Old St. Thomas Church Chimera -- St Thomas St, London, Southwark, UK
N 51° 30.300 W 000° 05.313
30U E 702050 N 5710004
Several chimeric figures line the exterior of the sanctuary of the former St Thomas Anglican Church in the London borough of Southwark
Waymark Code: WMRW6A
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/11/2016
Views: 2
A row of chimera still stare down from the sanctuary of the former St Thomas Anglican Church at passersby.
The church has been desanctified and part of it has been converted into the Old Operating Theatre Museum. Other parts house property development offices.
The history of Old St. Thomas Church in Southwark dates back to the 11th century, when it was part of St. Thomas Hospital. Originally a Catholic church, St Thomas was forcibly converted to the Church of England during The reformation. The current sanctuary building was built in 1703.
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"St Thomas Church, Southwark, London, England. The first church building was part of the original St. Thomas' Hospital which was located to the area around the present St Thomas Street, from the infirmary at St Mary Overie priory (see Southwark Cathedral) in 1212. The hospital was therefore also an Augustinian house. The hospital/ conventual precinct became a parish no later than 1496.
It was named after Thomas Becket whose cult pilgrimage to Canterbury began at London Bridge. The church was renamed St Thomas the Apostle following the abolition of the Becket cult in 1538 during the Reformation.
The present church was built by the Hospital Governors to designs by Thomas Cartwright in 1703. It had a garret that was called the Herb Garret in 1821. In the same year, the Old Operating Theatre was built in the Herb Garret.
Its use as a church became redundant in 1899 and the parish merged with St Saviour's, which became Southwark Cathedral in 1905; St Thomas' then was used as the Chapter House for the cathedral.
In the late 20th century it was used as office space by the Chapter Group, an insurance company. The building was undermined by the Jubilee Line Extension workings and was 'at risk' but repairs were effected from 2010 it became the HQ of the Cathedral Group prerty development company."