St Mary Bothaw (or Saint Mary Boatehaw by the Erber) was a parish church in the Walbrook ward of 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 ...

. It was destroyed 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 ...

in 1666 and not rebuilt. However, some of its materials were used in the rebuilding of

St Swithin, London Stone St Swithin, London Stone, was an Anglican church in the City of London. It stood on the north side of Cannon Street, between Salters' Hall Court and St Swithin's Lane, which runs north from Cannon Street to King William Street and takes its name f ...

, with which parish it was merged.

Location

The church stood in the

Walbrook Walbrook is a Ward of the City of London and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a River Walbrook, river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the ...

ward, in a narrow lane just to the south of Candlewick Street (now Cannon Street).

History

St Mary Bothaw was described by Stow as a "proper church". The dedication is generally derived from "boat-haw", meaning "boat house". The church was in existence by 1279, when William de Hamkynton was recorded as becoming rector following the death of Adam Lambyn. It was one of the 13 "peculiars" within the

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

under the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the dean and chapter of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

. Robert Chichele, Lord Mayor of London, in 1422, was buried in the church. According to some sources, St Mary's also contained the tomb of

Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone Henry fitz Ailwin de Londonstane (1135– 19 September 1212) was an English merchant and landowner who served as the first Lord Mayor of London from 1189 to 1212. In office from about 1189 until his death in 1212, he was the only mayor t ...

, the first

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

, and his coat-of-arms was in a stained-glass window there.

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of History of England, English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe C ...

, however, said that he was buried at the priory of the Holy Trinity in

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. The gate gave its name to ''Aldgate High Street'', the first stretch of the A11 road, that takes that name as it passes through the ancient, extramural Portsoken ...

Destruction

Along with the majority of parish churches in the city, St Mary Bothaw was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. A Rebuilding Act was passed in 1670 and a committee set up under Sir Christopher Wren to decide which would be rebuilt; St Mary Bothaw was not amongst them. Instead the parish was united to that of

, and some of the materials from St Mary's were used to rebuild that church. The site was retained as a churchyard until the

Cannon Street Railway Station Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is ...

was built over it in the nineteenth century.

References

Sources

* 10th-century church buildings in England 1666 disestablishments in England Churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt Churches in the City of London Former buildings and structures in the City of London {{London-Anglican-church-stub