The Church of St Benet Paul's Wharf is a Welsh Anglican church in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. Since 1556, it has also been the official church of the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovere ...

in which many

officers of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state; * to conserve a ...

have been buried. In 1666 it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, after which it was rebuilt and merged with nearby St Peter's. The current church was designed by

Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

. It is one of only four churches in the City of London to escape damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

St Benet's traces its history back to the year 1111, when a church was built on the site and dedicated to

St Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orie ...

. Over time the name was abbreviated to St. Benet. To the west of the site was the watergate of

Baynard's Castle Baynard's Castle refers to buildings on two neighbouring sites in the City of London, between where Blackfriars station and St Paul's Cathedral now stand. The first was a Norman fortification constructed by Ralph Baynard ( 1086), 1st feudal ...

, which is referenced in the biographies of Queen

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

and Lady Jane Grey. Both the church and the castle were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was redesigned by the architect Christopher Wren, and reopened in 1683. The builder was

Edward Strong the Elder Edward Strong the Elder (1652–1724) and Edward Strong the Younger (1676–1741) were a father and son pair of British sculptors mainly working in London in the 17th and 18th centuries. They led a team of 65 masons and were responsible f ...

. On 2 March 1706, Henrietta Hobart married Charles Howard, 9th Earl of Suffolk, a captain in the

6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became the ...

there. (Henrietta Howard subsequently became mistress to the future King George II.) The church was narrowly saved from destruction in the late 19th century, when its parish was merged with that of

St Nicholas Cole Abbey St Nicholas Cole Abbey is a church in the City of London located on what is now Queen Victoria Street. Recorded from the twelfth century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher W ...

. After an energetic campaign by its supporters, Queen Victoria in 1879 granted the church to Welsh Anglicans for services. St Benet's continues as London's Metropolitan Welsh church, with its services conducted in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

, and with English translation provided.

Present day

In 2008 the church was closed for a few months due to a "dwindling congregation" but reopened in time for the carol service in December that year. Services are held weekly on Sunday mornings at 11am, with occasional special services on Sunday afternoons at 3pm. The church can be toured on Thursdays between 11am and 3pm. The parish is within the

Conservative Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

of the Church of England, and it has passed resolutions to reject the ordination of women and/or female leadership.

Exterior

The church is of dark red brick, with alternating courses of Portland stone at the corners. The tower is situated to the north-west of the nave and is capped by a small lead dome, lantern and simple short spire.

Interior

St Benet Paul's Wharf, Queen Victoria Street, London EC4 - East end - geograph

The interior is almost a square. Unusually for a Wren church, the ceiling is flat rather than domed or barrel-vaulted. The north gallery was formerly used by the

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildi ...

, and is now used by the College of Arms. Most of the original 17th-century furnishings are still intact, including the magnificent

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

table, reredos and pulpit, designed by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and othe ...

. The

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

and baptismal font are also original. The galleries are supported by

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns. There is a memorial to Inigo Jones, who was buried in the previous church,"The City Churches" Tabor, M. p66:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917 and a medallion bust of Sir Robert Wyseman, a benefactor of St Benet's who died in 1684.

Officers of arms buried in the church

* Hon. Sir George Rothe Bellew,

Garter A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking f ...

* Sir Ralph Bigland, Garter * Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, Garter * Sir Gilbert Dethick, Garter * Sir Henry St George, Garter * John Riddell Bromhead Walker,

Clarenceux Clarenceux King of Arms, historically often spelled Clarencieux (both pronounced ), is an Officer of Arms, officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial King of Arms, kings of arms and his juri ...

George Drewry Squibb George Drewry Squibb, LVO, QC, JP, FSA, FRHistS, FSG (1 December 1906 – 3 January 1994) was an English lawyer, herald and antiquary who is most noted for his participation in the celebrated 1954 case of ''Manchester Corporation v Mancheste ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

* Rodney Onslow Dennys,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

* Major Francis Jones,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

* John Philipot, Somerset *

John Charles Brooke John Charles Brooke (27 August 1748 – 3 February 1794) was an English antiquarian who served as Somerset Herald from 1777 until his death. Early life Brooke was born at Fieldhead in the parish of Silkstone, Yorkshire in August 1748, the sec ...

, Somerset

References

External links

Church website

from Friends of the City Churches
360° panorama inside the church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Benet Paul's Wharf Buildings and structures completed in 1683 17th-century Church of England church buildings Heraldic sites Christopher Wren church buildings in London Churches in the City of London English Baroque church buildings Grade I listed churches in the City of London Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom Diocese of London 1683 establishments in England Welsh language Conservative evangelical Anglican churches in England Church of England church buildings in the City of London