St. James Garlickhythe

St. James Garlickhythe is located at the bottom of Garlick Hill, where it meets Upper Thames Street. It is now a prominent feature on Upper Thames Street but was surrounded by other buildings until that road was widened.

It is dedicated to James the Apostle who died in Spain, although in medieval times it was additionally dedicated to his brother St. John. The suffix is derived from the imported garlic that was in early times sold nearby on the Thames. It is also located near Queenhithe, the Saxon-era dock on the river. In the past the church was very close to the Thames but Victorian embankments swept away the many wharves and City docks and gradually moved the riverbank further away.

St. James stands on Garlick Hill, close to the junction with Thames Street, as shown in Civitas Londinum (the ‘Agas map’) from about 1561.

The church possibly dates from Saxon times but was first recorded at the end of the 11^th century. It was rebuilt in around 1326 at the cost of a City Sheriff. There are baptism records dating from 1535, possibly the oldest such records in the country. Six Lord Mayors were buried at St. James during the Middle Ages.

The building was destroyed in the Great Fire, rebuilt under Christopher Wren, and completed in 1683. Unusually for a church of that time, the chancel extends beyond the east wall. The nave is the tallest of all the City churches, in recent times painted with blue sky and clouds. The light coming in from the high windows gives St. James the nickname of ‘Wren’s Lantern’. The brick tower was partially stuccoed and the Baroque steeple of three stages added in the early 18^th century, possibly designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor.

A clock projects from the tower containing a figure of St. James and his symbol of a shell beneath. It is a 1988 replica of the original.

Some damage was caused when in 1917 a bomb landed. There was a lucky escape during the Second World War when a large bomb failed to detonate. It caused significant damage but not total destruction. Restoration was carried out by Lockhart Smith and Alexander Gale. There have been issues since then, with an infestation of death-watch beetle in the roof timbers discovered in the 1950s, and damage in 1991 when a crane collapsed on the south wall.

St. James now contains furnishings from other churches, such as the Stuart coat of arms from the now-demolished St. Michael Queenhithe.

Several parishes have been amalgamated with that of St. James:  All Hallows the Less, Holy Trinity the Less and St. Martin Vintry (none of which were rebuilt after the Great Fire), All Hallows the Great (demolished 1894), St. Michael Queenhithe (demolished 1876), and St. Michael Paternoster Royal (which became a Guild church in 1954, but is now closed).