Greyfriars Monastery
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Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate Street, was a church in
Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...
Street, opposite
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
in the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
. Established as a monastic church in the thirteenth century, it became a
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Following its destruction in the
Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...
of 1666, it was rebuilt to the designs of Sir
Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...
. Except for the tower, the church was largely destroyed by
bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The decision was made not to rebuild the church; the ruins are now a public garden.


History


Gothic church

Christ Church Greyfriars had its origins in the conventual church of a
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
, the name 'Greyfriars' being a reference to the grey habits worn by Franciscan friars. The first church on the site was built in the mid-thirteenth century, but this was soon replaced by a much larger building, begun in the 1290s and finished in about 1360. This new church was the second largest in medieval London, measuring long and wide, with at least eleven altars. It was built partly at the expense of Marguerite of France, second wife of
King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
. She was buried at the church, as was
Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...
, widow of
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
and her daughter
Joan of the Tower Joan of the Tower (5 July 1321 – 7 September 1362), daughter of Edward II of England and Isabella of France, was Queen of Scotland from 1329 to her death as the first wife of King David II. Life The youngest daughter of King Edward II of Eng ...
, Queen of Scotland. The heart of
Eleanor of Provence Eleanor of Provence ( 1223 – 24/25 June 1291) was a Provence, Provençal noblewoman who became List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of King Henry III of England, Henry III from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served ...
, wife of Henry III, was also interred there.
Richard Whittington Richard Whittington ( March 1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal,Will of Richard Whittington: " I leave to my executors named below the entire tenement in which I live in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, Londo/ ...
, Lord Mayor of London, founded a library in connection with the church in 1429. The monastery was dissolved in 1538 during the
English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...
. The building and fittings suffered heavy damage in this period. Tombs disappeared, sold for their marble and other valuable materials; monuments were defaced."The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker, T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 In 1546,
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
gave the priory and its church, along with the churches of
St Nicholas Shambles St Nicholas Shambles was a medieval church in the City of London, which stood on the corner of Butcher Hall Lane (now King Edward Street) and Newgate Street. It took its name from the Shambles, the butchers area in the west of Newgate Street. Th ...
and St Ewin, Newgate Market, to the City Corporation. A new parish of Christ Church was created, incorporating those of St Nicholas and St Ewin, and part of that of St Sepulchre. The priory buildings later housed
Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...
school, founded by Edward VI, and the church became its pupils' principal place of worship. In the 1640s, Christ Church was the church of the Presbyterian polemicist Thomas Edwards, and during May 1647 became a centre of operations for attempts to disband and pay arrears to members of the New Model Army.


Wren's church

The medieval church was destroyed by the
Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...
in 1666. Reconstruction was assigned to Wren, who oversaw a decades long programme to rebuild St. Paul's Cathedral and approximately 50 parish churches. There appears to have been some debate about the form the new Christ Church should take. A surviving unused design shows a structure considerably larger than the one eventually built. The parish was united with that of
St Leonard, Foster Lane St Leonard, Foster Lane, was a Church of England church dedicated to Leonard of Noblac on the west side of Foster Lane in the Aldersgate ward of the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and not rebuilt. History This c ...
, which was not rebuilt Parishioners raised £1,000 to begin work on the design. To save time and money, the foundations of the gothic church were partially reused. The new church and tower (without steeple) were completed in 1687, at a total cost of £11,778 9s. 7¼d.Jeffery, ''The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren'' p. 191. Smaller than the gothic structure, the building measured long and wide, occupying only the eastern end of the site of the medieval church, the western part becoming its churchyard. The tower, rising from the west end of the church, had a simple round-arched main entranceway and, above, windows decorated with neoclassical pediments. Large carved pineapples, symbols of welcome, graced the four roof corners of the main church structure. Unique among the Wren churches, the east and west walls had buttresses. The interior was divided into nave and aisles by Corinthian columns, raised on tall plinths so that their bases were level with the gallery floors. The aisles had flat ceilings, while the nave had a shallow cross-vault. The north and south walls had large round-arched windows of clear glass, which allowed for a brightly lit interior. The east end had trinity windows, a large wooden altar screen and a carved hexagonal pulpit, reached by stairs. There was elaborate carved
wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity t ...
. A pavement of reddish brown and grey marble to the west of the altar rails was said to date from the original gothic church. Galleries stood over the north and south aisles, built at special request of the officers of Christ's Hospital as seating for the school's students. Pews were said to have been made from the timbers of a wrecked Spanish
galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...
. The organ, on the west wall over the main nave door, was built by
Renatus Harris Renatus Harris ( – 1724) was an English master organ maker in England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. During the period of the Commonwealth, in the mid-seventeenth century, Puritans controlled the country and organ m ...
in 1690, according to a pre-war guide to the church. The steeple, standing about tall, was finished in 1704 at an additional cost of £1,963, 8s. 3½ d. It has three diminishing storeys, square in plan, the middle one with a freestanding Ionic colonnade. Over the course of the church’s existence, significant modifications were made. In 1760, a vestry house was built against the facade’s south side and part of the church's south wall. At some point, rooms were enclosed in the north and south aisles beneath the galleries.
Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
depicting
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
with the children was installed in the centre trinity window to replace the original clear glass. The church functioned as an important centre of
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
society and music. The
Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...
attended an annual service to hear the Ancient Spital Sermon on the second Wednesday after Easter, placing his ceremonial sword in a special holder.
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
played
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
's A minor fugue and other works on the organ in 1837.
Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley may refer to: * Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1735) (1662–1735), English poet and churchman * Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1739) (1691–1739), English poet and churchman, son of the above * Samuel Wesley (composer, born 1766) (1766–1837 ...
also performed at the church. The Christ's Hospital boys continued to attend services, sitting in the galleries. According to the pre-war guide book to the church, they included the young
Samuel Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordswort ...
and
Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764 ...
. Sixth Form boys tasked with maintaining order sat in special seats placed over those of the younger students. A few boys carved initials in the woodwork.


Decline of the congregation

In 1902, Christ's Hospital moved out of the City to
Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
,
West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
, ending the Sunday influx of its schoolboys. A new vicar, T.R. Hine-Haycock, took over in 1912. A July 1922 Christ Church newsletter preserved at
Guildhall Library The Guildhall Library is a public reference library in London, England, specialising in subjects relevant to London and its history. It is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical ...
shows that at that time it had an 8:30 a.m.
Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...
service every Sunday, and musical services at 11 a.m. every first and third Sunday.The church was open daily for private prayer from noon to 3 p.m. In its final years, the congregation continued to drop in size, a common trend for City churches as people relocated to suburban neighbourhoods of
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Parish records at the
Guildhall Library The Guildhall Library is a public reference library in London, England, specialising in subjects relevant to London and its history. It is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical ...
show there were 112 members in April 1933, mostly residents of places outside the parish boundaries. Many of those who made their homes in the parish were "housekeepers", people who lived in and looked after commercial buildings. In April 1937, the membership had dropped to 77.


Destruction

The church was severely damaged in
the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
on 29 December 1940. During one of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
's fiercest air raids on London, a firebomb struck the roof and tore into the nave. Much of the surrounding neighbourhood was also set alight—a total of eight
Wren Wrens are a family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds. The family includes 96 species and is divided into 19 genera. All species are restricted to the New World except for the Eurasian wren that is widely distributed in the Old Worl ...
churches burned that night. At Christ Church, the only fitting known to have been saved was the cover of the finely carved wooden font, recovered by an unknown fireman who ran inside as the flames raged. The roof and vaulting collapsed into the nave; the tower and four main walls, made of stone, remained standing but were smoke-scarred and gravely weakened. A photograph taken the following day shows two firemen hosing down smouldering rubble in the
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
.


Post-war period

In 1944, ''The Times'' wrote about the ruins of Christ Church In 1949, in a reorganisation of
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
parishes in London, authorities decided not to rebuild Christ Church. The remains of the church were designated a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
on 4 January 1950. In 1954, the Christ Church parish was merged with that of the nearby
St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Holy Sepulchre London, formerly and in some official uses Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is the largest Anglican parish church in the City of London. It stands on the north side of Holborn Viaduct across a crossroads from the Old Bailey, and i ...
. The steeple, still standing after the wartime damage, was disassembled in 1960 and put back together using modern construction methods. The surviving lower part of the south wall and the entire east wall were demolished in 1962 to make way for a widening of
King Edward Street King Edward Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England. On the east side of the street is the "Island" site of Oriel College, one of the colleges of Oxford Uni ...
. In 1981, neo-Georgian brick offices were constructed against the southwest corner of the ruins, in imitation of the 1760 vestry house that had stood there. In 1989, the former nave area became a public garden and memorial.Bradley/Pevsner, ''London: The City Churches'' p. 54. The tower's lower levels functioned as commercial rental space. In 2002, the financial firm
Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...
completed a regional headquarters complex on land abutting to the north and the west. In conjunction with that project, the Christ Church site underwent a major renovation and archeological examination, King Edward Street was returned to its former course, and the site of the church regained its pre-war footprint. The churchyard was spruced up and its metal railings restored. In 2006, work was completed to convert the tower and spire into a modern twelve-level private residence. The nave area continues as a memorial; the wooden font cover, topped by a carved angel, can today be seen in the porch of
St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Holy Sepulchre London, formerly and in some official uses Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is the largest Anglican parish church in the City of London. It stands on the north side of Holborn Viaduct across a crossroads from the Old Bailey, and i ...
.


Burials

*
John Segrave, 4th Baron Segrave John Segrave, 4th Baron Segrave (4 May 1315 – 1 April 1353) was an English peer and landowner in Leicestershire and Yorkshire. His family title of Baron Segrave is drawn from a village now spelled Seagrave, which uses a coat of arms imitated ...
*
James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele (22 September 1395 – 4 July 1450) was an English soldier and politician. He was born at Herstmonceux, Sussex, the second son of Sir William Fiennes (1 August 1357 – 18 January 1402) and his wife Elizab ...
*
John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux, (1337 – 22 February 1393), was a close companion of Edward, the Black Prince, and an English peer during the reign of King Richard II. Birth and Ancestry John Devereux of Whitchurch Maund was the son of ...
*
Elizabeth Barton Elizabeth Barton (1506 – 20 April 1534), known as "The Nun of Kent", "The Holy Maid of London", "The Holy Maid of Kent" and later "The Mad Maid of Kent", was an English Catholic nun. She was executed as a result of her prophecies against the ...
(the 'holy maid of Kent') *
Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist church leader and theologian from Rowton, Shropshire, who has been described as "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". He ma ...
(theologian) *
Venetia Stanley Venetia Anastasia, Lady Digby ( Stanley; December 1600 – 1 May 1633) was a celebrated beauty of the Stuart period (England), Stuart period and the wife of a prominent courtier and scientist, Sir Kenelm Digby. She was a granddaughter of Tho ...
(society beauty) *
Kenelm Digby Sir Kenelm Digby (11 July 1603 – 11 June 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, astrologer and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Thomas White (scholar), Blackloist. For ...
(courtier, adventurer, and natural philosopher) *
Humphry Ditton Humphry Ditton (29 May 1675 – 15 October 1715) was an English mathematician. He was the author of several influential works. Life Ditton was born on 29 May 1675 in Salisbury, the only son of Humphry Ditton, gentleman and ardent nonconformist ...
(mathematician) *
Isabella of France Isabella of France ( – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France (), was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of Edward II of England, King Edward II, and ''de facto'' regent of England from 1327 ...
, Queen of England, wife of
King Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
*
Thomas Malory Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of ''Le Morte d'A ...
(author of ''
Le Morte d'Arthur ' (originally written as '; Anglo-Norman French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the ...
'') * Margaret of France, Queen of England, second wife of
King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
*
Joan of the Tower Joan of the Tower (5 July 1321 – 7 September 1362), daughter of Edward II of England and Isabella of France, was Queen of Scotland from 1329 to her death as the first wife of King David II. Life The youngest daughter of King Edward II of Eng ...
, Queen of Scotland, first wife of King
David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scotland from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, be ...
*
Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk Margaret of Norfolk or Margaret of Brotherton, Duchess of Norfolk in her own right (sometimes surnamed as "Margaret Marshal"; –24 March 1399), was the daughter and eventual sole heir of Thomas of Brotherton, eldest son of King Edward I of En ...
(noblewoman) * Isabella, Countess of Bedford (princess), daughter of
King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
*
Beatrice of England Beatrice of England (25 June 1242 – 24 March 1275) was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. Childhood Born 25 June 1242, Beatrice was the second-eldest daughter of King Henry III ...
(princess), daughter of King Henry III *
Richard Royston Richard Royston (1601 in Oxford – November 1686) was an English bookseller and publisher, bookseller to Charles I, Charles II and James II. Life Royston, the son of an Oxford tailor Richard Royston and Alice Tideman, was admitted a freeman o ...
(Royalist printer) *Sir William Byrt (knighted by King Edward IV) *
Lawrence Sheriff Lawrence Sheriff (or Sheriffe) (c. 1515 or 1516 – September 1567) was a Tudor merchant and benefactor, who was notable for being grocer to Queen Elizabeth I, and for creating Rugby School through an endowment in his will. Not much is known ab ...
(Queen's Grocer); founder of
Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...


See also

*
List of Christopher Wren churches in London Sir Christopher Wren was 33 years old and near the beginning of his career as an architect when the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed many of the city's public buildings, including 88 of its parish churches. Wren's office was commissioned to ...
*
List of churches rebuilt after the Great Fire but since demolished A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


Notes


References

* Bell, Derek and Reynes, Malcolm. ''Christchurch Newgate Street: Its History and Architecture'' Bene Factum Publishing Ltd. for Christchurch Group of Companies 1997. * Bradley, Simon and Pevsner, Nikolaus. ''London: The City Churches''. New Haven, Yale, 1998. * Cobb, G ''The Old Churches of London'': London, Batsford,1942 * Holder, Nick, ''The Friaries of Medieval London: From Foundation to Dissolution'', Woodbridge: Boydell, 2017, pages 66–96; * Jeffery, Paul. ''The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren''. The Hambledon Press 1996.


External links


Christening, marriage and burial register of Christ Church Newgate for years 1538-1754
{{Coord, 51, 30, 56.94, N, 0, 5, 56.93, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II Christopher Wren church buildings in London Churches in the City of London, of which only the tower remains English Baroque church buildings 17th-century Church of England church buildings Grade I listed churches in the City of London Ruins of churches destroyed during World War II World War II sites in England Ruins in London Church ruins in England Burial sites of the House of Plantagenet Friaries in England