The Rough Guides website [visit link] tells us:
"St Mary Woolnoth Opening time:
Mon– Fri 9.30am–4.30pm is one of Nicholas Hawksmoor's six idiosyncratic London
churches. The main facade is very imposing, with its twin turrets, Doric pillars
and heavy rustication, and, as the only City church to come through the war
unscathed, the interior is also well worth inspecting. In a cramped but lofty
space, Hawksmoor managed to cram in a cluster of three big Corinthian columns at
each corner, which support an ingenious lantern lit by semicircular clerestory
windows. The most striking furnishing is the altar canopy, held up by
barley-sugar columns and studded with seven golden cherubic faces. The church's
projecting clock gets a brief mention in T.S. Eliot's The Waste
Land."
The noticeboard, outside the church,
lists the services as:
"Eucharist:
1.10pm
Tuesday
8.00am Friday"
The church is Grade I listed and the
entry at the English Heritage website [visit link] describes the church
thus:
"Church,
1716-1727, by Nicholas Hawksmoor, assisted by John James. The chief mason was
Thomas Dunn. Interior altered 1875-6 by William Butterfield. In 1897-8 Bank
Underground station was built beneath the church; the entrance (now out of use)
by Sidney R. J. Smith is attached to the south façade.
EXTERIOR: Portland
stone. Square body, the west façade featuring a projecting central bay with
banded rustication, the cylindrical Tuscan columns at the angles banded with the
same rustication. Round-headed doorway with semi-circular window above; the
window repeated on each side at clerestory level. Broad shallow tower: the base
with three unmoulded square windows; the principal storey of three bays with
engaged Composite columns, surmounted by two square turrets with balustrades.
Low doorways flanking the tower give access to the galleries. North elevation
has five low blind apertures with heavy keystones on which sit smaller
apertures, also blind. Above three of these apertures (east, centre, and west)
are complex aedicules placed within large round-headed rusticated frames:
columns set diagonally support a straight entablature curving back; these in
their turn frame niches containing a second arch, springing from the column
bases, and above this a blank panel. The treatment of this elevation has been
described by John Summerson as 'a piece of sheer architectural eloquence hard to
match' (Georgian London, 1945). The absence of windows on this wall insulated
the interior from the noise of Lombard Street. The lower part of the south
elevation is now masked by the single-storey former Underground station entrance
(with new vestry), in a style which pays tribute to Hawksmoor. This elevation
has five bays, of which only the westernmost is now visible to full height: a
low aperture corresponds to those on the north elevation; above is a tall
round-headed recess containing a framed blind opening surmounted by a
round-headed window (this window is also blind; the windows of the other four
bays light the church).
INTERIOR: Square high space supported at each
corner by three Corinthian columns, and lit by the large semi-circular windows
above a straight entablature. Rich plasterwork by Chrysostom Wilkins,
incorporating palm fronds and cherubs. Square ambulatory, formerly with
galleries reached by doors in the west angles. The galleries were made by John
Meard and carved by Thomas Darby and Gervase Smith; they were taken down by
Butterfield, who set their fronts against the walls. In the shallow chancel an
ornate wooden baldacchino with twisted columns and canopy ornamented with gilded
cherubs, made by Meard and carved by Gabriel Appleby; Butterfield's raising of
the chancel forced the baldacchino high into the elliptical chancel arch. The
polychromatic flooring of the chancel dates from 1875-6. Original west organ
gallery with organ case dated 1681; a second organ of 1913 is placed at east end
of north aisle. Pulpit of bulging form, made by Darby and Smith and inlaid with
sunbursts by Appleby, the tester echoing the shape of the ceiling. Wrought iron
communion rails by John Robins. A memorial tablet on the north wall to the
church's most celebrated rector, John Newton, bears an epitaph written by Newton
himself, which begins: 'John Newton, Clerk. Once an infidel and libertine, a
servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith
he had long laboured to destroy.'
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Railings of c1900
at west end, extended to left and right c1992 when curved screen walls housing
entrances to the Underground station were removed.
HISTORY: The church is
first recorded in 1191; the founder may have been a Saxon noble, Wulfnoth,
possibly commemorated in the church's name. Alternatively, the name may be
connected with the wool trade; certainly this was true of the nearby church of
St Mary Woolchurch Haw, destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 (its parish then
united with that of St Mary Woolnoth). The full dedication of the church is to
St Mary of the Nativity. The advowson was given by the founder or his heirs to
the Priory of St Helen, Bishopsgate; after the dissolution of the monasteries it
reverted to Henry VIII, who gave it to Sir Martin Bowes of Lombard Street, a
Goldsmith and in 1545-6, Lord Mayor. The advowson passed from Bowes to the
Goldsmiths' Company, and the patronage subsequently passed through various
hands. The church is the parish church of the Lord Mayors of London; the Mansion
House stands almost opposite, on the site of St Mary Woolchurch Haw. This
association helped protect the church from repeated threats of demolition
between 1863 and 1926, notably prior to the building of Bank Underground station
in 1897. (The crypt and plinth of the church were used as a booking hall in
1897-1900.)
Excavations of c1716 uncovered remains thought to be Roman,
and there is evidence of major Roman buildings in the immediate vicinity. The
early church was rebuilt during the course of the C15; the new building was
consecrated in 1438, but additional work appears to have taken place towards the
end of the century. The church was damaged by the Great Fire of London, and was
partially rebuilt by Christopher Wren in 1670-5. A major contribution to the
cost of this work was made by Sir Robert Vyner, Lord Mayor in 1674; the church
was at one time known as Sir Robert Vyner's church. Vyner is said to have had
his own entrance to the east end of the church, a privilege inherited by the
Post Office which subsequently stood on the site of his mansion in Lombard
Street. In 1708 the style of the church was described as 'modern Gothick'
(Edward Hatton, A New View of London).
In 1711 it was determined that a
new church should be built under the 'Fifty New Churches' Act (it was the only
church in the City to be built under the Act), but by 1712 the condition of the
church was so dilapidated that the parishioners were afraid to worship there,
and repairs to the existing structure were undertaken. In 1716 drawings for the
new building were prepared; Nicholas Hawksmoor was assisted by John James, who
also had the title of surveyor, but principal responsibility for the design
rests with Hawksmoor. St Mary Woolnoth was Hawksmoor's only City church, and is
the smallest he built; Kerry Downes has observed that it is perhaps the most
powerful of his churches, because it is the most compact (Hawksmoor, 1959). The
new church first opened for worship on Easter Day 1727.
From 1780 to
1807 the rector of St Mary Woolnoth was John Newton (1725-1807), the most
celebrated priest associated with the church. Newton, born the son of a master
mariner in Wapping, spent the early part of his career as a slave trader. From
1745-1754 he worked on slave ships, serving as captain on three voyages. He was
involved in every aspect of the slaver's trade, and his log books record the
torture of rebellious slaves. Following his conversion to devout Christianity in
1748 Newton became 'surveyor of tides' at Liverpool, devoting his spare time to
private theological study. He soon became one of the area's leading theological
laymen, but for some time his radical reputation stood in the way of his finding
employment in the Church of England. Nevertheless, in 1764 he was made
curate-in-charge at the church of Saints Peter and Paul, Olney, Buckinghamshire
(q.v.). That same year he published his autobiography, 'An Authentic Narrative',
which established him as one of the leading figures of the evangelical revival.
Newton stayed at Olney for 16 years, winning fame as a preacher as well as a
writer. During the 1770s Newton worked with the poet William Cowper on a
collection of 'Olney Hymns' (published 1779), the most famous of which was
'Amazing Grace' (the hymn, sung to a different tune, was to become associated
with the struggle for equality in the southern states of America during the
1960s).
In 1780 Newton became rector of St Mary Woolnoth; his reputation
grew in this cosmopolitan setting, and his status as a patriarch attracted large
congregations. In 1785-6 William Wilberforce came to him for advice during the
crisis of his evangelical conversion; Newton counselled him to use political
means to do God's work. In Wilberforce's case, this would prove to be the
campaign for abolition. In 1788 Newton's pamphlet, 'Thoughts upon the African
Slave Trade', revealed his past as a slave trader, condemned the trade, and
expressed regret at his part in it. Later that year Newton was amongst the
witnesses called by the parliamentary select committee for examining the slave
trade; Newton provided detailed evidence of the treatment and conditions
suffered by slaves in transit. In response to arguments about the economic
advantages of slavery, Newton quoted, ' ''It is not lawful to put it into the
Treasury, because it is the price of blood,'' ' [Matthew 27:6]. Newton's
singular position as a figure of unimpeachable moral authority with first-hand
experience of the slave trade made his contribution to the success of the
abolition movement extremely valuable. John Newton died in December 1807,
shortly after the Abolition Act passed into law. He was buried beside his wife
in the crypt of St Mary Woolnoth, but the building of the Underground station
led to both bodies being re-interred at Olney in 1893.
SOURCES: S
Bradley and N. Pevsner, London: The City Churches (1998), pp. 113-115 Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography J Walvin, The Trader, The Owner, The Slave
(2007) J Summerson, Georgian London (1945, 1962) K Downes, Hawksmoor (1959) HW
Clarke, The City Churches (1898) P de la Ruffinière du Prey, Hawksmoor's London
Churches: Architecture and Theology (2000) CL Kingsford, ed., A Survey of London
by John Stow, 2 vols (1908), vol 2, 309, 317 E Hatton, A New View of London, 2
vols (1708), vol 2, 410-1 N Bailey, Antiquities of London and Westminster
(1755), 147 E and W Young, London's Churches (1986)
REASONS FOR
DESIGNATION: The Church of St Mary Woolnoth is designated at Grade I for the
following principal reasons: * Hawksmoor church of exceptionally original
design, a unique work of English Baroque architecture * Interior retains
original rich decoration in plaster and wood * Strong connection with John
Newton, clergyman and slave trader, adds to historical interest of building. *
Group Value with other major listed buildings; an arresting landmark at the
centre of the City of London."