St. Mary Aldermary

In the past it could be easy to confuse St. Mary Aldermary with the other nearby City church of St. Mary Aldermanybury, located only a few minutes’ distant. The latter was destroyed in the Second World War, however, and its remains shipped to Missouri in the USA. Until the creation of Queen Victoria Street during the 19^th century St. Mary Aldermary stood within a maze of narrow streets, as can still be seen on its north side, and largely hidden from view. It can now be easily witnessed from Queen Victoria Street on the south side.

St. Mary Aldermary can be seen on the corner of Bow Lane and Watling Street in Civitas Londinum (the ‘Agas map’) from about 1561.

‘Aldermary’ is old English for ‘old Mary’ so it may be so named to distinguish this church from other City churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, particularly the nearby St. Mary-le-Bow. The latter church is of Norman origin and thus it would seem that St. Mary Aldermary was established during the Saxon period. It was first recorded in 1080.

The church was rebuilt in 1510 at the expense of Lord Mayor Henry Keble, although the tower was still unfinished at the time of his death and completed many years later. The Tudor-era historian John Stow wrote of St. Mary’s:

…called Aldmary Church, because the same is very old, and elder than any church of St. Mary in the city, till of late years the foundation of a very fair church was laid there by Henry Keble, grocer, mayor, who deceased 1518 and was buried in the vault by him prepared, with a fair monument raised over him on the north side of the choir, now destroyed and gone. He gave by his testament one thousand pounds towards the building up of that church…

But then comes Stow’s shocking revelation that:

…Sir William Laxton, grocer, deceased 1556, and Thomas Lodge, grocer, mayor 1583, were buried in the vault of Henry Keble, whose bones were unkindly cast out, and his monument pulled down; in place whereof monuments are set up of the later buried.

St. Mary’s was destroyed in the Great Fire except for the tower and walls. Before financial arrangements had been put in place to rebuild the City churches from proceeds of a coal tax, a wealthy benefactor, Henry Rogers, offered £5000 to have it rebuilt, providing it was an exact copy of the old one. Wren agreed and had it largely rebuilt in (for him) uncharacteristic Gothic style, making it an oddity amongst his churches. It is therefore unusual to have a late 17^th century English Gothic church, complete with a lofty fan-vaulted ceiling, and the earliest example in London of what would later become Gothic Revival. It was completed in 1682, incorporating what remained of the tower and old walls. It contains a long nave and side aisles. Wren’s tower was damaged in a storm in 1703 when two of the turrets were blown down, replaced by one of his assistants with the present structure, with octagonal turrets on each corner. The pulpit is believed to be by Grinling Gibbons, although there is no documentary proof.

The rear of the church is used as a cafe on weekdays.

The interior was made even more medieval during renovations in the 1870s, with all the 17^th century furnishings removed, except the font, pulpit and sword-rest, and with stained-glass windows added. There were further renovations following damage in the Blitz, including new stained-glass windows.

Since 1954 St. Mary’s has been a City of London Guild church without its own parish, which has been united with that of St Mary-le-Bow. The rear of St. Mary’s is used as a café on weekdays, which is popular with City workers at lunchtimes.