St Botolph without Aldgate, as its name suggests, was built just outside one of the main gates in the old Roman wall that encircled London. The wall and Aldgate were demolished in the 1760s but the church is still there. Its origins are Anglo Saxon, sometime before its first mention in the written record in 1115 when it was part of the Holy Trinity Priory. It is supposed that the pariah existed before the Norman Conquest in 1066.
The church is dedicated to St Botolph also known as Botwulf, who was a 7th century Anglo Saxon Saint. He was revered as the patron saint of trade and travel which is why there are other churches to St Botolph which still exist at Bishopsgate and Aldersgate. Travellers setting off on a journey could ask for a blessing at the church just outside the walls, so that God would look favourably on their venture.
The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 with relatively little damage but was demolished and rebuilt in 1744 by George Dance the Elder. Daniel Defoe, who wrote Robinson Crusoe, was married there in 1683.
In the Victorian era it was known sometimes as the “Church of the Prostitutes” since they would hang around the church, circling the traffic island that it sits on. In 1899, the parish was combined with that of the nearby church of Holy Trinity Minories, when the latter was demolished.
It suffered badly during the Blitz in WW2 and was restored by Rodney Tatchell. Another fire in 1965 meant further restoration was needed. There are two parish boundary markers for you to discover as shown in the photos. One is in Jewry Street along with markers for Portsoken Ward. The other is in Aldgate High street near the Dragon Statue that marks the edge of the City boundary.
