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 Name	Lost Date	Series
1	All Hallows by the Tower	Extant	E
2	All Hallows Bread Street	1878	1
3	All Hallows Honey Lane	1666	2
4	All Hallows Lombard Street	1939	1
5	All Hallows London Wall	Extant	E
6	All Hallows Staining	1870	1
7	All Hallows the Great	1894	1
8	All Hallows the Less	1666	1
9	Christchurch, Newgate Street	1940	1
10	Holy Trinity Minories	1899	2
11	Holy Trinity the Less	1666	2
12	St Alban Wood Street	1940	1
13	St Alphage London Wall	1923	1
14	St Andrew Hubbard	1666	2
15	St Andrew Undershaft	Extant	E
16	St Andrew by the Wardrobe	Extant	E
17	St Ann Blackfriars	1666	1
18	St Anne and St Agnes	Extant	E
19	St Antholin, Budge Row	1875	1
20	St Augustine Watling Street	1941	1
21	St Bartholomew the Great	Extant	E
22	St Bartholomew the Less	Extant	E
23	St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange	1840	1
24	St Benet Fink	1846	1
25	St Benet Gracechurch	1868	1
26	St Benet Paul’s Wharf	Extant	E
27	St Benet Sherehog	1666	2
28	St Botolph Aldersgate	Extant	E
29	St Botolph Aldgate	Extant	E
30	St Botolph Billingsgate	1666	2
31	St Botolph Bishopsgate	Extant	E
32	St Bride’s Church	Extant	E
33	St Christopher le Stocks	1782	1
34	St Clement Eastcheap	Extant	E
35	St Dionis Backchurch	1878	1
36	St Dunstan in the East	1941	1
37	St Dunstan in the West	Extant	E
38	St Edmund the King and Martyr	Extant	E
39	St Ethelburga	Extant	E
40	St Faith under St Paul’s	1666	2
41	St Gabriel Fenchurch	1666	2
42	St George Botolph Lane	1904	1
43	St Giles Cripplegate	Extant	E
44	St Gregory by St Paul’s	1666	2
45	St Helen’s Bishopsgate	Extant	E
46	St James Duke’s Place	1874	1
47	St James Garlickhythe	Extant	E
48	St John the Baptist	1666	2
49	St John the Evangelist	1666	2
50	St John Zachary	1666	2
51	St Katharine Cree	Extant	E
52	St Katherine Coleman	1926	1
53	St Laurence Pountney	1666	2
54	St Lawrence Jewry	Extant	E
55	St Leonard, Eastcheap	1666	2
56	St Leonard, Foster Lane	1666	2
57	St Magnus the Martyr	Extant	E
58	St Margaret Lothbury	Extant	E
59	St Margaret Moses	1666	2
60	St Margaret Pattens	Extant	E
61	St Margaret, New Fish Street	1666	2
62	St Martin Orgar	1820	2
63	St Martin Outwich	1874	1
64	St Martin Pomaroy	1666	2
65	St Martin Vintry	1666	2
66	St Martin, Ludgate	Extant	E
67	St Mary Abchurch	Extant	E
68	St Mary Aldermanbury	1940	1
69	St Mary Aldermary	Extant	E
70	St Mary Bothaw	1666	2
71	St Mary Colechurch	1666	2
72	St Mary Magdalen Milk Street	1666	2
73	St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street	1893	1
74	St Mary Mounthaw	1666	2
75	St Mary Somerset	1871	1
76	St Mary Staining	1666	2
77	St Mary Woolchurch Haw	1666	2
78	St Mary Woolnoth	Extant	E
79	St Mary at Hill	Extant	E
80	St Mary le Bow	Extant	E
81	St Matthew Friday Street	1885	1
82	St Michael Bassishaw	1900	1
83	St Michael Paternoster Royal	Extant	E
84	St Michael Queenhithe	1876	1
85	St Michael Wood Street	1897	1
86	St Michael, Cornhill	Extant	E
87	St Michael, Crooked Lane	1831	1
88	St Michael le Querne	1666	1
89	St Mildred, Bread Street	1941	1
90	St Mildred, Poultry	1872	1
91	St Nicholas Acons	1666	2
92	St Nicholas Cole Abbey	Extant	E
93	St Nicholas Olave	1666	2
94	St Olave Hart Street	Extant	E
95	St Olave Old Jewry	1888	1
96	St Olave’s, Silver Street	1666	2
97	St Pancras, Soper Lane	1666	2
98	St Peter Cornhill	Extant	E
99	St Peter le Poer	1907	1
100	St Peter, Paul’s Wharf	1666	2
101	St Peter, Westcheap	1666	2
102	St Sepulchre	Extant	E
103	St Stephen Coleman Street	1940	1
104	St Stephen Walbrook	Extant	E
105	St Swithin, London Stone	1940	1
106	St Thomas the Apostle	1666	2
107	St Vedast Foster Lane	Extant	E
108	St Andrew Holborn	Extant	E
109	St Pauls Cathedral (2 cards)	Extant	E
110	St Nicholas Shambles	1547	No Card
111	St Audoen (Ewen) Newgate	1583	No Card
112	St Mary Axe	1561	No Card
113	St Augustine Papey	1541	No Card