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{{Short description|Church in the City of London, England}}
{{distinguish|St Mary Aldermanbury|text=the separate demolished church [[St Mary Aldermanbury]]}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox church
{{Infobox church
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| founded date =
| founded date =
| founder =
| founder =
| architect = [[Christopher Wren]]
| architect = [[Office of Christopher Wren]]
| style = [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]
| style = [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]
| heritage designation = Grade I [[listed building]]
| heritage designation = Grade I [[listed building]]
Line 29: Line 32:
| canon =
| canon =
| prebendary =
| prebendary =
| curate =
| curate = Robert Pfeiffer
| chaplain =
| chaplain =
| vicar =
| vicar =
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| location = [[London]], {{postcode|EC|4}}
| location = [[London]], {{postcode|EC|4}}
| country = United Kingdom
| country = United Kingdom
| website = {{url|http://www.stmaryaldermary.co.uk/}}
| website = {{url|https://www.stmaryaldermary.com/}}
}}
}}


The Guild Church of '''St Mary Aldermary''' (or St Mary Elder Mary)<ref>"The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p74: London; Quartet; 1975</ref> is an [[Anglican]] church located in Watling Street at the junction with Bow Lane, in the [[City of London]]. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt from 1510. Badly damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666, it was rebuilt once more, this time by Sir [[Christopher Wren]]; unlike the vast majority of Wren's City churches, St Mary Aldermary is in the Gothic style.
'''St Mary Aldermary''' <ref>Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.255</ref> (or St Mary Elder Mary)<ref>"The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p74: London; Quartet; 1975</ref> is an [[Anglican]] church located on [[Bow Lane]] at the junction with [[Watling Street]], in the [[City of London]] within the United Kingdom.

Of medieval origin, rebuilding began in 1510 and was not finished until 1632. Severely damaged just 33 years later during the Great Fire of London in 1666, it was rebuilt once more by the office of Sir [[Christopher Wren]]. Unlike most of Wren's City churches, St Mary Aldermary was reconstructed in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival style]]. In 1952 its role was changed from a [[parish church]] to that of a [[guild church]], intended to serve commuters and non-resident workers within the City of London. The main church space acts a public cafe during weekday business hours, with religious and meditative sessions held during mornings and evenings.


==History==
==History==
There has been a church on the site for over 900 years. Its name is usually taken to mean that it is the oldest of the City churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary.<ref name=godw3>Godwin 1839, p.3, referring to a suggestion made by John Stow in his ''Survey of London''.</ref> The [[advowson|patronage]] of the [[rectory]] of St Mary Aldermary belonged to the prior and chapter of Canterbury, but was transferred to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1400.<ref name=dan223>Daniel 1892, p.233</ref>
A church has occupied the site for more than 900 years. Its name is usually taken to mean that it is the oldest of the City churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary.<ref name=godw3>Godwin 1839, p.3, referring to a suggestion made by John Stow in his ''Survey of London''.</ref> It has also been suggested that, on Bow Lane, it is the older St Mary’s with respect to nearby St Mary Le Bow. The [[advowson|patronage]] of the [[rectory]] of St Mary Aldermary belonged to the prior and chapter of Canterbury, but was transferred to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1400.<ref name=dan223>Daniel 1892, p.233</ref>


In 1510, [[Henry Keble, Lord Mayor of London|Sir Henry Keeble]] financed the building of a new church. The tower was still unfinished when he died in 1518. In 1629, two legacies enabled it to be completed, and the work, begun 120 years before, was finished within three years.<ref name=ric>{{cite book|title=Repetorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense|author-link=Richard Newcourt (historian)|last=Newcourt|first=Richard|location=London|pages=534–4|year=1708|volume=1}}</ref> Keble was buried in a vault beneath the floor of church, but his grave was not allowed to remain for long. [[Richard Newcourt (historian)|Richard Newcourt]] recorded that<blockquote> Sir ''William Laxton'', who died in 1556, and Sir ''Tho. Lodge'', who died in 1583 (both which were ''Grocers'' and had been Mayors of this City), were buried in the Vault of this Sir ''Henry Keeble'', his bones unkindly cast out, and his Monument pull'd down, in place whereof, Monuments were set up of the others.<ref name=ric/></blockquote>
In 1510, [[Henry Keble, Lord Mayor of London|Sir Henry Keeble]] financed the building of a new church. The tower was still unfinished when he died in 1518. In 1629, two legacies enabled it to be completed, and the work, begun 120 years before, was finished within three years.<ref name=ric>{{cite book|title=Repetorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense|author-link=Richard Newcourt (historian)|last=Newcourt|first=Richard|location=London|pages=534–4|year=1708|volume=1}}</ref> Keble was buried in a vault beneath the floor of the church, but his grave was not allowed to remain for long. [[Richard Newcourt (historian)|Richard Newcourt]] recorded that<blockquote> Sir ''William Laxton'', who died in 1556, and Sir ''Tho. Lodge'', who died in 1583 (both which were ''Grocers'' and had been Mayors of this City), were buried in the Vault of this Sir ''Henry Keeble'', his bones unkindly cast out, and his Monument pull'd down, in place whereof, Monuments were set up of the others.<ref name=ric/></blockquote>
[[John Stow]] mentions various dignitaries buried in the early church in his 1598 ''Survey of London''. They include Richard Chaucer, vintner, said by Stow to be the father of the poet [[Geoffrey Chaucer]].<ref name=dan223/> [[John Milton]] married his third wife, Elizabeth Minshull, in the church in 1663. The parish registers date from 1558, and are now deposited in the Guildhall Library.
[[John Stow]] mentions various dignitaries buried in the early church in his 1598 ''Survey of London''. They include Richard Chaucer, vintner, said by Stow to be the father of the poet [[Geoffrey Chaucer]].<ref name=dan223/> [[John Milton]] married his third wife, Elizabeth Minshull, in the church in 1663 (Curiously, he seems to have married his second at St Mary Aldermanbury). The parish registers date from 1558, and are now deposited in the Guildhall Library.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/176719-the-parish-registers-of-st-mary-aldermary-london-containing-the-marriages-baptisms-and-burials-from-1558-to-1754-vol-5?offset=47|title=The parish registers of St. Mary Aldermary, London, containing the marriages, baptisms and burials, from 1558 to 1754|website=[[FamilySearch]] |volume=5|access-date=11 October 2022}}</ref>

In 1599 a group of citizens from [[St Antholin, Budge Row |St. Antholin's]] founded a lectureship.<ref>{{cite web|first=Walter |last=Thornbury|title='Cannon Street tributaries and East Cheap', in Old and New London|volume=1 |location=London|year=1878|pages=550–565|publisher= British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol1/pp550-565 |access-date= 11 October 2022}}</ref> They gave property in London to pay for a daily lecture in the pulpit at St. Antholin’s and the church became famous as a lecture theatre. The Great Fire burned down the church but daily lectures carried on; it was rebuilt but was demolished in 1870 and the lecture was transferred to St. Mary Aldermary. The lectures are now organised by the Church Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchsociety.org/resource/puritan-spiritual-diaries-the-2021-st-antholin-lecture/|title=Puritan Spiritual Diaries: the 2021 St Antholin Lecture|publisher=The Church Society|access-date=11 October 2022}}</ref>


===Rebuilding after the Great Fire===
===Rebuilding after the Great Fire===
St Mary Aldermary was badly damaged in the [[Great Fire of London]] of 1666,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches|last=Tucker|first=T.|location=London|publisher=Friends of the City Churches|year=2006|isbn=0-9553945-0-3}}</ref> although parts of its walls and tower survived.<ref>"The City Churches" Tabor, M. p88:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917</ref> It was mostly rebuilt by Sir [[Christopher Wren]] in a Gothic style.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Old Churches of London|author= Cobb, G.|location=London|publisher=Batsford|year=1942}}</ref> A legacy of £5,000 had been left by one Henry Rogers for the rebuilding of a church, and his widow agreed to use it to fund the reconstruction of St Mary's.<ref name=dan223/> According to some sources, she stipulated that the new church should be an exact imitation of the one largely destroyed.<ref name=dan223/>
St Mary Aldermary was badly damaged in the [[Great Fire of London]] of 1666,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches|last=Tucker|first=T.|location=London|publisher=Friends of the City Churches|year=2006|isbn=0-9553945-0-3}}</ref> although parts of its walls and tower survived.<ref>"The City Churches" Tabor, M. p88:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917</ref> It was mostly rebuilt by the office of Sir [[Christopher Wren]] in a Gothic style.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Old Churches of London|author= Cobb, G.|location=London|publisher=Batsford|year=1942}}</ref> A legacy of £5,000 had been left by one Henry Rogers for the rebuilding of a church, and his widow agreed to use it to fund the reconstruction of St Mary's.<ref name=dan223/> According to some sources, she stipulated that the new church should be an exact imitation of the one largely destroyed.<ref name=dan223/>


The church as rebuilt has an aisled nave, six bays long, with a clerestory.<ref name=ioe/> There is a short chancel.<ref name=ioe/> The tower is attached to the south west corner of the building, and is entered through a western lobby. It is divided into storeys by [[string course]]s; the corners have octagonal turrets, terminating in what [[George Godwin]] called "carved finials of impure design". The nave and aisles are separated by arcades of clustered columns, supporting somewhat flattened Gothic arches. The ceilings are decorated with elaborate plaster [[fan vault]]ing.<ref>Godwin 1839, p.6</ref> The east wall of the chancel is set askew in relation to the axis of the church.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}
The church, as rebuilt, has an aisled nave, six bays long, with a clerestory.<ref name=ioe/> It has a short chancel.<ref name=ioe/> The tower is attached to the south-west corner of the building, and is entered through a western lobby. The tower is divided into storeys by [[string course]]s; the corners lead up to octagonal turrets, terminating in what [[George Godwin]] called "carved finials of impure design". The church’s nave and aisles are separated by arcades of clustered columns, supporting somewhat flattened Gothic arches. The ceilings are decorated with elaborate plaster [[fan vault]]ing.<ref>Godwin 1839, p.6</ref>


According to [[Nikolaus Pevsner]], St Mary Aldemary is "the chief surviving monument of the 17th-century Gothic revival in the City and – with [[Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick|Warwick]] – the most important late 17th-century Gothic church in [[England]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=London:the City Churches|first1=Nikolaus|last1=Pevsner|last2=Bradley|first2=Simon|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale|year=1998|isbn=0-300-09655-0}}</ref>
According to [[Nikolaus Pevsner]], St Mary Aldemary is "the chief surviving monument of the 17th-century Gothic revival in the City and – with [[Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick|Warwick]] – the most important late 17th-century Gothic church in [[England]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=London:the City Churches|first1=Nikolaus|last1=Pevsner|last2=Bradley|first2=Simon|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale|year=1998|isbn=0-300-09655-0}}</ref>
Line 59: Line 66:
The parish of the church of [[St Thomas the Apostle (London)|St Thomas the Apostle]], destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt, was united with that of St Mary's.<ref name=godw3/>
The parish of the church of [[St Thomas the Apostle (London)|St Thomas the Apostle]], destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt, was united with that of St Mary's.<ref name=godw3/>


In 1781 a new organ was installed, built by [[George England (organ-builder)|George England]] and Hugh Russell.
In 1781 a new organ was installed, built by [[George England (organ-builder)|George England]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/1824|title=The City Churches: St Mary Aldermary|publisher=Open House Festival|access-date=11 October 2022}}</ref>


===Wartime damage===
===Wartime damage===
St Mary Aldermary was damaged by German bombs in the [[The Blitz|London Blitz]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]].<ref>"The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C;Weinreb,D;Keay,J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993,2008) {{ISBN|978-1-4050-4924-5}}</ref> All the windows were shattered and some plaster fell from the vaulting but the building itself remained intact.
St Mary Aldermary was damaged by German bombs in the [[The Blitz|London Blitz]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]].<ref>"The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C;Weinreb,D;Keay,J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993,2008) {{ISBN|978-1-4050-4924-5}}</ref>


===Restorations===
===Restorations===
[[File:St Mary Aldermary Church, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|St Mary Aldermary Church Interior]]
[[File:St Mary Aldermary Church, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|St Mary Aldermary Church Interior]]
The church has been repaired and restored many times over the years. In 1876–7 there were major changes to the interior: a new oak screen was inserted dividing the church from the lobby; the pews and stalls were replaced, the organ was moved from the western gallery to the chancel; the floor was repaved, new stained glass put into the windows, and a new reredos installed.<ref>Daniel 1892, p.234</ref>
The church has been repaired and restored many times. In 1876–7 major changes were made to the interior: an oak screen was inserted, dividing the lobby from the church; the pews and stalls were replaced, the organ was moved from the western gallery to the chancel; the floor was repaved, new stained glass put into the windows, and a new reredos installed.<ref>Daniel 1892, p.234</ref>

The latest interior restoration was finished in April 2005, with special attention paid to the plaster ceilings and the memorials on the north wall. A service was held on April 21, 2005, to celebrate the restoration, presided over by [[Richard Chartres]], the [[Bishop of London]]. From 2005 until 2009, Father John Mothersole was the priest-in-charge and oversaw much of the restoration work at that time. He was succeeded in 2010 by Reverend Ian Mobsby, initially as curate and then as priest-in-charge, who continues in post at present.


The church was designated a Grade I [[listed building]] on 4 January 1950.<ref name=ioe>{{NHLE |num=1079145 |accessdate=23 January 2009}}</ref>
The church was designated a Grade I [[listed building]] on 4 January 1950.<ref name=ioe>{{NHLE |num=1079145 |accessdate=23 January 2009}}</ref>

The latest interior restoration was finished in April 2005, with attention paid to the plaster ceilings and memorials on the north wall. A service was held, presided over by [[Richard Chartres]], the [[Bishop of London]], to celebrate completion, on 21 April 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/archive/gothick-survival|title=Gothick survival|date=24 February 2005|publisher= Architects Journal|access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref>


==Burials==
==Burials==
*[[Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy]]
*[[Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy]]


==Current activities==
==Recent activities==
In January 2010, the Bishop and Archdeacon of London invited the [[Moot Community]] to make their home in St Mary Aldermary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moot.uk.net/ |title=Moot Community|publisher=Moot Community}}</ref> Moot is a Church of England community in the new monastic tradition. Members annually commit to live by a "rhythm of life", which encompasses spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation and presence, and values such as acceptance, balance, creativity and hospitality. The community is currently in a process of discernment about whether it has a vocation as a Church of England Acknowledged Religious Community.
In January 2010, the Bishop and Archdeacon of London invited the Moot Community to make their home in St Mary Aldermary. Moot was a Church of England community set up in the spirit of the Fresh Expressions initiative of that decade. Members committed to living a "rhythm of life", encompassing spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation and presence, and values such as acceptance, balance, creativity and hospitality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moot.uk.net/ |title=Moot Community|publisher=Moot Community}}</ref>

As of 2023, services in the same tradition are held at 8am on Monday (silent meditation), Wednesday (Taize) and Friday (Taize) mornings, and at 6pm (Still Point contemplation) on Wednesdays.

In 2012 Moot set up a café, Host, which continues to sell [[fair trade coffee]] and goods.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://secretldn.com/host-cafe-church/|title=The Gorgeous London Church That's Also A Coffee Shop • Host Café|date=22 August 2020|publisher=Secret London|access-date=11 October 2022}}</ref>

⚫
Since 2007, the church has been the Regimental Church of the [[Royal Tank Regiment]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.royaltankregiment.com/en-GB/regimentalchurchcollect.aspx|title=Regimental Church & Collect - The Royal Tank Regiment Association|website=www.royaltankregiment.com|access-date=2017-08-02|archive-date=20 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720124936/http://www.royaltankregiment.com/en-GB/regimentalchurchcollect.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>


The church also hosts the Moldovan Orthodox church in London, which designates the building by the name of St Nicholas.
Daily prayer, regular worship services, meditation and discussion groups go on in the church, and the community also hosts conferences and courses on subjects such as justice in economics, conflict resolution or mindfulness. The church hosts regular art exhibitions and installations, and retreat days. It is home to a café, Host, which sells [[fair trade coffee]] and goods, and there is a small market of food stalls outside the church on weekdays.


Previously, SMA hosted the Malankara Orthodox Syrian congregation as their church of St Gregorios, which combined Keralan styles of south Indian worship with ancient Syriac in the tradition of St Thomas the Apostle, missionary to India.
⚫
Since 2007, the church has been the Regimental Church of the [[Royal Tank Regiment]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.royaltankregiment.com/en-GB/regimentalchurchcollect.aspx|title=Regimental Church & Collect - The Royal Tank Regiment Association|website=www.royaltankregiment.com|access-date=2017-08-02}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 97: Line 110:
==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category|St Mary Aldermary}}
{{Commons category|St Mary Aldermary}}
* [http://www.stmaryaldermary.co.uk/ Official website]
* [https://www.mootcommunity.org/venue Official website]
* [https://www.mootcommunity.org/ Official website of Moot], a monastic community based at St Mary Aldermary
* [https://www.mootcommunity.org/ Official website of Moot], a monastic community based at St Mary Aldermary
* [https://www.mootcommunity.org/host-caf%C3%A9 Host Cafe]
* [http://www.london.anglican.org/directory/st-mary-aldermary/ Entry on the Anglican Diocese of London website]
* [http://www.london.anglican.org/directory/st-mary-aldermary/ Entry on the Anglican Diocese of London website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305074523/http://www.london.anglican.org/directory/st-mary-aldermary/ |date=5 March 2016 }}
* [http://www.achurchnearyou.com/st-mary-aldermary/ Church Near You Website]
* [http://www.achurchnearyou.com/st-mary-aldermary/ Church Near You Website]
* [http://in360degrees.co.uk/wrenchurches/data/007StMaryAldermary/ 360° panorama inside St Mary Aldermary]
* [http://in360degrees.co.uk/wrenchurches/data/007StMaryAldermary/ 360° panorama inside St Mary Aldermary]

Latest revision as of 04:03, 21 November 2024

Not to be confused with the separate demolished church St Mary Aldermanbury.

Guild Church of St Mary Aldermary
Guild Church of St Mary Aldermary
St Mary Aldermary Church view from Queen Victoria Street
Map
LocationLondon, EC4
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
Previous denominationRoman Catholicism
Websitewww.stmaryaldermary.com
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade I listed building
Architect(s)Office of Christopher Wren
StyleGothic
Years built1681
Administration
DioceseLondon
Clergy
Priest(s)Paul Kennedy
Curate(s)Robert Pfeiffer
ArchdeaconArchdeacon of London

St Mary Aldermary [1] (or St Mary Elder Mary)[2] is an Anglican church located on Bow Lane at the junction with Watling Street, in the City of London within the United Kingdom.

Of medieval origin, rebuilding began in 1510 and was not finished until 1632. Severely damaged just 33 years later during the Great Fire of London in 1666, it was rebuilt once more by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. Unlike most of Wren's City churches, St Mary Aldermary was reconstructed in the Gothic Revival style. In 1952 its role was changed from a parish church to that of a guild church, intended to serve commuters and non-resident workers within the City of London. The main church space acts a public cafe during weekday business hours, with religious and meditative sessions held during mornings and evenings.

History

[edit]

A church has occupied the site for more than 900 years. Its name is usually taken to mean that it is the oldest of the City churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary.[3] It has also been suggested that, on Bow Lane, it is the older St Mary’s with respect to nearby St Mary Le Bow. The patronage of the rectory of St Mary Aldermary belonged to the prior and chapter of Canterbury, but was transferred to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1400.[4]

In 1510, Sir Henry Keeble financed the building of a new church. The tower was still unfinished when he died in 1518. In 1629, two legacies enabled it to be completed, and the work, begun 120 years before, was finished within three years.[5] Keble was buried in a vault beneath the floor of the church, but his grave was not allowed to remain for long. Richard Newcourt recorded that

Sir William Laxton, who died in 1556, and Sir Tho. Lodge, who died in 1583 (both which were Grocers and had been Mayors of this City), were buried in the Vault of this Sir Henry Keeble, his bones unkindly cast out, and his Monument pull'd down, in place whereof, Monuments were set up of the others.[5]

John Stow mentions various dignitaries buried in the early church in his 1598 Survey of London. They include Richard Chaucer, vintner, said by Stow to be the father of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer.[4] John Milton married his third wife, Elizabeth Minshull, in the church in 1663 (Curiously, he seems to have married his second at St Mary Aldermanbury). The parish registers date from 1558, and are now deposited in the Guildhall Library.[6]

In 1599 a group of citizens from St. Antholin's founded a lectureship.[7] They gave property in London to pay for a daily lecture in the pulpit at St. Antholin’s and the church became famous as a lecture theatre. The Great Fire burned down the church but daily lectures carried on; it was rebuilt but was demolished in 1870 and the lecture was transferred to St. Mary Aldermary. The lectures are now organised by the Church Society.[8]

Rebuilding after the Great Fire

[edit]

St Mary Aldermary was badly damaged in the Great Fire of London of 1666,[9] although parts of its walls and tower survived.[10] It was mostly rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren in a Gothic style.[11] A legacy of £5,000 had been left by one Henry Rogers for the rebuilding of a church, and his widow agreed to use it to fund the reconstruction of St Mary's.[4] According to some sources, she stipulated that the new church should be an exact imitation of the one largely destroyed.[4]

The church, as rebuilt, has an aisled nave, six bays long, with a clerestory.[12] It has a short chancel.[12] The tower is attached to the south-west corner of the building, and is entered through a western lobby. The tower is divided into storeys by string courses; the corners lead up to octagonal turrets, terminating in what George Godwin called "carved finials of impure design". The church’s nave and aisles are separated by arcades of clustered columns, supporting somewhat flattened Gothic arches. The ceilings are decorated with elaborate plaster fan vaulting.[13]

According to Nikolaus Pevsner, St Mary Aldemary is "the chief surviving monument of the 17th-century Gothic revival in the City and – with Warwick – the most important late 17th-century Gothic church in England".[14]

The parish of the church of St Thomas the Apostle, destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt, was united with that of St Mary's.[3]

In 1781 a new organ was installed, built by George England.[15]

Wartime damage

[edit]

St Mary Aldermary was damaged by German bombs in the London Blitz during the Second World War.[16]

Restorations

[edit]
St Mary Aldermary Church Interior

The church has been repaired and restored many times. In 1876–7 major changes were made to the interior: an oak screen was inserted, dividing the lobby from the church; the pews and stalls were replaced, the organ was moved from the western gallery to the chancel; the floor was repaved, new stained glass put into the windows, and a new reredos installed.[17]

The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.[12]

The latest interior restoration was finished in April 2005, with attention paid to the plaster ceilings and memorials on the north wall. A service was held, presided over by Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, to celebrate completion, on 21 April 2005.[18]

Burials

[edit]

Recent activities

[edit]

In January 2010, the Bishop and Archdeacon of London invited the Moot Community to make their home in St Mary Aldermary. Moot was a Church of England community set up in the spirit of the Fresh Expressions initiative of that decade. Members committed to living a "rhythm of life", encompassing spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation and presence, and values such as acceptance, balance, creativity and hospitality.[19]

As of 2023, services in the same tradition are held at 8am on Monday (silent meditation), Wednesday (Taize) and Friday (Taize) mornings, and at 6pm (Still Point contemplation) on Wednesdays.

In 2012 Moot set up a café, Host, which continues to sell fair trade coffee and goods.[20]

Since 2007, the church has been the Regimental Church of the Royal Tank Regiment.[21]

The church also hosts the Moldovan Orthodox church in London, which designates the building by the name of St Nicholas.

Previously, SMA hosted the Malankara Orthodox Syrian congregation as their church of St Gregorios, which combined Keralan styles of south Indian worship with ancient Syriac in the tradition of St Thomas the Apostle, missionary to India.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.255
  2. ^ "The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p74: London; Quartet; 1975
  3. ^ a b Godwin 1839, p.3, referring to a suggestion made by John Stow in his Survey of London.
  4. ^ a b c d Daniel 1892, p.233
  5. ^ a b Newcourt, Richard (1708). Repetorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense. Vol. 1. London. pp. 534–4.
  6. ^ "The parish registers of St. Mary Aldermary, London, containing the marriages, baptisms and burials, from 1558 to 1754". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  7. ^ Thornbury, Walter (1878). "'Cannon Street tributaries and East Cheap', in Old and New London". London: British History Online. pp. 550–565. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Puritan Spiritual Diaries: the 2021 St Antholin Lecture". The Church Society. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  9. ^ Tucker, T. (2006). The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches. London: Friends of the City Churches. ISBN 0-9553945-0-3.
  10. ^ "The City Churches" Tabor, M. p88:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917
  11. ^ Cobb, G. (1942). The Old Churches of London. London: Batsford.
  12. ^ a b c Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1079145)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  13. ^ Godwin 1839, p.6
  14. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Bradley, Simon (1998). London:the City Churches. New Haven: Yale. ISBN 0-300-09655-0.
  15. ^ "The City Churches: St Mary Aldermary". Open House Festival. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  16. ^ "The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C;Weinreb,D;Keay,J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993,2008) ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5
  17. ^ Daniel 1892, p.234
  18. ^ "Gothick survival". Architects Journal. 24 February 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Moot Community". Moot Community.
  20. ^ "The Gorgeous London Church That's Also A Coffee Shop • Host Café". Secret London. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  21. ^ "Regimental Church & Collect - The Royal Tank Regiment Association". www.royaltankregiment.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.

Sources

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51°30′46″N 0°05′36″W / 51.51278°N 0.09333°W / 51.51278; -0.09333

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