News from Friends of the City Churches

It has been a festive summer for The Friends of the City Churches. In May, the Friends met at Glaziers’ Hall, to celebrate the 1400th anniversary of the Diocese of London. On July 14, while another nation was evoking its revolutionary past, the Friends took to the streets, banner in hand, in a procession of City companies and congregations to celebrate the City churches. Three streams of worthies – including a fair few in ceremonial variations on Tudor and Georgian dress – converged on Paternoster Square, bravely singing, to the bemusement of City workers and tourists, and proceeded to St. Paul’s for a service of thanksgiving led by the Bishop of London. His text for the day was ingeniously drawn from the parallels between the joys of faith, and club culture on the seedier side of Brussels (whither he was recently drawn on a visit to the pro-cathedral of Holy Trinity, still fighting the good fight in a changing urban environment).

In August, the Friends gathered in the vestigial churchyard of St. Magnus the Martyr for a garden party to celebrate the establishment of the Friends’ office and archives in the vestry house there. As a seafaring man, St. Magnus is known to take an interest in the weather; suffice to say that, just 24 hours after a freak storm had reduced the whole of London Transport to an extended apology, the day of the party was warm and fair. The first to arrive were greeted with an impromptu organ recital by the incumbent, and the last to leave by a choir rehearsal, both of which did justice to the acoustic properties of this fine Wren building.

The guests were welcomed by the Revd Philip Warner, who modestly claimed that the Friends receive now more mail than he does, and kindly thanked those who established some pots of bright flowers in this little oasis beyond the grime of Lower Thames Street. The Friends’ archivist, Hellena Cleary, then briefly introduced the nascent collection, begun just last year and largely dependent on the donation of books, guides, prints and photos of the City churches and their contexts. She literally illustrated the importance of this evidence with reference to St. Ethelburga, the little church in Bishopsgate which survived the Fire and the Blitz – and centuries of urban redevelopment – only to be shattered by an IRA bomb. Almost against the odds, the church was reconstructed, with much reference to archival material, to enjoy remarkable new life as the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. Archival material of all kinds, from account books to postcards, has supported the study and restoration of City churches devastated by fire and water, bombs and vandalism, the passage of time and changes in taste. Every record is valuable – not least, old guidebooks, magazines and photographs, so often discarded in house clearances and jumble sales. The Friends’ archive welcomes all donations; please contact our office.

Now we move into the autumn with a sell-out lecture by Andrew Davies on church furnishings to be held in St Ethelburga’s, a harvest festival and visits to St Paul’s triforium and the Temple. Before we know where we are it will be the Carol service. Why don’t you join with us as a Friend and share the excitement?

St Paul’s: The Cathedral Church of London 604-2004
Eds: Derek Keene, Arthur Burns, Andrew Saint; pp544; 150b/w, 240 colour illust.
Yale University Press April 2004 £65

For more details about us, to join with us as a Friend or even train to be a Church Watcher and play your own part in keeping these wonderful buildings open for all please contact:-

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