Coordinates In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is sig ...

: St Michael, Crooked Lane, was an ancient parish church situated on the east side of Miles's Lane in

Candlewick ward Candlewick is a small ward, one of the Wards of the City of London, 25 ancient wards in the City of London. Its northern boundary runs along Lombard Street, London, Lombard Street — to the north is the ward of Langbourn. Gracechurch Street ...

in the City of London. It was rebuilt after 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 ...

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 ...

, and demolished in 1831.

History

The church was in existence by 1304. It was originally a small church, standing amongst the slaughter-yards of the butchers of Eastcheap. In 1336, it was rebuilt on a much larger scale by

John Lovekyn Sir John Lovekyn (fl. 1342–1366) was a City of London fishmonger who was three times Lord Mayor of London. He was Warden of London Bridge from 1342 to 1350 and became an alderman of the city in 1347. He served as Sheriff of the City of London ...

, four-times Lord Mayor of London; later it received further benefactions from Sir William Walworth, who was Lord Mayor in 1374. The patronage of the church belonged first to the prior and convent of Christ Church, Canterbury until 1408, and later to the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, becoming one of 13 peculiarities in the City of London belonging to him. It was in the parish that the first cases of

The Plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

occurred in 1665. After its destruction in the

, the church was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1687. The interior of the new church was 78 feet long, 46 feet wide and 32 feet high, with round-headed windows. James Peller Malcolm called Wren's church "so plain as to be indescribable", noting only the Corinthian

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

, "the usual tablets" and the lack of an organ. There was a

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

tower, about 100 feet high, topped with a perforated parapet, with vases at its angles, and a spire—described by James Elmes as "remarkably picturesque"—with clock, weather-vane and cross. In 1789, Thomas Townsend left a house and funds to the Merchant Taylors Company to endow a weekly lecture and a clerical post at the church. His widow Susannah (d. 1810) left further funds to support this work. In 1831, the bequest was transferred to the church of

St Magnus the Martyr St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, is a Church of England church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument to the Great Fire of London, is part of the Diocese of London and un ...

. The church was demolished in 1831 to make way for the wider approaches needed for the rebuilt

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

. Its parish was united with that of

. The final service on Sunday 20 March 1831 had to be abandoned due to the effects of the building work. The Rector of St Michael preached a sermon the following Sunday at St Magnus lamenting the demolition of his church with its monuments and "the disturbance of the worship of his parishioners on the preceding Sabbath". A stained-glass window in the church of St Magnus commemorates the former parish. Some of the monuments in the demolished church are now located in

St Mark's Church, Kennington St Mark's Church, Kennington, is an Anglican church on Kennington Park Road in Kennington, London, United Kingdom, near Oval tube station. The church is a Commissioners' church, receiving a grant from the Church Building Commission towards its ...

. Part of the burial ground of St Michael, located between Fish Street Hill and King William Street, survived as an open space until 1987 when it was compulsorily purchased to facilitate the extension of the Docklands Light Railway into 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 ...

. The remains were reburied at Brookwood Cemetery.''Foxes have holes – A personal memoir of St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge from 1984 to 1995'', Woodgate, M.: Catholic League, 2005 Washington Irving gave a long description of the church in ''

The Sketch Book ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'', commonly referred to as ''The Sketch Book'', is a collection of 34 essays and short stories written by the American author Washington Irving. It was published serially throughout 1819 and 1820. The co ...

'' (published in 1819), in the chapter entitled "The Boar's Head Tavern, Eastcheap". In searching for any remnants of Shakespeare's

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

, Irving hears about a picture of the original tavern in St Michael's Church, but to no avail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael Crooked Lane 14th-century church buildings in England 1831 disestablishments in England Christopher Wren church buildings in London Churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London but since demolished

History

See also

References