St. Stephen Walbrook

St. Stephen Walbrook was originally founded during the Saxon period, possibly as early as the 8^th century, and is dedicated to the first Christian martyr, who was stoned to death in Jerusalem in around 35AD. The earliest record of St. Stephen’s was from 1096 when it was given to Colchester Abbey. It was then on the west bank of the Walbrook, close to where the Temple of Mithras stood in Roman times. It was rebuilt in the 1430s.

St. Stephen’s is shown (marked ‘R’) on the east bank of the Walbrook in Civitas Londinum (the ‘Agas map’) from about 1561.

The Walbrook is a stream that runs south through the City and down to the Thames. During Roman times it ran openly through the centre of the city but was gradually covered over by the street of that name we have today. From the description by the late-Tudor historian John Stow it seems the stream and street both coexisted during his time:

…in the street called Walbrook is one other fair church of St. Stephen, lately built on the east side thereof, for the old church stood on the west side, in place where now standeth the parsonage house, and therefore so much nearer the brook, even on the bank. Robert Chichley, mayor in the year 1428, the 6^th of Henry VI., [who was the brother of the rector Henry Chichley, later Archbishop of Canterbury] gave to this parish of St. Stephen one plot of ground, containing two hundred and eight feet and a half in length, and sixty-six feet in breadth, thereupon to build their new church, and for their churchyard; and in the 7^th [year of the reign] of Henry VI. The said Robert, one of the founders, laid the first stone for himself, the second for William Stoddon, mayor, with whose goods the ground that the church standeth on, and the housing, with the grounds of the churchyard, was bought by the said Chichley for two hundred marks from the Grocers , which had been letten before for six-and-twenty marks the year; Robert Whittington, draper, laid the third stone, Henry Barton then mayor, &c. The said Chichley gave, more, one hundred pounds to the said work, and bare the charges of all the timber work on the procession way, and laid the lead upon it of his own cost. He also gave all the timber for the roofinf of the two side aisles, and paid for the carriage thereof. The church was finished in the year 1439. The breadth thereof is sixty-seven feet, and length one hundred and twenty-five feet; the churchyard ninety feet in length, and thirty-seven in breadth and more. Robert Whittington, made Knight of the Bath, in the year 1432, purchased the patronage of this church from John Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI.; and Edward IV, in the 2^nd year of his reign, gave it to Richard Lee, then mayor.

St. Stephen Walbrook in the 18th century.

New stained-glass windows were added to the old church, but shortly after St. Stephen’s was destroyed in the Great Fire. It was rebuilt by Wren between 1672 and 1679, who lived in the parish. It was one of the earliest, and largest, one of the most costly, and magnificent of his churches. Its exterior is quite plain, with a square Kentish ragstone tower and upper part faced in Portland stone. There is a three-stage steeple recessed behind a balustrade, with the lowest stage having three projecting columns on each corner. It is similar to those at St. James Garlickhythe and St. Michael Paternoster Royal.

Above the main part of the building is a 63-feet-high Byzantine-style dome, copper-clad on the exterior. Wren used St. Stephen’s, as well as St. Mary Abchurch, to experiment on his idea of creating a dome, later used to great effect with the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral. That of St. Stephen’s was the first in any English church. The interior is in the shape of a Greek cross, with the 50-ton dome supported on eight semi-circular arches, which stand on four groups of three Corinthian columns, and four columns completing the nave. The nave was extended by the addition of a bay.

A 16^th century rector was Henry Pendleton, immortalised in the satirical song ‘The Vicar of Bray’ due to his fluctuating religious and political opinions to suit the ever-changing times and to advance his career. The architect Sir John Vanburgh, a contemporary of Wren and his successor Nicholas Hawksmoor, was buried in St. Stephen’s.

Until 1888, when a mosaic floor was laid, the nave contained box pews. The building was damaged in the Blitz and restored in the early 1950s under the direction of Godfrey Allen. In subsequent years there was subsidence caused by the Walbrook and the interior was reordered between 1978 and 1987 by Lord Palumbo. A 10-tonne central altar was installed, carved by Henry Moore, from travertine limestone brought from a quarry near Rome. Old pews were discarded and replaced with modern seating by Andrew Varah. The Wren-period reredos, communion table, rails, pulpit and tester by William Newman all remain. The organ in the west gallery was rebuilt in 1970 and is encased with woodwork by George England from 1765.

The Samaritans charity was founded in 1953 by Dr. Chad Varah, rector of St. Stephens, and for many years was housed in the crypt of the church.

St. Stephen’s remains a parochial church, with its parish incorporating those of St. Benet Sherehog, St. Laurence Pountney and St. Mary Bothaw (all destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt); St. Swithin London Stone (destroyed in the Second World War); and St. Mary Abchurch (now a Guild church without its own parish).