St. Andrew Holborn

The earliest record of St. Andrew’s was in 951 in a document for the renewal of the charter of Westminster Abbey during the reign of the Saxon King Edgar. The church was then built of wood, which was rebuilt in stone during the Norman period. Until the mid-19^th century, and the creation of Holborn Viaduct, St. Andrew’s stood in a prominent position on the western bank of the Fleet valley. It is now below the level of the adjacent street of Holborn Viaduct.

In 1446 St. Andrew’s was rebuilt. The old building escaped the Great Fire of 1666 due to a change in the wind. It was by then, however, in a dilapidated condition and anyway rebuilt under Sir Christopher Wren at the expense of the parish. It was the largest of his City churches and completed in 1687. It was rebuilt from the foundations, creating a crypt, with the lower part of the tower retained. Wren faced the tower in Portland stone but without a steeple. In the early 1700 either Wren or Nicholas Haksmoor raised the tower by a storey. There was also much rearrangement during the Victorian period.

Future Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was baptised at St. Andrew’s. This is said to have happened because his Jewish father was angry at having a fine imposed on him by Bevis Marks synagogue.

St. Andrew’s was badly damaged on the night of 7^th May 1941, leaving only the medieval walls and tower. It was rebuilt to Wren’s original design by Lord Mottistone of Seeley & Paget, reopening in October 1961. The nave is barrel-vaulted, with a gilded plasterwork ceiling. There are north and south aisles, with galleries supported on wooden columns and Corinthian columns supporting the ceiling. The reredos were created after the Second World War but modelled on those of the time of Wren’s rebuilding. Further renovation too place in 2018, including with a new stone floor. A small chapel has been created in the base of the tower. Either side of the entrance are two charity schoolchildren from the parochial school in Hatton Garden. In 1970 the churchyard was converted into a garden.

In 1828 the surgeon William Marsden found a homeless girl outside the church suffering from hypothermia. Unable to find a local hospital to save her, it inspired him to establish the Royal Free Hospital at Hatton Garden for the poor and destitute. It later moved to Hampstead.

At the west end of the church is the tomb of Thomas Coram, founder of the Foundling Hospital. The pulpit, font and organ (given by Handel in 1750 and on which he played) from the hospital chapel have replaced those destroyed in the Second World War.

St. Andrew’s is now a Guild church. Its parish was amalgamated with that of St. Bride’s church.