St Mary Woolnoth Church, London

Right in the centre of the City with Bank tube underneath it, stands a quite remarkable Hawksmoor Church. Perhaps you either love it or hate it because it is so different. The simplest and smallest of his London churches it is yet so implacable.

The photos are my own taken In April 2018

As you come out of the tube.....

Here it is! The simplest and smallest of Hawkesmoor's his London churches
it is yet so implacable.

Side view

The view most seen  by Londoners unless driving.....

A previous church on the site had survived the Great Fire of 1666 and had even been restored by Wren. By the early 18th century it was in a poor state and had to be replaced. Hawksmoor's design was begun in 1716, the walls completed by 1723 and by 1727 all finished and ready for use. It is Hawksmoor's only City of London church and the only one in the City to escape the Second World War totally unscathed.It was one of the Queen Anne Commission churches with a prominrnt position at the junction of Lombard Street and King William Street.

The whole place was nearly demolished in the 1890s to make way for the underground Bank station.This caused an outcry. The church was saved ; an exit was created from the Tube.

Side view showing a tube exit and a Starbucks !

Main entrance to the church now contains a privately owned coffee stall.....

As can be seen the church is presently surrounded by coffee outlets! This is apparently what modern Londoners want! Even the entrance porch! Before I get too aereated about this, churches were surrounded by commercial outlets in previous centuries as well : but not in the porch I suspect...

Look at those columns

The interior is quite small and square : yet the 12 giant Corinthian columns in clusters of thress at the edges of the nave give it great magnificence. Some might think it more reminiscent of a ballroom. It could derive from an Egyptian temple described by Vetruvius. The reredos, pulpit and plaster ceiling are original.Unfortunately the 1870s saw the removal of the box pews and the galleries. It is still a magnificent space to behold.

Looking back toward the entrance and organ

High altar with Ten Commandments

Looking back toward entrance gallery with organ

Ceiling emphasises the central space as a square 

This view shows a doors at centre which would originally have given
access to a gallery which has been removed.


Finally if you fancy a walk round try some of this video. Its not by me and is too long but gives some idea of the magnificence of the real thing