St Mary Aldermary[1] (or St Mary Elder Mary),[2] is an Anglican guild church located on Bow Lane at the junction with Watling St, in the City of London. Of medieval origin, rebuilding began under the Tudor Henry VIII in 1510 and was not finished until the reign of the Stuart monarch Charles I in 1632. Severely damaged just 33 years later during the Great Fire of London in 1666, it was rebuilt once more, this time by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. Unlike most of Wren's City churches, St Mary Aldermary was reconstructed in the Gothic style, an outstanding example of the first — 17th century — Gothic Revival. Nearly a millennium after its foundation SMA continues to offer a place for contemplation (as well as coffee and cake) with pre-work 8am gatherings three times a week (Mon: Silent meditation; Weds and Fri: Taize) and after work at 6pm on Wednesday (Weds 6pm: Still Point).
A church has occupied the site for more than 900 years. Its name is usually taken to mean that it is the oldest of the City churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary.[3] It has also been suggested that, on Bow Lane, it is the older St Mary’s with respect to nearby St Mary Le Bow. The patronage of the rectory of St Mary Aldermary belonged to the prior and chapter of Canterbury, but was transferred to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1400.[4]
In 1510, Sir Henry Keeble financed the building of a new church. The tower was still unfinished when he died in 1518. In 1629, two legacies enabled it to be completed, and the work, begun 120 years before, was finished within three years.[5] Keble was buried in a vault beneath the floor of the church, but his grave was not allowed to remain for long. Richard Newcourt recorded that
Sir William Laxton, who died in 1556, and Sir Tho. Lodge, who died in 1583 (both which were Grocers and had been Mayors of this City), were buried in the Vault of this Sir Henry Keeble, his bones unkindly cast out, and his Monument pull'd down, in place whereof, Monuments were set up of the others.[5]
John Stow mentions various dignitaries buried in the early church in his 1598 Survey of London. They include Richard Chaucer, vintner, said by Stow to be the father of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer.[4]John Milton married his third wife, Elizabeth Minshull, in the church in 1663 (Curiously, he seems to have married his second at St Mary Aldermanbury). The parish registers date from 1558, and are now deposited in the Guildhall Library.[6]
In 1599 a group of citizens from St. Antholin's founded a lectureship.[7] They gave property in London to pay for a daily lecture in the pulpit at St. Antholin’s and the church became famous as a lecture theatre. The Great Fire burned down the church but daily lectures carried on; it was rebuilt but was demolished in 1870 and the lecture was transferred to St. Mary Aldermary. The lectures are now organised by the Church Society.[8]
Rebuilding after the Great Fire
St Mary Aldermary was badly damaged in the Great Fire of London of 1666,[9] although parts of its walls and tower survived.[10] It was mostly rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren in a Gothic style.[11] A legacy of £5,000 had been left by one Henry Rogers for the rebuilding of a church, and his widow agreed to use it to fund the reconstruction of St Mary's.[4] According to some sources, she stipulated that the new church should be an exact imitation of the one largely destroyed.[4]
The church, as rebuilt, has an aisled nave, six bays long, with a clerestory.[12] It has a short chancel.[12] The tower is attached to the south-west corner of the building, and is entered through a western lobby. The tower is divided into storeys by string courses; the corners lead up to octagonal turrets, terminating in what George Godwin called "carved finials of impure design". The church’s nave and aisles are separated by arcades of clustered columns, supporting somewhat flattened Gothic arches. The ceilings are decorated with elaborate plaster fan vaulting.[13]
According to Nikolaus Pevsner, St Mary Aldemary is "the chief surviving monument of the 17th-century Gothic revival in the City and – with Warwick – the most important late 17th-century Gothic church in England".[14]
The parish of the church of St Thomas the Apostle, destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt, was united with that of St Mary's.[3]
The church has been repaired and restored many times. In 1876–7 major changes were made to the interior: an oak screen was inserted, dividing the lobby from the church; the pews and stalls were replaced, the organ was moved from the western gallery to the chancel; the floor was repaved, new stained glass put into the windows, and a new reredos installed.[17]
The latest interior restoration was finished in April 2005, with attention paid to the plaster ceilings and memorials on the north wall. A service was held, presided over by Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, to celebrate completion, on 21 April 2005.[18]
In January 2010, the Bishop and Archdeacon of London invited the Moot Community to make their home in St Mary Aldermary. Moot was a Church of England community set up in the spirit of the Fresh Expressions initiative of that decade. Members committed to living a "rhythm of life", encompassing spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation and presence, and values such as acceptance, balance, creativity and hospitality.[19]
As of 2023, services in the same tradition are held at 8am on Monday (silent meditation), Wednesday (Taize) and Friday (Taize) mornings, and at 6pm (Still Point contemplation) on Wednesdays.
In 2012 Moot set up a café, Host, which continues to sell fair trade coffee and goods.[20]
The church also hosts the Moldovan Orthodox church in London, which designates the building by the name of St Nicholas.
Previously, SMA hosted the Malankara Orthodox Syrian congregation as their church of St Gregorios, which combined Keralan styles of south Indian worship with ancient Syriac in the tradition of St Thomas the Apostle, missionary to India.
St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is a Church of England church located on Queen Victoria Street, London in the City of London, near Blackfriars station.
St Thomas the Apostle was a parish church in St Thomas Apostle Street in the City of London. In existence by the late twelfth century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Peter upon Cornhill is an Anglican church on the corner of Cornhill and Gracechurch Street in the City of London of medieval, or possibly Roman origin. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It lies in the ward of Cornhill.
St. Mary Somerset was a church in the City of London first recorded in the twelfth century. Destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, it was one of the 51 churches rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The tower is located in Upper Thames Street, the body of the church being demolished in 1871.
St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to 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.
All Hallows Bread Street was a parish church in the Bread Street ward of the City of London, England. It stood on the east side of Bread Street, on the corner with Watling Street. First mentioned in the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The church was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren and demolished in 1876.
St Michael Paternoster Royal is a church in the City of London. The original building, which was first recorded in the 13th century, was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The church was rebuilt under the aegis of Sir Christopher Wren. However St Michael's was severely damaged during the London Blitz in the Second World War. It was restored between 1966 and 1968.
St Mary-at-Hill is an Anglican parish church in the Ward of Billingsgate, City of London. It is situated on Lovat Lane, a cobbled street off Eastcheap.
St Michael, Cornhill, is a medieval parish church in the City of London with pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation. It lies in the ward of Cornhill. The medieval structure was lost in the Great Fire of London, and replaced by the present building, traditionally attributed to Sir Christopher Wren. The upper parts of the tower are by Nicholas Hawksmoor. The church was embellished by Sir George Gilbert Scott and Herbert Williams in the nineteenth century.
St Edmund, King and Martyr, is an Anglican church in Lombard Street, in the City of London, dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr.
St Mary Abchurch is a Church of England church off Cannon Street in the City of London. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is first mentioned in 1198–1199. The medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and replaced by the present building.
St Benet Gracechurch, so called because a haymarket existed nearby (Cobb), was a parish church in the City of London. First recorded in the 11th century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The church was demolished in 1868.
St Mary Bothaw was a parish church in the Walbrook ward of the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt, although some of its materials were used in the rebuilding of St Swithin, London Stone, whose parish it was merged with.
St Antholin, Budge Row, or St Antholin, Watling Street, was a church in the City of London. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren, following its destruction in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The 17th-century building was demolished in 1874.
The church of St Mildred, Bread Street, stood on the east side of Bread Street in the Bread Street Ward of the City of London. It was dedicated to the 7th century Saint Mildred the Virgin, daughter of Merewald, sub-king of the West Mercians. Of medieval origin, the church was rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren following its destruction in the Great Fire of London in 1666. One of the few City churches to retain Wren's original fittings into the 20th century, St Mildred's was destroyed by bombs in 1941.
St Gabriel Fenchurch was a parish church in the Langbourn Ward of the City of London, destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt.
St John the Evangelist Friday Street was a church in Bread Street Ward of the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, and not rebuilt, the parish being united with that of All Hallows, Bread Street.
St John the Baptist upon Walbrook was a parish church in the City of London. It stood in Walbrook Ward, with parts of the parish extending into Cordwainer, Dowgate, and Vintry Wards. Of medieval origin, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Michael-le-Querne, also called St Michael ad Bladum, was a parish church in the Farringdon Within Ward in the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 and not rebuilt. The name is apparently a reference to a quern-stone as there was a corn market in the churchyard.
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