Coordinates
In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine and standardize the Position (geometry), position of the Point (geometry), points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as ...
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St Michael, Crooked Lane, was an ancient parish church situated on the east side of Miles's Lane
[ in ]Candlewick ward
Candlewick is a small ward, one of the 25 ancient wards in the City of London, England.
It was named after Cannon Street, which historically was called Candlewright (or Candlewick) Street, and a small part of Cannon Street continues to be wit ...
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 ...
. It was rebuilt after 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 ...
by 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 ...
, and demolished in 1831.
History
The church was in existence by 1304. It was originally a small church, standing amongst the slaughter-yards of the butchers of Eastcheap
Eastcheap is a street in central London that is a western continuation of Great Tower Street towards Monument junction. Its name derives from ''cheap'', the Old English word for marketplace, market, with the prefix 'East' distinguishing it from ...
. In 1336, it was rebuilt on a much larger scale by John Lovekyn
Sir John Lovekyn (fl. 1342–1366) was a City of London fishmonger who was three times Lord Mayor of London.
He was Warden of London Bridge from 1342 to 1350 and became an alderman of the city in 1347. He served as Sheriff of the City of London ...
, four-times 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 ...
; later it received further benefactions from Sir William Walworth
Sir William Walworth (died 1385) was an English nobleman and politician who was twice Lord Mayor of London (1374–75 and 1380–81). He is best known for killing Wat Tyler during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. He was also the first commoner in ...
, who was Lord Mayor in 1374.[ The patronage of the church belonged first to the prior and convent of ]Christ Church, Canterbury
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 ...
until 1408, and later to the Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
, becoming one of 13 peculiarities in the City of London belonging to him.
It was in the parish that the first cases of The Plague occurred in 1665.
After 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 ...
, the church was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1687. The interior of the new church was 78 feet long, 46 feet wide and 32 feet high, with round-headed windows.[ ]James Peller Malcolm
James Peller Malcolm (1767–1815) was an American-English topographer and engraver.
Life
Son of a merchant in Philadelphia, he was born there in August 1767. He was admitted to the Quaker school; but his family left to avoid the fighting in Ameri ...
called Wren's church "so plain as to be indescribable", noting only the Corinthian reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
, "the usual tablets" and the lack of an organ.[ There was a ]Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...
tower, about 100 feet high, topped with a perforated parapet, with vases at its angles, and a spire—described by James Elmes
James Elmes (15 October 1782, London – 2 April 1862, Greenwich) was an English architect, civil engineer, and writer on the arts.
Biography
Elmes was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and, after studying building under his father, and a ...
as "remarkably picturesque"—with clock, weather-vane and cross.[
]
In 1789, Thomas Townsend left a house and funds to the Merchant Taylors Company
The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London.
The Company, originally known as the ''Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London'', was founded prior to 1300, first in ...
to endow a weekly lecture and a clerical post at the church. His widow Susannah (d. 1810) left further funds to support this work. In 1831, the bequest was transferred to the church of St Magnus the Martyr
St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, is a Church of England church (building), church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Thames Street (London), Lower Thames Street near Monument to the Great Fire of London, Th ...
.
The church was demolished in 1831 to make way for the wider approaches needed for the rebuilt London Bridge
The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...
. Its parish was united with that of St Magnus the Martyr
St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, is a Church of England church (building), church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Thames Street (London), Lower Thames Street near Monument to the Great Fire of London, Th ...
. The final service on Sunday 20 March 1831 had to be abandoned due to the effects of the building work. The Rector of St Michael preached a sermon the following Sunday at St Magnus lamenting the demolition of his church with its monuments and "the disturbance of the worship of his parishioners on the preceding Sabbath". A stained-glass window in the church of St Magnus commemorates the former parish. Some of the monuments in the demolished church are now located in St Mark's Church, Kennington
St Mark's Church, Kennington, is an Anglican church (building), church on Kennington Park Road in Kennington, London, United Kingdom, near Oval tube station. The church is a Commissioners' church, receiving a grant from the Church Building Comm ...
.
Part of the burial ground of St Michael, located between Fish Street Hill and King William Street, survived as an open space until 1987 when it was compulsorily purchased to facilitate the extension of the Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...
into 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 ...
. The remains were reburied at Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...
.[''Foxes have holes – A personal memoir of St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge from 1984 to 1995'', Woodgate, M.: Catholic League, 2005]
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
gave a long description of the church in '' The Sketch Book'' (published in 1819), in the chapter entitled "The Boar's Head Tavern, Eastcheap". In searching for any remnants of Shakespeare's Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
, Irving hears about a picture of the original tavern in St Michael's Church, but to no avail.
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 ...
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael Crooked Lane
14th-century church buildings in England
1831 disestablishments in England
Christopher Wren church buildings in London
Churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London but since demolished