St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate

St Helen's Bishopsgate
St Helen's Bishopsgate pictured in 2006
Location	Great St Helen's, London
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Previous denomination	Roman Catholicism
Churchmanship	Conservative evangelical
Website	st-helens.org.uk
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed building
Administration
Diocese	London
Clergy
Rector	The Revd William Taylor

St Helen's Bishopsgate is a large conservative evangelical Anglican church located off Bishopsgate in London.

It is the largest surviving parish church in the City of London and it contains more monuments than any other church in Greater London except Westminster Abbey, hence it is sometimes referred to as the "Westminster Abbey of the City".

It was the parish church of William Shakespeare when he lived in the area in the 1590s.^[1][2] In 1608, Sir Alberico Gentili, the founder of the science of international law, was buried in the church.

History

The church of St Helen dates from the 12th century and a priory of Benedictine nuns was founded there in 1210.^[3] It is unusual in that it was designed with two parallel naves, giving it a wide interior.^[4] Until the dissolution of the priory in 1538, the church was divided in two by a partition running from east to west, the northern half serving the nuns and the southern the parishioners.^[3] It is the only building from a nunnery to survive in the City of London.

The priory had extensive monastic buildings; its hall was later used by the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers until its demolition in 1799. A crypt extended north from the church, under the hall.^[3]

In the 17th century two Classical doorcases were added to the otherwise Gothic church.^[3][5] In 1874 the parish was united with that of St Martin Outwich when the latter's church was demolished, and the first incumbent of the new parish was John Bathurst Deane. St Helen's church was heavily restored by John Loughborough Pearson in 1891–3, and reopened on St John the Baptist's Day in 1893 by the Bishop of London, Frederick Temple.

Interior of St Helen's Bishopsgate

St Helen's was one of only a few City of London churches to survive both the Great Fire of London of 1666 and the Blitz during World War II.^[6] In 1992 and 1993, however, the church was badly damaged by two IRA bombs that were set off nearby.^[7] The roof of the building was lifted and one of the City's largest medieval stained glass windows was shattered. The church has since been fully restored although many of the older monuments within it were entirely destroyed. The architect Quinlan Terry, an enthusiast of Georgian architecture, designed the restoration along Reformation lines.

The natural philosopher, architect and polymath, Robert Hooke, was buried at St Helen's Bishopsgate, but the precise location of his grave is unknown.

Present day

Owing to parish consolidation over the years, the parish is now named "St Helen's Bishopsgate with St Andrew Undershaft and St Ethelburga Bishopsgate and St Martin Outwich and St Mary Axe". The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors are the patrons of the benefice.^[8]

The church was designated a Grade I-listed building on 4 January 1950.^[9]

St Helen's Church is within the Conservative Evangelical tradition of the Church of England, and it has passed resolutions to reject the ordination of women and/or female leadership.^[10]

Church plants

St Helen's has been involved in numerous church planting initiatives in recent years, some within the auspices of the Church of England, some outside of it.^[11]

Name	Location	Web	Type	Affiliation	Founded	Minister	Notes
Christ Church, Mayfair	Mayfair	[12]	Church	Diocese of London	2001	Matt Fuller	Also a Co-Mission church
St Peter's Barge	Canary Wharf	[13]	Church	Diocese of London	2003	Marcus Nodder	Britain's only church on a boat
Grace Church Dulwich	Dulwich	[14]	Church	Independent	2005	Simon Dowdy	Meet in a local primary school
Grace Church Wanstead	Wanstead	[15]	Church	Independent	2006	David Gibbs	Joint plant with Christ Church Leyton. Meet in Wanstead House
Grace Church Hackney	Hackney	[16]	Church	Diocese of London	2007	Andrew Jones	Meet in St Anne's, Hoxton
Trinity Islington	Islington	[17]	Church	Diocese of London	2007	Jeremy Hobson	Meet in St Mark's, Myddelton Square
Euston Church	Bloomsbury	[18]	Church	Diocese of London	2010	Kev Murdoch	Since 2015 has met in Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury
Grace Church Brockley	Brockley	[19]	Church	Independent	2011	Raymond Brown	Meet in Crofton Park Baptist Church
Redeemer, Croydon	Croydon	[20]	Church	Independent	2013	Will Dobbie	Joint plant with Christ Church Bromley.[21] Meet in a local primary school
Grace Church Sydenham	Sydenham	[22]	Church	Anglican Mission in England	2014	Tim Iles	Meet in a youth centre
Grace Church Greenwich	Greenwich	[23]	Church	Independent	2015	Andrew Latimer	Joint plant with St Peter's Barge. Meet in Old Royal Naval College
Crossway, Stratford	Stratford	[24]	Church	Independent	2016	Jamie Child	Meet in university buildings
St Nicholas Cole Abbey	City of London	[25]	Church	Diocese of London	2016	Chris Fishlock	Sunday services re-started for first time since 1941
Covent Garden Talks	Covent Garden	[26]	Lunchtime talks				Meets at the Swiss Church, Endell Street
Euston Area Talks	Bloomsbury	[27]	Lunchtime talks				Meets in Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury
Fleet Street Talks	Fleet Street	[28]	Lunchtime talks				Meets in a building on Fleet Street
London Bridge Network	London Bridge	[29]	Lunchtime talks
Moorgate Talks	Moorgate	[30]	Lunchtime talks
St Botolph's, Aldersgate	City of London	[31]	Lunchtime talks	Diocese of London		Simon Dowdy	Church used for lunchtime talks but not for regular services
Westminster@One	Westminster	[32]	Lunchtime talks		2000		Also a Co-Mission initiative. Meets in Methodist Central Hall

St Helen's also owns the church of St Peter upon Cornhill, which does not hold regular services but is used for various St Helen's purposes including the Cornhill Training Course and a Mandarin Sunday service, and the church of St Andrew Undershaft.

St Helen's

Aldersgate

St Peter's Barge

CC Mayfair

Euston

GC Hackney

Islington

GC Dulwich

GC Sydenham

GC Wanstead

GC Brockley

Redeemer Croydon

GC Greenwich

Crossway Stratford

Cole Abbey

Churches planted from St Helen's (red = London Diocese; blue = outside CoE)

Memorials

1. North wall of the nuns' choir, near the west end, Alderman Thon Robinson, 1599. An Elizabethan group of kneeling figures; the deceased and his wife with nine sons and seven daughters.
2. In the north-east corner of the "Gresham Memorial Chapel" at the east end of the nuns' choir, altar tomb of Sir Thomas Gresham, 1579. Founder of the Royal Exchange and the Gresham Lectures.
3. Side by side with the preceding, Sir Julius Caesar Adelmare, 1636. Judge of the Court of Admiralty. Altar tomb with Latin epitaph in the form of a deed to which is affixed the broad seal of the deceased.
4. In the south-east corner of the Gresham Memorial Chapel, Sir Andrew Judd 1558. Founder of Tonbridge School.
5. Under the chancel arch, north of the high altar, Sir William Pickering, 1574. Ambassador in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Altar tomb with recumbent figure surmounted by a lofty canopy.
6. Under the chancel arch, south of the High Altar, Sir John Crosby 1476^[33][34] founder of Crosby Hall, and Agnes his wife. Altar tomb with recumbent figures.
7. In the Chapel of the Holy Ghost, Sir John Oteswich and his wife. Formerly in the church of St Martin Outwich.
8. Against the south wall of the church, sightly to the west of the south entrance, Sir John Spencer and his wife, 1609. Altar tomb under a canopy with recumbent figures, and a third kneeling figure.

Organ

The organ dates from 1744 when an annuity organ by Thomas Griffin was installed. It has undergone several restorations since by builders such as George Pike England in 1810, J. C. Bishop and Son in 1910 and 1923, Hill, Norman and Beard in 1929 and 1957, and Martin Goetze & Dominic Gwynn in 1996. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

The organ is of notable historic significance and has been awarded a Grade II* listing by the British Institute of Organ Studies.

Activities

The church holds three services each Sunday, one at 10:30 am, another at 4 pm and a 6 pm evening service. The Sunday afternoon and evening services are followed by an informal meal and opportunities to socialise.

There are also numerous small groups which meet at the church during the week. These include the "Read, Mark, Learn" (RML) groups which either study the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of John, the Epistle to the Romans or a Bible overview over the course of a year. There is also the Central Focus group which studies a whole variety of topics and books from the Bible. The church also runs the Christianity Explored course regularly.

See also

• List of buildings that survived the Great Fire of London
• List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches

Notes

References

• Hales, John W. (January–June 1904). "London Residences of Shakespeare". The Athenaeum. London: John C. Francis: 401–2. Retrieved 8 December 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Helen's Bishopsgate.

• Official website
• St Helen's iOS app
• St Helen's Android app

Coordinates: 51°30′53″N 0°04′54″W / 51.5148°N 0.0818°W / 51.5148; -0.0818