Walking round the Square Mile of the City of London, there seem to be hundreds of coffee shops and cafes, all serving the thousands of City workers and tourists. There are the usual chains and also lots of independent businesses, including these four located in churches. Just the place to pop into for a warming brew when it’s cold outside. I decided to go on a ‘coffee crawl’ of these churches, including breakfast and lunch and a couple of loo stops!

St Nicholas Cole Abbey – ‘The Wren Coffee’

The Wren is named after the church’s architect Sir Christopher Wren. The whole church building is the café from Monday to Friday, 7am to 4.30 pm. It closes from 12.45 to 2pm on Thursdays for lunchtime Bible talks: St Nick’s Talks. The Barista who served me my breakfast croissant and flat white coffee was Josiah, who told me that the café is a convenient venue for the business meetings of the Financial Times, whose offices are nearby. He said that many customers are well known to the church staff and they come in for the Bible Talks as well as the coffee. When I visited there were lots of customers poring over their laptops whilst sipping their flat whites and lattes. The café becomes a church on Sunday mornings with a ‘regular’ church service plus the added bonus of excellent Fairtrade coffee and cakes!

Sources: Leaflet in the church and Josiah

St Mary Aldermary – The Host

The strange name of this church means ‘older Mary’, implying that this church is possibly the oldest dedicated to Mary in the City. The church website says ‘Host Café is seeking to restore the traditionally solitary space of our church building to its true vocation as a welcoming hub for the local community.’ All the drinks at The Host are ethically sourced and the baked goods are supplied by local bakers. Customers can choose to sit in a pew to drink their tea or coffee, or you can sit at a table if you’re having a meal. Food purchased from the Street Food stall outside the church can also be eaten inside the church. Each table has a charger for your laptop, and for a small fee, you can hire tables for a working lunch. I didn’t stop for a hot beverage this time, but I have done so previously, and the staff are very friendly!

Source: Church website

St Mary-le-Bow – The Café Below

The café at St Mary-le-Bow is located in the crypt as its name suggests. This is more of a restaurant than a café but the staff were happy to serve me a coffee (it wasn’t quite lunch time.) It was nice to be shown to a table and asked for my order. The café has nothing to do with the church above, they just rent the premises, offering slightly posher breakfasts, lunches and also licensed to serve alcohol. The crypt has been beautifully refurbished and decorated to provide an atmospheric dining experience, including private booths among the pillars. On each table is a card with information about the church, particularly the crypt which was formally a burial chamber. The graves were removed when the church was rebuilt after the Second World War, which I’m sure the diners are relieved to read!

St Mary Woolnoth – Newton’s Coffee

This cosy coffee is the smallest enclosed café I’ve ever visited, being situated in the porch of St Mary Woolnoth. The counter runs the width of the porch and there are three seats at the other end. There are also some tables and chairs outside in the tiny churchyard for sitting out in warmer weather. Mainly offering a takeaway service, there are hot drinks, baked goods and chocolates for sale. Newton’s Coffee is a social enterprise inspired by the life of John Newton, former slave trader who, following his dramatic Christian conversion, became Rector of St Mary Woolnoth and played a major role in the abolition of slavery. Profits from sales are donated to anti-trafficking organisations such as International Justice Mission. I was served by Desiree, wo kindly gave me a free pastry when I asked her for information about the coffee shop and told her what I was doing. Lunch sorted!

Sources: newtonscoffee.co.uk; Desiree