St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street

St. Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street
St. Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street
Location	Old Fish Street and Old Change, London
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Architecture
Architect(s)	Christopher Wren
Style	Baroque
Demolished	1893

Last updated October 17, 2023

St. Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street was a church in Castle Baynard ward of the City of London, England, located on the corner of Old Fish Street and Old Change,^[1] on land now covered by post-War development. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, then rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The rebuilt church suffered damage to its roof from a fire in an adjacent warehouse in 1886.^[2] It was not repaired and was finally demolished in 1893.

History

St. Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street was the only one of the eight churches in the post-Fire City of London named "St. Mary" to be dedicated to the penitent Mary Magdalene rather than the Virgin Mary. Old Fish Street formerly ran from the Thames towards St. Paul's Cathedral and was the location of a fish market since medieval times. The street was incorporated into Knightrider Street in 1872.

The earliest surviving reference to the church is in a document of 1181, as "St Mary Magdalen". Other medieval records refer to the church as "St. Marie Magdal in Piscaria apud sanctum Paulum", "St. Marie Magdal parish at the Fishmarket", "St. Marie Magdalen Eldefisshestrete" and "St. Mary Magdalen at Lamberdyshel".

Among the memorials in the pre-Fire church was a brass plaque of 1586, commemorating the merchant and benefactor, Thomas Berrie. The plaque survived the Great Fire and may now be seen in St Martin, Ludgate. In part it reads:

How smale soever the gift shall be/Thanke God for him who gave it thee/xii penie loves to xii poore foulkes/

Geve everie saboth day for aye

St Martin, Ludgate, also has the bread shelves from St. Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street.

On Easter Day 1653, John Evelyn recorded in his Diary that he and his family received Holy Communion at St. Mary Magdalen's. This was during the Protectorate when Anglican services were banned.

The church was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666 and the parish combined with that of St Gregory by St Paul's, which was not rebuilt. Building of the new church began in 1683, with new foundations for the north wall and tower, but incorporating some of the old walls elsewhere. The work was completed in 1687 at a total cost of £4315. The construction was by Edward Strong the Elder.^[3]

Between 1824 and 1842, the rector of St. Mary Magdalen's was the Reverend Richard Harris Barham, author of The Ingoldsby Legends . He was buried in the church in 1845.

On the morning of Thursday, 2 December 1886, a fire broke out in a warehouse in what by this time was called Knightrider Street and spread to the church's roof, causing substantial damage.^[4] Although the church was insured and repairable, the event took place during a period in which several undamaged churches in the City of London were being demolished under the Union of Benefices Act 1860. The opportunity was taken to pull down St. Mary Magdalen's and combine the parish with that of St Martin, Ludgate, which received some of the furnishings from the demolished church.

The site previously occupied by St. Mary Magdalen's was built over after the Second World War, and is now covered by Old Change Square.

The parish still retains a clerkship, which is now in the gift of St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe.

The church is the subject of a poem by John Betjeman, where the narrator is the Rector's warden. He refers to Wren's design as "a box with a fanciful plaster ceiling".^[5]

Architecture

The plan for St. Mary Magdalen's was roughly rectangular, with the north wall tapering slightly towards the east. The two street frontages – to the east on Old Fish Street and to the south on Old Change – were faced with Portland stone. Underneath, the material was stone rubble. There were four large round-headed windows on the south, and three similar windows on the east, each window flanked by pilasters capped by volutes. Entry to the church was through a door under the western window on the south front. The roof was balustraded.

The tower was erected next to the north-western wall of the church and stood 86 ft. high. This had a stone spire, consisting of an octagonal pyramid of five steps, on which sat an open octagonal lantern from which emerged a concave steeple. The finial was in the form of an urn, in allusion to St Mary Magdalen's pot of balm. The inspiration for the spire's design was the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, in modern-day Turkey.

Organ

The organ by Samuel Green was installed in 1786. It was rebuilt in 1857 by Gray and Davison.

Organists

Mary Hudson 1785–1801^[6]
successor unknown.^[6]
William Adams (between 1801 and 1815) – June 1834^[6]
Frederick Michelmore (temporary) June – September 1834^[6]
Carolina Townsend September 1834^[6] – 1855
J. S. Carter 1865
E. Smyth 1881
Douglas Stewart

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References

↑ Jeffery, Paul. The city churches of Sir Christopher Wren. Hambledon Press, 1996
↑ Hibbert, C.; Weinreb, D.; Keay, J., The London Encyclopaedia. London: Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev, 1993, 2008) ISBN 978-1405049245
↑ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1859 by Rupert Gunnis
↑ Huelin, Gordon. Vanished churches of the City of London, Guildhall Library Publications, 1996
↑ Gardner, Kevin J. (2006). Faith and Doubt of John Betjeman: An Anthology of His Religious Verse. A&C Black. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-0826482723.
1 2 3 4 5 Dawe, Donovan (1983). Organists of the City of London, 1666–1850: a record of one thousand organists with an annotated index. D. Dawe. p. 54. ISBN 978-0950906409.

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[1] Jeffery, Paul. The city churches of Sir Christopher Wren. Hambledon Press, 1996

[2] Hibbert, C.; Weinreb, D.; Keay, J., The London Encyclopaedia. London: Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev, 1993, 2008) ISBN 978-1405049245

[3] Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1859 by Rupert Gunnis

[4] Huelin, Gordon. Vanished churches of the City of London, Guildhall Library Publications, 1996

[Gardner2006-5] Gardner, Kevin J. (2006). Faith and Doubt of John Betjeman: An Anthology of His Religious Verse. A&C Black. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-0826482723.

[Dawe_1983,_p._54-6] 1 2 3 4 5 Dawe, Donovan (1983). Organists of the City of London, 1666–1850: a record of one thousand organists with an annotated index. D. Dawe. p. 54. ISBN 978-0950906409.

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v t e Churches in the City of London
extant churches	All Hallows-by-the-Tower All Hallows-on-the-Wall City Temple Dutch Church, Austin Friars St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe St Andrew, Holborn St Andrew Undershaft St Anne and St Agnes St Bartholomew-the-Great St Bartholomew-the-Less St Benet, Paul's Wharf St Botolph, Aldersgate St Botolph, Aldgate St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate St Bride, Fleet Street St Clement, Eastcheap St Dunstan-in-the-West St Edmund, King and Martyr St Ethelburga, Bishopsgate St Giles, Cripplegate St Helen, Bishopsgate St James, Garlickhythe St Katharine Cree St Lawrence Jewry St Magnus the Martyr St Margaret Lothbury St Margaret Pattens St Martin, Ludgate St Mary Abchurch St Mary Aldermary St Mary Moorfields St Mary Woolnoth St Mary-at-Hill St Mary-le-Bow St Michael, Cornhill St Michael, Paternoster Royal St Nicholas, Cole Abbey St Olave, Hart Street St Paul's Cathedral St Peter upon Cornhill St Sepulchre-without-Newgate St Stephen Walbrook St Vedast alias Foster Temple Church
churches of which only the tower remains	All Hallows Staining Christ Church, Greyfriars St Alban, Wood Street St Alphage London Wall St Augustine, Watling Street St Dunstan-in-the-East St Martin Orgar St Mary Somerset St Olave, Old Jewry
churches rebuilt after the Great Fire but since demolished	All Hallows Bread Street All Hallows Lombard Street All-Hallows-the-Great St Antholin, Budge Row St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange St Benet Fink St Benet Gracechurch St Christopher le Stocks St Dionis Backchurch St George Botolph Lane St Katherine Coleman St Mary Aldermanbury St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street St Matthew Friday Street St Michael Bassishaw St Michael, Crooked Lane St Michael Queenhithe St Michael Wood Street St Mildred, Bread Street St Mildred, Poultry St Stephen Coleman Street St Swithin, London Stone
churches destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt	All Hallows Honey Lane All-Hallows-the-Less Holy Trinity the Less St Andrew Hubbard St Ann Blackfriars St Benet Sherehog St Botolph Billingsgate St Faith under St Paul's St Gabriel Fenchurch St Gregory by St Paul's St John the Baptist upon Walbrook St John the Evangelist Friday Street St John Zachary St Laurence Pountney St Leonard, Eastcheap St Leonard, Foster Lane St Margaret Moses St Margaret, New Fish Street St Martin Pomary St Martin Vintry St Mary Bothaw St Mary Colechurch St Mary Magdalen Milk Street St Mary Mounthaw St Mary Staining St Mary Woolchurch Haw St Michael-le-Querne St Nicholas Acons St Nicholas Olave St Olave, Silver Street St Pancras, Soper Lane St Peter, Paul's Wharf St Peter, Westcheap St Thomas the Apostle
other former churches	College of Minor Canons Holy Trinity Gough Square Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate Hospital of St Thomas of Acre Old St Paul's Cathedral St Audoen within Newgate St Augustine Papey St James Duke's Place St Martin Outwich St Mary Axe St Nicholas Shambles St Peter le Poer