The little church of St Mary Mounthaw stood halfway up Old Fish Street Hill (now Lambeth Hill), a mere 50 yards away from four other churches: St Nicholas Cole Abbey, St Mary Somerset, St Peter Pauls Wharf and St Nicholas Olave. You can see their relative positions on the parish map and the map from 1900 here. The only one of this group of five which still exists is St Nicholas Cole Abbey, although the remains of the tower of St Mary Somerset still stand.
The first mention of the church of St Mary Mounthaw is in 1275 when it was recorded as “St Mary de Muntenhaut”. John Stow in his survey of London of 1598 calls it “St. Mary de Monte Alto” and mentions its small size as it originated as a chapel attached to the town house of the Mounthaunts, a wealthy Norfolk family. The church was rebuilt, enlarged and beautified in 1609 but was destroyed just over 50 years later by the Great Fire of London. It was not lucky enough chosen as one of the churches to be rebuilt by Wren and instead the parish was combined with St Mary Somerset. The site was retained as a churchyard. In 1867 St Mary Somerset was itself demolished under the Union of Benefices Act and combined with St Nicholas Cole Abbey.
In that same year of 1867, most of the old parish of St Mary Mounthaw was covered in tarmac with the construction of Queen Victoria Street. This was a new and vital link in the City, joining Blackfriars Bridge with Mansion House. Underneath, following the line of the street, new sewers, water & gas mains were built, along with the District Railway and the “Drain” – the nickname given by miserable commuters to the Waterloo and City Line. It is a morbid thought, if you take these underground trains, that you are travelling through the old churchyard which only adds to the gloom of the trip.
You won’t find anything marking the lost church of St Mary Mounthaw on the current site, only a dull office block clad in blue green glass called “95 Queen Victoria Street” which houses a Fitness First gym. But you will find a memorial in the City of London Cemetery recording where the remains from the churchyard were reburied. So at least there is some physical reminder of this lost church as you can see below.
The wikipedia page for St Mary Mounthaw is here