St. Lawrence Jewry-next-Guildhall

St. Lawrence Jewry stands just a stone’s throw from the Guildhall, the headquarters of the City of London Corporation. In the medieval period that was the western edge of London’s Jewish trading area. Jews were expelled from England in 1290 by Edward I but St. Lawrence retained its suffix to distinguish it from other churches in the City dedicated to St. Lawrence. Another church, just to the south-east of St. Lawrence was St. Olave Jewry, until that was demolished in the 19^th century. St. Lawrence was first mentioned in 1136, although there may have been an earlier Saxon church on the site.

The churchyard of St. Lawrence lay in part of what is now the courtyard of the Guildhall and what had earlier been the Roman amphitheatre. It now stands on the corner of Gresham Street and King Street. From the 13^th century until the 1950s the patronage of the living of St. Lawrence Jewry belonged to Balliol College, Oxford.

The church is dedicated to the 3^rd century treasurer of the early Christian church in Rome. He defied Emperor Valerian in 258AD by refusing to hand over the treasures of the Church. His punishment was to be slow-roasted to death on a gridiron before the emperor.

St. Lawrence Jewry was destroyed in the Great Fire and rebuilt with stone-facing by Wren. It is one of his largest, and completed in 1677. Charles II attended its reopening. At that time, St. Lawrence was surrounded by other buildings, so Wren kept the exterior walls plain. However, he ensured that the tower rose above the surrounding houses and created an ornate Classical façade on the east wall, the approach along King Street to the Guildhall, based on his Model design of St. Paul’s. The tower is aligned to the west wall and topped with a spire crowned by the original gridiron weathervane. As was normal for Wren’s churches, the windows were of plain glass (but partly replaced with stained glass after the Second World War).

St. Lawrence was almost completely destroyed again in December 1940 during the Blitz, leaving only the tower and parts of the walls. It was rebuilt to the design of Cecil Brown, retaining its irregular medieval shape. Brown was responsible for the fabric of the building and also overseeing the craftsmen, all his friends, who designed the ornaments, thus providing a uniformity. It is considered as one of the finest of the post-Second World War City church restorations. The vaults were in-filled with concrete to create new foundations and the steeple, which is out of alignment with the west wall, replaced by one of fibreglass. It was completed in 1957. The moulded and gilded ceiling, with chandeliers, is a replica of the Wren original. The tower contains a ring of eight bells, founded at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

In past times the Guildhall had its own chapel but that was demolished in 1820, since when the Lord Mayor and Corporation have worshipped at St. Lawrence. Following the post-war rebuilding it was designated as a Guild church, with the City of London as its patron. There is a front pew reserved for the Lord Mayor of London, and others for the Court of Aldermen and Esquires. The City coat of arms is on the choir gallery. The former parish of St. Lawrence was amalgamated into that of St. Vedast alias Foster.

In the vestibule is a painting, probably 16^th century North Italian, of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence, which survived both the Great Fire and the Blitz. The post-war stained-glass windows are mostly the work of Christopher Rahere Webb. (At the time of his birth in 1866 his uncle, Sir Aston Webb, was working on the restoration of St. Bartholomew the Great, and hence Christopher’s middle name). A tablet in the North Sanctuary wall commemorates the 17^th century John Tillotson, a lecturer at St. Lawrence who became the Archbishop of Canterbury and in 1694 was buried in the church. The organ was produced in 2001 in Bonn.

St. Lawrence was the parish church of the More family and the father of Sir Thomas More was buried in the church. There is a commemoration window to Sir Thomas. Sixteenth century Lord Mayor Sir Richard Gresham, father of Sir Thomas Gresham (founder of the Royal Exchange and Gresham College), was also buried in the church. There is a strong link between St. Lawrence Jewry and Commonwealth countries and their armed forces, celebrated in the Commonwealth chapel.