St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall
St Lawrence Jewry from the south-east
LocationLondon, EC2
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
History
DedicationSt Lawrence
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade I listed building
Architect(s)Christopher Wren
StyleBaroque
Administration
DioceseLondon
Interior of St Lawrence Jewry

St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church[1] in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to the Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the official church of the Lord Mayor of London.

History

Medieval era

The church was originally built in the twelfth century and dedicated to St Lawrence; the weathervane of the present church is in the form of his instrument of martyrdom, the gridiron.[2] The church is near the former medieval Jewish ghetto,[3] which was centred on the street named Old Jewry.[4] From 1280 it was an advowson held by Balliol College, Oxford.

It is thought that the unusual alignment of the church may be because it was built on the site of the London Roman Amphitheatre, which was rediscovered as recently as 1988. Its remains can now be visited beneath the Guildhall Art Gallery.

Sir Thomas More preached in the old church on this site.[5]

17th century

In 1618 the church was repaired, and all the windows filled with stained glass paid for by individual donors.[6]

The medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London[7] and built anew by Christopher Wren between 1670 and 1677.[8] The parish was united with that of St Mary Magdalen, Milk Street, which was not rebuilt.[6] The church is entirely faced in stone, with a grand east front, on which four attached Corinthian columns, raised on a basement, support a pediment placed against a high attic.[8] George Godwin, writing in 1839, described the details of this facade as displaying " a purity of feeling almost Grecian", while pointing out that Wren's pediment acts only as a superficial adornment to the wall, rather than, as in Classical architecture, forming an extension of the roof.[6]

Inside, Wren's church has an aisle on the north side only, divided from the nave by Corinthian columns, carrying an entablature that continues around the walls of the main body of the church, where it is supported on pilasters.[9] The ceiling is divided into sunken panels, ornamented with wreaths and branches.[6] The church is 81 feet long and 68 feet wide.[10]

Interior, looking east toward the organ at the rear of the church

20th century

The church suffered extensive damage during the Blitz on 29 December 1940,[11] and after the war the City of London Corporation agreed to restore it as Balliol College had no funds to do so. It was restored in 1957 by the architect Cecil Brown to Wren's original design. It is now a guild church which does not have its own parish and is not responsible to the parish authorities in its locality; it does not have to hold Sunday services.[12][13]

The church was described by Sir John Betjeman as "very municipal, very splendid."[14] It was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.[15][16]

It has a ring of eight bells, hung for change ringing, and cast in 1957 by Whitechapel Bell Foundry[17]

The church was the burial place of John Tillotson, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1691 to 1694;[18] and of merchant Francis Levett, as well as the site of the wedding of his niece Ann Levett, daughter of William Levett, Dean of Bristol and former Principal of Magdalen Hall, Oxford.[19]

The church is used by the New Zealand Society UK, who celebrate Waitangi Day here in February each year.[20]

Catherine Ennis was the organist here until her death on 24 December 2020.[21][22]

Vicars (incomplete list)

  • 1424 Richard Collyng [23]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Guild Church (dictionary definition)". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  2. ↑ Bradley, Simon & Pevsner, Nikolaus. London: the City Churches. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-300-09655-0
  3. ↑ Hibbert, C.; Weinreb, D.; Keay, J. The London Encyclopaedia. London: Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993, 2008) ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5
  4. ↑ Tucker, T. The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches. London: Friends of the City Churches, 2006 ISBN 0-9553945-0-3
  5. ↑ "St Lawrence Jewry". London Taxi Tour. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Godwin, George; John Britton (1839). The Churches of London: A History and Description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis. London: C. Tilt. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "The City Churches" Tabor, M. p. 76:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917
  8. 1 2 Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1998). London: the City Churches. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin Books. pp. 995–6. ISBN 0-14-071100-7.
  9. ↑ "The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p. 64: London; Quartet; 1975
  10. ↑ Elmes, James (1831). A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Environs. London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot. p. 303. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Cobb, G. "The Old Churches of London". London: Batsford, 1942
  12. ↑ Jones, R. (2016). The Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England 2nd edition: A Handbook. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-567-52870-4. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  13. ↑ Briden, T.; MacMorran, K. (2010). A Handbook for Churchwardens and Parochial Church Councillors: New Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4411-5474-3. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  14. ↑ Betjeman, J. "The City of London Churches". Andover: Pikin, 1967 ISBN 0-85372-112-2
  15. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1064673)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  16. ↑ Historic England, "Church of St Lawrence Jewry (1064673)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 23 July 2017
  17. ↑ "Tower details".
  18. ↑ Elmes, James (1831). A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Environs. London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot. p. 263.
  19. ↑ Publications of the Harleian Society; Vol. XXVI, London, 1887
  20. ↑ "St Lawrence Jewry February 2016 Newsletter" (PDF). Company of Distillers. February 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  21. ↑ Catherine Ennis HonRCO (1955-20); Royal College of Organists; access date = 2021-01-16
  22. ↑ Catherine Ennis; Rhinegold
  23. ↑ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; year 1424, image: 4th entry in: (as plaintiff) http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no654/aCP40no654fronts/IMG_0087.htm
  24. ↑ "Palmer, Stephen (PLMR555W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  25. ↑ "Parkens, Samuel (PRKS567S)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  26. ↑ "Vines, Richard (VNS619R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  27. ↑ Reynolds, Edward, D.D., creeds.net, accessed 11 June 2021
  28. ↑ "Ward, Seth (WRT632S)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  29. ↑ "Wilkins, John (WLKS639J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  30. ↑ "Whichcote, Benjamin (WHCT626B)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  31. ↑ "Mapletoft, John (MPLT648J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  32. ↑ "Barrass, James Stephen (BRS884JS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  33. ↑ "Home".
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