St Mary Somerset

St. Mary Somerset
St. Mary Somerset
	Photo of the tower of St. Mary Somerset
	Coordinates: 51°30′40.92″N0°5′48.80″W / 51.5113667°N 0.0968889°W
Location	Queenhithe, City of London
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Architecture
Architect(s)	Sir Christopher Wren
Style	Baroque
Demolished	1871

Last updated April 08, 2023

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.

History

Pre-Fire London had 14 churches named after the Virgin Mary, six of which were rebuilt after the Fire. The derivation of “Somerset” is uncertain. It has been linked to Ralph de Somery,^[1] who is mentioned in records at the same time. It is also linked to Summer's Hithe, a small haven on the Thames, the banks of which would have been closer in medieval times. The church was first mentioned in a deed during the reign of Richard I.

According to John Stow, in 1370, the Brabant weaver community was ordered by the Mayor to meet in the churchyard of St Mary Somerset for the purpose of hiring serving men, following disputes with the Flemish weavers. The latter were ordered to meet a safe distance away in the churchyard of St Laurence Pountney.

After the Fire, the parish was combined with that of St Mary Mounthaw, which was not rebuilt. Building of the new church began in 1686 (one of the last 5 of the 51 to commence) and stopped in 1688 owing to the financial uncertainty associated with the Glorious Revolution. Rebuilding recommenced the next year and the church was finished in 1694, at a cost of £6579.

The parish was very poor, and it was one of only two churches (the other being St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe) for which Wren provided funds for the furnishings from the Coal Tax. The rebuilt church was smaller than its predecessor, as a strip of land was taken by the city to widen what was then Thames Street.

Bishop Gilbert Ironside, Chancellor of Oxford University, who defied James II in upholding the rights of Fellows, was buried here in 1701. His remains, and black marble tombstone, were removed to Hereford Cathedral in 1867.

Late in the eighteenth century, the church had a reputation as Low Church, as Malcolm in London Redivivum (1803) stated ‘When I mention that the late well-known Methodist Mr Gunn was a preacher in it on certain days, the trampled and dirty state of the church will not be wondered at.’

In 1805, the communion plate was stolen and never recovered.

The Bishop of Hereford was patron of the Rectory of St Mary Somerset until the mid-nineteenth century, when this was transferred to the Bishop of London.^[2]

The second half of the 19th century saw a movement of population from the City of London to suburbs in Middlesex, Kent, Essex and Surrey. This left many of the city churches with tiny congregations, while many of the newly built suburbs had no churches. The Union of Benefices Act 1860 was passed by Parliament, permitting the demolition of City churches and the sale of land to build churches in the suburbs. The last service at St Mary Somerset was held on 1 February 1867, with about 70 people attending. The parish was then combined with that of St Nicholas Cole Abbey, and the church demolished in 1871.^[3]

At the instigation of the architect, Ewan Christian, the church tower was preserved.^[4] The proceeds of the sale were used to build St Mary Hoxton, which also received the church furnishings and the bell.

Before the Second World War, the church tower was used as a woman's rest room. The tower now stands on a traffic island surrounded by a small landscaped garden.

The building

The Wren church was an aisleless nave with a flat roof. George Godwin described the interior as "a mere room with low whitewashed walls".^[5] Two columns supported a gallery on the West, from which was suspended a Royal coat of arms

The tower projected from the southwest. It is 120 feet high and faced with Portland stone. Lines of windows, alternately circular and round headed, run up each side, with grotesque masks and cherubs serving as keystones.

The unique feature of the tower are the eight Baroque pinnacles. The four on each corner have panelled bases and scrolls, surmounted by vases. Between each of these are 20 foot obelisks, with ball finials. The style strongly suggests that they are the design of Nicholas Hawksmoor. They create the optical illusion of changing heights when viewed from different vantage points.

The pinnacles were taken down after the Second World War, due to bomb damage in the London Blitz, but restored by the City Corporation in 1956. The remains of the church were designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.^[6]

The building is currently being refurbished and extended into a private family home by Pilbrow and Partners

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References

↑ "London: the City Churches” Pevsner, N; Bradley, S; New Haven, Yale, 1998 ISBN 0300096550
↑ Havergal, Francis Tebbs (2018). Fasti herefordenses And other antiquarian memorials of Hereford. G. C. Haddon (Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1869 ed.). Norderstedt. ISBN 978-3337711405. OCLC 1189914635.
↑ "The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert, C; Weinreb, D; Keay, J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993, 2008) ISBN 978-1405049245
↑ "The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker, T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 ISBN 0955394503
↑ Godwin, George; John Britton (1839). The Churches of London: A History and Description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis. London: C. Tilt.
↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1358904)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 23 January 2009.

Media related to St Mary Somerset at Wikimedia Commons
Jeffery, Paul. The city churches of Sir Christopher Wren, Hambledon Press, 1996
Cobb,Gerald. London city churches, B T Batsford Ltd., 1977
Heulin,Gordon. Vanished churches of the City of London, Guildhall Library Publications, 1996

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[1] "London: the City Churches” Pevsner, N; Bradley, S; New Haven, Yale, 1998 ISBN 0300096550

[2] Havergal, Francis Tebbs (2018). Fasti herefordenses And other antiquarian memorials of Hereford. G. C. Haddon (Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1869 ed.). Norderstedt. ISBN 978-3337711405. OCLC 1189914635.

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

[4] "The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker, T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 ISBN 0955394503

[godwin-5] Godwin, George; John Britton (1839). The Churches of London: A History and Description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis. London: C. Tilt.

[6] Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1358904)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 23 January 2009.

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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

St Mary Somerset

Contents

History

The building

See also

Related Research Articles

References