St Andrew Undershaft - St Mary Axe, London, UK
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Master Mariner
N 51° 30.823 W 000° 04.877
30U E 702515 N 5710993
The current church of St Andrew Undershaft eas erected in 1532 and, unlike many other churches in the City, it survived both the Great Fire and damage during WW II. A church has existed on the site sine the 12th century.
Waymark Code: WM12B58
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/18/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member pmaupin
Views: 0

The Britain Express website has an article about this Tudor church that tells us:

St Andrew Undershaft is a largely Tudor church housing a memorial to John Stow, author of the 1598 "A Survey of London". The unusual name of the church comes from the fact that a maypole once stood nearby, so the church stood literally 'under the shaft' of the maypole.

It is perhaps ironic that the church that gained its name from a large maypole shaft now stands almost in the shadow of another large London landmark; 30 St Mary Axe, popularly known as The Gherkin.
History

There has been a church here since at least 1147, but the present church is almost entirely a product of a rebuilding in 1532. The curious name of the church comes from a fact that during the Middle Ages a large maypole was set up opposite the church each spring. The maypole was said to be so tall that it looked down on the church's own tower!

The maypole custom died out in 1517 after students rioted, and the authorities removed the pole. The pole itself stood until 1647 when the leaders of the Commonwealth ordered the shaft cut into pieces and destroyed as a pagan idol.

Though the interior was restored in the Victorian period, the restorers blessedly left many of the original Tudor furnishings untouched. There is a large organ dated to 1696.

John Stow is commemorated with an alabaster monument, built after his death in 1605. Stow's bust holds a real quill pen, and this pen is replaced with a new one by the Lord Mayor of London in a triennial ceremony in association with the Merchant Taylor's Company.

An earlier Lord Mayor, Hugh Hamersley, has a memorial inside the church, and another famous name associated with St Andrew's is the painter Hans Holbein, who lived in the parish and would have attended services here.

Unfortunately, the church is normally closed to the public, but you can make arrangements for access with St Helen's Bishopgate, who now run the church.

The church is Grade I listed with the entry at the Historic England website advising:

1520 to 32, incorporating C15 tower partly rebuilt in 1830. Aisled nave and chancel with clerestory and no structural division. Tower at south west corner. Squared rubble, partly rendered with cement. Portland stone parapets etc. Slight projection to chancel. Polygonal stair turret on north side. Tower rises independently of clerestory with enriched doorway in south side flanked by buttresses and square turret to north west. Top stage now rendered with renewed battlements and large pinnacles. Flat, timber roofs with bosses to north and main aisle, latter with cove.

Paintings to spandrels of arcade circa 1726. Marble font by Nicholas Stone with cover. 2 sword rests; fine late C17 organ case with 2 large figures; altar rails; pulpit; pews cut down from old ones. Doorcases to north and under tower with segmental pediments, etc. Stained glass.

Fine monuments especially to Thomas Offley, died 1582; John Stow, died 1605, and Hugh Hammersley, died 1636. Plain C17 brick vestry to north east with C19 addition in stone to west of it.

Active Church: Yes

School on property: No

Date Built: 01/01/1520

Website: [Web Link]

Service Times: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the Church. Please try to keep your GPSr out of the photo.
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