St Gabriel Fenchurch

St Gabriel Fenchurch

Plaque opposite Cullum Street
Country England
Denomination Anglican

St Gabriel Fenchurch was a parish church in the Langbourn Ward of the City of London,[1] destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt.

History

The church stood between Rood Lane and Mincing Lane.[2] At the beginning of the seventeenth century, John Stow wrote in his description of Fenchurch Street: "In the midst of this street standeth a small parish church called St Gabriel Fen Church, corruptly Fan church".[3]

It was dedicated to St Mary until 1517, when it became All Saints, and finally. St Gabriel’s. The church was lengthened by nine feet in 1631. This and other improvements were done at a cost of £587 10s.. Thomas Clark, a glazier, gave the church an east window, with the Royal Arms and the motto “Touch Not Mine Anointed”. [2]

St Gabriel's was, with most of the other parish churches in the City, destroyed in the great Fire of 1666. By 1670 a Rebuilding Act had been passed and a committee set up under the stewardship of Sir Christopher Wren to decide which would be rebuilt.[4] Fifty-one were chosen, but St Gabriel's was not among them.[5]Instead the parish was united to that of St Margaret Pattens[6] although its land holding was not finally resolved until 13 years later.[7] and charitable bequests continued to be made using the old name[8] The land on which the church had stood was incorporated into the roadway, but part of the churchyard survived in Fen Court. [2]

Notable tombs in the church included that of Benedict Spinola, the Elizabethan banker.[9]

References

  1. ^ Location described
  2. ^ a b c .White, James George (1901). The Churches and Chapels of Old London. London. pp. 49–50. http://www.archive.org/details/churcheschapelso00whituoft. 
  3. ^ Stow, John (1956). The Survey of London (revised ed.). London: J.M. Dent & Sons. p. 180. 
  4. ^ "Wren" Whinney,M London Thames & Hudson, 1971 ISBN 0500201129
  5. ^ "The City of London Churches" Betjeman, J. Andover, Pitkin, 1967 (rpnt 1992) ISBN 0853725659
  6. ^ Two separate entities preserved
  7. ^ "Deeds and documents concerning nos. 143-149 Fenchurch Street (north side) 1679." - v185779x cited in City of London Parish Registers Guide 4 Hallows,A.(Ed) : London, Guildhall Library Research, 1974 ISBN 0900422300
  8. ^ The Endowed Charities of the City of London,1829
  9. ^ John Bennell, Spinola, Benedict (1519/20–1580) in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004), online ed., January 2008, accessed 21 December 2010 (subscription required)