St Augustine's Church - St Paul's Churchyard, London, UK
N 51° 30.804 W 000° 05.820
30U E 701426 N 5710915
The tower is all that remains of St Augustine's church that was bombed during the Second World War. The tower now forms a part of the choir school for St Paul's Cathedral that stands close to the west.
Waymark Code: WMJ9EV
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/14/2013
Views: 5
The tower is a Grade I listed building with the entry at the
English Heritage website telling us:
Church tower rebuilt 1680-4 and completed in 1695-6,
by Christopher Wren with a spire designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor; church body
destroyed in 1941 and spire of 1830 reconstructed by Paul Paget of Seely and
Paget, 1966. Square plan.
EXTERIOR: Portland stone tower in three stages with oculus at second stage
and rectangular belfry apertures at the third stage, this capped with a
cornice, a lacy Baroque pierced parapet and corner pinnacles of Baroque
obelisks. Rising behind this is the lead spire, restored in 1967 to
Hawksmoor's original design, and featuring curved brackets rising to an open
stage with urns and the distinctive elongated onion dome. To the south is a
pedimented door, and to the east, exposed rubble walling and quoins at lower
stage.
Attached to the north is the Grade II* St Paul's Cathedral Choir School
(q.v.) of 1962-7 by the Architects' Co-partnership.
INTERIOR: Stages of the tower include a full height open well stair cases
that serves as a fire escape for the attached school. Ladder stair into
spire not inspected.
HISTORY: The church had been rebuilt 1680-4 following the Great Fire of
1666, and the tower was completed in 1695-6 with a tall leaded spire that
was modified in 1830. However, the body and spire were destroyed in 1941
bombing and a 1953 photograph shows all that remained standing were the
bottom two stages of the tower with its four Baroque obelisk finials. In
1966, the spire was reconstructed according to its original design by Paul
Paget of Seely and Paget. Drawings survive in the hand of Nicholas Hawksmoor
to show that he designed the original spire, with its brackets rising to an
open stage with urns and the distinctive elongated onion dome. His drawing
c.1695, however, shows the onion dome as an elongated pineapple with the
crown serving as an extra finial. This design, but with the onion, not the
pineapple, is largely what we see today, although it is an immaculate
post-war reconstruction.
The adjacent school was built in 1962-67 and the brief dictated that the new
building should incorporate the restored spire of St Augustine and that no
part of the school would be higher than its cornice.
Wikipedia
also tells us:
St Augustine, Watling Street was an Anglican church
which stood just to the east of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London.
First recorded in the 12th century, it was destroyed by the Great Fire of
London in 1666 and rebuilt to the designs of Christopher Wren. This building
was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War, and its remains now
form part of St Paul's Cathedral Choir School.
The church stood on the north side of Watling Street, at the corner with Old
Change] According to Richard Newcourt, the dedication was to St Augustine of
Canterbury, rather than St Augustine of Hippo. The earliest recorded
mentioned of the church is from 1148. In 1252–3 Alexander le Cordwaner made
a grant of land on the north side for its enlargement. John Stow, writing at
the end of the 16th century called St Augustine's " a fair church," adding
that it had been "lately well repaired." The church was partly rebuilt, and
"in every part of it richly and very worthily beautified" in 1630–1, at a
cost to the parishioners of £1,200. The foundations of the northern half of
the medieval church were revealed when burials were removed in 1965. The
archaeological evidence indicated that the 12th century church was about 61
feet (19 m) long, the thirteenth century extension 59 feet (18 m) long and
16 feet (4.9 m) wide.
The medieval building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
After the fire the parish was united with that of St Faith's, whose
congregation had previously worshipped in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral.
St. Augustine's was rebuilt to a design by Christopher Wren; the
foundations, revealed by the excavations of 1965, were mostly of re-used
stones set in mortar. The new church opened in September, 1683, but the
steeple was not finished until 1695.
The interior was about 51 feet (16 m) long – shorter than the medieval
building [3] – 45 feet (14 m) wide and 30 feet (9.1 m) high. The nave was
divided from the aisles by an arcade supported on Corinthian columns with
unusually high bases. The naves and aisles were barrel vaulted, the nave
vault being pierced by three skylights on each side. There were galleries on
the north side, and at the west end, but the latter was taken down when the
organ was moved to the south side. The walls were originally panelled to a
height of 8 feet (2.4 m), but this was later considerably reduced. The
reredos had Corinthian columns and the pulpit was of carved oak. The pulpit
was modernised by Arthur Blomfield in 1878.
Rectors of the church included John Douglas, later Bishop of Carlisle, from
1764 to 1787, and Richard Harris Barham, author of the Ingoldsby Legends,
from 1842 until his death in 1845.
The church was destroyed by bombing in 1941. It was not rebuilt, but the
tower was restored in 1954. and later incorporated into a new choir school
for St Paul's Cathedral, completed in 1967.
The remains of the church were designated a Grade I listed building on 4
January 1950.
The church cat, named Faith, became quite well known after the air raid
which destroyed St Augustine's. Days before she was seen moving her kitten,
Panda, to a basement area. Despite being brought back several times, Faith
insisted on returning Panda to her refuge. On the morning after the air raid
the rector searched through the dangerous ruins for the missing animals, and
eventually found Faith, surrounded by smouldering rubble and debris but
still guarding the kitten in the spot she had selected three days earlier.
The story of her premonition and rescue eventually reached Maria Dickin,
founder of the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, and for her courage and
devotion Faith was awarded a specially-made silver medal. Her death in 1948
was reported on four continents.
Type: Remnant
Fee: No
Hours: 24/7 as it is illuminated.
Related URL: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions: Original photographs showing additional views of the Ruin/Remnant or even just its current condition are encouraged. Please describe your visit, especially if no additional photos are available. Did you like the Ruin or Remnant? What prompted you to see the Ruin or Remnant?
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