St Mary Bothaw (or Saint Mary Boatehaw by the Erber) was a parish church in the Walbrook ward of 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 ...

. It 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 and not rebuilt, although some of its materials were used in the rebuilding of

St Swithin, London Stone St Swithin, London Stone, was an Anglican Church in the City of London. It stood on the north side of Cannon Street, between Salters' Hall Court and St Swithin's Lane, which runs north from Cannon Street to King William Street and takes its name f ...

, whose parish it was merged with.

Location

The church stood in the

Walbrook Walbrook is a City ward and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the Mansion House. The street runs ...

ward, in a narrow lane just to the south of Candlewick Street (now Cannon Street).

History

St Mary Bothaw was described by

Stow Stow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Stow, Lincolnshire or Stow-in-Lindsey, a village * Stow of Wedale or Stow, Scottish Borders, a village * Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a small town * Stow, Shropshire or Stowe, a village * Stow ...

as a "proper church". The dedication is generally derived from "boat-haw", meaning "boat house". The church was in existence by 1279, when William de Hamkynton is recorded as becoming rector following the death of Adam Lambyn. It was one of the 13 "peculiars" within the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

under the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the dean and chapter of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

Robert Chichele Sir Robert Chichele (sometimes shown as Chichley or other variations) was a 15th-century English merchant and Lord Mayor of London. He was the son of Thomas Chichele of Higham Ferrers and Agnes Pyncheon, and the brother of Henry Chichele, the Arc ...

, Lord Mayor of London, in 1422, was buried in the church. According to some sources, St Mary's also contained the tomb of

Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal ...

, the first

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

, and his coat-of-arms was in a stained-glass window there.

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...

, however, said that he was buried at the priory of the Holy Trinity in

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

Destruction

Along with the majority of parish churches in the city, St Mary Bothaw was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. A Rebuilding Act was passed in 1670 and a committee set up under Sir Christopher Wren to decide which would be rebuilt; St Mary Bothaw was not amongst them. Instead the parish was united to that of

, and some of the materials from St Mary's were used to rebuild that church. The site was retained as a churchyard until the Cannon Street Railway Station was built over it in the nineteenth century.

References

Sources

* 10th-century church buildings in England 1666 disestablishments in England Churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt Churches in the City of London Former buildings and structures in the City of London {{UK-anglican-church-stub