[This is the third of 10 articles briefly describing the 39
functioning historic Anglican churches in the City of London]
Gresham Street
is to the West of Moorgate and it is a pivotal area for banks, huge law
practices and the civic dignity of the City. A modern square opens out and you
admire the historic Guildhall, ceremonial headquarters of the City and site of
grand dinner functions including the annual speeches on the economy by the
Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In one corner of the square
stands St Lawrence Jewry, the church
of the City Corporation, suitably majestic and stately.
 |
| St Lawrence Jewry, opposite Guildhall |
St Lawrence Jewry
interior
St Lawrence was lavishly restored by Cecil Brown after the
destruction of Wren’s 1687 church in the Blitz. It has a worldly air with its
white and gold decoration, Corinthian columns, fine plaster work and elaborate
sword-rests. A recent Vicar of right-wing views organised lunchtime talks which
I attended; Ralph Harris, Mrs Thatcher’s economic guru: Norris McWhirter,
tireless libertarian campaigner whose twin brother Ross was murdered by the
IRA: Viscount de Lisle VC, high Tory and the last British Governor-General of
Australia. All this was much to my taste.
Yet St Lawrence Jewry obviously did religion too. I will
never forget the Lenten sermon preached by The Blessed Anthony, leader of the
Russian Orthodox in London,
looking like Eisenstein’s Ivan the
Terrible, and speaking of God’s judgement with matchless eloquence while
imbuing his audience with the urgency of repentance. Easter certainly came as a
relief that year!
------------------------------------
A short walk from St Lawrence takes you to a curiosity – the site of St Mary Aldermanbury, gutted in the Blitz. As a
memorial to Winston Churchill the remaining stones were transported to Fulton, Missouri,
where Churchill had given his famous “Iron Curtain” speech and the church was
faithfully reconstructed. It looks very fine in its new home. All that remains
in London are
some foundations and a generous memorial to locals Hemmings and Condell,
compilers of Shakespeare’s First Folio.
 |
| St Mary Aldermanbury at Fulton, Missouri |
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Towards the end of Gresham
Street St
Anne and St Agnes is prettily set back in a little garden. Red-brick and
homely, by Wren 1677, the church remains in Anglican ownership but has for many
years been let to the Lutheran congregations in London, with regular services in English,
Swahili and Latvian.
.jpg) |
| St Anne and St Agnes, Gresham Street |
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Strolling up narrow Foster Lane off Gresham Street takes you to the agreeable
white Portland stone church of St Vedast Foster Lane.
Although the church was redesigned after the Fire by Wren and completed in
1700, its most remarkable aspect is its mathematically imposing steeple by the
unmistakable hand of Nicholas Hawksmoor, Wren’s one-time pupil.
 |
| St Vedast Foster Lane, Church and Steeple |
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Gresham Street
ends at St Martin le Grand once home of the first general Post Office. This
street becomes Aldersgate Street
and we soon see the modestly boxy St
Botolph Aldersgate built in 1788
by Nathaniel Wright and internally arranged by Nathaniel Evans. St Botolph was
a 7th century East Anglian saint, patron of wayfarers and by extension
of town gates. Three extant churches in the City dedicated to St Botolph are
connected to old City gates - Aldgate, Bishopsgate and Aldersgate.
The externals of St Botolph are unremarkable although there
is a pretty tower and bell-turret. Internally there is a splendid 18th
century barrel-vaulted roof, lavishly plastered and decorated: airy galleries: Corinthian
columns, gilded and marbled: fine wooden panelling throughout. As an example of
the Anglican Church’s genial ecumenism, St Botolph is currently used every
Sunday by the Free Church of Scotland.
 |
| St Botolph Aldersgate interior |
SMD
5.03.13
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2013
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