St Michael's Cornhill - Cornhill, London, UK - Anglican and Episcopal Churches on Waymarking.com

The red information board, outside the front door of the church, advises that "This church stands on one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain. Dating back to the Roman occupation. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 (the tower by Nicholas Hawkesmoor in 1722) & was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1860."

The church is constructed from white stone but the lower reaches have a coating of grime from being close to the road and traffic pollution. The higher reaches of the church are free of the city grime. The carving, over the church door, is exquisite and it is worth a visit just to have a closer look.

The church is Grade I listed and its entry at Historic England reads:

1670 to 77, by Wren. Tower 1715 to 21 by Hawksmoor. Remodelled and refitted circa 1860 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Aisled body with arcades on Doric columns. Plaster vaults. Circular clerestory windows and circular top lights to aisles. West tower, open to church, with vestibule to south and porch, entirely by Scott, to north. Most of exterior is obscured by adjoining buildings. South side of nave of Portland stone with 4 round arched windows filled with C19 tracery. Clerestory rendered with wooden cornice. Tower in gothic style of Portland stone, in 4 main stages. Polygonal turrets with ogee caps. Very rich gothic porch of Portland stone with shafts of polished pink granite to archway and much carving. 1st World War memorial, by Richard Goulden, attached to north-west corner. Small bronze group on narrow stone pedestal. Interior owes nearly as much to Scott as to Wren. Venetian renaissance tracery to windows with fine stained glass. Circular east window above reredos of coloured marble incorporating C17 paintings of Moses and Aaron. Altar rails, tiled pavement to choir, elaborate pulpit and lectern, pews etc all mid C19. C17 marble font on new base and carving of pelican. Good wall memorials.

Historic England.

The church's web site gives a good, brief history:

The Church lies over the remains of the Basilica – the northernmost part of the great Roman Forum built in the first century AD. It stands near to the site of a church founded by King Lucius in AD 179 - the oldest site of Christian worship in London. The name ‘Cornhill’ is first mentioned in the 12th century, the ‘hill’ indicating the rising ground on which St. Michael’s stands, and ‘corn’ being derived from the corn-market which was once held there.

The Church of St. Michael’s is known to have been in existence before the Norman Conquest, for it is recorded that in 1055 Alnothus the priest gave it to the abbot of Evesham. During the reign of King Henry VII (1485-1509), the patronage was transferred to the Drapers’ Company, which still has the gift of the living. Robert Fabyan, the author of the 'Chronicles of England and France', was buried at St. Michael's in 1513. King Henry VIII's physician, Robert Yaxley, was also buried at the Church in 1540.

The Church, with the exception of the tower, was completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The present Church was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren between 1669 and 1672. The interior, with its majestic Tuscan columns, was beautified and repaired in 1701 and again in 1790. Pre-Victorian features that remain in the Church today include 17th paintings of Moses and Aaron incorporated into the reredos, as well as a wooden sculpture of 'Pelican in her Piety' dating from 1775. The vestry retains its 17th century panelling, with a fine carved overmantel.

In 1716, the poet Thomas Gray, famous for his 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard', was born in a milliner's shop adjacent to St. Michael's and was baptised in the Church. The very font in which this occurred, dating from 1672, still remains. The tower was rebuilt in the ‘Gothick’ style between 1718 and 1722, the work being commenced by Wren and completed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. It houses a peal of 12 bells, all of which were originally cast by the Phelps Foundry of Whitechapel.

The interior was extensively remodelled in the High Victorian manner by Sir George Gilbert Scott between 1857 and 1860. Scott recalled that he ‘attempted by the use of early Basilican style to give a tone to the existing classic architecture’. As part of this scheme of reordering, the eminent woodcarver William Gibbs Rogers carved new pews and a pulpit and lectern (which earned him a prize in the Great Exhibition of 1851) for the Church. In addition, an ensemble of stained glass was made by the firm Clayton & Bell and a new porch, with a tympanum sculpture of St. Michael by John Birnie Philip, was added.

In 1906, the parishes of St. Peter le Poer and St. Benet Fink were united to St. Michael’s upon the demolition of the former church, the latter having been united to the former after its demolition in 1846; hence the practice of appointing six churchwardens, two for each parish. The Church was fortunate to escape serious damage in the Second World War. The interior was restored in 1960, with the roofs and the nave of the tower being renewed in 1975.

St Michael's Cornhill Website.