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 78 of the City of London Churches on this list (including 2 for St Pauls). If you are ordering specific cards then check that the card column says “yes”. There are only a few cards for the churches lost in the Great Fire and not rebuilt because I have found no images of those buildings so far. Maybe I will publish a second edition of some of these after further research…

NO.Church NameLost Date Card?
1All Hallows by the TowerExtantyes
2All Hallows Bread Street1878yes
3All Hallows Honey Lane1666no
4All Hallows Lombard Street1939yes
5All Hallows London WallExtantyes
6All Hallows Staining1870yes
7All Hallows the Great1894yes
8All Hallows the Less1666yes
9Christchurch, Newgate Street1940yes
10Holy Trinity Minories1899yes
11Holy Trinity the Less1666no
12St Alban Wood Street1940yes
13St Alphage London Wall1923yes
14St Andrew Hubbard1666no
15St Andrew UndershaftExtantyes
16St Andrew by the WardrobeExtantyes
17St Ann Blackfriars1666yes
18St Anne and St AgnesExtantyes
19St Antholin, Budge Row1875yes
20St Augustine Watling Street1941yes
21St Bartholomew the GreatExtantyes
22St Bartholomew the LessExtantyes
23St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange1840yes
24St Benet Fink1846yes
25St Benet Gracechurch1868yes
26St Benet Paul’s Wharf Extantyes
27St Benet Sherehog1666no
28St Botolph AldersgateExtantyes
29St Botolph AldgateExtantyes
30St Botolph Billingsgate1666no
31St Botolph BishopsgateExtantyes
32St Bride’s ChurchExtantyes
33St Christopher le Stocks1782yes
34St Clement EastcheapExtantyes
35St Dionis Backchurch1878yes
36St Dunstan in the East1941yes
37St Dunstan in the WestExtantyes
38St Edmund the King and MartyrExtantyes
39St EthelburgaExtantyes
40St Faith under St Paul’s1666no
41St Gabriel Fenchurch1666no
42St George Botolph Lane1904yes
43St Giles CripplegateExtantyes
44St Gregory by St Paul’s1666no
45St Helen’s BishopsgateExtantyes
46St James Duke’s Place1874yes
47St James GarlickhytheExtantyes
48St John the Baptist 1666no
49St John the Evangelist1666no
50St John Zachary1666no
51St Katharine CreeExtantyes
52St Katherine Coleman1926yes
53St Laurence Pountney1666no
54St Lawrence JewryExtantyes
55St Leonard, Eastcheap1666no
56St Leonard, Foster Lane1666no
57St Magnus the MartyrExtantyes
58St Margaret LothburyExtantyes
59St Margaret Moses1666no
60St Margaret PattensExtantyes
61St Margaret, New Fish Street1666no
62St Martin Orgar1820no
63St Martin Outwich1874yes
64St Martin Pomaroy1666no
65St Martin Vintry1666no
66St Martin, LudgateExtantyes
67St Mary AbchurchExtantyes
68St Mary Aldermanbury1940yes
69St Mary AldermaryExtantyes
70St Mary Bothaw1666no
71St Mary Colechurch1666no
72St Mary Magdalen Milk Street1666no
73St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street1893yes
74St Mary Mounthaw1666no
75St Mary Somerset1871yes
76St Mary Staining1666no
77St Mary Woolchurch Haw1666no
78St Mary WoolnothExtantyes
79St Mary at HillExtantyes
80St Mary le BowExtantyes
81St Matthew Friday Street1885yes
82St Michael Bassishaw1900yes
83St Michael Paternoster RoyalExtantyes
84St Michael Queenhithe1876yes
85St Michael Wood Street1897yes
86St Michael, CornhillExtantyes
87St Michael, Crooked Lane1831yes
88St Michael le Querne1666yes
89St Mildred, Bread Street1941yes
90St Mildred, Poultry1872yes
91St Nicholas Acons1666no
92St Nicholas Cole AbbeyExtantyes
93St Nicholas Olave1666no
94St Olave Hart StreetExtantyes
95St Olave Old Jewry1888yes
96St Olave’s, Silver Street1666no
97St Pancras, Soper Lane1666no
98St Peter CornhillExtantyes
99St Peter le Poer1907yes
100St Peter, Paul’s Wharf1666no
101St Peter, Westcheap1666no
102St SepulchreExtantyes
103St Stephen Coleman Street1940yes
104St Stephen WalbrookExtantyes
105St Swithin, London Stone1940yes
106St Thomas the Apostle1666no
107St Vedast Foster LaneExtantyes
108St Andrew HolbornExtantyes
109St Pauls Cathedral (2 cards) Extantyes
110St Nicholas Shambles1547no
111St Audoen (Ewen) Newgate1583no
112St Mary Axe1561no
113St Augustine Papey1541no