St Margaret Pattens is a Church of England church in the City of London, located on Eastcheap near the Monument. The dedication is to

St. Margaret of Antioch Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr ( grc-gre, Ἁγία Μαρίνα) in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in the Western Rite Orthodoxy, Roman Catholic Church and Anglicanism, o ...

History

The church was first recorded in 1067, at which time the church was probably built from wood. It was rebuilt in stone at some unknown subsequent date but fell into disrepair and had to be demolished in 1530. It was rebuilt in 1538 but was destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

in 1666. The present church was built by Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

in 1687. It is one of only a few City churches to have escaped significant damage in the Second World War. In 1954 St Margaret Pattens ceased to be a parish church and became one of the City’s guild churches, within the living of the Lord Chancellor and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. They have a regular weekday, rather than Sunday congregation, drawn mostly from people who work in offices nearby. The tower accommodates the office of the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of Hackney. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.

Building

The church's exterior is notable for its 200-ft high spire, Wren's third highest and the only one that he designed in a medieval style. This is sometimes referred to as Wren's only "true spire". Its interior is a simple rectangle with some unusual fittings – the only canopied pews in London, dating from the 17th century. These were intended for the churchwardens. The initials "CW" which appear in one of the pews have been thought to refer to Christopher Wren, but they may also signify "church warden." Other features in the interior include a punishment box carved with the Devil's head where wrongdoers had to sit during the church service.

Name

The church's name is traditionally said to derive from '' pattens'', wooden-soled overshoes, later soled with raised iron rings, that, as elsewhere, parishioners would be asked to remove on entering the church."The City of London Churches" Betjeman,J Andover, Pikin, 1967 These raised shoes enabled people to walk about the streets of London without muddying their feet. The church has certainly long been associated with their Livery Company, The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers. Another possibility is that the church's name actually commemorates a benefactor, possibly one Ranulf Patin, a canon at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

during the medieval period, although it would be most unusual for a benefactor to be commemorated in this way.

Gallery

File:London city eastern part guild church st margaret 08.03.2013 16-43-26.jpg, Entrance to the church File:St Margaret Pattens Interior 1, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, Looking east towards the altar File:St Margaret Pattens Interior 2, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, Looking west to the entrance and organ File:St Margaret Pattens Interior 3, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, Looking diagonally across to the organ File:St Margaret Pattens Interior 4, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, Looking diagonally across to the altar

Notes

External links