January – In the beginning….

Posted on January 26, 2023 by claresimons1

At the start of a new year I’m going to look at the origins of Christianity in London. The earliest site of Christian worship in the capital is actually highly debatable; there are several contenders but these four are some of the oldest, all having been founded before 1,000AD. And that’s pretty ancient! It’s been interesting to explore the earliest foundation of London as a city, first by the Romans (Londinium) followed by the Saxons (Lundenwic), and discover that Christians have been around in London since those earliest times. So I’m going to kick off with possibly the earliest known Christian site…..

St Pancras Old Church

It is believed that the site of the present Victorian church (above) has been a place of Christian worship since 314AD. The church is dedicated to St Pancras, a Roman convert to Christianity, who died when he was just 14 years old. Called before the Emperor Diocletian and commanded to worship Roman gods, Pancras refused to recant his Christian faith and was consequently executed. Pancras never visited this place, as he died in 304, but it is believed that a shrine was established on this little hillock overlooking the River Fleet, and subsequently a church was founded here. We know for certain that there was a church here in 1086 as it was recorded in the Domesday Book. By the 13^th century, the church had fallen into disrepair, and being in a very small, rural community outside the boundaries of London, it was primarily used as a burial ground, with no regular church services being held. In 1822, St Pancras New Church was opened and by the 1840s, the Old Church was in ruins. However, with the expansion of London’s population, the church now sat in a fully populated area and in 1847 the church underwent a complete restoration, and further refurbishment in 1888 gives us the church we see today. The picture above, with the River Fleet flowing above ground, is dated 1827.

Sources: Information boards in the church; Wikipedia

St Pancras
Interior of Old St Pancras

St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul’s in the Winter sunshine
Ethelbert of Kent

There has been a church on this site since 604AD. The chosen location for the first church was among the ruins of the Roman city, Londinium, at its highest point overlooking the Fleet valley. The Anglo-Saxons built their new city, Lundenwic, to the West of the abandoned Roman settlement, but chose this hill because of its prominent position. In the 7^th century, England was divided into a number of Saxon kingdoms and St Paul’s was founded by King Ethelbert of Kent and was the seat of the first Bishop of London, Mellitus. The short-lived first wooden building burnt down in 675, and the second was destroyed by invading Danes in 962. The third building, built of stone and consecrated as a cathedral, was destroyed by fire in 1087. There followed a period of over 150 years when a new building was begun; construction was halted due to financial difficulties, begun again with a change in architectural style from Norman to Gothic, and finally completed in 1240. This building would have dominated the mediaeval London skyline, it was actually larger and longer than the present cathedral. It was altered and enlarged over the next four centuries….and completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Rising from the ashes for the fifth time was Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, consecrated in 1697, and to me and many others, a work of genius and beauty.

Sources: Official Souvenir Guide; Wikipedia

**Map of Lundenwic, showing St Paul’s inside the old walled city.**

St Bride’s Fleet Street

This beautiful church with its ‘wedding cake’ spire was named for St Bridget of Kildare, Ireland, and it is believed that a Celtic Christian community was established here in Roman time; part of a Roman tiled pavement has been discovered in the crypt. While this can’t be definitely confirmed, what’s known for sure is that there was a church on this site in the 7^th century serving a community of Saxons who had converted from Paganism to Christianity. It was one of several churches, now long gone, along what is now Fleet Street in the Saxon town of Lundenwic. The church was also the site of a sacred well, long since dried up, which became known as the Bridewell. There have been at least seven churches on the site, and as with St Paul’s, the mediaeval St Bride’s was destroyed by fire in 1666 and rebuilt by Wren, who decided to make it really stand out by erecting its iconic spire. On my visit, I popped down to the crypt with its tiny museum displaying Saxon coins, pottery, gravestones, all found under or near the church. There are also some remaining Saxon walls standing, and I’m the sort of person who can get excited by the sight of a 13 hundred year old wall! St Bride’s other claim to fame is as ‘The Journalists’ Church’; how this came about, I’ve written about in my post from October 2020: Artistic Christian London.

Sources: Information Boards in the Museum; Church website

**Map of old Roman London, with Saxon churches on the road out to the West**

Saxon pottery
Saxon coins

And a chunk of Saxon wall!

All Hallows by the Tower (aka All Hallows Barking)

**All Hallows with the Walkie Talkie peeking over!**

Another church with Roman origins, All Hallows also has Roman pavement tiles in the crypt in what would have been street level in 200AD. The first use of the site as a place of worship is in 675 when Erkenwald was made Bishop of London and founded a chapel of Barking Abbey here. A charter dated to 687 listing properties belonging to the Abbey includes two pieces of land in or near London, but Wikipedia tells me that neither of these accurately describes the location of All Hallows, which is inside the Roman walls. However, part of a Saxon archway (below), built from reused Roman tiles and brickwork, was uncovered in 1940 following bomb damage to the church. The reuse of Roman building materials and the design of the arch suggested that the church probably dated from the 7^th century, and the connection with Barking Abbey is that Bishop Erkenwald’s sister was the Abbess. This confirmed the belief that All Hallows was founded as a daughter church of Barking Abbey. The stone arch was part of a church which replaced an even older, wooden building, tentatively suggesting that there was a church here in Roman times, but as with St Bride’s, this is unproven. Also in the crypt are a lovely Wheel Head Cross, a Saxon pillar and some Roman gravestones, all discovered under the present building during extensive bomb damage repair work.

Sources: Information boards in the church; Wikipedia

Saxon Pillar
Wheel Head Cross

While researching this month’s theme, I discovered some other first-century sites of Christian worship in London, including a famous one. So this will be February’s subject too.

December: Nativity lV!

Posted on December 28, 2022 by claresimons1

I had decided not to do another post on Nativity displays for December, but then I spotted some new ones – weird and wonderful, beautiful and bizarre, as well as the usual traditional and tasteful; here they are!

St John the Evangelist, Shirley, Croydon

I got quite a shock when I first saw these life-sized figures as I drove up to the church!

St George’s Cathedral, Lambeth

Southwark Cathedral

…..and this stunning triptych at the entrance

And to finish, a few more nativity scenes and posters:

Traditional Nativity Scene in Oasis Christian Bookshop and…..

These posters are on the wall of the Salvation Army Church at Southwark. I love the first picture of all the different people coming to the manger – ‘Christmas is for all people’.

This was going to be the last blog post on ‘Christian London’. However, I find that I have collected much more material about Christian London, at least five months’ worth of themes! So 2023 will be the 4th year of exploring, in words and pictures, all things Christian in the 33 boroughs that make up my wonderful city, London. It just remains for me to wish you all a very happy and blessed New Year.

November – East End Churches

Posted on November 28, 2022August 10, 2025 by claresimons1

The modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets came into being in 1965 when three metropolitan boroughs merged: Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney. But the original tower hamlets were small villages (hamlets) north and east of the Tower of London which were not large enough to have their own town hall and mayor, so came under the governance of the Tower. Although it sounds like a modern name, the Tower Hamlets date back to the 1500s. The borough includes the ‘traditional’ East End, it’s where Walford of EastEnders would be if it was real! And it has expanded to include the Isle of Dogs and the business district of Canary Wharf. This month I visited four churches within the aforementioned metropolitan boroughs.

Source: Wikipedia

All Saints Church, Poplar

This is the large Victorian church mentioned in ‘Call the Midwife’ by Jennifer Worth: ‘The Sisters and lay staff attended All Saints Church, East India Dock Road for midnight Mass. I was astonished to find the church absolutely packed….it must have held 500 people that night.’ * The church was built in 1821-23 to serve the newly created parish, which at the time included wealthy merchants and professionals connected with the shipping trade. The East and West India Docks had been dug out at the turn of the 19^th century and a large development of terraced houses and flats was built to house the huge workforce employed on the ships and in the dockyards. As Jennifer Worth notes in her books, all classes of worker: professionals, management, skilled and unskilled attended All Saints as their local parish church. The London docks were heavily bombed in the 1940s Blitz, when the church was severely damaged and night after night, hundreds of people used the crypt as an air raid shelter. Fast forward to 2022 and the crypt has a very different purpose. Every weekday morning it is open for homeless people as a warm and welcoming space to get hot drinks and snacks, charge their phones and get housing and benefits advice, perhaps watch TV or have a game of snooker. Thanks to Paul and the team from Thisisgrowth.org for chatting to me and showing me around!

Sources: *Call the Midwife, Jennifer Worth, 2002, Phoenix Paperbacks; Wikipedia

A haven for homeless people in the crypt of All Saints

St Anne’s, Limehouse

All the churches I visited are fairly large, but St Anne’s Limehouse is huge, towering above all local buildings when seen from the elevated DLR. The current building was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and completed in 1730, one of 12 churches built to serve the rapidly expanding population of London in the 18^th century. Other supersized Hawksmoor churches are Christchurch Spitalfields and St George-in-the-East. The church may have been named for Queen Anne, who reigned from 1707 to 1714, because she raised the money to build it by taxing the transportation of coal along the River Thames. She decreed that as the church was close to the River it would be an important place for sea captains to register important events taking place at sea and granted to St Anne’s the right to display the Royal Navy’s second most senior ensign, the White Ensign. The Queen’s (or possibly now King’s) Regulations still allow it to be displayed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Occupying a site close to the Limehouse Cut and Regent’s Canal Dock (now Limehouse Basin), St Anne’s was another church built to serve the community of ship owners, merchants and dock workers.

Source: Wikipedia

Imposing Entrance to St Annes

St John on Bethnal Green

Like All Saints, St John was built is the early 19^th century. It was designed by the architect Sir John Soane, most famous for designing the Bank of England, and the church is actually on the Green. What I found interesting about the interior of the church is the specially commissioned Fourteen Stations of the Cross paintings. The artist who was granted the commission by the Church of England in 2000 was a controversial choice because he is not a practising Christian. However, it was agreed that Chris Gollon could produce the designs for the paintings in consultation with Fr Alan Green, the Rector of the church. St John holds regular art, music and film events and has been listed in The Guardian newspaper as one of the top five cultural highlights of the East End because of its mixture of spirituality and art. There was an art exhibition when I visited; dozens of paintings were displayed in the porch and upstairs in the gallery of the church. Directly opposite the church is Bethnal Green Underground Station which has a memorial to the worst civilian disaster of World War ll which happened at the station. As the air raid warning sounded on 30^th March 1943, hundreds of people ran to the tube station to take cover. 173 people were killed in the ensuing crush in the entrance and on the staircase. The memorial, unveiled in 2017, lists the names of all the victims.

Sources: Wikipedia; historic-uk.com

Two pictures from the Stations of the Cross

Memorial to the 1943 Bethnal Green Tube Disaster

St Dunstan’s, Stepney Green

There are several churches in the London area dedicated to St Dunstan. He was a first century Bishop of London, Minister of State (an early Prime Minister) to several kings and finally Archbishop of Canterbury. Approaching St Dunstan’s today, for a moment the church and its surroundings look as they have done for hundreds of years. Indeed, the site has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. In AD952 Dunstan replaced the wooden structure on the site with a stone building dedicated to ‘All the Saints’. He was probably living at the Manor of Stepney at the time. When Dunstan was made a saint in 1029, the church was rededicated to St Dunstan and All Saints. The current building is 15^th century and was added to in the Victorian era. The church is known as The Mother Church of the East End as the parish covered most of what would become inner East London. Inside, the Stations of the Cross are displayed, not as dramatic as those of St John, but unusual because they are in relief. Outside, the churchyard was enlarged in the 17^th century to cope with the huge numbers of deaths during the Great Plague; in one 18-month period, 6,583 people died. The churchyard was closed to burials in 1854 and was converted to a garden a few years later by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. It remains a pleasant place to walk and sit- I had my lunch there!

Source: Wikipedia

October – What’s in a Name? (To quote Shakespeare)

Posted on October 31, 2022May 17, 2026 by claresimons1

Working my way through the City churches, I’ve noticed that several have quite odd names, all of which are explainable after a little research. Here are the four most unusual:

St Andrew by the Wardrobe

Possibly the most curiously named church in the City and founded in the 12^th century, during the 13^th century the church became part of Baynard’s Castle, a former medieval palace which stood on the banks of the Thames near Blackfriars (see picture below). In 1361, the resident King Edward lll moved his storehouse of arms, ceremonial robes and personal items, the ‘Royal Wardrobe’, from the Tower of London to a building close to the church and the castle. The Wardrobe was not just a building, it was also a State Department responsible for keeping the accounts of the Royal Household. Both the Wardrobe and the Church were destroyed in the Great Fire, and the replacement church, one of 51 new churches built by Sir Christopher Wren, is one of the simplest of his designs. St Andrew by the Wardrobe was gutted during the London Blitz bombings, leaving only the tower and walls standing. The church was rebuilt and rededicated in 1961 and some of the interior fittings were procured from other destroyed Wren churches. William Shakespeare was a member of the parish for 15 years while he was working at the nearby Blackfriars Theatre.

Source: Wikipedia

St Andrew by the Wardrobe has an imposing position on a steep terrace (apologies for the roadworks!)

You can just make out the original church situated behind Baynard’s Castle.

Faithfully restored Wren interior

St Nicholas Cole Abbey

Just along Queen Victoria Street from St Andrew is St Nicholas Cole Abbey. So who is St Nicholas Cole, and was this church once an abbey? This is a misleading name; the church is dedicated to the 4^th century St Nicholas of Myrna but ‘Cole Abbey’ is derived from ‘Coldharbour’, a medieval word meaning shelter from the cold for travellers and those seeking sanctuary. The original church was founded in about 1144, but I’m going to skip 900-odd years to focus on what’s been happening at St Nick’s Church (as it’s now known) this century. In 2006 the church was due to become a National Centre for Religious Education, promoting RE in schools, but this never happened, and the church closed. In 2014 the building reopened as the St Nicholas Cole Abbey Centre for Workplace Ministry, and in 2016 Sunday services resumed alongside midweek meetings. When I visited the church at about 11am on a Wednesday morning, I was greeted by the sight of a permanent coffee bar and sandwich shop along one wall, office workers seated at tables, and a bookshop. St Nick’s is a cafe Monday to Friday and also hosts ‘Christianity Explored’ courses and ‘Lunchtime Talks from the Bible’, as well as Sunday Services for a local congregation, including youth and children’s clubs. Another busy, thriving church in the City!

Sources: Wikipedia, stnickschurch.org.uk

St Vedast-alias-Foster, Foster Lane

Vedast (Vaast in French) was a 6th century bishop of Arras in Gaul who helped to restore Christianity to the region after destruction by invading tribes. The church’s unusual name is because the Saint’s name in England has been corrupted from St Vaast into Vastes, Fastes, Faster, Fauster, Forster and finally, Foster, which shows how the English language has changed over time. It’s possible that the original church was founded by the Flemish community in London in the 12^th century, but this is uncertain. St Vedast has suffered much damage over the centuries; extensive repairs to the 350-year-old church in 1662 were somewhat wasted as it was almost destroyed in the Great Fire four years later. It was rebuilt under Wren in 1670-73 but then gutted by firebombs in the London Blitz. The original plan was to leave the church as a roofless ruin, to serve as a war memorial, but this proposal was never carried out, instead the church was repaired. The church is situated on a busy junction near St Paul’s Cathedral, surrounded by the much taller buildings of the modern city, so the ‘open to the sky’ memorial would have been a lovely idea, perhaps becoming a garden church like St Dunstan’s in the East. The church does have a tiny courtyard for office workers to enjoy their lunch, but a leafy green garden would be nicer!

Source: vedast.org.uk/about

St Vedast

St James Garlickhythe

Situated at the bottom of Garlick Hill, St James Garlickhythe gets its name from the nearby landing place or ‘hythe’, where ships from France unloaded garlic and also wine in medieval times. St James has had a long association with the wine industry and the original 12^th century church was also known as St James in the Vintry (wine merchants were called vintners) and St James by the Thames. It is the official church of eleven City livery companies and is the burial place of six Lord Mayors. Another church lost to the Great Fire and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, it was nicknamed ‘Wren’s Lantern’ as it has so many large windows which at the time, would have let in a lot of light. Quirky anecdote: the mummified remains of a corpse were found in the chancel in 1830 during excavation and repair work. Instead of having the body reburied in the new City of London Cemetery, the church wardens (rather disrespectfully) kept it and put it on display for visitors to pay a shilling to view, naming it Jimmy Garlick! I couldn’t find out whether poor Jimmy was eventually given a dignified final resting place. The church had a lucky escape in the 1941 Blitz: a bomb crashed through the roof and buried itself in the floor. However, it didn’t explode and was removed to Hackney Marshes and detonated safely.

Sources: Wikipedia, stjamesgarlickhythe.org.uk

St James’ distinctive clock

September – A United Kingdom

Posted on October 1, 2022May 17, 2026 by claresimons1

The topic I had planned for this month was dramatically changed following the death of Queen Elizabeth ll on 8^th September, our longest reigning monarch and faithful servant to God and to us, her subjects in the United Kingdom. Hard to believe that just over three months ago the country celebrated her Platinum Jubilee. The week between his mother’s death and her funeral saw King Charles lll visiting Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and meeting with the leaders of these member states, an important gesture to promote the unity that his mother so strongly advocated. So I thought I would visit and explore churches with historical links to these parts of the UK. The fourth church featured is actually the closest church to Buckingham Palace (apart from the Guards Chapel in Birdcage Walk which has not reopened yet), so I thought I’d include it as a tenuous link to the late Queen.

St Benet Welsh Church, Paul’s Wharf

**The cheerful stripy exterior of St Benet**

A church has stood on this site since at least 1111 (easy to remember!) That first church was destroyed in the Great Fire and the present St Benet (short for Benedict) was completed in 1684 under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. This is the only unaltered Wren church in the City and stepping inside is like stepping back in time. The interior is Dutch-influenced and among the many original furnishings is a Flemish communion table with the words All that look in love/Sing praises to God above/that can increase your love carved along its edge. Now the Welsh connection: in the 1870s the church was scheduled for demolition due to the City’s declining population. A Welsh Christian community in the area had no permanent place of worship and so some eminent Welsh Anglicans petitioned Queen Victoria to save the church for their use. In 1879, St Benet became the Metropolitan Welsh Church ‘conducting services according to the rite of the Church of England in the Welsh language.’ Services are still held in Welsh every Sunday at 11am, and the church is a guild, rather than a parish church because of its Welsh Episcopalian congregation.

**The spire of St Pauls cathedral seen from an upstairs window of St Benet**

Sources: Leaflet in the Church, and the ever-helpful Friends of the City Churches

Crown Court Church of Scotland, Covent Garden

**The Fortune Theatre adjoins the church building**

Known as the ‘Scottish Kirk’, it is unique in its history as the longest established Presbyterian church in England. The first records of what is now the Crown Court Church date from 1718 but there is evidence of a congregation meeting here from the time of the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, on a different site off nearby St Martin’s Lane. The church’s name is thought to refer to the ‘Union of the Crowns’ of 1603, 100 years before. A very helpful lady called Margaret showed me round the church, telling me that the church served the poor of Covent Garden in early Victorian times by setting up day and Sunday schools, the so-called ‘ragged schools’, until the 1870 Education Act made Primary education free and compulsory. When the population of London began to shift westward, most of the congregation and elders broke away to found St Columba’s Church in Knightsbridge in 1883. However, some members of Crown Court chose to remain in Covent Garden to continue the work, and the church remains on this site, surrounded by not-so-poor Theatreland. This church has amazing stained-glass windows, my favourite is commissioned by the Townswomen’s Guild and features women of the Bible.

**The Union Flag and the Soutane of Scotland**

Sources: Leaflet in church and Margaret!

St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Soho Square

The first church on this site was a small chapel, consecrated in 1792, one of the first Catholic buildings allowed in Great Britain after the Reformation. The recently refurbished beautiful interior gives a feeling of light and space; however, it would be a mistake to think that St Patrick’s just spends its income on looking good. Building on of a tradition of serving the poor Irish population of Soho (as with Covent Garden, it’s hard to imagine the poor living in Soho), the church now has an incredible outreach to rough sleepers. There are Open House evenings three times a week, with a team of cooks preparing a two-course meal and parish volunteers chatting and praying with the guests; a Breakfast Club on three different mornings offering a cooked breakfast, hot drinks and hot showers, and a Night Shelter providing overnight accommodation for up to 15 guests one night a week. Also, my favourite, a Film Club: ‘Our homeless and vulnerable guests spend their days in Soho and the West End surrounded by expensive cinemas they are unlikely to see a film in – this is why we launched our own film club!’ Including snacks and drinks and a chance to chat about the film afterwards – what a lovely way to value people in the way Jesus would!

Source: Church Website

St Peters, Eaton Square

**Not my photo – but the church looks better from the air (bb-belgravia.com**)

A couple of streets away from Buckingham Palace’s back garden, situated in the prestigious Eaton Square, is St Peters Parish Church. Another church with a posh postcode: beautiful inside and out but also intentional about outreach to the community. St Peters was built between 1824 and 1827 during the development of Eaton Square. Incredibly, the church has been gutted by fire twice, once accidentally in 1837, and again by an anti-Catholic arsonist in 1987 who believed that the church was a Roman Catholic chapel (it isn’t). Only the walls remained standing; a new roof and extensive repairs were made, and the interior was redesigned. The church website says, ‘St Peters has long enjoyed a reputation for musical excellence’, both for worship at services and also for the regular fundraising concerts for the many and varied charities that the church supports. St Peters hosts two seasons of concerts each year and is used by the BBC for concerts, recording and broadcasts. The church has developed a programme for volunteers working with refugees and asylum seekers in London, and the wider congregation hosts picnics and other events for refugees. Another practical work of the church is the free English classes offered once a week, open to anyone who needs them.

**I love the contrast of white and gold**

Sources: Church website and Wikipedia

August – Cemeteries lll

Posted on August 29, 2022 by claresimons1

It’s been a challenge to visit all my London places this month. Train/tube strikes, and sweltering temperatures meant that some visits were delayed, which has never happened before in the five years since I started exploring the capital. The extremely hot weather has now hopefully come to an end, the strikes, who knows? Anyway, here are the last of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries: Highgate, East and West, and Kensal Green. The fourth one, Camberwell Old Cemetery was built in the ‘second wave’ of outer London relocation of graveyards.

To recap, the Magnificent Seven are burial grounds established in Victorian times when central London graveyards ran out of space as the population increased and land in ‘urban parishes’ was approved for burial (the Burial Act 1832). These burial grounds are now carefully maintained as havens for wildlife and quiet, green spaces to visit in the urban environment.

Highgate Cemetery, East and West

Highgate Cemetery was established in 1839 and there are 170,000 people buried in 53,000 graves across both sites; the cemetery is still open for burials. It’s owned and maintained by Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust. It’s the most famous of the London Cemeteries and has been popular for both burials and as an interesting day out from Victorian times to the present day. The Victorians’ interest (or perhaps even obsession) with death and burial practices led to the creation of an area of Gothic tombs and catacombs and the Egyptian Avenue in the West Cemetery.

I never thought I’d be a ‘grave tourist’, but these two sites contain a fascinating combination of history, fame, notoriety and quirkiness and I spent over TWO HOURS wandering both sites; here are my favourites. First the East Cemetery:

Douglas Adams, Author
Weeping Angel from Dr Who?
Patrick Caulfield, Pop Artist
Much loved Mum of the Cundey Family
Richard Foyle, co founder of Foyle’s bookshops
Roger Lloyd Pack aka ‘Trigger’
Jim Horn was not a partner in Penguin Books!

Andrea Levy, author
And most famous of all, Karl Marx

West Cemetery

George Michael and members of his family are buried here, but it is forbidden to take photographs of the grave site.

Nero the Lion from Wombwell Circus
Thomas Sayers’ dog, Lion
Sleeping Angel
Triangular Monument
Alexander Litvinenko, murdered Russian intelligence agent
George Hering, Artist, complete with palette and brushes

Kensal Green Cemetery

This was originally known as the General Cemetery of All Souls; it was established in 1833 and is the oldest of the Magnificent Seven and is still in operation. There are 65,000 graves and 250,000 interments, including 500 members of the British nobility. There were originally four separate areas: Roman Catholic, Church of England, Christian Orthodox (Greek), and a Christian Dissenters cemetery. There are several large, imposing monuments dated in the 18 and 1900s, reflecting the status of the person buried therein; but there are also a couple of impressive modern ones (see pictures below.) There are also large burial chambers, individual ‘houses’ for whole families. Like most of the cemeteries, Kensal Green is built on London clay which has shifted and caused some of the monuments to lean precariously.

A **spectacular monument to a 12 year old boy**

**Memorial to a fruit and veg market trader – with Christmas decorations all ready!**

Charles Blondin, acrobat and tightrope walker
Graceful Angel
Precarious monument!
The ‘broken’ column represents a life cut chort

**Another Viscount of India with battle armour monument**

Camberwell Old Cemetery

Two cemeteries were established in 1855 in Honor Oak, South East London, as part of the relocation of cemeteries to the suburbs. Over 30,000 burials took place in the next thirty years, and subsequently a new cemetery was established half a mile away. These cemeteries are still open for burials, and there were some very elaborate, ‘showy’ monuments from recent years, mostly commemorating the lives and premature deaths of children and young people; heart-breaking to read the tributes. Needless to say, I have not included any photos of these recent monuments. The following photos reflect Victorian Gothic romanticism in commemorating the deaths of loved ones; elaborate and showy in their own way at the time. And check out these beautiful gates!

Modern monument

Celtic Cross half hidden by ivy
Old rugged cross on a rock

**Good use of former grave site – growing runner beans!**

It’s been fascinating to explore these Victorian cemeteries and observe how the fashion for commemorative monuments has changed over 180 years. Many of the graves, old and new, demonstrate the family’s dedication to celebrating their loved one’s life in a meaningful way. However, reading the inscriptions was very poignant and made me feel quite sad, even if the person had been dead for 100 years, especially if it was a child or young person. So I’m glad that the Cemeteries Series has now finished!

July – Skyscrapers and City Churches 2 (years later)

Posted on July 31, 2022 by claresimons1

Two years ago, I walked the deserted streets of the City of London, looking up at the ancient churches now dwarfed by the skyscrapers of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. In my July 2020 blog post, I mentioned that I would love to look inside these churches when circumstances allowed. So exactly two years later, I’ve revisited four of them, gone through their doors for the first time to explore their histories and present-day stories, and I wasn’t disappointed!

St Olave’s Hart Street

**St Olave’s is the ‘official church’ of several City Livery Companies**

What’s interesting about St Olave’s is that it’s the Parish Church of several of the City’s Trade Guilds or Companies. When I visited I had to wait to go in because a service of thanksgiving for the Worshipful Company of Fuellers was taking place inside. The Company of Fuellers is associated with the whole energy sector and began as the Coal Traders Company. The company motto is In Carbone Robur Nostrum – Our Strength in Coal. St Olave’s is one of the smallest churches in the City and is one of the few that escaped the Great Fire of 1666, due to the surrounding houses being blown up to create a fire break. The flames came within 100 yards of the church, but a change of wind direction saved it. The church is dedicated to King Olave ll, the Patron Saint of Norway, who fought alongside the Anglo-Saxons against the Danes in the Battle of London Bridge in 1014, and a church was erected on the battle site. The current church dates from the 13^th Century, replacing the earlier wooden construction. 1,000 years of history, right there! (My favourite Worshipful Companies – one very old: The Cordwainers Company; and one very new: The Environmental Cleaners’ Company!)

**The Worshipful Company of Fuellers, taken from a respectful distance**

**Lunchtime concert on a previous visit to St Olave’s**

St Katherine Cree

A priory was founded on this site in 1108 and a separate Parish church was built in 1280 for the growing population. The present building was built in 1628-30 ‘a significant church of the Jacobean period, a time when few churches were being built. It is the only Jacobean church to have survived in London’ (Wiki). I’m guessing that all other churches are either much older or much newer! Inside, there is a spectacular rose window, reputedly modelled on a larger one in the old St Paul’s Cathedral which was destroyed in the Great Fire. On the vaulted ceiling are bosses (small plaster sculptures) representing the Arms of seventeen of the City’s Livery Companies. Tradition has it that these Companies used St Katherine Cree after the 1666 Fire while their own churches were being rebuilt. The church is another Guild church with a specific ministry to finance, commerce and industry, reflecting the activity which goes on around it. the Today St Katherine Cree serves its week-day community with English Language courses, lunchtime Bible study and Holy Communion and Lloyd’s choir practices. A church with 1,000 years of service to its changing community.

St Andrew Undershaft

This is my favourite photo of St Andrew, with The Scalpel looming up into the sky, and The Gherkin reflected in its lower windows. Situated in St Mary Axe, you probably know St Andrew’s famous neighbour at Number 30, The Gherkin, built on the site of the Baltic Exchange, which was destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1992. St Andrew has survived the 1666 Great Fire, the 1940s Blitz bombings and the 1992 bombing; however, its large stained-glass window, apparently one of the finest in London, was destroyed. When I visited the church on a weekday I had to buzz an intercom to gain access, which I thought was unusual for a City church, whose doors are always open to visitors. The welcoming lady who let me in explained that the team of workers from three neighbouring churches were having their lunch break in the church:, but that I was welcome to look around. One of the team kindly offered to show me round, pointing out some items of interest: a monument to John Stow, an English historian, author of The Survey of London, published in the 1560s. The quill pen in his hand is renewed annually by, alternatively, the Lord Mayor of London and the Master of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors. There’s also a plaque dedicated to Hans Holbein the Younger, portrait painter to Henry Vlll. Holbein is either buried here, or possibly at St Helen’s Bishopsgate, no one seems to know for certain!

**Church workers eating lunch (permission granted to take the photo)**

John Stow holding a startlingly white quill pen

St Helen’s Bishopsgate

**The Tardis-like St Helen’s, much bigger on the inside!**

The largest surviving Parish church in the City of London, and containing the most monuments of any London church, St Helen’s is referred to as the ‘Westminster Abbey of the City’. The church was very badly damaged, but not destroyed, in the 1992 bombing of St Mary Axe, and architect Quinlan Terry, an enthusiast of Georgian architecture, was commissioned to carry out a full restoration. The interior space was redesigned to suit a large Evangelical congregation, with the addition of a baptistry and a new gallery, increasing the seating capacity to 1,000, with a clear view of the pulpit for everyone. What I like about this church is that the design suits a 21^st century congregation, but some ancient monuments remain in situ, making it a fascinating place to explore. As long ago as the 1960s, forward-thinking Rector Dick Lucas grew the congregation from a few individuals to a church which served City workers all week round. This legacy has continued, with St Helen’s administrating St Andrew Undershaft and nearby St Peter upon Cornhill, between them offering an extensive range of meetings, courses and events: lunchtime talks, ‘Read, Mark, Learn’ groups which study the Gospels, and the Christianity Explored course. In addition, St Helen’s holds three English-speaking services each Sunday and also a Mandarin-speaking service. There are also midweek and Sunday lunches and other social events.

June – Platinum Jubilee

Posted on June 30, 2022 by claresimons1

June was the month of the Platinum Jubilee, a celebration of the 70^th years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth ll. Our Queen is well known for her Christian faith; in her first Christmas broadcast as Queen in 1952 she said ‘At my Coronation next June, I shall dedicate myself anew to your service….Pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you, all the days of my life.’* I think that prayer has been answered. So this month I’m featuring four churches, two of which celebrated the Jubilee in a particular way, and two which have interesting histories. All these churches are in the London Borough of Sutton, all of them I have a particular connection to. I’ll finish with a few photos to remind us how Sutton (like every other borough, city, town and village in the country) went Jubilee-crazy for a few days in June.

Carshalton Methodist Church

This friendly, community-centred church holds so many events throughout the year, I couldn’t imagine it not opening its doors to the public to celebrate the Jubilee! I’ve been to their monthly film nights, Craft Fairs, Flower Shows and annual Christmas Tree competition. Just before the Easter school holidays, the church hosts ‘Easter Experience’: a dramatic retelling of Holy Week which is performed to 100s of local school children during the week, finishing with a public performance on Sunday. For the Jubilee, the church had three Open Days, inviting the community to see 70 years of the church’s history with photos, documents and objects on display. Lunch was available, including their legendary homemade cakes and biscuits, also a display of cut flowers and a Beatles Song Title Competition. A huge amount of work must have gone into this, well done to all involved, very enjoyable (especially the Malteser cake!)

Sutton Christian Centre

Well…this is my church, and the creative team that is Ric and Allison pulled out all the stops to decorate the inside and outside of the church, complete with a life-sized cardboard model of Her Majesty; quite scary to come across it unexpectedly! The display focused on 70 years of the Queen’s Christian faith. There was a special Sunday Service, starting with breakfast of bacon rolls and croissants in the car park, enjoyed by the Mayor of Sutton and some of the church’s neighbours. Then inside, there was a Jubilee-themed craft for the children and a talk about the Queen’s faith, reflecting the display. Everyone who attended was given a booklet: ‘Our Faithful Queen, 70 Years of Faith and Service’, detailing the Queen’s coronation ceremony, her duties and responsibilities, events in her public and private life, and how God has guided and sustained her in this role: ‘I have not chosen this office for myself, He has appointed me to it…. because he leads, I may follow in complete trust’.*

* Source: Our Faithful Queen, 70 Years of Faith and Service, Catherine Butcher, The International Bible Society

Her Majesty, looking out of an upstairs window!

Bishop Andrewes Church

A small church tucked between houses, Bishop Andrewes was completed in 1933 at the same time that the St Helier Estate was being built. In partnership with the larger, more prominent St Peter’s Church, BA (as it’s known) has faithfully served the local community for 90 years. Activities at the church include a Foodbank session on Wednesday evenings (that’s my connection, I’m a Foodbank volunteer here), mid-week coffee morning and the 9^th Carshalton Scout Group, which has been running continuously since at least the 1940s. There’s an interesting article about BA’s unique service to the community at a particular time in its history: Bishop Andrewes Church in the Second World War, by the then Curate, the Reverend Charles Richardson. Writing about the Blitz bombings of 1940, he says: ‘The main job for the clergy was ministering to the frightened, injured and dying. We were also able to help track down members of households and families. People were taken off to different hospitals and centres and there was much anguish until all were accounted for to each. Nothing mattered except people.’** What a wonderful sentiment!

** Source: St Helier Memories: a Community History of St Helier Estate, London (online)

**The word Hope overlooking a map of the local community**

Holy Trinity Church, Wallington

This beautiful church is where I was married, it’s the Parish Church of Wallington and was completed in 1870, Grade ll listed since 1974. It has an interesting history: in the late 14th century a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Moor was built just North of the present church’s location, on what is now the London Road. This would have existed then as a main transport route as it is today, which probably accounts for the chapel’s prominent position. Holy Trinity Church was built to resemble the description of the old chapel in the style of the 14th century, namely constructed in flint and Bath Stone. Consequently, it looks far older than its 150 years, often being mistaken for a Norman church. The church has been refurbished and modernised over the years but retains its hammer-beam roof. The most recent addition is that of the Holy Trinity Centre which replaced the old church hall. Mostly constructed of glass, it joins on to an outer wall of the church and offers a large, multi-functional space for church events and is also available for hire (my daughter and son in law held their wedding reception here.)

Source: Wikipedia

**This Memorial has details on each card of every man of the Parish who died in World War l**

And now for some more June Platinum Jubilee fun!

Postbox Toppers

Primary School

May – Immigrant Christian London ll

Posted on May 29, 2022 by claresimons1

Another month exploring some European (and beyond) churches in London, which all have a tradition of providing a home from home to immigrants and a welcome to visitors, and still do so today.

Ulrika Eleanora, the Swedish Church

This is a Swedish Lutheran Church, member of the Church of Sweden Abroad, which has been a spiritual home for 300 years for Swedish residents in London. It includes the Swedish Seamen’s Mission which, like the other Nordic churches in London, has for hundreds of years supported sailors and merchant seamen travelling to the Port of London. Today the church has a café (sadly not open when I visited) and activities for all ages. All services are in Swedish, except for Parish Communion, held twice a year and conducted in English. Music plays an important part in the life of the church, particularly singing; there are several choirs which perform for the local community. The Ulrika Eleanora is the main choir, but there is also a Children’s Choir, a Male Voice Choir and a Senior Choir. There’s also a choir formed specially for the Feast of St Lucia, the Patron Saint of Sweden, which performs throughout the month of December up until Christmas, Also in December a Christmas Shop opens, selling Swedish gifts and the delicious-looking Julbord, Christmas Food Box.

Sources: Churches Together in Westminster website; Church website

The best thing about the church is the artwork: a traditional picture of The Last Super above the altar….

….and the children’s artwork, displayed around the church!

**David and Goliath, among other things**

**Moses and the Burning Bush (I like Moses’ hat)**

**And my favourite, the disciples receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit!**

St Katharine’s, The Danish Church

‘Since 1952, St Katharine’s Church, near Regent’s Park, has been a Danish church and cultural centre, offering a haven for Danes in London and an insight into the life and culture of Denmark’* The Danish Church in London is a branch of the Danish folkekirken, holding Sunday worship services and conducting christenings, confirmations, weddings and funerals. As a Danish cultural centre, the church hosts talks, exhibitions, concerts and a book club as well as a small shop and café. Most services and activities are in Danish but some are bi lingual. The church also has its own language school which provides opportunities for learning Danish at Saturday school and evening classes. The church has an enviable location, being a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park, and the building is the former Anglican chapel of St Katharine’s Hospital. There is a Danish Seaman’s Mission in Rotherhithe, close to the Finnish and Norwegian Churches, reflecting the tradition of support and fellowship provided for Nordic seafarers.

*from ‘Tired of London, Tired of Life’, Tom Jones, Virgin Books

Other sources: Wikipedia, Church website (English translation).

Pulpit
Font

**Reflecting the Church’s maritime tradition**

**The church has a distinctly Scandinavian look, I like it!**

Roman Catholic Polish Church

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Czestochowa and St Casimir is situated in a residential street in Islington, N1. This has been the church’s home since 1928 having previously been located in the East End of London. The ‘new’ premises had attached buildings so as well as regular worship, there was space for a mission centre and a Polish Saturday school. Following the Second World War, the Polish Church in England took on the pastoral task of caring for almost 200,000 displaced people, mainly soldiers, and the number of churches, chapels and Parish halls grew. In the 1980s, following martial law in Poland in 1981, there was another influx of Poles to England, and another following Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004. There are over 200 towns in England and Wales where services are conducted in the Polish language, including large congregations in Hammersmith and Balham. The Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales reports: ‘Today, Polish churches are full on Sundays and new Polish pastoral centres continue to be established.’ I couldn’t find out very much about this particular church, as it was only open for Mass twice a day, but it appears it also holds cultural events (see poster.) The interior shots are images from ‘Taking Stock: Catholic Churches of England and Wales.’

Source: The Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales

The Ukrainian Cathedral, off Oxford Street, Mayfair

I last visited the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London in August 2021. I mentioned in August’s Blog post that the shoppers in Oxford Street probably aren’t aware that just around the corner is this dramatic building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse who was the architect of the Natural History Museum. I wonder if more people know about it now, in the light of the events of the past three months? Formerly the home of a Congregational Church, ‘The King’s Weigh House’, it was sold to Ukrainian Catholics in 1967 and became an Eparchy (bishopric) in 2013. The church has served London-based Ukrainians for 55 years but became ‘a rallying point for the British Ukrainian community during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine’ (Wikipedia.) The invasion has caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the Second World War, with more than 6.4 Ukrainians fleeing their country. Most refugees (three million) have relocated to Poland and other neighbouring countries, but many have travelled to countries further West; at 22^nd April, 27,100 refugees had entered the UK. I would like to think that this beautiful building and its community is a place of welcome and solace for newly-arrived Ukrainians to the London area.

Source: Wikipedia

Immigrant Christian London

Posted on May 1, 2022 by claresimons1

London has been welcoming immigrants for hundreds of years due to the migration of people groups wanting better lives for their families or seeking refuge from persecution, war and natural disasters. This month I’m going to look at London churches which serve (or have served) European communities, and talk a little bit about their histories. I really enjoyed researching the churches this month!

St Peter’s Italian Church, Clerkenwell

This gem of a church, sitting between shops and offices in Clerkenwell Road, was opened in April 1863 as ‘The Church of St Peter of all Nations.’ At the time it was the only church in Britain designed in the Roman Basilica style, and when I stepped inside, it felt like I was stepping into a church in Rome; breathtakingly beautiful decorations and artwork. St Peter’s was designed by Irish architect Sir John Miller-Bryson and modelled on the Basilica San Crisogono in Rome. The church was built to serve the growing number of Italian immigrants in the Clerkenwell area, known as ‘Little Italy.’ The church is under the control of the ‘Pallottines’, a Roman Catholic Society, founded in 1835 by Saint Vincent Pallotti, and it was he who commissioned the church. St Peter’s provides services throughout the week in Italian and English, and plays an important part in the life of the community, a focal point of the annual processione held in July. There are a number of Italian cafes, restaurants and barbers’ shops up and down Clerkenwell Road.

Source: Wikipedia

The frieze shows events in the life of Jesus.

The Dutch Church, Austin Friars

This church has an interesting history. On this site there was an Augustine Friary, established in the 1260s, consisting of a church, accommodation for 600 friars and a garden with an orchard, quite a substantial property. The friary played an important role as a centre for religious education, not just for English students but by foreigners living in London, mostly Italians and Germans. Following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1538, Henry’s advisor, Thomas Cromwell bought up the friary land to build for himself one of the largest mansions in London. Cromwell’s meteoric rise in fortunes was followed by an equally meteoric fall from the King’s favour and he was executed in 1540, after which the mansion and lands were sold off. So what’s the Dutch connection? In July 1550, King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, issued a Charter in which he granted European Protestants escaping persecution in Catholic Europe the freedom to hold their own church services. He gave part of the (still standing) church at Austin Friars to Dutch and French refugees resident in London. The French Protestants relocated to another church (more on that in the next section) but the Dutch Church still holds the 1550 Charter. The original monastery church was destroyed in a World War 2 air raid in 1940; and on 23^rd July 1950, ten-year-old Princess Irene of the Netherlands laid the foundation stone of the new church, commemorating 400 years since the 1550 Edward VI Charter. The new church was completed in 1954, built in the style of Protestant churches in the Netherlands.

Sources: Booklet in the Church; squaremilehealthwalks.wordpress.com

Spectacular Tapestry: ‘God, Man and Creration’

The French Protestant Church, Soho Square

When I arrived outside this church it was clearly closed, and I dithered whether to cheekily press the buzzer marked ‘Church’ and request entry for a quick look inside. Suddenly a side door opened and a man came out, beckoning to another man waiting outside (who I hadn’t noticed) to come in. I asked him if I could possibly to come in to take a few photos, to which he agreed, saying that he was the Pastor! I thanked him profusely (in French) and scurried round as quick as I could! The French Protestant Church has served the French-speaking community in London since 1550, founded by the Edward VI Charter mentioned above. The Soho Square building was erected in 1891, replacing the first church under the Charter in Threadneedle Street, and it’s now the last remaining Huguenot church in England. The Huguenots were French Protestants who suffered persecution for over 200 years in France because of their Reformist and Calvinist beliefs. Many thousands fled to England following the English Reformation and in 1681 King Charles II formally offered them his royal protection. The Huguenots were mainly skilled craftsmen and professional people, famous for silk weaving and also highly skilled clock makers, metal workers and silversmiths. The largest settlement of Huguenots was in Spitalfields and Bethnal Green.

Sources: Wikipedia; thehistoryoflondon.co.uk

Beautiful stone tableau in an arch at the entrance to the church

The Pastor who let me in must have been Stephane Desmarais, so pleased I got the opportunity to see inside this beautiful church!

St George’s German Lutheran Church

This church is now owned by the Historic Chapels Trust. It is the oldest surviving German church in Britain, however, it is now closed for regular Sunday worship except for occasional services by the German community. The main use of the building is for concerts, lectures and historical study. Next door to the church is ‘St George’s German and English schools supported by voluntary contributions.’ St George’s was established in 1763 as a Christian centre for German Lutheran immigrants who worked in the East End in various industries: sugar refining and the baking and meat trades. The First World War was a disruptive and unsettling time for the community; men of military age were interred and older men and women were expelled from the UK. The then Pastor and his wife were expelled in 1917, returning in 1920, but amazingly, church services continued throughout both World Wars and beyond, until 1996. During the Second World War, the pastor at that time, Julius Rieger, assisted Protestant Christians of Jewish descent to escape from Germany to the UK. The theologist and anti-Nazi activist Dietrich Bonhoeffer was associated with St George’s as pastor of nearby German Reformed St Paul’s Church between 1933 and 1835. This church was closed when I visited; the interior photo is from the church’s website. St George’s is just outside the old City Walls, where the City ends and the East End begins at Whitechapel.

Source and Interior Photo: St George’s German Lutheran Church website