The Church of St Mary-le-Bow (, rhymes with 'know') is a Church of England parish church in the City of London, England. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080, by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebuilt several times over the ensuing centuries, the present church is the work of Sir Christopher Wren, following the Great Fire of London (1666). With its tall spire, it is still a landmark in the City of London, being the third highest of any Wren church, surpassed only by nearby St Paul's Cathedral and St Bride's, Fleet Street. At a cost of over £15,000, it was also his second most expensive, again only surpassed by St Paul's Cathedral.
St Mary-le-Bow is widely known for its bells, which also feature in the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons". According to legend, Dick Whittington heard the bells calling him back to the city in 1392, leading him to become Lord Mayor. Traditionally, anyone born within earshot of the bells was considered to be a true Londoner, or Cockney.
The church suffered severe damage by the Luftwaffe in the Second World War as part of the Blitz, like many churches in London. The interior was reduced to a shell, and though the tower survived, fire damage made the bells crash to the floor. The church was sympathetically restored to its pre-war condition by Laurence King from 1956 to 1964. The church was awarded Grade I listed status, the highest possible rating, on the National Heritage List for England, whilst still a shell in 1950.Historic England. "Church of St Mary-le-Bow (Grade I) (1064696)". National Heritage List for England
History
Foundation Though archaeological excavations suggest an earlier Saxon building may have stood on the site prior to the Norman Conquest, the first confirmed church dedicated to St Mary on Cheapside was built by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1080. Lanfranc, who was William the Conqueror's archbishop brought over from Normandy, founded the church as part of the Norman policy of dominating London. Three major buildings were constructed as part of this policy; St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, and a church on Cheapside.
The church at Cheapside was dedicated to St Mary and was constructed from Caen stone from Normandy, the same stone used in the Tower of London. The architect for the Tower of London was Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, who may have also designed the first St Mary-le-Bow. This early church was built on two levels, with a lower undercroft partially below street level and the upper church, built above it. The lower church was constructed first and featured round stone arches, which were a novelty at the time. This led to the church being known as Sancta Maria de Arcubus (St Mary of the Arches), a name which eventually became St Mary-le-Bow, bow being an old name for arches.
11th and 12th centuries The church was nearing completion in 1091 when it was destroyed by a violent tornado, amongst the most powerful ever to strike England. Roof rafters measuring long were thrown up in the air and forced into the ground with such force that only their tips remained visible.Keene, D J, and Vanessa Harding. "St. Mary le Bow 104/0." Historical Gazetteer of London Before the Great Fire Cheapside; Parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary Le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane. London: Centre for Metropolitan History, 1987. 199-212. British History Online. Retrieved 30 November 2022. The lower church survived, but the upper church was damaged beyond repair. The church was rebuilt, possibly in facsimile, but was destroyed again just a hundred years later, in a fire in 1196. The fire was caused by fugitive William Fitz Osbert hiding in the church tower, and to coax him out, supporters of the Archbishop of Canterbury set fire to the church. Osbert was fatally stabbed as he fled.
Late medieval period
The church was rebuilt again in the early 13th century following the 1196 fire, becoming a peculiar of the Archbishops of Canterbury and their London headquarters. It became home to the Court of Arches, to which the church gave its name. The Court of Arches, which still has its home at St Mary-le-Bow today, was the ecclesiastical court of appeal for the Province of Canterbury, founded in 1251. This allegiance to Canterbury made it the second most important church in London, after St Paul's Cathedral.
The tower partially collapsed in its south west corner in 1271, killing at least one civilian in Cheapside below, Laurence Ducket. The tower was not immediately repaired and was kept in use. From 1363 onwards, the tower's principal use was the housing of the city's curfew bell, rung at 9 pm every evening and being able to be heard as far away as Hackney Marshes.
Work to repair the tower was slow, with construction noted to take place in 1448, 1459 and 1479. The tower was finally completed in 1512, supporting a spectacular series of stone lanterns; four around the corners of the tower and one suspended in the centre by arches. These lanterns were designed to light the streets below.
Destruction during the Great Fire of London (1666) Soon after midnight on Sunday, 2 September 1666, a fire started in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane, to the southeast of St. Mary-le-Bow. During the course of the night, the easterly wind spread the fire through the city, consuming 300 houses in the first night alone. The fire continued to grow, becoming a firestorm on Monday and sweeping west towards St Paul's Cathedral.
St Mary-le-Bow was one of over fifty churches to catch fire during the firestorm, which was only extinguished on the Thursday. The church was nearly completely destroyed, except for the tower, which survived albeit with fire damage. Attempts were made to repair the tower, but they all ultimately failed: the tower was structurally compromised from the fire and was no longer strong enough to support the ringing of bells.
Wren rebuilding Following Christopher Wren's appointment as the King's Surveyor of Works in 1669, Wren's office was contracted to rebuild the fifty one churches of the city consumed by the fire. The Rebuilding of London Act 1670 provided the funds for this, as it included raising the tax on coal. Other than St Paul's Cathedral, St Mary-le-Bow was considered the most important church in the city, and thus, according to a document dated to 13 June 1670, at the head of the list to be rebuilt. The mason's contract for the rebuilding of St Mary-le-Bow was signed just under two months later, on 2 August.
Wren's initial designs were for a simple three bay structure and short tower, the latter topped by a simple cupola. This was revised in the same year with a much taller tower and more intricate spire. The body of the church, inspired by the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome, was completed by 1673. The tower, however, would take a further seven years to finish, being finally completed in 1680. The total cost of the rebuilding was £15,421 (equivalent to more than £2.3 million in 2021), the second most expensive of any of Wren's churches, only surpassed by St Paul's. The tower was rebuilt in Portland stone, the rest of the church in brick. The tower became such a landmark that it was known as the "Cheapside pillar".
During the rebuilding, Wren moved the position of the tower to sit directly on Cheapside, whereas the Norman and Tudor towers had sat back from the road. Whilst building the foundations for the tower, Wren came across an old Roman causeway below ground level and deep, which provided a solid foundation. Wren also discovered the 11th century undercroft below the ruins, but he was uninterested, believing it to be Roman. He only provided a trapdoor and ladder into the undercroft, which became the crypt for the church above it.
18th – 20th centuries In 1820, the upper part of the spire was rebuilt and repaired by architect George Gwilt. In 1850, the church finally ceased to be a "peculiar", coming under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of London, ending a practice started six hundred years earlier. The church continued, however, to be the home of the Court of Arches. Further alterations took place in the late 19th century, with the removal of galleries in 1867 and additional modifications from 1878 to 1879.
In 1914, a stone from the crypt of the church was placed in Trinity Church, New York, to mark the fact that William III granted the vestry of Trinity Church the same privileges as St Mary-le-Bow vestry.
Second World War Beginning in 1940, the Luftwaffe began bombarding British cities from the air, a campaign known as the Blitz; London was struck especially heavily. Throughout most of the campaign, St Mary-le-Bow suffered only minor damage. However, on the final night of the Blitz, 10–11 May 1941, the church took several direct hits. A major fire started, destroying most of the building except the outer walls and the tower. The tower was not directly hit, but the fires from the church interior spread, burning out the tower floors and causing its bells to crash to the floor. The use of Portland stone in the tower, rather than the brick used in the body of the church, contributed to its survival.
From 1956 to 1964, the church was sympathetically rebuilt and restored by Laurence King to Wren's designs, at a cost of £63,000. The tower survived, mostly as Wren left it, but part of it required rebuilding due to fire damage weakening the walls. The church was reconsecrated in 1964, achieving Grade I listed status whilst still a ruin in 1950.
Architecture
Plan
The church building has a rectangular plan, with the tower situated on the northwest corner, separated from the main body of the church by a vestibule. The design of the church is such that the chancel occupies the eastern end of the nave, both with north and south aisles, which are noted to be extremely narrow. A vestry adjoins the vestibule to the north of the north aisle."Cordwainer Ward," in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in London, Volume 4, the City, (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1929), 76-84. British History Online, retrieved November 30, 2022
Unusually, due to the addition of the vestibule separating the tower and nave, the building has a greater length north to south than east to west; measuring from east to west but from the north wall of the tower to the south wall of the nave. The total area of the church building is , which according to the Church of England, makes it a "large" sized church building.The Church of England categorise church buildings by size, with anything under 200 sq m considered to be "small", between 200 and 599 sq m as "medium", between 600 and 999 sq m as "large", and anything above that as "very large".
Exterior The exterior of St Mary-le-Bow is mostly constructed from red brick with dressings of Portland stone, with the exception of the tower, which is built entirely from Portland stone. The three principal facades of the building (south, north and east) have gabled walls and pedimented centres, complete with triplets of round-headed windows. The most prominent aspect of the exterior is Wren's imposing tower, measuring square externally and with a height of 221 feet 9 inches (67.6 m), it is the third highest of any Wren church.