Lost London Churches Blog

The lost church of Saint Gabriel Fenchurch is unusual as it has had three different names in the past.  The earliest reference is from the 13th century under the name  All Hallows Fenchurch, but between the 13th and 16th century, it seems to have been called St Mary Fenchurch and it is not until 1526 […]

The church of St Faith was originally a separate building from St Paul’s cathedral and was the parish church the stationers who lived in St Pauls churchyard and for the residents of the nearby street of Paternoster Row. The dedication is to St. Faith, the virgin martyr of Aquitaine, who suffered martyrdom in the time […]

The lost church of St Botolph Billingsgate is one of four that were dedicated to that Saint; only the other three still remain. The churches to St Botolph at Aldersgate , Bishopsgate and Aldgate all stood just outside gates in the old Roman walls of the city. These gates were only demolished in the 1760s. […]

St Ann Blackfriars started as a parish chapel in the Priory of the Blackfriars (Dominicans) on the banks of the River Fleet. When the Priory was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1550, the buildings on the site were largely demolished. However, the residents still needed a parish church so a new one was established […]

The church of Saint Andrew Hubbard is of late Anglo-Saxon origin but the first written mention of “St. Andrew by Estchepe” was in 1169. It is possible that the church was built on the site of a Roman temple because when the site was excavated, the walls seemed to be of Roman workmanship and fragments […]

The medieval church of All Hallows Honey Lane was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was not rebuilt unlike many others and the parish was combined with the the nearbychurch of St Mary le Bow. However Honey Lane is still there. Its entrance is marked by a carving of a honey […]

St Mary Bothaw is a church that was lost in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt. It stood at the current site of Cannon Street Station – which was called Candlewick Street back then. The name “Bothaw” is reckoned to be derived from “Boat Haw” or Boat House as it would have been […]

The church of All Hallows stood on the corner of Lombard Street and Gracechurch street as you can see on the parish map below. It was most commonly known as All Hallows Lombard Street but sometimes All Hallows Gracechurch because of its position. It was a simple church of Saxon origin but the first written […]

The church of All Hallows the Great was demolished in 1894 under the Union of Benefices  Act. It was known as “the Great” to distinguish it from All Hallows the Less which stood next door in Upper Thames Street as shown in the picture below. Demolishing the church allowed Upper Thames street to be widened. […]

The church of St Martin Outwich stood at the corner of Threadneedle Street and Bishopsgate. It was built in the 14th Century and paid for by the Oteswich family which was corrupted to “Outwich” as the name of the church. It was lucky enough to escape the Great Fire of 1666 but was badly damaged […]