and the parish merged with St Mary’s. A plaque on the wall outside memorialises this union …

If you entered St Mary’s from the west, the door casing you walked through came from St Antholin …

The best view of the church is from the south side of Queen Victoria Street …

The golden finials at the top of the tower are now, I’m told, made of fibreglass!

Remember you can follow me on Instagram …

https://www.instagram.com/london_city_gent/

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