St Mary le Bow
Cheapside, EC2.
Wren's solid-looking structure was almost completely destroyed during wartime bombing and the breathtaking steeple had to be taken down. Almost 20 years later, it rose again over a body modelled closely on Wren's original and the church was re-consecrated in 1964.
Like many of its city counterparts, St. Mary's boasts firm roots on this site through the ages. As far back as the reign of William the Conqueror, the church of St Mary was known as 'St Marie de Arcubus or Le Bow' because of the arches of stone in its crypt. And so the name has come down to us to this day.
An internationally famous feature of St Mary le Bow is its bells, for popular folklore maintains that only Londoners born within the sound of Bow Bells have the right to call themselves Cockneys. Though marginally muffled in the din of the modern city, this mighty peal of bells could be clearly heard at far away Highgate in 1392, when a poor runaway boy thought it seemed to say: 'Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.'
An interesting historical feature of St Mary's is the balcony in front of the tower. This is a memorial to an incident in 1331 when a wooden balcony containing the Queen and her ladies fell during a tournament celebrating the birth of the Black Prince. The balcony continued to be used as a vantage point, despite this mishap, and the Henrys and Edwards came to watch all the great city pageants from here. After Wren rebuilt the church, Queen Anne saw the Lord Mayor's pageant from the balcony in 1702. It was the final display to be devised by the last official City poet.
Another and more famous poet to be associated with the church of St. Mary le Bow is John Milton, who was born in nearby Bread Street. A crumbling plaque on the exterior wall of the church commemorates this fact. As was common in those days, Milton frequently published his works from church yards in Fleet Street. The best-known of these, 'Paradise Lost' was published from St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street .
This
was the district where boot makers worked in goatskin leather. The leather
was known as Cordovan and the workers as cordwainers. A statue of Captain
John Smith (1580 - 1631) a cordwainer who rose to become Governor
of Virginia and Admiral of New England, was therefore appropriately placed
here outside the church.
St. Mary-le-Bow is open Monday to Friday, 6.30am - 6pm. The church is not open at weekends.
There is a vegetarian restaurant in the crypt.
Nearest tubes: Bank or St. Paul's (Central line), Mansion House (Circle & District Lines)
Website: http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/
© 1997 - 2007 Jan Collie. All rights reserved.
 |
|---|
|
|
|
|
Put
Hidden London
in your pocket
Order Today!
|
About the Author |
Copyright |
Terms of Use |
Webmistress |