Holy Sepulchre London, formerly and in some official uses Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is the largest Anglican parish church 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 ...

. It stands on the north side of

Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it (which forms part of the A40 route). It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London financial district, passing over ...

across a crossroads from the Old Bailey, and its

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

takes in Smithfield Market. During medieval times, the site lay outside ("without") the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

, west of the Newgate. It has London's musicians' chapel in which a book of remembrance sits and an October/November requiem takes place – unusual for a church associated with Low Church Evangelicalism. The church has two local army regiment memorials. The vicar is appointed by St John's College, Oxford, which has held the church's patronage since 1622. The church is within the Newgate Street Conservation Area.

History

The original ( probably pre-Norman) church on the site was dedicated to St Edmund the King and Martyr. In 1137 it was given to the Priory of St Bartholomew. During the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

of that century the church was re-dedicated to Saint Edmund and the Holy Sepulchre, venerating the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Knights passed by on the way to the Holy Lands. This name became contracted, and in the 21st century reference to the saint-king has been overwhelmingly dropped. The very early lessening of the first dedication helped to reserve that name for the small church to the east of St Paul's Cathedral dedicated to

St Edmund, King and Martyr St Edmund, King and Martyr, is an Anglican church in Lombard Street, in the City of London, dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr. Since 2001 it houses the London Centre for Spirituality, now (2017) renamed the London Centre for Spiritual Directi ...

. The church is today the largest parish church in the city. It was completely rebuilt in the 15th century"The City Churches" Tabor, M. p127:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917 but was gutted by the Great Fire of London in 1666, which left the outer walls, the tower and the porch standing. It was rebuilt 1667-1679 by Joshua Marshall, the King's Master Mason, and appears to be remodelled to Marshall's own design. Lightly modified in the 18th century, the interior of the church is a wide, roomy space with a

coffered ceiling A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, als ...

installed in 1834 with plasterwork of three years later. The church underwent considerable re-facing and alterations in 1878. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the 18th-century watch-house, built in the churchyard to deter grave-robbers, was bomb-struck but later rebuilt. The vicarage was fully renovated in the early 2000s. St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Interior, London, UK - Diliff

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Interior, London, UK - Diliff

During

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

's persecutions, in 1555, the incumbent vicar John Rogers was burned at the stake as a heretic.

Bells

The bells are referred to in the nursery rhyme ''

Oranges and Lemons "Oranges and Lemons" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folksong, and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No 13190. The earlies ...

'' as the "bells of Old Bailey". In 1605, London merchant tailor John Dowe paid the parish £50 () to buy a

handbell A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged cla ...

and to mark the execution of prisoners at the nearby gallows at Newgate. This execution bell is displayed in a glass case in the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the clerk was responsible for ringing it outside the condemned man's cell in Newgate Prison the night before his execution, and announcing the following "wholesome advice": Given proximity to Newgate Prison and the Old Bailey, built on the site of the prison, certain of the bells in its tower, aside from marking time, celebrating weddings and communion, were rung to announce executions. In the first years of the court this was as the condemned felon was led to

Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern O ...

. File:1064640-Church of St Sepulchre.JPG, The bell tower File:NewgateExecutionBell.jpg, The Execution Bell File:St Sepulchre-without-Newgate 2020.jpg, Exterior

Musicians' Chapel

By the north aisle is the Musicians' Chapel. As St Stephen's chapel it hosted votive masses to the 12th-century monastic saint Stephen Harding prior to the English Reformation and during the reign of Mary I of England. The ashes of conductor Sir

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the The Proms, Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introd ...

, founder of , who learnt to play the organ at the church as a boy, were interred here in the 1940s. It was rededicated to musicians by Dr. W.R. Matthews,

Dean of St Paul's The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also ''ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire. The current dean is Andrew Tremlett, ...

, on 2 January 1955 in the presence of many distinguished musicians including an orchestra conducted by Sir

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

and the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British ...

. Its four windows commemorate Sir Henry Wood,

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

, Dame

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th centur ...

and

Walter Carroll Walter Carroll (4 July 1869 - 9 October 1955) was an English composer, music lecturer and author. He was born at 156 Great Ducie Street in the Cheetham district of Manchester. Early life and education He was a pupil at Longsight High School, M ...

"The London Encyclopædia" Hibbert, C; Weinreb, D; Keay, J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (revised 1993, 2008) The chapel's appearance and the Musicians' Book of Remembrance are maintained by the Friends of the Musicians' Chapel. A Service of Thanksgiving for all those in the book is held at the church each year as well as a requiem close to

All Souls' Day All Souls' Day, also called ''The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed'', is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations on 2 November. Through prayer, intercessions, alms and ...

. Many concerts and memorial events for musicians have been held in the church. In 2017 the vicar ceased parish funds financing the requiem and allowing of most free rehearsing time. A protest was held and many prominent musicians including

John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...

sought continued benevolence from the wider congregation and church patron. Attempts to mediate failed.

Army memorials

The south aisle of the church holds the regimental chapel of

the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wa ...

(merged to form the

Royal Regiment of Fusiliers The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (often referred to as the Royal Fusiliers or, simply, the Fusiliers) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st battalion, part o ...

), to whom its gardens are a memorial. The west end of the north aisle has memorials for the

City of London Rifles 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 6th Battalion London Regiment).

Protection and recognition of architecture

The church has been designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

(the highest grade) since 1950.

Notable people associated with the church

Thomas Culpeper Thomas Culpeper ( – 10 December 1541) was an English courtier and close friend of Henry VIII, and related to two of his queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. He is known to have had many private meetings with Catherine after her mar ...

, Tudor courtier, buried here * Thomas Gouge, minister ejected in 1662 * Samuel Gurney, MP, erected the first drinking fountain for the

Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association was an association set up in London by Samuel Gurney, a member of Parliament and philanthropist, and Edward Thomas Wakefield, a barrister, in 1859 to provide free drinking water. ...

on the railings of the church. It was restored to the original location in 1913 and remains there. * Rev Dr Peter Mullen, commentator, author and former rector, sometime chaplain to the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

* John Rogers, minister, Bible translator, and the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England * Sir Anthony St Leger, Tudor judge, and his first wife Eleanor Markham, buried here * Sir John Smith, governor of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and associate of

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

, buried 1631 in the south aisle. Smith is also commemorated by a window designed by

Francis Skeat Francis Walter Skeat (3 December 1909 – 31 August 2000) was an English glass painter who created over 400 stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals, both in England and overseas. Skeat was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow ...

and installed in 1968. *

Austin Osman Spare Austin Osman Spare (30 December 1886 – 15 May 1956) was an English artist and occultist who worked as both a draughtsman and a painter. Influenced by symbolism and art nouveau his art was known for its clear use of line, and its depiction of ...

, artist, attended the church school, now a physiotherapy centre, behind the church in Snow Hill Court * Roger Williams (1603–1683), founder of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

* Sir Henry Wood, conductor *

Charles Wriothesley Charles Wriothesley ( ''REYE-əths-lee''; 8 May 1508 – 25 January 1562) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the last member of a dynasty of heralds that started with his grandfather—Garter Principal Kin ...

, long-serving

officer of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state; * to conserve a ...

at the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovere ...

, buried 1562 in the middle aisle

Organ

The north aisle is dominated by a splendid organ built by

Renatus Harris Renatus Harris (c. 1652 - 1724) was an English master organ maker in England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. During the period of the Commonwealth, in the mid-seventeenth century, Puritans controlled the country and or ...

in 1670; the organ case is its sole mention in the architectural listing, adding a date, 1677. The swell was added by John Byfield in . The organ was enlarged in 1817 by James Hancock and by John Gray in 1828 and 1835, and

Gray and Davison Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

in 1849, 1852 and 1855. It was rebuilt in 1932 by

Harrison and Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the ...

. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. It is not currently playable, though efforts are being made to restore it to a playable condition. A Makin digital organ is used when required for services. The choir has now composed of eight professional singers.

Organists

*Francis Forcer 1676–1704 *Thomas Deane 1705–1712 *Benjamin Short 1712–1760 *William Selby and Samuel Jarvis 1760–1773 *Samuel Jarvis 1773–1784 *George Cooper 1784–1799 *George Cooper 1799–1843 (son of above) * George Cooper 1843–1876 (son of above) *James Loaring *Edwin Matthew Lott *Edgar Pettman *Frank B. Fowle *Peter Asprey (Director of Music; present) *Joshua Ryan (Organist elect; from May 2022)

References

External links

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate
church website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Sepulchre Without Newgate 11th-century establishments in England Church of England church buildings in the City of London Diocese of London Grade I listed churches in the City of London Holy Trinity Brompton plants