St Swithin, London Stone

St Swithin, London Stone was an Anglican Church situated in Cannon Street, City of London. The church gave its name to St Swithin's Lane which runs north from Cannon Street to King William Street.

St Swithin's was founded in the 13th century and dedicated to Saint Swithin. One of the earliest references to the church is as the final resting place of Catrin Glyndwr, wife of rebel Edmund Mortimer and daughter of Owain Glyndwr, the legendary Welsh leader. She was taken hostage when the English captured Harlech Castle in 1409 and incarcerated in the Tower of London. Catrin Glyndwr died in mysterious circumstances four years later. The only record of her death is in the Exchequer documents of 1413: for expenses and other charges incurred for the burial of the wife of Edmund Mortimer and her daughters, buried within St Swithin's Church London ...£1^[1]

The church was rebuilt by Sir John Hind in 1405^[2]. One of the 86 churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London, it was rebuilt to a design by Sir Christopher Wren in 1678 ^[3] at a cost of £4,687 4s 6d.^[4]

In 1798 the London Stone, from which it was reputed all routes out of the city originally radiated,^[5] was relocated within the Church walls where it remained until 1940 when the church was badly damaged in an air raid during the Second World War^[6]. Only the pulpit was saved and now resides at All Hallows by the Tower.^[7] It was united with St Stephen Walbrook in 1954 and sold in 1960.

The church was finally demolished in 1962 and today there is a garden of remembrance where the church once stood and is filled with flowers.^[8][1].Pevsner found a church mark in nearby Salters’ Hall Court^[9].

See also

• List of Christopher Wren churches in London
• List of churches rebuilt after the Great Fire but since demolished

References

External links

• BBC - The London Stone