St Mary Axe was a medieval parish 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 ...

whose name survives as that of the street which formerly occupied it. The Church of St Mary Axe was demolished in 1561 and its parish united with that of St Andrew Undershaft, which is situated on the corner of St Mary Axe and Leadenhall Street. The site of the former church is now occupied by Fitzwilliam House, a fact acknowledged by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

on the building's façade. Nearby parishes include the medieval Great St Helen's (1210) and St Ethelburga (14th century). The street name may derive from a combination of the church dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

and a neighbouring tavern which prominently displayed a sign with an image of an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

, or simply from the church name itself, which may have come from the axes used by the

Worshipful Company of Skinners The Worshipful Company of Skinners (known as The Skinners' Company) is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. It was originally an association of those engaged in the trade of skins and furs. It was granted Royal Charter in 1327 ...

, who were patrons. The sign of an axe is reported to have been present over the east end of the church.''The Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. 193 (1853), p. 49
/ref> The street St Mary Axe is now most notable for the

Baltic Exchange The Baltic Exchange (incorporated as The Baltic Exchange Limited) is a membership organisation for the maritime industry, and freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts. It was locate ...

at No. 38, and the "Gherkin" at No. 30, a distinctively shaped skyscraper built on the site of the former buildings of the

and the UK Chamber of Shipping (destroyed by an

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

bomb in 1992). The street originates at its northern end as a turn off

Houndsditch Houndsditch is a street running through parts of the Portsoken and Bishopsgate Without wards of the City of London; areas which are also a part of the East End of London. The road follows the line of the outside edge of the ditch which once ran ...

, with traffic flowing one-way southbound, and it originates at its southern end as a turn off Leadenhall Street, with traffic flowing one-way northbound. Both one-way portions of St Mary Axe converge at

Bevis Marks Bevis Marks, classified as part of the A1211, is a short street (about 150 m long) in the ward of Aldgate in the City of London. Traffic runs northwest in a one-way direction into Camomile Street, and parallel to Houndsditch which runs sou ...

, where traffic is forced westward into

Camomile Street Camomile Street is a short street in the City of London, the financial and historic centre of London. Description It is a westward continuation of Bevis Marks, linking that street to Houndsditch (via Outwich Street) and a junction with Bishops ...

. ''Number 70 St Mary Axe'' appears in several novels by the British author

Tom Holt Thomas Charles Louis Holt (born 13 September 1961) is a British novelist. In addition to fiction published under his own name, he writes fantasy under the pseudonym K. J. Parker. Biography Holt was born in London, the son of novelist Hazel H ...

as the address of a firm of sorcerers headed by J. W. Wells. This is itself a reference to

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

's ''

The Sorcerer ''The Sorcerer'' is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of ''The Sorcerer'' is based on a Christmas story, ''An Elixir of Lo ...

''. In the song "My Name Is John Wellington Wells", the lyric renders his address as "Number Seventy, Simmery Axe"; this reflects the fact that some Londoners pronounce the street's name as "S'M'ry Axe" rather than enunciating it fully. The Tom Holt novels and ''The Sorcerer'' were written before the current office building at

70 St Mary Axe 70 St Mary Axe, informally known as the Can of Ham due to its shape, is an office building in the City of London. It was completed in early 2019. With 21 floors above ground, it is tall and offers of office space. During its construction, th ...

was constructed.

References

*Ann Saunders, ''The Art and Architecture of London: An Illustrated Guide'' (Oxford: Phaidon, 1984), 80. {{coord, 51.5144, -0.0810, display=title, region:GB_scale:2000 Streets in the City of London History of local government in London (pre-1855) Former buildings and structures in the City of London