This plaque is located inside the porch that leads to the sanctuary of the St. Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside.
It documents the history of the various restorations of St. Mary-le-Bow, but dwells most of all on the 1964 restoration, which was undertaken after the church was destroyed in WWII.
The church was re-consecrated (opened for worship) by the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Robert, Lord Bishop of London, in the presence of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who had been Queen at the time of the church's destruction by Nazi bombings during the Blitz.
The marker reads as follows:
"This church of St. Mary-le-Bow, restored by Sir Christopher Wren on the site of the church destroyed in the Great Fire of London, itself again destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt for the worship of God, was re-consecrated on the 11 June 1964 by the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Robert, Lord Bishop of London, in the presence of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
The cost of rebuilding was subscribed, with generous assistance from the War Damage Commission, by donors in the city of London, United Kingdom, it and the Commonwealth, and throughout the world. The principal benefactors were from the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation, the Wolfson Foundation, the sister Church of Trinity in New York, the Pilgrim Trust, and the London County Council. The Rood was given by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the North Chapel was furnished by the Government of Norway in memory of those who fell in the Norwegian Resistance Movement. The Organ was donated by Sir Edward Lewis, the Bishops Seat and pannelling by C.T. Cripps, Esq., the Pulpit by Gordon Harvey, Esq. in memory of Sidney and Dora Harvey, the Seating by the Bath and Portland group in memory of George Dixon, and the Font was given in memory of Eleanor Malcolm Simpson.
The Archbishop of this restoration was Laurence King, and the builders Dove Brothers."
St. Mary-le-Bow Church was one of London's famed "Wren Churches," rebuilt by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666: (
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"Founded in or around 1080 as the London headquarters of the archbishops of Canterbury, the medieval church of St Mary-le-Bow survived three devastating collapses before being completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, it was destroyed once more in 1941 but was again rebuilt and re-consecrated in 1964."
More about Right Reverend and Right Honourable Robert Stopford, Lord Bishop of London can be found here: (
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"Robert Wright Stopford KCVO CBE PC (20 February 1901 – 13 August 1976) was a British Anglican bishop.
Stopford was born in Garston, Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at Coatham School in Redcar and Liverpool College, where he was Head of House (Littler's). He continued his education at Hertford College, Oxford, where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree. At Oxford he obtained first classes in classical honour moderations (1922) and modern history (1924). He was subsequently an Honorary Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, and a Fellow of King's College London. He received a Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of London and a Doctor of Civil Law degree from the University of Durham.
Legacy
Bishop Stopford's School in Enfield and Bishop Stopford School in Kettering are named after him. He was appointed KCVO in 1973, shortly before he retired as Bishop of London."
A brief biography of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, one of the most popular royals EVER, is also found on Wikipedia: (
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Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was the wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. She was Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the Dominions from her husband's accession in 1936 until his death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter. She was the last Empress consort of India.
Born into a family of British nobility as The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she became Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon when her father inherited the Scottish Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904. She came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. She undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as the "Smiling Duchess" because of her consistent public expression.
In 1936, her husband unexpectedly became King when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth became Queen. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of World War II. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. In recognition of her role as an asset to British interests, Adolf Hitler described her as "the most dangerous woman in Europe".
After the war, her husband's health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new Queen.
On the death of Queen Mary in 1953 and with the former King Edward VIII living abroad, Elizabeth became the senior member of the British Royal Family and assumed a position as family matriarch. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, even when other members were suffering from low levels of public approval. She continued an active public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret."