I saw a giant colourful penguin outside the Blackfriar pub last week and had a quick Google last Sunday when I went for a walk. Here’s the publicity blurb: This Christmas, the Fleet Street Quarter is transforming into a winter wonderland with a magical FREE penguin parade sculpture trail in support of WWF. From Thursday 14th November, families and visitors are invited to embark on a fabulous festive adventure to discover 12 adorable penguin sculptures throughout the Quarter. Each penguin, decked out in unique festive finery designed by talented artists, will be perched in iconic spots adding a splash of Antarctic charm to the City. And each one has a QR code with lots of fun penguin facts. There’s a helpful map here.
But Dr Johnson’s cat Hodge is happy to share a space with Snowy in Gough Square …
Tiffany here can be found down a little alley off Carter Lane called New Bell Yard …
There were lots of families following the trail when I took these images.
The Steve McQueen film Blitz has just been released and you can see an interesting display of clothes from the film at the Barbican Centre …
If you want to understand and explore the true, fullstory of Londoners and the Blitz I strongly recommend Jerry White’s book The Battle of London 1939-45.
Whilst on the subject of the Blitz, I recently walked past The National Firefighters Memorial on Peter’s Hill opposite the Tower of London where I often pause. It’s interesting to note the special plaque commemorating the 23 women members of the Auxiliary Fire Service who gave their lives protecting London and its inhabitants during the bombing …
The lady on the left is an incident recorder and the one on the right a despatch rider.
On the wall of the Leonardo Royal Hotel that fronts Carter Lane is this rather unusual plaque …
The Bell was demolished at the end of the 19th century to make way for the Post Office Savings Bank building referenced in the plaque by the mention of the Postmaster General. The Post Office building itself was demolished in the 1990s to make way for the hotel but the original late 19th century door surround to the Post Office building has been retained in New Bell Yard (right beside Tiffany, see above) …
A statue commemorating the poet John Keats has appeared just south of the entrance to Moorgate Station. It was sculpted by Martin Jennings and depicts a larger than life-size copy of a life mask of Keats taken aged 21. Keats was the son of an ostler at a nearby inn called The Swan and Hoop …
The bronze is mounted on a plinth above a slate base inscribed with words from Keats’ Ode on Indolence.
Thought I’d grab an image of this classic view from Fleet Street whilst the sun was out. Looking from the left you see 22 Bishopsgate, the Cheesegrater, the spires of St Mary-le-Bow and St Martin Ludgate and the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral …
Christmas light installations are beginning to appear …
Press the ‘buttons’ and the lights change colour as music plays …
Not surprisingly, children seem to love it!
City Point offices get in on the act …
Sadly, I couldn’t resist photographing my Yuzu Grand Macaron dessert at Côte Barbican …
An image from outside the City I’d like to share with you. This is on Finchley Road, about 10 minutes walk from the Underground station …
Definitely worth seeking out if you find yourself in that part of the world. I must have stared at it for a full 15 minutes. Read its story here in the excellent Londonist website.
A couple of super sunsets. I haven’t edited these images in any way so the colours are authentic …
And finally, the wonderful City gardeners are replanting the bed on Silk Street and I shall be tracking its progress over the coming months …
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One of the great joys of London is that you can walk over the same area again and again and still find something new or, alternatively, more detail about a place you knew already.
Last week I decided to start by visiting the pretty, quiet space in Banner Street known as Quaker Gardens (EC1Y 8QQ). All the other locations I write about today are about five minutes walk away from there …
There are three venerable London Plane trees providing shade …
This land, purchased in 1661 for a burial ground, was the earliest freehold property of the Quakers (also known as The Society of Friends) in London. Over a thousand victims of the Great Plague were buried here in 1665.
Here it is on John Rocque’s map of 1746 …
The Burial Acts of the 1850s forced the closure of all central London burial grounds. Having expanded considerably, by the time that the Bunhill site was closed in 1855 there were nearly 12,000 recorded burials.
I found these burial records from 1787 online …
Quaker burials are very simple and Quakers have not traditionally placed headstones on burial sites, being thought too showy or worldly. There is, however, a plain memorial to George Fox, Quakerism’s founder, who was buried here in 1691 …
There is also a stone plaque recording the history of the site and buildings …
The wording is not very clear now but I have found an earlier image …
Persecution of Quakers was common in 17th century England, one of the most serious punishments being transportation. Among the ‘martyr Friends’ buried here are included twenty-seven who died of plague awaiting transportation on the ship ominously named The Black Eagle. The war with the Dutch, along with the plague, made it difficult to find a ship’s master willing to brave the seas but in May 1665 the Sheriffs of London found someone willing to do so. The sea captain, called Fudge, boasted that he would happily transport even his nearest relations. About 40 men and women were bundled aboard his ship which was lying at Greenwich. Then Fudge was arrested for debt, with soldiers sent from the Tower to guard the human cargo as most of the crew had deserted. As well as the plague deaths, many more prisoners had perished before the ship eventually sailed.
The burial ground lay unused until 1880 when the Metropolitan Board of Works took part of the site for road widening and the compensation money paid for the building of a Memorial Hall, which included a coffee tavern and lodging rooms …
The Hall was destroyed by bombs in 1944. A small surviving fragment, known as the cottage, which had been the manager’s house, was restored to serve as a small meeting house (as it still does to this day) …
An old plaque dated 1793 …
‘This wall and Seven Houses on the grounds on the north side are the Property of the Society of Friends 1793’.
I haven’t been able to find out more about the very sadly missed Marna Shapiro …
I like the kisses.
A very appropriate place for quiet contemplation …
For a brief history of the Quakers I recommend this site – Quakers around Shoreditch. For a more detailed history, I have enjoyed reading Portrait in Grey by John Punshon (September 2006, Quaker Books). It’s where I found the story of the wonderfully named Captain Fudge and the Black Eagle.
Leave the garden by the Chequer Street entrance, turn left, and you will encounter something unusual – wooden block road paving …
Designed to be durable, but far less noisy than cobbles, experiments with wood block paving started in 1873 and initially proved successful. Eventually replaced by tar from the 1920s onwards, this section is one of few remaining in London. You can just make out some tree growth rings …
I must have walked past this typical industrial building in Banner Street dozens of times …
Last week I paused at the rather imposing entrance …
… and looked up …
A classical broken pediment, the date 1911 and the company name Chater Lea Ltd. This was a British bicycle, car and motorcycle maker and the Banner Street premises were purpose built for them in 1911. Eventually needing to expand production, they moved to Letchworth, Hertfordshire in 1928.
The company was founded by William Chater Lea in 1890 to make bicycle frames and components. It made cars between 1907 and 1922 and motorcycles from 1903 to 1935. William died in 1927 and the business was taken over by his sons John and Bernard …
You can read more about the company history here and it looks like they are currently working on a major relaunch. Here’s their website which also contains some great historical background and images.
It is nice to see that this extraordinary piece of work has found a place on Roscoe Street where everyone can see it. It needs to be viewed from a distance for maximum effect …
Nearby on Roscoe Street, the mysterious headless man – also created at the Party …
Tyger Tyger on Baird Street …
A Chequer Street EC1 celebration …
… and a mosaic on the same building …
Pretty door and heart combined at 65 Banner Street …
In a nearby car park …
I love the honey coloured bricks of the Peabody Estate …
In the foreground, another piece left over from the Party …
And finally, consider this tree at the west end of Chequer Street …
My scientist friend Emma reliably informs me that it’s an Indian Bean Tree, Catalpa Bignonioides …
The view from Whitecross Street …
These trees are described online as ‘principally grown for their broad headed attractive foliage, exquisite bell shaped summer flowers and in autumn they develop bean-like hanging fruit which persist through winter’.
Here’s an example of the fruit on the Chequer Street tree …
In my view, this tree is evidence of the considerable thought that went into the planning of the Peabody Estate environment as well as the buildings themselves.
Incidentally, the estate also boasts a man-eating Agavi plant …
Mr Peabody features strongly in my book Courage, Crime and Charity in the City of London which you can buy using the link on this site – only £10. Or just pop in to the Daunt Bookshop in Cheapside or Marylebone High Street.
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An important date for your diary! This Saturday, 5th October, at 11:30 a.m. I will be interviewed by Robert Elms on his BBC Radio London show. We’ll be chatting about my book Courage, Crime and Charity in the City of London and I hope you will be able to join us.
On a sunny day last week I took a walk towards Holborn and picked out a few buildings and memorials that I really liked.
First up is the Wax Chandlers Hall …
Wax Chandlers’ Hall is on Gresham Street on a site that the Company has owned since 1501. It has a long and fascinating history stretching all the way back to 1371 when they applied to the City’s governing body, the Mayor and Court of Aldermen, to have officials appointed from among their number (masters) to ‘overse all the defaults in theyre saide crafte’, and see that offenders were prosecuted. Their history is really well documented on their website.
Surely the bluest door in the City with the finest unicorns …
On the next corner is the building with the rogue apostrophe and the happy smiling sun…
Surely that should be St Martin’s House?
So many fine buildings date from the late 19th and very early 20th century …
The General Post Office in St. Martin’s Le Grand was the main post office for London between 1829 and 1910, the headquarters of the General Post Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and England’s first purpose-built post office …
Poor Henry Cecil Raikes, who laid this stone, died in August the following year aged only 52. Here he is in a Vanity Fair caricature when he was Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons …
Parallel is King Edward Street where the man himself laid this stone on 16th October 1905 …
The great British Empire is duly acknowledged along with the King’s connection to an earlier Edward and the foundation of Christ’s Hospital.
It’s commemorated again nearby with this sculpture, the ragamuffins on the right being carefully coaxed towards a better life …
To me they look like they are having a fine time just as they are, perhaps letting it all hang out at a concert …
On Newgate Street another building connected to the Post Office …
This imposing building is at 16/17 Old Bailey. The London Picture Archive tells us: The seven-storey building was designed for the Chatham and Dover Railway Company by Arthur Usher of Yetts, Sturdy and Usher of London in 1912. The building is in the Edwardian baroque style with elements of french architectural styles such as the mansard roof … …
Above the entrance is a broken pediment with statues either side depicting travel. The statue of the woman on the left holds a wheel depicting rail travel and the woman on the right leans on an anchor depicting sea travel. At the bottom of brackets on the two piers either side of the entrance are small carved lion heads …
Across the road, outside the church of St Sepulchre Newgate, is this modest little drinking fountain which has an intriguing history …
Look up towards the roof of the church and you’ll see a late 17th Century sundial …
The dial is on the parapet above south wall of the nave and is believed to date from 1681. It is made of stone painted blue and white with noon marked by an engraved ‘X’ and dots marking the half hours. It shows Winter time from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm in 15 minute marks. I thought it was curious that the 4:00 pm mark is represented as IIII rather than IV – I have no idea why
There is demolition going on in the approach to Holborn Viaduct and I couldn’t resist taking this image of what looks like a building that has been sliced away revealing the vestiges of decoration left on each floor …
I find it reminiscent of the ruined houses on bomb sites that used to be a common feature of London right up to the early 1970s.
Holborn Viaduct dragons and a knight in armour …
As Prince Albert doffs his hat towards the City of London, a terracotta masterpiece looms in the background …
Before walking towards it I made a quick detour to St Andrew Holborn to admire the Charity Boy and Girl …
Pausing at the junction with Grays Inn Road, and looking back east, you will see that you are at one of the entrances to the City guarded by a dragon …
In the background is the Royal Fusiliers War Memorial, a work by Albert Toft. Unveiled by the Lord Mayor in 1922, the inscriptions read …
To the glorious memory of the 22,000 Royal Fusiliers who fell in the Great War 1914-1919 (and added later) To the Royal Fusiliers who fell in the World war 1939-1945 and those fusiliers killed in subsequent campaigns.
Toft’s soldier stands confidently as he surveys the terrain, his foot resting on a rock, his rifle bayoneted, his left hand clenched in determination. At the boundary of the City, he looks defiantly towards Westminster. The general consensus on the internet is that the model for the sculpture was a Sergeant Cox, who served throughout the First World War.
Behind him is the magnificent, red terracotta, Gothic-style building by J.W. Waterhouse, which once housed the headquarters of the Prudential Insurance Company.
As is often the case, I am indebted to the London Inheritance blogger for some of the detail about this extraordinary building . The Prudential moved into their new office in 1879, which was quite an achievement given that the company had only been founded 31 years earlier in 1848. The building exudes Victorian commercial power and was a statement building for the company that was at the time the country’s largest insurance company …
The lower part of the building uses polished granite, with red brick and red terracotta across all upper floors. If you stare at the building long enough the use of polished granite gives the impression that there has been a large flood along Holborn, which has left a tide mark on the building after washing out the red colour from the lower floors.
In the centre of the façade is a tower, with a large arch leading through into inner courtyards around which are further wings of the building …
It incorporates a sculpture of Prudence carrying one of the attributes of this Virtue, a hand mirror …
When built, the Prudential building was very advanced for its time. There was hot and cold running water, electric lighting, and to speed the delivery of paperwork across the site, a pnematic tube system was installed, where documents were put into canisters, which were then blown through the tube system to their destination. Ladies were provided with their own restaurant and library, and had a separate entrance, and were also allowed to leave 15 minutes early to “avoid consorting with men”.
The building’s brickwork is very attractive …
In the courtyard you will see the work of a sculptor who has chosen to illustrate war in a very different fashion to Toft.
The memorial carries the names of the 786 Prudential employees who lost their lives in the First World War …
The sculptor was F.V. Blundstone and the work was inaugurated on 2 March 1922. All Prudential employees had been offered ‘the opportunity of taking a personal share in the tribute by subscribing to the cost of the memorial’ (suggested donations were between one and five shillings).
The main group represents a soldier sustained in his death agony by two angels. He is lying amidst war detritus with his right arm resting on the wheel of some wrecked artillery piece. His careworn face contrasts with that of the sombre, beautiful girls with their uplifted wings. I find it incredibly moving.
I have written about angels in the City before and they are usually asexual, but these are clearly female.
At the four corners of the pedestal stand four more female figures.
One holds a field gun and represents the army …
One holds a boat representing the navy …
At the back is a figure holding a shell representing National Service …
The fourth lady holds a bi-plane representing the air force …
There are also two memorial plaques to employes who died in the Second World War. The north panel lists names A-K, the second K-Z. Each is topped with a broken pediment set around a wreath, with a figure of St George on top …
All those lost lives from just one employer.
I shall probably continue my walk westwards next week.
I love visiting Bunhill. It has an atmosphere like nowhere else I visit in London with the possible exception of Highgate Cemetery.
The east entrance …
Around 123,000 people are interred here, among them the poet and mystic William Blake. Everyone is familiar with the great anthem Jerusalem but I also love his poem Auguries of Innocence:
To see the world in a grain of sand/And heaven in a wild flower/Hold infinity in the palm of your hand/And eternity in an hour/A Robin Red breast in a Cage/Puts all Heaven in a Rage/A Dove house filld with Doves & Pigeons/Shudders Hell thr’ all its regions
He died in poverty and obscurity and it took 14 years of research in order to identify the exact spot where he was buried. The grave is now marked with a splendid stone funded by the Blake Society …
There are other famous folk commemorated here.
John Bunyan’s tomb of 1689 is not quite what it seems since the effigy of the great man and the bas-reliefs (inspired by Pilgrim’s Progress) were only added in 1862 when the tomb was restored …
A preacher who spent over a decade in jail for his beliefs, he holds the bible in his left hand. He started the Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress whilst imprisoned and it became one of the most published works in the English language.
Bunhill is a nice place for a quiet spot of lunch …
Turn your back on Bunyan’s tomb and you will be facing the obelisk erected in 1870 to commemorate the 1731 burial of Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe. The monument was funded by an appeal to boys and girls by the weekly newspaper Christian World who were invited to give ‘not less than sixpence’ …
My favourite tombstone …
Somehow it has fared remarkably well against the elements, pigeons and city pollution.
Many have not …
But some inscriptions survive. I was very taken with this marker for the grave of Reverend Joseph Cartwright who died on 5th November 1800 at the age of 72 …
It seems to me that he composed the poem engraved on the stone himself (sadly the last few lines are obliterated). Here it is …
What if death may sleep provide/Should I be of death afraid/What if beams of opening day/Shine around my breathless clay/Tender friends a while may mourn/Me from their embraces torn/Dearer better friends I have/In the realm beneath the grave.
Many memorials bear witnes to the high degree of infant mortality …
Interred with him and his wife is a lady who can’t resist referring to her connection to the ‘Illustrious House of Percy’ …
Popular styles include pyramids …
… ancient Egypt …
… and obelisks, of which this is a particularly fine example …
The inscription is in Welsh and marks the tomb of the Calvinistic Methodist minister, poet and Bible commentator James Hughes. Also inscribed is his Bardic name Iago Trichrug.
Some atmospheric images …
No visit would be complete without saying ‘hello’ to Dame Mary Page and recognising and admiring her fortitude, which she insisted on being recorded in stone on her memorial …
You’ll find more about Dame Mary and other fascinating people in my book Courage, Crime and Charity in the City of London. Only £10! Just click on the link or pop in to the Daunt bookshop in Cheapside or Marylebone High Street.
The Sculpture in the City project is always worth a visit, which is what I did last week. I have also added some other pieces that caught my eye.
First up is this one entitled Temple by Richard Mackness. It’s on the corner of Bishopsgate and Wormwood Street, EC2M 3XD…
‘In this object, questions of belief and value weave with consumer culture and the human need to find meaning and to belong’. You can read a fuller description here.
This one has been around since last year but I’m including it again because I like its location. It’s called Muamba Grove, 0 Hue 1 and 2 by Vanessa da Silva and can be found at St Botolph-without- Bishopsgate Churchyard, EC2M 3TL …
‘The artist’s process offers an indication of the inseparable link between the body and the sculpture – the artist’s own body becomes entwined within the making of the forms. Da Silva’s use of colour and carefully considered scale contributes to the sense of dynamic and fluid movement’. You can read more here.
If you visit the churchyard look out for St. Botolph’s Hall, once used as an infants’ school, but now a multipurpose church hall available for hire. At its front entrance is a pair of Coade Stone figures of a schoolboy and girl in early nineteenth century costumes …
In the foreground is the large tomb of Sir William Rawlins, Sherriff of London in 1801 and a benefactor of the church …
This is Book of Boredom by Ida Ekblad. It’s at Undershaft, EC2N 4AJ (in front of Crosby Square) …
‘Conveying a rich sense of abundance and corporality, this painted bronze sculpture presents a vibrant composition filled with fragmented, angular patterns and shapes, merging elements of figuration and abstraction’. You can read more here.
This is Untitled by Arturo Herrara at the base of the Leadenhall Building EC3V 4AB …
‘Untitled reflects the dynamic movement of people using the space and the mechanic stairs. Both designs energise the area under the stairs with an all over composition that mimics the traffic and activity of this large urban space in the City’.
I caught my first glimpse of these creatures, called Secret Sentinels, as I turned from St Mary Axe into Bevis Marks (EC3A 8BE). They made me smile, which is a good start! …
‘Secret Sentinels is a family of sculptures made from found objects and materials and covered in glass tiles. The sculptures are inspired by how we balance privacy against convenience in relation to state and private surveillance. The protrusions from each piece gently reference the surrounding, ubiquitous cameras in the City security systems, doorbells, phones and computers’. You can read more here.
Here are the other things that caught my eye during my walk that are not part of the Sculpture in the City project.
Another work now on permanent display is outside Moorgate Station and was created by the British artist Conrad Shawcross RA. It’s called Manifold (Major Third) 5:4 and was installed late last year as the penultimate artwork for the Crossrail project. According to a sign close to the art, ‘this vast bronze sculpture is an expression of a chord falling into silence’ …
The open space at Citypoint is currently a temporary home to Squiggle …
Moving away from sculpture, I like the coloured glass deployed around 22 Bishopsgate …
Thomas Bayes (circa 1701-1761) has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons due to the sudden sinking of the yacht named after him and the tragic loss of seven lives. You can read the BBC news report here.
I thought you might be interested to know that Bayes is buried in a family grave in Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. It can be easily seen from the paths but the inscriptions are rather indistinct (despite restoration in 1969 funded by statisticians worldwide) …
In the vault are laid members of the Bayes, Cotton and West families.
The inscription on the east side of the tomb (Wikimedia Commons)…
On the top of the tomb is inscribed: Rev. Thomas Bayes, Son of the said Joshua and Ann Bayes (59).
The west side, Miss Decima Cotton who died on 12 April 1795 …
Born in Hertfordshire, Bayes studied at Edinburgh University and began his preaching career in that city; he later assisted at his father’s meeting-house on Leather Lane in Holborn before being appointed Presbyterian minister to the Little Mount Sion meeting-house at Tunbridge Wells in 1731, which post he occupied until his retirement 20 years later. During his lifetime Bayes published nothing under his own name, although he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1742, perhaps on the basis of an influential defence of Newtonian mathematics published anonymously in 1734. His fame rests chiefly upon his mathematical ‘Essay towards solving a problem in the doctrine of chances’, published posthumously in 1764; this adumbrates the highly influential ‘Bayesian’ approach to probability theory, as well as containing the famous ‘Bayes’ Theorem’, still widely used in statistics and information technology.
I was fascinated to find out that, armed with powerful computers to handle the data, American security experts use Bayesian inference to prioritise potential threats to the nation. You can read more here.
I found this image of the grave after restoration in 1969 …
I think it’s time to get the scrubbing brush out again!
On a more cheerful note, about 200 yards away is this building …
Concerned about Sir John Cass’s connection with the slave trade, the Business School that bore his name decided to rebrand themselves and, in an online poll, ‘Bayes Business School’ was the winning suggestion. I think it’s nice that his final resting place is so nearby!
St Michael Cornhill impresses even before you go through the door.
Above the entrance is the warrior Archangel Michael ‘disputing with Satan’. It was carved by John Birnie Philip when the church was remodelled in 1858-1860. No question as to who is winning this battle …
To the right of the entrance is another sculpture of Michael brandishing a flaming sword. It is a bronze memorial to the 170 out of the 2,130 men of this parish who enrolled for military service in the First World War and died as a result …
The sculpture (by R R Goulden) was described in the Builder magazine as follows
St Michael with the flaming sword stands steadfast above the quarreling beasts which typify war, and are sliding slowly, but surely, from their previous paramount position. Life, in the shape of young children, rises with increasing confidence under the protection of the champion of right.
Walk down the narrow alley beside the church and you come to a lovely, quiet churchyard where you get a good view of the commanding tower …
Originally believed to be by Wren, it was rebuilt in the ‘Gothic’ style between 1718 and 1722 by his protégé Nicholas Hawksmoor.
The church, with the exception of the tower, was completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The church history notes state that it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren between 1669 and 1672. The interior, with its majestic Tuscan columns, was beautified and repaired in 1701 and again in 1790 and then extensively ‘remodelled’ in the High Victorian manner by Sir George Gilbert Scott between 1857 and 1860 …
John Birnie Philip also carved the angels …
Pre-Victorian features that remain today include 17th century paintings of Moses and Aaron incorporated into the reredos …
The 1850s stained glass was made by the firm Clayton & Bell …
The box pews date from the Scott remodelling …
In 1716, the poet Thomas Gray, famous for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, was born in a milliner’s shop adjacent to St. Michael’s and was baptised in the church. Two hundred years later, Martin Neary, who became Master of the Music at Westminster Abbey, was baptised in the same font, which dates from 1672 …
Look to the left on entering and you’ll see the noteworthy Churchwarden’s pew …
It shows St Michael thrusting a lance into the mouth of a truly evil-looking devil. It’s a work by the eminent wood carver William Gibbs Rogers (1792-1875) …
The present organ began life in 1684 …
You can read more about its fascinating history here. I attended the recital last Monday. Absolutely wonderful. On Bank Holiday Monday (26 August) at 1:00 pm you can listen online as David Goode plays Holst’s The Planets. Join on Zoom from 12:45 pm ID 828 1357 0952 Passcode 827123.
Regular readers will know that I like a nice monument or memorial and this church has over 40 of them, many in clusters like these …
I’ve picked a few favourites.
The earliest is to John Vernon who died in 1615. It was erected by the Merchant Taylors Company after the Great Fire of 1666 to replace the ‘ruined’ original. He was a generous benefactor to the Company and its scholars. When he started to lose his sight he gifted his collection of paintings to the company so his fellows could better enjoy them as he could no longer see. Every year at Christmas boys from the Merchant Taylors’ School visit the church to sing at the special Vernon Carol Service …
He has a contemplative expression enhanced by the posing of his hands, one to his breast, the other resting on a skull, emblem of mortality and death. He wears a broad ruff and a fur lined cloak.
Next door, the Platt Family cherub endeavours to keep his feet warm …
The biggest monument in the Church is to Sir Edward Cowper who died in 1685. Bob Speel describes it as follows: ‘a grand mass of marble rising from the floor with fantastically twisted pillars and strikingly coloured marble. Perhaps by the sculptor Thomas Cartwright Senior, another of the sculptor-masons working on Wren’s City Churches’ …
In the same corner of the Church is the monument to Sir William Cowper, who died in 1664 and his wife Martha [Master] of East Langdon, and their fourth son, Spencer Cowper …
I admired the coats of arms at the end of the pews …
This one in particular intrigued me …
Whose arms are these? The mitre in the carving suggests a bishop but what are the birds all about, with their necks pierced by arrows? All is revealed in the Friends of City Churches Newsletter – highly recommended!
In addition to the war memorial outside there are several inside the church itself.
This one reads: In proud and grateful memory of the men of the County of London Electric Supply Company Limited and its associated companies who gave their lives for their country.
The Royal Fusiliers and local office workers …
The Stock Exchange Battalion …
And finally, an unusual item. This is a book prepared by the Association of British Civilian Internees, Far East Region, and placed here on 24th May 2009 …
St Michael’s church doesn’t seem to be open very often (despite what the website says). I got in because I wanted to attend the organ recital. According to their website, the wonderful Friends of City Churches are there on Tuesdays between 11:00 and 3:00.
On my way home this shop window display made me smile…
This lovely church has usually been closed when I have hoped to visit but last week I was lucky enough to drop in thanks to the Friends of City Churches being on duty.
The City once had four churches dedicated to St Botolph, each at one of the City gates, a reminder that St Botolph is traditionally the patron saint of travellers and wayfarers. Three of the churches survive and this is one of them. It is on Aldersgate and its old churchyard at the rear now houses the Watts Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice.
The church as seen from the Barbican Highwalk …
Although it suffered only minor damage in the Great Fire it was rebuilt in 1789-91 by Nathaniel Wright, surveyor to the City. The facade and Venetian window were added circa 1831 after the church had to be shortened for widening of the road. It contains numerous interesting memorials and lots of stained glass. For more about the former I highly recommend the brilliant Bob Speel website from which I will quote extensively in this blog!
Here are my favourites, memorials first.
The most notable is Lady Anne Packington’s Gothic altar tomb of 1563 …
In the recess are brasses of Dame Anne and her (deceased) husband Sir John Packington, and a shield of arms. They kneel facing slightly inwards towards each other, hands raised in prayer, each with their faldstool or prayer desk, with opened book. Sir John wears armour but is bareheaded, with wavy hair down to the shoulders, beard and whiskers; his helmet is placed in front of him. Dame Anne wears a long robe with wide collar, and behind her is a miniature replica, her daughter.
The first of my other favourites is this one of Elizabeth (Hewytt) Richardson who died in 1639 and was the wife of Thomas Richardson of Honningh, Norforlk, who erected the monument …
She had 10 children, seven sons and three daughters, and was ‘a fitt patterne for all women of honor, piete and religion’. Bob Speel comments that ‘the figure faces directly forward with a rather blank, rectangular face, surrounded by curled hair which would seem to be a wig. She wears a curious collar giving a triangular shape to her upper body’.
Mr Speel very much favours the second portrait bust in the church, that of Elizabeth Ashton who died in 1662. It was erected by a daughter, Elizabeth Beaumont …
Mr Speel waxes lyrical as follows: ‘Well, here is something clearly based on the odd Elizabeth Richardson monument noted above, but what a difference in quality. A naturalistic portrait sculpture of the deceased, again facing forward, with a slight smile, wavy rather than curly hair, a tight-fitting cap above, a similar broad collar to the earlier monument but here shaped to the shoulders, and with tassels at the front above the breast. Again a similar pose to the hands, upward turned in front of her; one plump hand supports the other, which holds a book. She has broad sleeves, gathered in at the wrist. Again, an oval niche, squared off surround, and this time a more appropriate top, being simply a swan necked pediment, with painted shield of arms within minor strapwork above.’
Speel identified two two must-see monuments. First, a tall, grey panel to Elizabeth Smith who died in 1750. It contains a poem, beginning ‘Not far remote lies a lamented Fair, // Whom Heav’n had fashion’d with peculiar Care’, and ending sombrely ‘Learn from this Marble, what thou valu’st most, // And sett’st thy Heart upon, may soon be lost.’ It includes a portrait carved in high relief, notable for being a work of the eminent sculptor Louis-Francois Roubiliac …
The second is the largest wall monument, tall enough that a cut-out had to be left in the gallery above. It is to Zachariah Foxall who died in 1758. ‘His portrait can be seen at the top of the monument, a drape held above it by a cherub, with a second cherub seated on the other side, on top of a great boxy casket protruding from the wall. A good example of the more grand, extravagant style of many monuments of around this period, by a sculptor called James Annis, who had his mason’s yard close by in Aldersgate Street itself’ …
Two fine Victorian gentlemen with fine Victorian beards ..
One of three incredible cartouches …
Do try and find a time to visit this church and maybe use Bob Speel’s excellent website to guide you around the numerous monuments of which these are just a small selection.
When it comes to the glass, of particular merit is an impressive window at the east end of the church – not stained glass but a ‘transparency’ (a painting on glass). It is the only one of its kind in the city, painted by James Pearson in 1788. It depicts ‘The Agony in the Garden’ …
By contrast, the stained glass windows are all Victorian or later.
When I saw this one ‘In memory of Matthew Webb’ I thought ‘That name rings a bell …’
Captain Webb was the first man to successfully swim the English Channel. His first attempt was on 12 August 1875 but poor weather and sea conditions forced him to abandon his attempt. Twelve days later, he set off again and, despite several jellyfish stings and strong currents, he completed the swim, which was calculated at 40 miles, in 21 hours and 40 minutes …
One form of celebrity endorsement at the time was to lend your name to a manufacturer of matches …
Tragically, he drowned in 1883 while attempting to cross the Whirlpool Rapids below Niagara Falls. A memorial in his home town of Daley, Shropshire, reads: “Nothing great is easy.”
Some examples of the other windows …
Finally – Lest we forget.
At the east end of the church is a memorial book …
It records the names of nearly 1800 members of the Post Office Rifles who died in action during the Great War, evidence of St Botolph’s connections with the London General Post Office that was once situated nearby.
Some images I have found online (copyrights The Postal Museum) …
In my blog three weeks ago I wrote about the treasure trove that you’ll find at All Hallows by the Tower and promised to return again and explore the Crypt Museum. This week’s edition is the result.
I headed down the steps to the atmospheric interior …
One of the first exhibits you encounter is this floor of a 2nd century Roman dwelling …
Sometimes it’s just easier to take a picture of an information label!
Walk where the Romans walked …
The church historian told me that, if I stood on the tiles long enough, I would be transported back to Roman times. Sadly, I was in a bit of a hurry.
On display are several casts of Roman gravestones.
A ‘most devoted son’…
And an ‘incomparable husband’ …
This stone once depicted a couple but the woman’s head is now missing …
The inscription reads : Demetrius, to Heraclia, his wife (set up this stone) at the expense of her own estate, as a memorial to her.
Lots of treasures in display cases …
Including this beautiful carving in alabaster …
This is the ‘great hoist’ …
Costing £3 in 1682, it was made to suspend the beautiful Grinling Gibbons font cover which can now be found in the south west corner of the church …
This is the original north door from the 1884 construction of the North porch …
It was badly damaged in the fire bombing that happenened three weeks after the direct hit on the church on 19 December 1940.
There are several connections with famous Americans.
William Penn was baptised in All Hallows and this memorial to commemorate the event was erected in 1911. It was damaged in the wartime bombing …
William’s father, Admiral Sir William Penn, was Commissioner of the nearby Navy Office and his son was baptised here on 23 October 1644. The Baptismal Register recording the occasion …
Penn’s entry is number 23 on the right hand page.
And what about this lady. For almost two hundred years the only non-American First Lady until the inauguration of President Trump on 20 January 2017 …
The relevant entry in the 1797 Marriage Register …
Under the High Altar is sited the Undercroft Chapel …
The altar comprises stones brought back to All Hallows from Richard I’s Castle Athilt in Israel.
As I said in my earlier blog, All Hallows really is a treasure trove and my blogs really just give a brief glimpse of how interesting the church is. So well worth a visit.
The idea of an embankment along the Thames was first suggested by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666 and work eventually began in 1861 under the control of Sir Joseph Bazalgette the Metropolitan Board of Works’ Chief Engineer. Its purpose was not only to ease congestion but also to house the main sewer and it was opened on 13 July 1870 by the Prince of Wales. The total area of land reclaimed was over 37 acres and about 20 acres of this were laid out as gardens and these were the objective of my walk last week.
The gardens shortly after opening …
Walking west from Blackfriars I encountered one of my favourite pieces of street sculpture …
He’s had a tough day at the office and now just wants to get home but, sadly, he’s been trying to grab that cab since 2014. Sculpted by J. Seward Johnson Jr. in 1983, it originally stood on Park Avenue and 47th Street in New York. It’s called, not surprisingly, Taxi!
A little further west are the gates to the Temple private gardens – haunt of the legal profession.
The flying horse Pegasus is the emblem of Middle Temple …
The badge of the Middle Temple consists of the Lamb of God with a flag bearing the Saint George’s Cross …
I walked past the two formidable dragons symbolising the entrance to the City of London …
Seven feet high, they were once mounted above the entrance to the Coal Exchange which was demolished between 1962 and 1963.
They were cast by London founder, Dewer, in 1849 as can be seen on the back of the shield …
Alongside the dragon on the north side of the road is a tablet commemoration Queen Victoria’s last visit to the City in March 1900 …
Time now to enter the first of the gardens and to admire the memorials erected to the great, the good and the brave.
This is the Lady Henry Somerset Children’s Fountain. She was elected president of the British Women’s Temperance Association in 1890 and during her time with them its political and social influence grew. She promoted many endeavours, including the use of birth control, as she argued that sin begins with an unwelcome child …
The formidable Lady Somerset …
What I also discovered in my research was that she outed Lord Henry as a homosexual (a crime during the 1800s), which resulted in their separation and her gaining custody over their son. As a result of publicising his sexual orientation, she was ostracised from society since in those days women were expected to turn a blind eye to every kind of their husband’s infidelity. His lordship decamped to Italy.
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900) was a composer and most famous for his collaborations with the librettist Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911). Their collaboration resulted in fourteen Comic Operas a number of which are still frequently performed today by both amateur and professional companies to the delight of people around the world …
His memorial features a bust atop of a pedestal together with a weeping Muse of Music. The plinth also carries lines from Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1888 opera The Yeomen of the Guard: “Is life a boon? / If so, it must befall / That Death, whene’er he call, / Must call too soon”.
The lines are repeated in the bronze sculpture at the base, which depicts an open book of music, one of the masks of Comedy and Tragedy and a mandolin …
Apparently the statue has been described as ‘the most erotic in London’.
Robert Raikes, pioneer of Sunday Schools …
Although Sunday schools were not original to Robert Raikes – they were in existence many years before he started his first in 1780 – it was he who put them on the map and whose efforts gave huge momentum to the movement in Britain. Hence, when in 1880 this memorial was erected to celebrate the centenary of the Sunday school movement, the statue featured Robert Raikes. Read more about this fascinating man here.
The flower beds are wonderful …
The Henry Fawcett memorial ‘erected by his grateful countrywomen’ …
Henry Fawcett was an economist and politician who was held in high regard by the public. He was born in 1833 and educated at the University of Cambridge. At the age of 25 he was involved in a shooting accident that left him blind. However, he refused to let his affliction dampen his life and ambitions. He rose to become a Professor in Economics at Cambridge University and was elected Member of Parliament for Brighton in 1865 to 1874, and subsequently for Hackney in 1874 to 1884. In 1880 he was also appointed the position of Her Majesty’s Postmaster-General. He introduced improvements in the Post Office such as the parcel post, postal orders and sixpenny telegrams. He was also an avid supporter of women’s rights and encouraged the Post Office to employ women. He married the renowned suffragist, Millicent Fawcett, in 1867.
More lovely flowers with the memorial to Lord Cheylesmore in the background …
This statue is in tribute to Sir Wilfrid Lawson, the 2nd Baronet probably best known as a temperance campaigner and radical, anti-imperialist wing of the Liberal Party. The statue depicts Lawson, standing as if about to speak while a member of parliament …
He was an extraordinary character and you can read more about him here.
I have always been fascinated by this memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade …
Do take a few minutes to read this article about them from the 20th Century Society Journal:
The Imperial Camel Corps were formed to patrol the western desert in the First World War and fought major campaigns in Egypt, Sinai and Palestine. Their job was to protect Allied troops (evacuated after the failure at Gallipoli) from risings by the Ottomans and Senussi confederation of tribes. The Senussi were eventually forced into submission late in 1916 by starvation, and by being denied the use of wells by camel corps units and light car patrols. The Camel Corps’ most famous moment was assisting Lawrence of Arabia to capture Jerusalem in the rebellion of 1916-18, although the damper weather meant many animals became victims of sarcoptic mange. The majority of the Infantry were Australian, some of whom were already experienced camel jockeys. The corps were so successful that they were expanded from four to eighteen companies. Six companies were formed from British Cavalry, two from New Zealand Cavalry. The corps were reorganised into four large battalions to fight the Turks, assisted by an artillery unit from Hong Kong and Singapore.
Always look after your camel …
A World War One Anzac Australian Camel Corps soldier giving his camel a drink of water from a chattu vase, 1916. You can find more images here and here.
By the end of the war 346 of their formation had died in action. The reality of the ultimate sacrifice, the names behind the numbers …
The nearby York Watergate is almost 400 years old. It was built in 1626 in the grounds of York House as a mooring point for the Duke of Buckingham’s boat or the boats of guests. As a result of the building of the Embankment, the river is now over 150 yards away …
The watergate around 1850 …
More flowers – couldn’t resist taking pics …
And now to more recent conflicts. These memorials are located at the far west end of the gardens near Westminster Underground Station.
One of the aspects of this church that impresses me most is how it was reconstructed after direct hits by bombs during the Blitz.
The interior today …
The church was bombed on two occasions during the Blitz: first the east end was badly damaged by a bomb in December 1940, and three weeks later the whole building was gutted by incendiary bombs, leaving only the tower and outer walls standing. This photo from the 1947 publication The Lost Treasures of London by William Kent shows the devastation …
Here it is last week on a wet and windy day looking from the east …
Before entering the church from this direction I suggest a short diversion.
On Tower Hill Terrace you will find this pretty sculpture. It’s called The Seaand incorporates a tribute to Sir Follett Holt, KBE, the first Chairman of the Tower Hill Improvement Trust, who died 20th March 1944 …
It is one of two gate posts – this is its partner …
The PMSA says ‘Each of these groups comprises two children with dolphins swimming around them. Their frolicking pagan style contrasts rather vividly with the relief of the Toc H Lamp, also by Cecil Thomas, on the east wall of All Hallows behind them’
The Toc H relief …
I walked down the little path alongside the west wall of the church …
Embedded in the wall was this memorial to Samuel Gittens MD. It has three little cherubs heads and refers to his parents ‘Samuel and Mary Gittens of Barbados’ …
Alongside the north wall is the ‘Secret Garden’ …
It is such a shame that, even though the church is right alongside the Tower of London, it doesn’t seem to get many visitors. Do visit if you have the opportunity.
Here are just a few of its treasures.
This is the tomb of the Reverend ‘Tubby’ Clayton CH MC who became vicar of the Church in 1922 and remained there until 1963. He is best known for his work initially as an army chaplain during the First World War and in particular the establishment of Talbot House, a unique place of rest and sanctuary for British troops. After the war the spirit and intent of Talbot House became expressed through the Toc H movement …
His effigy is one of the last works by Cecil Thomas, the ‘soldier sculptor’, and Tubby’s dog Chippie sits on a tassellated cushion at his feet …
Clayton owned a succession of Scottish Terriers, one of them a gift from the Queen Mother. All of them were called Chippie.
Another work by Thomas, the Forster Memorial …
The magnificent font cover is by Grinling Gibbons and dates from 1682 …
The present pulpit dates from around 1670 and is carved in the Gibbons style. It comes from the church of St Swithun’s, London Stone, which was destroyed by bombing and not rebuilt …
Above it is the tester, or sounding board, designed to represent three pilgrim shells associated with the pilgrimage of St James Compostella in Spain.
All Hallows is known as the seafarer’s church with strong connections to the Port of London Authority and to maritime history generally.
Mariners lost at sea with no known grave …
The stained glass windows, especially in the south aisle, also bear witness to the church’s close association with the sea and the river Thames …
There are also, as you might expect, some superb model ships …
And what about this, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s electrically heated crow’s nest from the ‘Good Ship Quest’ on which he died on 5 January 1922 while in harbour in South Georgia …
The man climbing to the crow’s nest in the picture is Frank Wild. He took over the leadership of the expedition after Shackleton died.
The 16th century monument to the Italian merchant Hieronimus Benalius who lived in nearby Seething Lane and died in 1583. He left instructions for Masses to be said for his soul …
This wall monument contains the kneeling effigies of Francis Covell and his wife, each in long robes and with ruffs at the necks. They kneel facing one another, and probably originally had a desk between them which has disappeared …
In the Lady Chapel is the tomb of Alderman John Croke from 1477. It was destroyed during the war, but rebuilt and restored from the remaining fragments …
This is the formidable pillar monument to Giles Lytcott and his family …
The lower inscription …
Ten children but only three living at the time of the mother’s death. It didn’t matter how rich you were, child mortality was high.
You can read the full insciption here. Intriguingly it refers to an ancestor ‘poisoned in the Tower’.
A niche in the wall holds a 17th century wooden statue of St. Antony of Egypt …
There are several fine 18th century sword rests …
How fantastic that this brass from 1612 has survived to tell a sad story …
Here lyeth the bodie of Marie Bvrnell late wife of Iohn Bvrnell Citizen & marchant of Lon don ye only davghter of Mathew Brownrigg of Ipswich in ye covntye of Svffolk Esq. A woman Syncerely lyvinge in ye feare of god & dyinge con stantly in ye fayth of Christ Ihesvs she departed this lyfe ye 5 daye of Aprill 1612 beinge of yf age of 20 years havinge fynished in wedlock wth her sayd hvsband to yeafes & v moneths & bear ing him Issve one sone whereof she dyed in child bed & expecteth now wth ye Elect of god a Ioyfvll resvrrection
Poor Marie. So typical of the time, a young woman dying in childbirth.
And now down to the crypt museum. A subject for a future blog …
The modest entrance to this church is so deceptive …
Nothing prepares you, as you climb the 13 steps, for what you will shortly encounter when you enter …
The majestic space within…
The dome is Wren’s finest and based on his original design for St Paul’s …
Wren lived at number 15 Walbrook and took special care in rebuilding this, his parish church, between 1672 and 1679, after the previous 15th century church was destroyed in the Great Fire. By the 18th century, the building was world famous, the Italian sculptor/architect Antonio Canova declaring, ‘We have nothing to touch it in Rome.’ And the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner lists it as one of the ten most important buildings in all of England.
Before considering the church as it looks now, you might be interested in its layout before the box pews were removed in 1888. This image, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and dated 1809, shows a service in progress with figures in the pews listening to a minister in a pulpit to the right of the altar …
In 1987 the church was rearranged around a central, circular, polished stone altar, made of travartine marble by the famed sculptor Henry Moore. Patrick Heron (1920-1999) was one of Britain’s foremost abstract painters and he designed the colourful kneelers …
The idea was that the community would gather around it and for its central position to represent how the Gospel was central to their lives.
It went against the Christian tradition of having the altar at the Eastern end of the church and so naturally there was huge opposition to idea from some. The case ended up being taken to the Ecclesiastical courts where it was found to be acceptable.
The pulpit and font cover are attributed to the carpenters Thomas Creecher and Stephen Colledge, and the carvers William Newman and Jonathan Maine …
Look back towards the entrance to the church to see the rather magnificent organ case above the door. This dates from 1765 …
I took a prowl around the monuments and was stopped in my tracks by this one to John Lilburne (d.1678), citizen and grocer, of the Lilburn family of Sunderland, and his wife Isabella. It’s the earliest monument in the Church …
I love the little standing figures of the couple, he with cloak and long flowing hair above a tunic, with big cuffs and slender shoes, she a slim figure with long, flaring skirt, puffed out bodice and drapes over and behind her head. A charming pose with her arms crossed in front of her.
But what really caught my eye was the memento mori, a sculpture of a woman dancing with Death, who is a skeleton wearing a long skirt …
Then there’s George Alfred Croly of the Bengal Light Infantry who fell ‘gloriously by a cannon shot’ in the ‘assault on the entrenched camp of the sikhs’ in 1845, aged only 23 …
Robert Marriott’s splendid memorial …
Robert Marriott was Rector from 1662 until he died in 1689 aged 81 years. His monument in Latin describes him as ‘Professor of theology and the watchful pastor of this Church. A man as a preacher so truly Divine that by his preaching he at once charmed and convinced his hearers. A man in whose character old time integrity was so tempered with a sweetness that he made simplicity loveable. A man of so spotless a life that his own example confirmed and recommended what his lips taught.’ Praise indeed.
A long, rather touching inscription for Sir Samuel Moyer …
Many memorials of the time provide an insight into the dreadful child mortality rates of earlier centuries, even for those who were affluent. The tablet states that Samuel Moyer was a Baronet. He must have had money as the tablet states the family spent the summer at their home at Pitsey Hall in Essex and the winters in the parish of St Stephen Walbrook.
A Baronet who could afford homes in Essex and London still suffered numerous child deaths. Of their eleven children, eight died in their minority, with only three daughters surviving to “lament with their sorrowful mother, the great loss of so indulgent a father”.
The bust of Percivall Gilbourne …
Described in the excellent Bob Speel website as follows: ‘A short Latin inscription on a panel with a colourful marble surround … We see a noble bewigged head of an ageing man, firm of countenance and strong of neck, but with something of a jowl, above shoulders and chest wearing a drape rather than contemporary clothing’.
I make no apology for writing again about this brave man ..
Nathaniel Hodges was a 36-year-old doctor practising in London when the terrible plague of 1665 reached the City. Its arrival prompted a flight from London and, Hodges recalled later, this included four-fifths of the College of Physicians. The City was awash, he said, with ‘Chymists’ and ‘Quacks’ dispensing, as he put it: ‘… medicines that were more fatal than the plague and added to the numbers of the dead.’
Dr Hodges decided to stay and minister to his patients and first thing every morning before breakfast he spent two or three hours with them. He wrote later …
Some (had) ulcers yet uncured and others … under the first symptoms of seizure all of which I endeavoured to dispatch with all possible care …
hardly any children escaped; and it was not uncommon to see an Inheritance pass successively to three or four Heirs in as many Days.
After hours of visiting victims where they lived he walked home and, after dinner, saw more patients until nine at night and sometimes later.
He survived the epidemic and wrote two learned works on the plague. The first, in 1666, he called An Account of the first Rise, Progress, Symptoms and Cure of the Plague being a Letter from Dr Hodges to a Person of Quality. The second was Loimologia, published six years later …
A later edition of Dr Hodges’ work, translated from the original Latin and published when the plague had broken out in France.
It seems particularly sad to report that his life ended in personal tragedy when, in his early fifties, his practice dwindled and fell away. Finally he was arrested as a debtor, committed to Ludgate Prison, and died there, a broken man, in 1688.
The Latin on his memorial translates as follows:
Learn to number thy days, for age advances with furtive step, the shadow never truly rests. Seeking mortals, born that they might succumb, the executioner comes from behind. While you breathe you are a victim of death; you know not the hour in which your fate will call you. While you look at monuments, time passes irrevocably. In this tomb is laid the physician Nathaniel Hodges in the hope of heaven; now a son of earth, who was once a son of Oxford. May you survive the plague by his writings. Born 13 September AD 1629 Died 10 June 1688.
There are two glass display cases in the church.
This model allows the overall design of the church to be appreciated, not easy when viewed from outside …
For example. this is the view from the south …
Inside in another glass case you’ll see this famous phone …
As you leave and walk down the steps, look to your left and you will see a modern mosaic of St Stephen …
I would like to finish with a quotation that I particularly like from the church’s own publication setting out its history.
Wren considered geometry to be the basis of the whole world and the manifestation of its Creator, while light not only made that geometry visible but also represented the gift of Reason, of which geometry was for him the highest expression. Like the solution to a mathematical problem, everything fits into place with apparent simplicity; yet this simplicity itself is mysterious and magical. Whether one experiences St. Stephen’s alone, in stillness and quiet, or in a full congregation resounding with music, the effect is always the same. Life outside is complicated and chaotic. To enter is not to escape into fantasy; rather is it to submit to the strongest positive assertion of the true order of the universe.
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!
You only need to visit the Watts Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice in Postman’s Park to see evidence of the dangers that people were exposed to in Victorian times.
Here is the man we have to thank for this window on the past …
George Frederic Watts was a famous Victorian artist and this picture is a self-portrait. He first suggested the memorials we see today in 1887 but the idea was not taken up until 1898 when the vicar of St Botolph’s church offered him this site in Postman’s Park. There Watts’ ambition to commemorate ‘likely to be forgotten heroes’ came to fruition and when the park was officially opened on 30 July 1900 there were already four tablets in place.
Sixty two people feature on the memorial today which is housed in a wooden loggia …
I find that their stories still evoke a range of emotions, particularly ones of sadness and curiosity, which left me wanting to know more about these people, their lives and the manner of their deaths. There are also clues as to the nature of society and work at that time along with the quality of healthcare.
We are reminded, for example, that horses played a tremendous part in work practices, transport, leisure and, sadly, war. It’s estimated, for example, that there were about 3.3 million horses in late Victorian Britain and in 1900 about a million of these were working horses. Of the 62 people commemorated here, five died as a result of an incident involving horses and I shall write about two of them.
Here is the first mention of horses on the wall …
William Drake earned his living as a carriage driver and on this occasion his passenger was one of the most famous sopranos of her day, a lady called Thérèse Tietjens. The breaking of the carriage pole caused panic among the horses and they reared out of control. In fighting to control them, Drake received a severe kick to his right knee which subsequently resulted in the septicaemia that led to his death on April 8th. A message was passed to the coroner at the inquest that ‘those dependent on the deceased would be amply cared for by Madame Tietjens’. Notwithstanding this, Drake was buried at the expense of the parish in a common grave in Brompton Cemetery, although there is evidence that his widow did receive an annuity from somewhere.
Elizabeth Boxall died after being kicked by a runaway carthorse as she pulled a small child out of its way …
Her brave act actually took place in July 1887 but over the next eleven months poor Elizabeth’s health deteriorated. Part of her leg was amputated in September and a further part (up to her hip) in January 1888, her condition being complicated by a diagnosis of cancer. Her parents were distraught by her death and the way she had been treated by the medical profession – for example, the first amputation was carried out without her or her parents’ permission. ‘They regularly butchered her at that hospital’ her father exclaimed at the inquest and the jury found that shock from the second operation was the cause of death. No one from the hospital attended the inquest but the House Governor at the London Hospital disputed the finding in a letter to the press.
Still on a medical theme, the highly contagious infection known as diptheria features twice on the memorials. Now extremely rare due to vaccination programmes, it was once a frequent killer of small children and also posed a danger to physicians such as Samuel Rabbeth …
I have been able to locate a picture of him thanks to the excellentLondon Walking Toursblog…
Dr Samuel Rabbeth (1858 – 1884) from The Illustrated London News 15th November 1884 Copyright, The British Library Board
On October 10th the doctor was treating a four year old patient who was in danger of asphyxiation as diptheria often resulted in a membrane blocking the airways. The standard treatment of tracheotomy had been performed but to no avail and Rabbeth performed the more risky procedure of sucking on the tracheotomy tube to remove the obstruction. Unfortunately in doing so he contracted the infection himself and died on 20th October (not the 26th as shown on the plaque). There was some (fairly muted) criticism of his actions by doctors who believed he acted recklessly, although from the most honourable of motives.
He has a fine gravestone in Barnes Cemetery which gives details of his personal professional history and the circumstances of his death …
Dr Lucas was infected as a result of an unfortunate accident …
He was in the process of administering an anaesthetic to a child with diptheria in order that a tracheotomy could be carried out. The child coughed or sneezed in his face but, instead of delaying to clean himself up, which may have endangered the child’s life, he continued and as a result became infected. He died within a week.
I haven’t been able to find an image of him or his final resting place but a poem written in his memory was published in a number of newspapers and you can read it in full here.
Thomas Griffin was engaged to be married on 16 April 1899 and on 11 April he had travelled to Northampton to discuss arrangements with his family and then back home to Battersea for work the next day. He expected that by the end of the week he would be married, but that was not to be, and by the end of the following day he was dead …
An inquest on 17 April was told that, after an explosion in the refinery boiler room, the door had been closed and the men told to keep out. Griffin, who had been evacuated to safety, suddenly cried out ‘My mate! My mate!’ and before anyone could stop him had disappeared into the boiler room. Terribly scalded all over his body he died later that day. The coroner lamented that …
… the conduct of a man like him deserves to be recorded. No doubt there are heroes in everyday life, but they do not come to the front and so we do not hear of them.
Unbeknown to the coroner, Watts had been collecting newspaper cuttings of heroic acts for years and added Griffin’s story to the growing archive. So it came to pass that Thomas Griffin was among the first four people to be commemorated upon the newly opened memorial.
And finally …
One might get the impression that this gentleman was particularly worthy of recognition because the person he saved was not only a stranger but also a foreigner. This would be a shame if it detracts from a very brave act and a tragic one also since, according to Cambridge’s brother Royston, John need not have perished. He told the Nottingham Evening Post …
My brother, who was a very good swimmer, saw while bathing an unknown person drowning, and swam out to her assistance. The bathing boat rescued the lady, and the other bather, but the boatmen declined to go out again, although we implored them to do so, and offered them payment, until they were ordered out by officials. It was then, of course, too late.
I have written in great detail about the following four heroes in an earlier blog which you can find (along with pictures of three of them) here …
I am indebted for the background research used in this blog to the historian John Price and his incredibly interesting book Heroes of Postman’s Park – Heroic Self-Sacrifice in Victorian London. You will find details of how to purchase your copy here.
Poor St Bartholomew the Less has had a tough time (EC1A 9DS). Designated ‘the less’ to distinguish it from its better known namesake nearby, it has also had to be substantially rebuilt a number of times including the need to repair damage inflicted in the Blitz. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating place containing many interesting historical monuments.
To find its modest doorway you must enter the grounds of St Bartholomew’s hospital through the Henry VIII gates and look to your left. Inside a rather spooky white hand directs you up stairs to the main body of the church …
It was once a parish church in its own right, the parish boundary being the walls of the hospital. The parishioners were made up of the hospital staff and patients and at one time attendance at services was compulsory for all who were fit enough. It was the only parish of this nature in existence but since 2015, however, it has become part of the Parish of St Bartholomew the Great.
There are many features to admire but, for reasons of space, I have tried to pick some of the most interesting and will look at others in a future blog.
This stained glass commemorates the founding of he monastic complex of St Bartholomew in 1123. The person responsible was Rahere, a courtier to Henry I, who was inspired by a vision of the saint whilst recovering from a serious illness …
Rahere is shown kneeling and beneath his cassock is rather a surprise. He is wearing some very colourful tights, a reference to the fact that he’s often referred to as a minstrel or jester as well as a courtier …
High up on the south wall is the memorial to Robert Balthrope, Sergeant Surgeon to Queen Elizabeth I …
The inscription reads …
Here Robert Balthrope Lyes intombed, to Elizabeth Our Queene Who Sergeant of the Surgeons Sworne, Neere Thirtye Yeeres Hathe Beene He Died at Sixtye Nine of Yeeres, Decembers Ninthe The Daye The Yeere of Grace Eight Hundred Twice Deductinge Nine A waye. Let Here His Rotten Bones Repose Till Angells Trompet Sounde To Warne The Worlde of Present Chaunge And Raise the Deade From Grounde.
He died in 1591, but the poet who devised this eulogy presumably had a problem getting 1591 to rhyme with anything. So he chose the frankly odd solution of asking the reader to do some mental arithmetic – ‘The Yeere of Grace Eight Hundred Twice’ (i.e. 800 x 2 = 1600) Deductinge Nine A waye (1600 – 9 = 1591).
The current windows in the church were designed by Hugh Easton, following the loss of the earlier windows during World War Two. Easton was an eminent stained glass maker who also designed the Battle of Britain memorial window in Westminster Abbey. The design of the nurse in the window in Westminster Abbey is strikingly similar to that in the window here …
The doctors’ memorial window …
The mid-19th century alabaster pulpit depicts Christ healing the sick …
On the east wall is the poignant memorial plaque to Arthur Jermyn Landon …
The reflections make it difficult to read so here it is in full …
His former medical contemporaries at St Bartholomew’s Hospital have set up this tablet to keep in memory the bright example of ARTHUR JERMYN LANDON Surgeon Army Medical Department who, while continuing to dress the wounded amid a shower of bullets in the action on Majuba Hill, was in turn mortally wounded. His immediate request to his assistants “I am dying do what you can for the wounded” was characteristic of his unselfish disposition. His habitual life was expressed in the simple grandeur of his death. He was born at Brentwood Essex 29th June 1851. Died two days after the action at Mount Prospect South Africa 1st March 1881.
Here he is in an image of him dated 1881 held at the Wellcome Foundation …
Before you leave, look to the right of the door and you will see the tomb of Surgeon John Freke (1688-1756) …
English History Online has the following to say …
… a remarkably curious tomb of the fireplace kind, most elaborately wrought. It is the tomb of Freke, the senior surgeon of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, who wrote many works upon surgery, still to be found in its library. His bust is to be seen in the museum of the hospital, and he is represented by Hogarth, in the last plate of “The Stages of Cruelty,” presiding aloft over the dissecting-table, and pointing with a long wand to the dead “subject,” upon whom he is lecturing to the assembled students.
And here it is …
You can read more about Hogarth’s The Four Stages of Cruelty here.
Look back after leaving the church and observe the oldest parts of the building, the 15th-century tower and west end of the church …
Within the tower are three bells, the oldest being cast in 1380. The bells are hung in the original wooden frame thought to be the oldest in London.
I have been a bit unlucky in the past when, walking towards Holborn Viaduct, I have found this church closed. Last weekend, however, my luck was in and I ventured inside. I am delighted I did.
The porch, tower and outer walls date from the mid-15th century …
The interior is a bit of a mixture of late 17th century to mid-Victorian …
The first thing that struck me was the quality of the stained glass.
A window removed for safe keeping during the War …
St Bernard with some of his followers …
I stopped to admire the glass in the Musicians’ Chapel.
This is the burial place of Sir Henry Wood, founder and conductor of the Proms for nearly 50 years, in memory of whom there is a window and a memorial plaque …
There is a window to Walter Carroll who lived from 1869 till 1955 in Manchester. He was a composer and a music teacher, especially known for his music for children, which he wrote for his two daughters Ida and Elsa …
Dame Nellie Melba, an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano, also has a commemorative window. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician …
For centuries, the church had a close association with the notorious Newgate Prison which stood across the road where the Old Bailey is now.
Carts carrying the condemned on their way to Tyburn would pause briefly at the church where prisoners would be presented with a nosegay. However, they would already have had an encounter with someone from the church the night before. In 1605, a wealthy merchant called Robert Dow made a bequest of £50 for a bellman from the church to stand outside the cells of the condemned at midnight, ring the bell, and chant as follows:
All you that in the condemned hole do lie, Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die; Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near, That you before the Almighty must appear; Examine well yourselves, in time repent, That you may not to eternal flames be sent: And when St. Sepulchre’s bell tomorrow tolls, The Lord above have mercy on your souls.
And you can still see the bell today, displayed in a glass case in the church …
The south chapel is dedicated to the City of London Regiment of the Royal Fusiliers …
Regimental colours dating back to the 19th century are on display …
The terrible carnage of the First World War is recalled by some of the battle honours recorded here …
I am so delighted that I looked up and noticed this memorial …
I quote here from the Worshipful Company of Barbers’ website:
Edward Arris was a distinguished surgeon and Master of the Barbers’ Company. He died in 1651, two years after his wife Mary. Their marriage had lasted 60 years and produced 23 children, only one of whom (Thomas) survived their mother.
The inscription reads: ‘Edward Arris Esq gave to ye company of Chyrurgeons 30l for an anatomy lecture & to the Hospital of St Bartholomew 24l both yearly forever to Christ Church Hospital 100l & 50l towards rebuilding of this church; and several large gifts to the poor of this parish, wherein he was born. And all these in his life time. Hee deceased the 28 May 1676 aged 85 and lyeth buryed by his wife.‘
The money Arris provided to the Company in 1645 – a benefaction he attempted to keep secret – founded six lectures and a dissection in the Inigo Jones Anatomy Theatre annually. His name (along with that of another Master of the Company) and these lectures live on today as the Arris and Gale Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons.
Besides providing grooming services, barber-surgeons regularly performed dental extractions, bloodletting, minor surgeries and sometimes amputations. The association between barbers and surgeons goes back to the early Middle Ages, hence the blood and bandages sign outside barber shops today.
This beautiful font cover was donated by a parishoner in 1670 …
There is another font cover nearby with a thrilling back story …
Vicars going back to the 12th century …
When you leave the church there is one other thing to look out for – the first ever public drinking fountain installed in London …
After Remembrance Sunday every year it has become my habit to visit some of the City War Memorials, both to pay my respects and to read some of the moving tributes left by visitors.
The Tower Hill Memorial commemorates over 36,000 men and women of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both World Wars along with the seafarers killed in the Falklands conflict of 1982.
The first was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1928. The main structure is in Portland stone. It takes the form of a vaulted colonnade or pavilion reminiscent of a Doric temple but open at both ends …
That’s All Hallows-by-the-Tower in the distance …
The second was designed by Sir Edward Maufe and unveiled in 1955 …
It is a sunken garden with the steps leading down to it flanked by a Mercantile Marine officer …
… and a seaman of the Merchant Service. Behind him, in his eyrie above what was once the Port of London Authority building, Father Thames points towards the sea …
The walls are covered with bronze panels with the names of the dead arranged alphabetically under their ships with the name of the Master or Skipper first in each case if they were among the lost. At regular intervals, between the inscription panels, are allegorical figures representing the Seven Seas.
A little boy rides a dolphin accompanied by seahorses …
Neptune with his trident …
A mermaid combing her hair …
My eyes were drawn to these pictures of a lost sailor and his ship …
This is the sweet poem that was attached …
The Falklands Memorial …
A close up of the little hat …
The London Troops Memorial outside the Royal Exchange
Your attention may be drawn to two battalions with unusual names, the Cyclists and the Artists’ Rifles …
Bicycles were commonly used in the First World War, not only for troop transport, but also for carrying dispatches. Field telephones were limited by the need for cables, and ‘wireless’ communications were still unreliable, so cyclists – and runners, motorbike riders, and pigeons and dogs – were frequently preferred, by the Allies and the German army.
I came across two interesting recruitment posters for the Cyclists at the Imperial War Museum. The first paints a quite romantic picture of the battalion going into combat in the bucolic setting of what looks like an English village. Nothing like the industrial level mass slaughter that these poor men would have to face in the First World War…
This one made me smile taking into account, as it does, the poor state of early 20th century dental hygiene …
The story of the Artists’ Rifles is a fascinating one.
The regiment was formed in 1859 by art student Edward Starling. It was a volunteer regiment and formed out of the widespread fear of a French invasion. Many of those who joined were artists, actors, musicians and architects and its first headquarters was located at Burlington House. The First World War would see the regiment literally leading from the front as they become a training regiment for officers in this period. It is also for this reason that the Artists Rifles had one of the highest casualty rates of any regiment.
This painting, Over the Top by John Nash, depicts his regiment in action. On 30th December 1917, the 1st Artists Rifles counter-attacked at Welsh Ridge, south-west of Cambrai. Nash called the action ‘pure murder’ as most of the company were killed. A sergeant, he counted himself lucky to escape the carnage …
Copyright : Imperial War Museum.
During the Great War, 2,003 of the regiment’s men were killed and over 3,000 wounded. Members of the regiment would be awarded eight Victoria Crosses and over 850 other military awards including the Distinguished Service Order (awarded 52 times) and the Military Cross (awarded 822 times). They were also mentioned in dispatches 564 times.
Incidentally, in the very first episode of the fourth series of Blackadder he becomes an artist, believing that this is his chance to escape the trenches. However, it is revealed that the artist’s role is to undertake a highly dangerous job – to draw the enemy’s defences from No Man’s Land.
The last episode of the series is renowned for its moving climax and you can view it here : Good luck everyone.
On Cornhill, the Archangel Michael holds aloft a flaming sword ……
The memorial commemorates 2,130 men from the parish – and the neighbouring City of London parishes of St Peter le Poer and St Benet Fink with which it was merged in 1906 – who served in the British armed forces in the First World War. About 170 died in the war, listed on a roll of honour kept in the church.
By the angel’s right foot are two lions, one biting the other, representing war; by the left foot are four putti looking upwards, representing peace.
And finally to St Bartholomew the Great at Smithfield …
There is a plaque just behind the gate commemorating Sir Aston Webb’s work. It includes his coat of arms (which incorporates a spider, a playful reference to his name) …
Poignantly, the name Webb also appears on the memorial …
Aston’s son, Philip, was killed in action on 25th September 1916.
And finally, another poem dedicated to seafarers …
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Last week I mentioned my visit to St Etheldreda’s church in Ely Place and promised to return, which I duly did on a lovely sunny Monday morning this week.
Ely Place was until relatively recently considered to be a part of Cambridgeshire. For centuries, it was an enclave – an area of land physically located in the City of London but not under its jurisdiction. Instead, it was privately owned by the Bishops of Ely, and even today the street has its own gatehouse and beadles …
The houses date from the 1770s.
Tucked away down a narrow passage on the left is the quaint Ye Olde Mitre pub. When I first visited it back in the 1970s it kept shorter ‘Country’ rather than ‘City’ opening hours …
Further north along Ely Place the church of St Etheldreda is set back from the road …
The original name of the saint celebrated here was Æthelthryth and this eventually evolved into Etheldreda which, in turn, sometimes became pronounced Audrey (a girl’s name now somewhat out of fashion). This explains the naming of the late Victorian block of flats called Audrey House that nudge up against the church itself …
The Bishop of Ely once had a palace in London back in the 13th century. To get an idea of the extraordinary wealth of the church before the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, this is a section of the so-called Agas map of 1561 in which my fellow blogger London Inheritance has marked the streets that formed the boundaries to the Bishop’s land …
You can see the name Ely Place and St. Andrew’s church just to the right of where he has marked Holborn.
A private chapel was built alongside the palace dedicated to St Etheldreda, the nun who founded the first religious house in Ely in the 7th Century and is the saint to whom Ely Cathedral was dedicated. The chapel here dates from the late 13th Century and is one of the few buildings in London surviving from the reign of Edward I since it escaped the flames of the Great Fire in 1666 (although it was severely damaged following an air raid during the Second World War).
As soon as you enter you know you are in a rather special place …
Before descending into the crypt, there is an interesting feature just to the right of the door …
It was found when the site was excavated but its original purpose has never been established, although some have suggested it is the remains a Roman font.
Down the steps into the crypt …
When I visited the space was laid out for a function of some kind …
Some of the niches surrounding the venue …
Back upstairs now to the upper church.
On the way you pass a Royal coat of arms which commemorates the reopening of the church after bomb damage repair on 2nd July 1952 …
The upper church is a beautiful, spiritual place with some stunning post-War stained glass …
In the centre of the east window is Christ whilst at the apex God the Father surmounts the choir of angels …
To the left of Mary, the Mother of God, stands St Etheldreda, holding an image of the monastery she founded …
The west window is dedicated to the English martyrs. Five martyrs, each holding a palm, stand underneath the Tyburn gallows …
Martyrs hang on the ‘Tyburn Tree’ prior to being ‘drawn and quartered’ …
They are also commemorated with statues standing on corbels along both sides of the upper church. Here are three of them, all executed at Tyburm.
Anne Line, a sempstress, martyred in 1601 …
John Roche, a Thames Waterman, martyred in 1588 …
Edward Jones, a Welsh gentleman, martyred 1590 …
Alas there was no sign of the reliquary containing part of the saint’s ‘uncorrupted’ hand that I mentioned in my last blog. Presumably it’s stored away for safe keeping.
Overall St Ethelreda’s is a calm, welcoming place – ideal for quiet contemplation away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I’d strongly recommend a visit both for that reason and for its historical importance.
If you want to read more about the church and the area go to the excellent London Inheritance blog. If you visit the church do purchase the guide book – it is very well written with excellent illustrations …
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A property deed signed by William Shakespeare and a near-perfect copy of the First Folio are on display as part of celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of one of the world’s most significant literary treasures
The City of London Corporation’s copy of the 1623 First Folio, which was owned by one-time Prime Minister, William Petty Fitzmaurice, and is now conserved at Guildhall Library, is one of the finest and most complete copies in the world …
The book was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death. It’s a collection of 36 of his works and was brought together by two of his friends, John Heminge and Henry Condell under the full title of:
Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies. Published according to the true originall copies.
As a tribute to their friend, Heminges and Condell wanted to put forward the best possible version of Shakespeare’s plays, so they used original prompt books, quartos, and original notes to collate the final collection.
The title page has an engraving of the playwright …
This is an important image since it’s one of the few portraits of Shakespeare to have been approved by those who had known him personally.
The parish register containing the entry for the burial of Edmund Shakespeare, William’s nephew, is also on display …
In the exhibition you will see John Keats’s facsimile of the First Folio, in which he wrote two poems, including ‘On Sitting Down To Read King Lear Once Again’, and which is open to the play’s first page …
In March 1613 William Shakespeare and three associates agreed to purchase the Gatehouse of the former Dominican priory in London known as Blackfriars from Henry Walker for the sum of £140. The indenture of bargain and sale is dated March 10. The purchasers also agreed to the mortgage shown here, dated March 11, for the same property, in the amount of £60, implying that the buyers put up only £80 at the time of sale. The document is signed by three buyers, William Shakespeare, William Johnson and John Jackson. The place set aside for the signature of John Heminges is left blank …
The thrill here, of course, is that this document contains one of the only six Shakespeare signatures known to exist. Here it is ..
My image is not great so this is a screenshot of a better one from the Internet …
The heroes of the story of Shakespeare’s plays and of the First Folio are John Heminge and Henry Condell without whom most, if not all, of his work would have been lost forever.
They were both buried at the church of St Mary Aldermanbury which was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 and then rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. Unfortunately it was gutted during the Blitz in 1940, leaving only the walls intact. Rather unusually, in 1966 the remains of the church were shipped to Fulton, Missouri, USA. The church now stands as a memorial to Winston Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech made at Westminster College, Fulton, in 1946.
Heminge and Cordell, however, have been honoured with a splendid memorial on the previous site of the church …
‘TO THEIR DISINTERESTED AFFECTION THE WORLD OWES ALL THAT IT CALLS SHAKESPEARE. THEY ALONE COLLECTED HIS PRINTED WRITINGS REGARDLESS OF PECUNIARY LOSS AND WITHOUT THE HOPE OF ANY PROFIT GAVE THEM TO THE WORLD. THEY THUS MERITED THE GRATITUDE OF MANKIND’
Incidentally, the Heritage Gallery in the Guildhall Art Gallery is a bit of a hidden treasure with ever-changing displays of great interest drawn from the City of London collections and archives. It also boasts a splendid back-lit copy af the Agas map of Early Modern London …
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If you want to have a brief experience of the St Paul’s Cathedral crypt without paying to enter the Cathedral itself just make your way down the stairs to the Crypt Cafe. The entrance is opposite the Temple Bar …
Down below you’ll encounter some extraordinary monuments to deceased heroes. This is the one to Sir William Ponsonby …
‘Created in white marble, the figure of the dying hero rests against his fallen horse. He is nude except for drapery, and a broken sword slips from the fingers of his right hand. His shield is on the ground beside him. He looks upwards at a winged female figure in a classical tunic, representing Victory, who approaches from the left. She holds a wreath above him, and he reaches for it with his left hand’ …
You can read more about his background along with the gripping story of his final battle on the Waterloo Association website.
Nearby is this monument to two Naval heroes …
Both men died in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen.
Riou ‘ … …was sitting on a gun, was encouraging his men, and had been wounded in the head by a splinter. He had expressed himself grieved at being thus obliged to retreat, and nobly observed, ‘What will Nelson think of us?’ His clerk was killed by his side; and by another shot, several marines, while hauling on the main-brace, shared the same fate. Riou then exclaimed, ‘Come, then, my boys, let us all die together!’ The words were scarcely uttered, when the fatal shot severed him in two’.
In 1799 James Mosse was appointed Captain of HMS Monarch, also under the overall command of Admiral Nelson. Mosse took a leading role, sailing from one end of the line to the other, whilst both firing and receiving fire. He was killed soon after adopting his required position, his last orders being to ‘cut away the anchor’. Like Riou, he was buried at sea …
If you look through the gates to the main crypt area you can just see in the distance the tomb of their commander, Horatio Nelson …
Here’s a picture I took on an earlier visit …
After all that death and drama you might like some of the images of flowers I have been taking!
Good corporate neighbours on Gresham Street …
Also on the same street, the Goldsmith’s Garden (the old churchyard of St John Zachary) …
A Goldsmith’s leopard guards the entrance …
Across the road …
Opposite St Paul’s underground Station …
Near St Paul’s Cathedral …
At Aldermanbury …
The Silk Street flower bed. From planting on 22nd June …
To a splendid display today …
Finally, three things I have seen from or on the Barbican Gilbert Bridge.
Water lillies …
Pigeons who don’t like the rain …
And, the weird contribution, what may or may not be a fashion shoot …
It’s definitely a fella …
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I was a hospital in-patient recently and fortunately ended up at one of the best hospitals in the world, St Thomas’ in Lambeth (or ‘Tommy’s’ as us alumni call it) where the standard of care was outstanding. I’m pleased to say I’m fine now, thank you for asking.
One of the most extraordinary features of the place is the view from some of the wards. Here’s what I could see if I just stepped out of bed …
When I went back last week for a follow-up appointment I did a bit of exploration and was astonished and delighted at what I found.
I headed for the oldest part of the hospital and on my way, in the South Wing corridor, I came across these lovely tiles …
Created by the Royal Doulton Lambeth factory, they and others originally covered the walls of two of St Thomas’ childrens wards, Lilian and Seymour, which were opened in 1901 and 1903 respectively. Hygiene was a factor in the tiling decision but also, of course, the aim to give pleasure and amusement to the young patients. Here they are illustrated on two postcards …
In the Great Hall are commemorated important people who had a connection with the hospital …
She saw her 10 years as matron of St Thomas’s and superintendent of the Nightingale training school from 1955-65 as a time of great social change and was eager to relax the strict rules which she believed had governed nurses’ lives for too long. Encounters with Theodora Turner were seldom forgotten … Former students and nursing colleagues remember her sense of duty and discipline, her kindness and humour. The latter is, perhaps, most neatly encapsulated in her belief that her pet mynah bird, presented to her by sailors when working at Liverpool Royal Infirmary, was a foolproof burglar alarm because of its ability to mimic her laugh.
No prizes for guessing who this lady is …
Florence Nightingale greatly influenced the design of the new 1872 St Thomas’ Hospital with its innovative ‘pavilion style’ of seven large separate buildings connected by walkways. She recognized the importance of design for improving hygiene and health, and made careful calculations regarding dimensions and efficient use of space in hospitals. Nightingale proposed full-height windows at specified intervals in the wards, with the beds set between to encourage ventilation and allow air to circulate without creating drafts. She stipulated that clean and dirty areas should be separate so food and clean linen were stored at the ward entry with washing and sanitary facilities at the other end.
I saw this entrance and had to go and nose around …
Up the impressive staircase, which I presume dates from the 1870s …
A modern stained glass treat at the top …
I peeped into the dining room …
Above the staircase …
The Duke of Connaught (1850-1942) …
He was president from 1882 to 1932.
Back on the ground floor …
Truly Imperial (and maybe a bit imperious) …
Edward VI was the son of Henry VIII and his third queen, Jane Seymour. Born on 12 October 1537, he succeed his father at the age of nine in 1547 but never attained his majority, dying aged 15 in 1553. During the Reformation St Thomas’, as a religious foundation, was deprived of its revenues and estates and was closed in 1540. In 1551, Edward granted a charter for the hospital’s refounding which is why he’s commemorated here …
More beautiful stained glass on the way out …
I love the frog …
Outside the main entrance you’ll find this sculpture Cross the Divide by Rick Kirby (2000) …
There’s also this striking sculpture of Mary Seacole …
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