The Hospital of St Thomas of Acre was the medieval

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

headquarters of the Knights of Saint Thomas. It was founded as 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 * C ...

in 1227 in the parish of

St Mary Colechurch St Mary Colechurch was a parish church in the City of London destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. History The church was situated at the junction of Poultry and the south end of Old Jewry. Named after its first benefac ...

, birthplace of the order's patron saint, Saint Thomas Becket. In the 14th century and after it was the main headquarters of the military order. In 1512, the

Worshipful Company of Mercers The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

bought from the order a site by the church on which to build their hall, and in 1514 they formally became the patron to the order. In 1538, during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

, the order was dissolved and the properties were forfeit to the crown, but were subsequently acquired by the Mercers in exchange for various payments, rents, and undertakings."The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C;Weinreb,D;Keay,J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993,2008)

Burials

* John Alleyn *

Joan Butler, Countess of Ormond Joan Butler (née Beauchamp), Countess of Ormond (1396 – 3 or 5 August 1430) was the first wife of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, and the mother of his five children. Their principal residence was Kilkenny Castle in Ireland. Life Joan de ...

, in the Mercers' Chapel *

Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond PC (1426 – 3 August 1515) was the youngest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. He was attainted, but restored by Henry VII's first Parliament in November 1485, and the statutes made at Westminster, by ...

, in the Mercers' Chapel

Notes

The church of St. Thomas Acre at British History Online
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1227 13th-century church buildings in England Churches in the City of London 1227 establishments in England 16th-century disestablishments in England {{England-hist-stub