St Mary-at-Hill

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St Mary-at-Hill. East facade on St Mary-at-Hill Street
St Mary-at-Hill. West facade with tower on Lovat Lane
St Mary-at-Hill. Access to the churchyard

St Mary-at-Hill is a church in the City of London belonging to the (Anglican) Church of England . The church is listed as a Grade I building.

St Mary-at-Hill is the parish church of Billingsgate Ward. Like the rest of the City of London, Billingsgate has almost no residents. The church goers are people who work in the city or who visit London. The church is located on a slope facing the banks of the Thames and hence its name.

Building history

The church dates back to the 12th century. In its current form, it dates from the 15th century. Part of it was destroyed after the Great Fire of London and rebuilt from 1670 to 1674 by Christopher Wren . Wren received the tower and parts of the outer walls. The tower including the western end on Lovat Lane, however, was renewed in the 18th century by George Gwilt . Another fire in 1988 destroyed the roof, but it has since been rebuilt.

architecture

The church is so surrounded by the narrow network of streets of the City of London that it is practically impossible to see several sides at once. Even the church tower is only visible from the west. The north side can only be seen from a small courtyard, the south side through a narrow footpath, the west and east facades through somewhat wider streets. Depending on whether you are approaching from Lovat Lane (west) or St Mary-at-Hill (east), the church seems to have a completely different character.

The east facade, built by Wren, has a central Palladian style window that has been walled up since the 18th century. To the right and left of it are two semicircular windows. The clock that extends onto the street is also striking on this facade.

In particular in the northern wall, which borders a small churchyard, there are still medieval components.

The tower on the west side is made of yellow brick .

The basic shape of the church corresponds to a quincunx , as was common in Byzantine churches. A dome in the middle is supported by four free-standing columns. The columns are free modifications of the Corinthian columns . The high quality woodwork inside is particularly striking. These were in the camp for several years after the fire in 1988.

Remarks

  1. ↑ St Mary-at-Hill on Images of England
  2. ^ St Mary-at-Hill in: Ben Weinreb, Christopher Hibbert: The London Encyclopedia, Julia Keay, John Keay, 3rd, Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5 , p. 790
  3. ↑ a b c d e Simon Bradley, Nikolaus Pevsner: London 1, The city of London, 1997, London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-300-09624-8 , pp. 245-247

literature

  • Richard Lloyd: Music at the Parish Church of St Mary at Hill, London , Early Music Vol. 25, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 221-226

Web links

Commons : St Mary-at-Hill  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 '36.2 "  N , 0 ° 5' 1.5"  W.