St. Michael Queenhithe was a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

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 ...

located in what is now

Upper Thames Street Thames Street, divided into Lower and Upper Thames Street, is a road in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. It forms part of the busy A3211 route (prior to being rebuilt as a major thoroughfare in the late 1960s, it ...

. First recorded in the 12th century, the church was destroyed during 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. Rebuilt by the office of

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 demolished in 1876.

History

London had seven churches named after the

Archangel Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

in the Middle Ages, of which five were rebuilt after the Great Fire.

Queenhithe Queenhithe is a small and ancient ward of the City of London, situated by the River Thames and to the south of St. Paul's Cathedral. The Millennium Bridge crosses into the City at Queenhithe. Queenhithe is also the name of the ancient, but now ...

is still the name of the ward which the church was located in, and a dock on the Thames near to the church. The earliest reference to the church is as ''St Michael Aedredeshuda'' in the 12th century (Aethelredhyth being an earlier name for Queenhithe). The church was also recorded as ''St Michael upon Thames, St Michael in Huda, St Michael de Hutha Regina'' and ''St Michael super Ripam Regine''.

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 ...

described it as “A convenient church but al the monuments therein are defaced.” During the Great Fire, Charles II and the future James II “came down from Whitehall by boat to Queenhithe and, from a high rooftop, saw dwellings, Company halls and churches blazing.” The flames soon engulfed St. Michael Queenhithe. The church was rebuilt, incorporating some of the old walls, between 1676 and 1686 at a cost of £4375. The parish was combined with that of Holy Trinity the Less, also destroyed in the Fire, but not rebuilt. Uniquely for a Wren church, a famous painter contributed to its decoration. According to Malcolm in London Redivivum, the church officers thanked

Sir James Thornhill Sir James Thornhill (25 July 1675 or 1676 – 4 May 1734) was an English painter of historical subjects working in the Italian baroque tradition. He was responsible for some large-scale schemes of murals, including the "Painted Hall" at the Ro ...

– father-in-law of Hogarth and painter of the

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

s on the ceiling of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

for his “liberality in repairing and improving the painting which adorned the altar” in 1721. This was later destroyed. In 1779 a new organ was provided by

George England George England ( 1811–1878) was an English businessman and engineer. He founded George England and Co., a steam locomotive manufacturing business based in Hatcham, New Cross. Early life England was born around 1811, in Newcastle upon Tyne. ...

and Hugh Russell. Due to the move of population from the City to the suburbs in the second half of the nineteenth century, the church became redundant and the last service held in December 1875. The church was demolished in 1876 under the Union of Benefices Act 1860. The parish was combined with that of St James Garlickhythe, which also received much of the church fittings. The proceeds of the sale of St. Michael Queenhithe were used to build

St Michael's Church, Camden Town St Michael's Church is the principal Anglican church for Camden Town in north London. The present building, built in the late 19th century, was designed by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner in a Gothic Revival style. History Saint Micha ...

. The site of St. Michael Queenhithe now partly lies under the northern carriageway of Upper Thames Street, where it is crossed by a footbridge, whilst the churchyard to its north now lies under the western part of Fur Trade House, completed in 1972. There is a plan to redevelop the area as a hotel.

Architecture

Parish boundary mark in Little Trinity Lane

St. Michael Queenhithe had its main front on the south and east facing the Queenhithe dock. It was five bays long from east to west and three bays long from north to south. The lower level of windows were round-headed and separated from the upper tier of circular windows by swags. The entrance lobby and the vestry were built at a lower level than the body of the church."London city churches",Cobb,G: London, B T Batsford Ltd., 1977 The tower, on the northwest corner, was surmounted by a steeple reminiscent of a

ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has ...

, with five steps ascending on four sides to a pointed leaded spire rearing from the dais. At the top of the spire was a vane in the shape of a three-masted barque, of the type used to carry corn – a reference to the chief cargo unloaded at the nearby dock. Just underneath the ship was a brass sphere that could hold a bushel of grain. After the church was demolished, the vane remained in situ perched on a miniature spire. It was moved to the top of the newly restored spire of

St. Nicholas Cole Abbey St Nicholas Cole Abbey is a church in the City of London located on what is now Queen Victoria Street. Recorded from the twelfth century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher W ...

in 1962, where it remains today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael Queenhithe Churches completed in 1686 Buildings and structures demolished in 1876 Christopher Wren church buildings in London 1686 establishments in England 1876 disestablishments in England English Baroque church buildings Churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London but since demolished Demolished buildings and structures in London

History

Architecture

See also

References