St Alban's was a church in Wood Street,

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. It was dedicated to

Saint Alban Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded ...

. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt in 1634, 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, and rebuilt, this time to a

Gothic design Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries i ...

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 ...

. It was severely damaged by bombing during the Second World War and the ruins cleared, leaving only the tower.

History

Some argue that it dated back to King Offa of Mercia, who is believed to have had a palace on the site which included a chapel. Offa founded an abbey also dedicated to Alban in 793 and subsequently a number of churches were dedicated to St Alban in the

. The accounts of the parish clerk date back to 930. In 1077 the

abbot of St Albans {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 This is a list of abbots of St Albans Abbey up to its Dissolution in 1539. # Willegod (793–796) # Eadric # Wulsig # Wulnoth (Walworth) (c. 930) # Eadfrith # Wulsin (d. c. 968) # Aelfric # Ealdred # Eadmer # Leo ...

exchanged the right of presentation of the cleric for this church for the patronage of another church belonging to the

abbot of Westminster The Abbot of Westminster was the head (abbot) of Westminster Abbey. List Notes ReferencesTudorplace.com.ar{Unreliable source?, certain=y, reason=self published website; and Jorge H. Castelli is not an expert, date=January 2015 * Westminster ...

. At the time of

King John King John may refer to: Rulers * John, King of England (1166–1216) * John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237) * John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314) * John I of France (15–20 November 1316) * John II of France (1319–1364) * John I o ...

the church was known as St Alban Wuderstrate. In 1633

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...

and Sir

Henry Spiller Sir Henry Spiller (c. 1570 – 16 April 1649) was an English office-holder, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1629. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Biography Spiller was born in ab ...

, among others, were requested to examine the church, which had fallen into disrepair, and report on its condition. It was found to be beyond repair and was demolished and rebuilt in 1634. Grotesque on the South Side of St Alban's Tower, Wood Street

Grotesque on the South Side of St Alban's Tower, Wood Street

The church was completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London. It was rebuilt 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 a late

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

Gothic style, and completed in 1685. The rebuilt church was divided into nave and aisles by piers shaped as clustered columns, supporting unusually flattened pointed arches. The nave had plaster lierne vaults. After the fire the parish was combined with that of

St Olave's, Silver Street St Olave's Church, Silver Street was a church on the south side of Silver Street, off Wood Street in the Aldersgate ward of the City of London. It was dedicated to St Olaf, a Norwegian Christian ally of the English king Ethelred II. The church ...

, which was not rebuilt. The church was restored in 1858–9 by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

, who added an apse. The 92-foot high tower, which stood on the north side of the church, had four pinnacles which were replaced in 1879. The building was burnt out and partially destroyed during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

in 1940. The parish was united with that of

St Vedast Foster Lane Saint Vedast Foster Lane or Saint Vedast-alias-Foster, a church in Foster Lane, in the City of London, is dedicated to St. Vedast (Foster is an Anglicisation of the name "Vaast", as the saint is known in continental Europe), a French saint whose ...

in 1954 and the remains of the body of the church demolished in 1965. The tower was left standing and today remains as a private dwelling on a traffic island. The tower was designated a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 4 January 1950. Its exterior was used as headquarters of the group AD1 in the 2009 film St Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold.

Parish records

The parish records are held at the

Guildhall Library The Guildhall Library is a public reference library specialising in subjects relevant to London. It is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England. The library ...

. Receipts for burial with names of deceased can be found in the churchwardens' accounts 1584–1636.

Sources

External links

Church Album

88 Wood Street building programme

St Alban Tower
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Alban's Church, London Christopher Wren church buildings in London Wood Street 17th-century Church of England church buildings Churches in the City of London, of which only the tower remains Grade II* listed churches in the City of London Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II Ruins of churches destroyed during World War II

History

Parish records

See also

Sources

External links