City of London Churches

The loss of the City of London Churches happened in three main waves. The first was the Great Fire of 1666 In total, 87 churches in the centre and west of the city were damaged or destroyed. After the fire, Parliament created a new coal tax to pay for the rebuilding of the City churches and Sir Christopher Wren was appointed as the King’s Surveyor of Works to oversee the reconstruction. It was decided that 34 churches should not be rebuilt but the others are known as ‘Wren’ churches since he oversaw their rebuilding even if other architects who assisted Wren, such as Robert Hooke or Nicholas Hawksmoor, did the designs. On the cards, I give the date that the “rebuilding by Wren” was completed. 

The second wave of demolition was triggered by the Union of Benefices Act of 1860 which sought to combine parishes and free up commercial space for the swelling capital of the British Empire. The result was the 19th Century proved to be almost as damaging to the city churches as the Great Fire. Lastly, London suffered badly in the Blitz in Word War 2, which took its toll on these ancient buildings though most were painstakingly restored. Even though the church buildings were lost, their parishes remained and can still be explored today through their wall plaques and parish boundary markers mounted high on the office buildings around the City.

Wikipedia has some very good pages on these City of London Churches. Here is a list of the churches that were rebuilt after the Great Fire, and here is a list of the Wren Churches

Cards exist for 110 of the City of London Churches on this list (including 2 for St Pauls). If you are ordering specific cards then please give the name and number . The Lost churches come in two series. Series 2 cards are mostly those churches lost in the Great Fire and not rebuilt. Series 1 Lost churches were (generally) rebuilt after the Great Fire but have been lost since. Extant churches are series “E”

NO.Church NameLost Date Series
1All Hallows by the TowerExtantE
2All Hallows Bread Street18781
3All Hallows Honey Lane16662
4All Hallows Lombard Street19391
5All Hallows London WallExtantE
6All Hallows Staining18701
7All Hallows the Great18941
8All Hallows the Less16661
9Christchurch, Newgate Street19401
10Holy Trinity Minories18992
11Holy Trinity the Less16662
12St Alban Wood Street19401
13St Alphage London Wall19231
14St Andrew Hubbard16662
15St Andrew UndershaftExtantE
16St Andrew by the WardrobeExtantE
17St Ann Blackfriars16661
18St Anne and St AgnesExtantE
19St Antholin, Budge Row18751
20St Augustine Watling Street19411
21St Bartholomew the GreatExtantE
22St Bartholomew the LessExtantE
23St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange18401
24St Benet Fink18461
25St Benet Gracechurch18681
26St Benet Paul’s Wharf ExtantE
27St Benet Sherehog16662
28St Botolph AldersgateExtantE
29St Botolph AldgateExtantE
30St Botolph Billingsgate16662
31St Botolph BishopsgateExtantE
32St Bride’s ChurchExtantE
33St Christopher le Stocks17821
34St Clement EastcheapExtantE
35St Dionis Backchurch18781
36St Dunstan in the East19411
37St Dunstan in the WestExtantE
38St Edmund the King and MartyrExtantE
39St EthelburgaExtantE
40St Faith under St Paul’s16662
41St Gabriel Fenchurch16662
42St George Botolph Lane19041
43St Giles CripplegateExtantE
44St Gregory by St Paul’s16662
45St Helen’s BishopsgateExtantE
46St James Duke’s Place18741
47St James GarlickhytheExtantE
48St John the Baptist 16662
49St John the Evangelist16662
50St John Zachary16662
51St Katharine CreeExtantE
52St Katherine Coleman19261
53St Laurence Pountney16662
54St Lawrence JewryExtantE
55St Leonard, Eastcheap16662
56St Leonard, Foster Lane16662
57St Magnus the MartyrExtantE
58St Margaret LothburyExtantE
59St Margaret Moses16662
60St Margaret PattensExtantE
61St Margaret, New Fish Street16662
62St Martin Orgar18202
63St Martin Outwich18741
64St Martin Pomaroy16662
65St Martin Vintry16662
66St Martin, LudgateExtantE
67St Mary AbchurchExtantE
68St Mary Aldermanbury19401
69St Mary AldermaryExtantE
70St Mary Bothaw16662
71St Mary Colechurch16662
72St Mary Magdalen Milk Street16662
73St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street18931
74St Mary Mounthaw16662
75St Mary Somerset18711
76St Mary Staining16662
77St Mary Woolchurch Haw16662
78St Mary WoolnothExtantE
79St Mary at HillExtantE
80St Mary le BowExtantE
81St Matthew Friday Street18851
82St Michael Bassishaw19001
83St Michael Paternoster RoyalExtantE
84St Michael Queenhithe18761
85St Michael Wood Street18971
86St Michael, CornhillExtantE
87St Michael, Crooked Lane18311
88St Michael le Querne16661
89St Mildred, Bread Street19411
90St Mildred, Poultry18721
91St Nicholas Acons16662
92St Nicholas Cole AbbeyExtantE
93St Nicholas Olave16662
94St Olave Hart StreetExtantE
95St Olave Old Jewry18881
96St Olave’s, Silver Street16662
97St Pancras, Soper Lane16662
98St Peter CornhillExtantE
99St Peter le Poer19071
100St Peter, Paul’s Wharf16662
101St Peter, Westcheap16662
102St SepulchreExtantE
103St Stephen Coleman Street19401
104St Stephen WalbrookExtantE
105St Swithin, London Stone19401
106St Thomas the Apostle16662
107St Vedast Foster LaneExtantE
108St Andrew HolbornExtantE
109St Pauls Cathedral (2 cards) ExtantE
110St Nicholas Shambles1547No Card
111St Audoen (Ewen) Newgate1583No Card
112St Mary Axe1561No Card
113St Augustine Papey1541No Card