Tower of London<\/a>. The chapel was founded in the 12th century, shortly after the white tower was completed, and is aptly dedicated. ‘St Peter ad vincula’ is ‘St Peter in chains’. The present building is primarily the 16th century and is stuffed with famous bodies, often minus their heads. The chapel is a short walk from Tower Green, where many executions took place. Two of Henry VIII’s wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, are buried here, as well as the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSir Thomas More is also here. The traitor’s fate of being drawn and quartered was commuted to beheading by Henry VIII. ‘God forbid the king shall use any more such mercy on any of my friends.’ he is said to have commented. He asked for help to climb the scaffold. ‘I pray your, Mr Lieutenant to see me safe up, and for my coming down, let me makeshift for myself.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
50. St Peter upon Cornhill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
St Peter upon Cornhill Peter upon Cornhill<\/strong> was built by Wren in 1677-87. It has a red-brick tower topped with a dome and a little obelisk. Then a ten-foot-long St Peter’s key, all looming over a tiny, tucked away churchyard still surrounded by shops, as all City churches once were. Inside it is extensive, with a tunnel vault, aisles, and a chancel screen designed by Wren’s daughter. St Peter upon Cornhill is reputedly the oldest place of Christian worship in London, having been founded on the Roman basilica site by Lucius, the first Christian ruler of Britain, in AD 179.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCornhill EC3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
51. St Sepulchre<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
St Sepulchre <\/strong>is dominated by its grey 15th century Gothic tower. Captain John Smith, the famous Governor of Virginia, rescued by Pocahontas, was buried here in 1631.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut St Sepulchre also has darker associations. In a glass case in the church is a hand-bell used to rouse prisoners in the adjoining Newgate prison on their final night. “All you who in the condemned hole do lie, Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die…” At one time, they were hung on gallows in the street outside the prison, and many must have raised their eyes to the tower of St Sepulchre as they were sent to the hereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the east of the church, there used to stand (until the war) a watch-house built in 1792 to survey the graveyard, which had become the primary supply source for grave-robbers. Purloined corpses were stored in an inn opposite the church until they were ready to be used at St Bartholomew’s hospital just down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newgate Street EC1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
52. St Stephen Walbrook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
St Stephen Walbrook<\/strong> has the most beautiful interior of all Wren’s churches reputedly. He was experimenting with his plans for St Paul’s Cathedral. St Stephen is a variation on the same theme – an un-English central dome married to a traditional English church plan of nave with aisles, chancel and crossing transepts. The effect is of graceful, harmonious complexity, full of light and space. Many have praised it highly, including Lord Burlington, John Wesley and Canova, the sculptor of the ‘Three Graces’. The altar is a large white marble slab by Henry Moore and has been moved to sit right in the middle of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe church was built on the bank of the Walbrook, a stream that ran down through the centre of London and around which many Roman buildings clustered. The stream still runs, of course, but in a deep pipe underground. In the 20th century, the Samaritans were founded at St Stephen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walbrook EC4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
53. St Vedast alias Foster<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
St Vedast alias Foster. <\/strong><\/strong>St Vedast is a rare saint in England. He was the 5th century Bishop of Arras who converted Clovis. “Foster” is an English bastardisation of his name. This was Wren’s cheapest church, as he was able to re-use some of the earlier walls. Now restored after being gutted in the war, the Guild Church of the Actor’s Church Union is brightly decorated, with a gold and silver ceiling and black and white marble floor. The spire is considered by some to be Wren’s most subtly elegant work and was designed to contrast with the elaborate steeple of nearby St Mary le Bow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n54. The Temple Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\nTemple Inn Church located in the Inns of Courts (technically outside of the City). Published in 1739. Source: British Library<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Inner Temple Lane EC4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
55. St Mary Moorfields<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
St Mary Moorfields.<\/strong> The first post-Reformation Catholic chapel in the City was established in Lime Street in 1686, in the brief reign of James II. The Lime Street chapel was suppressed, only to be re-established in Rub Street (now Milton Street), Moorfields. In an age when Catholics were excluded from public life and forbidden to build churches, there is evidence of a succession of chapels in the Moorfields area. In 1780 when “No Popery” rioters attacked the homes of Catholics, a chapel in White Street was destroyed, and the priest died soon after of injuries received at the hands of the mob.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFollowing the Catholic Relief Act of 1791, a new church was built and named St Mary Moorfields in 1820. The present church of the same name, designed by George Sherrin (architect of the dome of the Brompton Oratory), was dedicated in 1903. There is a small shrine to St. Thomas More at the back of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eldon Street EC2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
56. The City Temple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The City Temple<\/strong><\/strong> stands next to St Andrew Holborn. It was initially built in 1874 to replace a nonconformist chapel in Poultry. In the 1920’s it was made famous by speakers such as Dr F Norwood and Leslie Wethered. They led open discussions on then-controversial subjects such as birth control. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the blitz and rebuilt very lavishly as the “Cathedral of the Free Churches”, with two halls and offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHolborn Viaduct EC1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
57. The Dutch Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch Church<\/strong> is<\/strong> tucked away up the winding cul-de-sac of Austin Friars. It was once part of an Augustinian monastery. After the dissolution, the nave and aisles were given over to Dutch and other Protestant refugees by Edward VI. The rest of the church was used as a granary and coal store until all, but the nave was pulled down in 1603. This was destroyed by fire, and the church was rebuilt in 1865. It was destroyed in the second world war and rebuilt again, entirely in modern, ‘sub classical style.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAustin Friars EC2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
58. The Jewin Welsh Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Jewin Welsh Church. <\/strong>Jewin Street was utterly destroyed in the blitz and not rebuilt. The area had been granted to the Jews in 1177 for use as a burial ground. When the Jews were expelled from England in 1290, the Dean of St Pauls gave the land. Milton lived there while writing ‘Paradise Lost’. In the 19th century, a nonconformist chapel was built at the end of the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter the second world war, the brick Welsh Church was built in nearby Fann Street. It is the ‘Mother Church of the Welsh Presbyterian Church in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fann Street EC1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
59. The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue <\/strong>is the oldest surviving synagogue in Great Britain. It was built in 1701 by a Quaker, Joseph Avis, for the thriving local Jewish community. Sephardi Jews began to resettle in London under Oliver Cromwell (to whom they still acknowledge their gratitude) for the first time since their expulsion in the middle ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe plan is a plain oblong, and inside are galleries borne on Tuscan columns, similar to many of Wren’s churches. The rich woodwork, similarly, was carved by the same craftsmen as worked for Wren. The ark opens up to reveal the scrolls with their silver bells, and the air is dense with the dipping branches of gleaming Dutch brass candelabras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bevis MarksEC3<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
Which is the City of London’s oldest church?<\/h3>\n\n\n
All Hallows by the Tower founded in AD 675 survived the Great Fire in 1666 but was heavily damaged during World War II<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
How many churches are there in the City of London?<\/h3>\n\n\n
There are 42 places of worship within the Square Mile, as well as nine towers and standing remains of lost churches.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
How many churches were destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666?<\/h3>\n\n\n
The horrible fire that swept across London in 1666 destroyed 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
How many churches did Sir Christopher Wren build?<\/h3>\n\n\n
Wren’s office was commissioned to build 51 churches and one cathedral after the devastating fire destroyed or damaged most of the City of London’s churches.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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