Holy Trinity the Less was a parish church in Knightrider Street 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 f ...

, 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 th ...

. Following the fire the site was used for a Lutheran church, which was eventually demolished in 1871 to make way for Mansion House underground station.

Location

The church stood in Queenhithe ward, towards the eastern end of

Knightrider Street Knightrider Street is a street in the City of London, located a short distance to the south of St Paul's Cathedral. It was originally the site of the German Church built in 1666–5 and demolished in 1867 to make way for Queen Victoria Stre ...

, on the south side.

History

The church was medieval in origin, and

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 ...

traced its roots back to 1266. By 1606, it had fallen into a ruinous state and had to be propped up. It was subsequently demolished and rebuilt at the expense of the Merchant Taylor's and Vintner's Companies. The patronage of the church belonged to the Prior and convent of

St Mary Overie Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

, Southwark, until the Dissolution, after which it passed to the Crown and then to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral. Along with most of the other parish churches in the City, it was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Four years later, a Rebuilding Act was passed and a committee set up under 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 church ...

to decide which ones should be rebuilt. Holy Trinity the Less was not among the 51 chosen. Instead the parish was united with that of

St Michael Queenhithe St. Michael Queenhithe was a church in the City of London located in what is now Upper Thames Street. First recorded in the 12th century, the church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt by the office of Sir Christophe ...

The site of the burnt-out Anglican church was used for a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

church, which opened in 1673. It survived until 1871 when it was closed and demolished to make way for the Mansion House underground station. The churchyard was cleared in 1872 to make room for the station.

Location

History

References

See also