ST.MARY WOOLNOTHSt.Mary Woolnoth, is one of the London Churches to be rebuilt after the Great Fire of London. It is the only remaining Church credited to Christopher Wren's assistant, Nicholas Hawkesmoor.There has been a religious building on this site for over two thousand years, with traces of Roman activity being discovered under the present church as well as traces of a Saxon presence. Tradition does in fact claim it to have been founded by a Saxon Prince or Nobleman by the name of Wulfnoth. It was first mentioned in a deed dated 1191, by the name Wilnotmaricherche, it is dedicated to St.Mary Woolnoth of the Nativity. Since and Including the Roman building, at least three buildings have occupied the site through the centuries. The first Church survived until 1438, when it was demolished and rebuilt. In the Great Fire of London of 1666 it was severely damaged, the damage being repaired by Sir Christopher Wren in 1674 and paid for by a donation from the Lord Mayor, the Goldsmith, Sir Robert Vyner.
However, the building remained very unsafe and was therefore demolished and rebuilt by Nicholas Hawkesmoor between 1716 and 1727, financed by coal tax proceeds of the 1711 Commission for Building Fifty New Churches in London. The Church is a fine example of English Baroque style. The exterior with its imposing facade surmounted by two flat topped towers, is considered to be the most original of the City Churches, especially the eloquent Lombard Street wall, regarded by many to be Hawkesmoor's masterpiece. As you enter the Church, just above the entrance, there's a bronze figure by Bernard Merry (1992) of the Blessed Virgin Mary enthroning her Son, his arms outstretched in welcome to all who enter the Church.
ABOVE:ST. MARY WOOLNOTH : CLERESTORY. Despite the relatively small size of St.Mary Woolnoth, once inside there is a feeling of spaciousness. Hawkesmoor constructed a square within a square, characterized by twelve Corinthian columns with a clerestory containing four large semicircular windows above. 
ABOVE:THE ALTAR, THE REREDOS, THE PULPIT AND CORINTHIAN COLUMNS. The pulpit and the reredos behind the altar are the work of Gabriel Appleby. Sadly a lot of the woodwork was removed or altered in 1875 when William Butterfield carried out major changes to the interior. The box pews were cut down, the pulpit lowered and moved to its present location, the galleries completely removed, the fronts of which were fixed to the walls. With Butterfield introducing steps up to the altar, it meant the reredos had to be raised. The floor he redesigned using some of Hawksmoor's stone and marble and at the same time suplementing them with his own coloured tiles and marble. It does appear that Hawksmoor is belatedly getting the recognition he so thoroughly deserves, which until now had been sadly lacking. For after a partial refurbishment of the interior in the 1990's his genius could at last be seen. It is however a consolation that apart from cutting down the pulpit and raising the reredos, they are the originals, the pulpit retaining it's canopy. The Harris organ dates from about 1690.
ABOLITION OF SLAVERYThere is a memorial to John Newton, the Rector at St.Mary Woolnoth, from 1779 - 1807 and co-author with William Cowper, of the Hymn Amazing Grace.He had been a slave trader for many years before converting and from then on preached ardently against the evils of the slave trade, so much so that his zeal galvanized a young M.P., William Wilberforce, who worshipped at the church, into action, fighting a battle that he would eventually win. The battle for the abolition of slavery.
CONSTRUCTION OF LONDON UNDERGROUND BANK STATIONAt the end of the nineteenth century, the City & South London Railway were given pemission to demolish St.Mary Woolnoth in order to build the London Underground Bank Tube Station. A huge public outcry put paid to that plan and an alternative plan was agreed upon.The Church authorities sold the crypt to the railway, all the human remains were removed for reburial over at Ilford. The whole Church was then supported on steel beams enabling the lift shafts and staicase shaft for the station to be constructed right under the church floor. A remarkable achievement by the Victorian Engineers. St.Mary Woolnoth is now a Guild church and is used by the German speaking Swiss community in London. It is Grade 1 listed building.There is a memorial to Edward Lloyd, founder of Lloyd's of London, who was originally buried here in 1713. Thomas Kyd, the Elizabethan dramatist, was baptized here, his father Francis was also a churchwarden. The Church is mentioned in The Wasteland, by T.S.Elliot, in which he writes about the crowds: 'And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,To where St. Mary Woolnoth kept the hours,With a dead sound on the stroke of nine'. Return From St.Mary Woolnoth, To London Churches Go To John Newton The Co-Author with William Cowper of the Hymn Amazing Grace Return To A-London-Tourist-Guide Home Page
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