St. Katharine Cree Church (London)
N 51° 30.799 W 000° 04.754
30U E 702659 N 5710955
Depicted St. Katharine Cree Church, located in the Aldgate ward of the City of London, is one of the finest existing examples of Jacobean (English late Renaissance) ecclesiastic architecture...
Waymark Code: WMMV12
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/06/2014
Views: 4
Depicted St. Katharine Cree Church, located in the Aldgate ward of the City of London, is one of the finest existing examples of Jacobean (English late Renaissance) ecclesiastic architecture.
The present church was built between 1628-1630 at the site of medieval Gothic church consecrated to St. Catherine. The late-Gothic prismatic bell tower, erected in 1504, was retained from the older church. The new church was consecrated by William Laud, Bishop of London, on 31 January 1631. The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 and suffered only minor damage during the WWII. However, structural problems required extensive restoration in 1962. It is now one of the City's Guild churches.
St. Katharine Cree is regarded as one of the most significant churches of the Jacobean period, a time when church-building was at a historically low ebb, and is the only Jacobean church to have survived in London. The identity of its architect is unknown. It has a handsome if somewhat inconsistent interior, with a high nave, separated from the narrow aisles by arcades supported on Corinthian columns. The church is 29 m long and 16 m wide; the height to the ceiling of the nave is 11 m.
The vaulted ceiling displays bosses bearing the arms of the City Livery Companies; this dates mostly from the restoration of 1962. The chancel has a fine rose window, reputedly modelled on the much larger rose window of Old St. Paul's Cathedral (lost in the Great Fire). The stained glass, depicting a catherine wheel is original, dating from 1630, and the font dates from around 1640.
[excerpted from Wikipedia]