St Mary Colechurch was a parish church in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. It was 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 Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

in 1666 and not rebuilt.

History

The church was situated at the junction of

Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

and the south end of

Old Jewry Old Jewry is a one-way street in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. It is located within Coleman Street ward and links Poultry to Gresham Street. The street now contains mainly offices for financial companies. ...

. Named after its first benefactor, it was a prosperous parish able to support a grammar school, which was rebuilt on the site after the Great Fire, and continued in that locality until 1787. The Great Fire destroyed 86 of the 97 parish churches in the City of London. By 1670 a Rebuilding Act had been passed and a committee set up under Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...

to plan the new parishes. Fifty-one were chosen, but St Mary Colechurch was one of the minority not to be rebuilt. The parish was united with

St Mildred, Poultry St Mildred, Poultry, was a parish church in the Cheap ward of the City of London dedicated to Anglo-Saxon Saint Mildred. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, and demolished in 1872. St Mildred in the Poultry was the burial place of ...

, although the parishioners objected on the grounds that

This was a noisy, crowded parish perpetually disturbed by carts and coaches, and wants sufficient place for burials.

When St Mildred's too was deemed surplus to requirements, following the passing of the 1860 Union of Benefices Act, it passed successively through partnerships with

St Olave Jewry St Olave's Church, Old Jewry, sometimes known as ''Upwell Old Jewry'', was a church in the City of London located between the street called Old Jewry and Ironmonger Lane. Destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, the church was rebuilt by ...

and

St Margaret Lothbury St Margaret Lothbury is a Church of England parish church on Lothbury in the City of London; it spans the boundary between Coleman Street Ward and Broad Street Ward. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of ...

. C. W. Pearce notes that the last traces of any building vanished in 1839, although a Parish Boundary Mark inside the

Mercers' Hall The Mercers' Company, or the Worshipful Company of Mercers, is a livery company of the City of London in the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. Mercer comes from the Latin for merch ...

still exists.Premier Livery Company
/ref> St Mary Colechurch Plaque

A plaque on the southwest corner of Old Jewry commemorates the church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary Colechurch Former buildings and structures in the City of London Churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt Churches in the City of London 10th-century establishments in England 1666 disestablishments in England