St Alphege or St Alphage London Wall was a church in

Bassishaw Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. Small, it is bounded by wards: Coleman Street, east; Cheap, south; Cripplegate, north; Aldersgate, west. It first consisted of Basinghall Street with the courts and short side streets off it,

Ward in the

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 ...

, built directly upon

London Wall The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, and is now the name of a modern street in the City of London. It has origins as an initial mound wall and di ...

. It was also known as St Alphege Cripplegate, from its proximity to

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into tw ...

. It is now operated as St Alphege Gardens.

History

The parish of St Alphege used two churches successively, moving from its original building to a former

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

church nearby after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Original site

The first church was built adjoining the

, with the wall forming its northern side. The churchyard lay to the north of the wall. The earliest mention of this church dates to c. 1108–25, though it is said that it was established before 1068. The church was closed by

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

at the end of the sixteenth century, and demolished. The London Wall was left standing. The site of the church became a carpenter's yard. In 1837 it was laid out as a public garden, which remains today, with a preserved section of the London Wall on its north edge. After the realignment of the road London Wall, that section formerly running past the site of this church was renamed St Alphege Gardens. The churchyard to the north of the London Wall was still open in 1677, but was subsequently built over. The last building on the site, using the London Wall as its southern boundary, was destroyed by bombing in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. This exposed the Roman city wall, on which the medieval wall had been built. When a new Salters' Hall—which was opened in 1976—was built on the site, the area north of the London Wall was made into a garden for the Hall. Elsing Spital Priory

Priory church

The second church began as the Priory Church of the (probably

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

) nunnery of St Mary-within-Cripplegate. This was probably founded before 1000, but by 1329 the community had fallen into decay. The land passed into the hands of William Elsing, who founded a hospital on the site, Elsing Spital, in 1331. Originally a secular establishment, it was taken over by

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons in 1340. The hospital closed in 1536, with the Dissolution of the Monasteries. St Alphage, London Wall

After the closure of the original Church of St Alphege, the Priory Church became the new Parish Church. The rest of the Spital site was sold to Sir John Williams, who built a private house in its grounds, which was destroyed by fire in 1541. The property was subsequently sold on, and used for the foundation of

Sion College Sion College, in London, is an institution founded by Royal Charter in 1630 as a college, guild of parochial clergy and almshouse, under the 1623 will of Thomas White, vicar of St Dunstan's in the West. The clergy who benefit by the foundation ...

in 1630. The church was repaired in 1624, and the upper part of the steeple rebuilt in 1649. It was damaged, but not destroyed, in the Great Fire of 1666. Further repairs were made in 1684 and 1701. The parishioners applied in 1711 to the

Commission for Building Fifty New Churches The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in London and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710, with the purpose of building fifty new church ...

for funds to enlarge the building, and in 1718 petitioned Parliament for funds; neither initiative proved successful. The steeple was in such a condition by 1747 that the bells could not be rung, and four of the six were sold.

Rebuilding

In 1774 the church was found to be unfit for use, and a committee was set up to arrange its rebuilding. This was done at a cost of £1350, retaining the tower. The new church was opened on 24 July 1777. The rebuilt church had two fronts; an eastern one in Aldermanbury, and one to the north facing London Wall.

George Godwin George Godwin FRS (28 January 1813 – 27 January 1888) was an influential British architect, journalist, and editor of ''The Builder'' magazine. Life He was one of nine children of the architect George Godwin senior (1780–1863) and trained a ...

described them as “both equally remarkable for want of taste in the arrangement, and of beauty in the effect”. The east front had a

Venetian window A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian a ...

between two

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s, elevated on a basement; this arrangement was flanked by two doorways. The door and window surrounds and pilasters were stone, the rest brick. The façade to London Wall had two

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

, flattened against the wall, supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. Between the columns was a doorway, its lobby leading into the medieval tower. The interior of the body of the church was described by Godwin as “merely a plain room with a flat ceiling, crossed from north to south by one large band at the east end”. The pulpit was, unconventionally, placed against the west wall, so that the congregation faced away from the altar. By 1900, the tower and porch were again in a poor state, and the north entrance was rebuilt with a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

façade in 1913. The church was damaged in an air raid in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Parish was amalgamated with that of

St Mary Aldermanbury St Mary Aldermanbury was a parish church in the City of London first mentioned in 1181 and destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt in Portland stone by Christopher Wren, it was again gutted by the Blitz in 1940, leaving only the ...

in 1917. The church was rebuilt in 1919, but was scheduled for demolition in the same year. The bells went to St Peter’s Acton. The nave was demolished in 1923, leaving the tower and the porch. Until the Second World War, the tower was maintained with an altar and chairs as a place for prayer. The tower was gutted by fire in 1940. The

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

began to redevelop the badly bombed area in 1958, as part of the new

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

complex. In the course of the development, the early twentieth-century north porch and the upper levels of the tower were removed. During 2018 and 2019 as part of a programme to install a raised walkway the remaining parts of the church tower and area around it were renewed to form a central feature in a new plaza named London Wall Place & St Alphage Gardens. St Alphege London Wall

St Alphage Garden 18 - plaque and Salters%27 Hall

The remains of the church were designated a Grade II

listed structure 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. The surviving remnants of these consist of the ruin of a central tower, built of flint and rubble masonry, with arches on three sides; the south wall is missing. For illustrations of the church in its various phases, se

In 1954, the amalgamated Parish was united with

St Giles-without-Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to S ...

.http://www.combs-families.org/combs/records/england/lnd/stalphagelondonwall.ht

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References

External links

Loves Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:SAINT ALPHEGE, LONDON WALL 11th-century establishments in England Churches in the City of London, of which only the tower remains Grade II listed churches in London Ruins in London Church ruins in England