News from Friends of the City Churches

This 1400th anniversary of the founding of the London Diocese is proving a fertile year for celebrations and all things historical. We hope to celebrate the occasion with our Patron, Bishop Richard, in a splendid Reception at the Glaziers’ Hall over the river. Meanwhile the Goldsmiths have hosted a magnificent exhibition of Church Silver in their own Hall in Foster Lane. One hundred items from churches throughout the Diocese have been gathered together, with some from the City itself including Bishop Richard’s 1992 staff. It becomes clear that there have been numerous fashions in the practice of worship over the centuries, with Church Silver reflecting these very clearly. There were some wonderful reunions of some previously dispersed plate; two flagons from St Mary Woolnoth, for example, together for the first time since 1930 following loan of one to Vancouver. Our previous base, St Margaret Pattens, provided the oldest hallmarked chalice recorded in a City church, of 1545, whilst St Bartholomew the Great fielded two enormous 1934 Omar Ramsden silver candlesticks. Some of these treasures are so often locked away in a bank vault but are part of the history of the church and its parish; indeed sometimes, as at St Peter le Poer (almsdish of 1607), outliving its parish church, pulled down in 1908. The architectural history of the church building often reflects its position in the liturgical timeframe just as its church plate does, but the architecture is visible for all to see, always outside but more importantly, inside, if the church is open.

On Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th June you can join in the Friends of the City Churches Annual City Church Walks and really get to grips with what our City churches have to offer, carefully and expertly tutored by real experts.

Reception will be at St Mary Aldermary, Bow Lane with its magnificent tower overlooking Mansion House Station, commencing at 10.00am each day. There will be a comprehensive range of guided tours provided by members of the City of London Guide Lecturers’ Association. These will leave between 10.30 and 10.45 in the morning and at about 2.00 in the afternoon. The registration fee will include the tours and a map with concise descriptions of the City Churches. Refreshments at nominal cost will be available at St Mary Aldermary on both days. Guidebooks will be available, and umbrellas if it rains! To round off the occasion, there will be a splendid concert featuring Chloe Wright and Mathilde Wallevik on Wednesday 9th June at St Martin Ludgate in a "romantic evening of opera" starting at 4.30pm.

You can register for the City Church walks or the concert by phoning our office for an application form or it can be down-loaded from our website. Don’t worry if you see this City Events late, you can even turn up on the day.

If you catch the bug, you might like to join with us as a Friend and learn more about the City churches and perhaps even train to be a Church Watcher and play your own part in keeping these wonderful buildings open for all.

Friends of the City Churches, St Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6DN tel 020 7626 1555

e-mail      www.london-city-churches.org.uk