St Mary-le-Bow
View from Bow Churchyard
St Mary-le-Bow Location in Greater London
Location	Cheapside,City of London,EC2
Denomination	Church of England
Website	https://www.stmarylebow.org.uk/
History
Founded	1080
Founder(s)	Lanfranc
Dedication	Mary, Mother of Jesus
Architecture
Architect(s)	Sir Christopher Wren Laurence King (to Wren's design)
Administration
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	London
Archdeaconry	London
Deanery	The City
Benefice	St Mary-le-Bow

TheChurch of St Mary-le-Bow (/boʊ/) is aChurch of England parish church in theCity of London, England. Located onCheapside, one of the city's oldest thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080, byLanfranc,Archbishop of Canterbury.^[1] Rebuilt several times over the ensuing centuries, the present church is the work ofSir Christopher Wren, following theGreat Fire of London (1666). With its tall spire, it is still a landmark in the City of London, being the third highest of anyWren church, surpassed only by nearbySt Paul's Cathedral andSt Bride's,Fleet Street. At a cost of over £15,000, it was also his second most expensive, again only surpassed by St Paul's Cathedral.^[2]

St Mary-le-Bow is widely known for its bells, which also feature in the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons".^[3] According to legend,Dick Whittington heard the bells calling him back to the city in 1392, leading him to becomeLord Mayor. Traditionally, anyone born within earshot of the bells was considered to be a true Londoner, orCockney.^[1]

The church suffered severe damage by theLuftwaffe in the Second World War as part of theBlitz, like many churches in London. The interior was reduced to a shell and though the tower survived, fire damage made the bells crash to the floor. The church was sympathetically restored to its pre-war condition by Laurence King from 1956 to 1964.^[4] The church was awardedGrade I listed status, the highest possible rating, on theNational Heritage List for England, whilst still a shell in 1950.^[5]

Thougharchaeological excavations suggest an earlierSaxon building may have stood on the site prior to theNorman Conquest, the first confirmed church dedicated toSt Mary onCheapside was built byLanfranc,Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1080.^[6] Lanfranc, who wasWilliam the Conqueror's archbishop brought over fromNormandy, founded the church as part of the Norman policy of dominating London.^[6] Three major buildings were constructed as part of this policy;St Paul's Cathedral, theTower of London, and a church on Cheapside.^[7]

The church at Cheapside was dedicated to St Mary and was constructed fromCaen stone^[8] from Normandy, the same stone used in the Tower of London. The architect for the Tower of London wasGundulf,Bishop of Rochester, who may have also designed the first St Mary-le-Bow.^[9] This early church was built on two levels, with a lowerundercroft partially below street level and the upper church, built above it. The lower church was constructed first and featured round stone arches, which were a novelty at the time. This led to the church being known asSancta Maria de Arcubus (St Mary of the Arches),^[10] a name which eventually became St Mary-le-Bow,bow being an old name for arches.^[11]

The church was nearing completion in 1091 when it wasdestroyed by a violent tornado, amongst the most powerful ever to strike England.^[12][9][13] Roofrafters measuring 27–28 feet (8.2–8.5 m) long were thrown up in the air and forced into the ground with such force that only their tips remained visible.^[6][14] The lower church survived, but the upper church was damaged beyond repair. The church was rebuilt, possibly infacsimile, but was destroyed again just a hundred years later, in a fire in 1196. The fire was caused by fugitiveWilliam Fitz Osbert hiding in the church tower, and to coax him out, supporters of the Archbishop of Canterbury set fire to the church. Osbert was fatally stabbed as he fled.^[7]

The church was rebuilt again in the early 13th century following the 1196 fire, becoming apeculiar of the Archbishops of Canterbury and their London headquarters.^[9] It became home to theCourt of Arches, to which the church gave its name.^[2] The Court of Arches, which still has its home at St Mary-le-Bow today, was theecclesiastical court of appeal for theProvince of Canterbury, founded in 1251. This allegiance to Canterbury made it the second most important church in London, after St Paul's Cathedral.^[6]

The tower partially collapsed in its south west corner in 1271,^[9][14] killing at least one civilian in Cheapside below, Laurence Ducket.^[6] The tower was not immediately repaired and was kept in use. From 1363 onwards, the tower's principal use was the housing of the city'scurfew bell, rung at 9 pm every evening and being able to be heard as far away asHackney Marshes.

Work to repair the tower was slow, with construction noted to take place in 1448, 1459 and 1479. The tower was finally completed in 1512,^[9][14] supporting a spectacular series of stonelanterns; four around the corners of the tower and one suspended in the centre by arches. These lanterns were designed to light the streets below.^[2]

Soon after midnight on Sunday, 2 September 1666, a fire started inThomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane, 0.7 kilometres (0.43 mi) to the southeast of St. Mary-le-Bow. During the course of the night, the easterly windspread the fire through the city, consuming 300 houses in the first night alone. The fire continued to grow, becoming afirestorm on Monday and sweeping west towards St Paul's Cathedral.

St Mary-le-Bow was one of over fifty churches to catch fire during the firestorm, which was only extinguished on the Thursday. The church was nearly completely destroyed, except for the tower, which survived albeit with fire damage. Attempts were made to repair the tower, but they all ultimately failed: the tower was structurally compromised from the fire and was no longer strong enough to support the ringing of bells.^[14][7]

FollowingChristopher Wren's appointment as the King's Surveyor of Works in 1669, Wren's office was contracted to rebuild the fifty one churches of the city consumed by the fire. TheRebuilding of London Act 1670 provided the funds for this, as it included raising the tax on coal. Other than St Paul's Cathedral, St Mary-le-Bow was considered the most important church in the city, and thus, according to a document dated to 13 June 1670, at the head of the list to be rebuilt.^[13][15] Themason's contract for the rebuilding of St Mary-le-Bow was signed just under two months later, on 2 August.^[15]

Wren's initial designs were for a simple three bay structure and short tower, the latter topped by a simplecupola.^[8][15] This was revised in the same year with a much taller tower and more intricate spire. The body of the church, inspired by theBasilica of Maxentius in Rome, was completed by 1673.^[13] The tower, however, would take a further seven years to finish, being finally completed in 1680. The total cost of the rebuilding was £15,421^[2] (equivalent to more than £2.3 million in 2021), the second most expensive of any of Wren's churches, only surpassed by St Paul's. The tower was rebuilt inPortland stone, the rest of the church in brick.^[5] The tower became such a landmark that it was known as the "Cheapside pillar".^[6]

During the rebuilding, Wren moved the position of the tower to sit directly on Cheapside, whereas the Norman andTudor towers had sat back from the road.^[2] Whilst building the foundations for the tower, Wren came across an oldRoman causeway 18 feet (5.5 m) below ground level and 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, which provided a solid foundation.^[10] Wren also discovered the 11th century undercroft below the ruins, but he was uninterested, believing it to be Roman.^[9] He only provided a trapdoor and ladder into the undercroft, which became thecrypt for the church above it.^[9]

In 1820, the upper part of the spire was rebuilt and repaired by architectGeorge Gwilt.^[6] In 1850, the church finally ceased to be a "peculiar", coming under the jurisdiction of theDiocese of London, ending a practice started six hundred years earlier. The church continued, however, to be the home of theCourt of Arches. Further alterations took place in the late 19th century, with the removal of galleries in 1867 and additional modifications from 1878-1879.

In 1914, a stone from the crypt of the church was placed inTrinity Church, New York, to mark the fact thatWilliam III granted thevestry of Trinity Church the same privileges as St Mary-le-Bow vestry.^[12]

Beginning in 1940, the Luftwaffe began bombarding British cities from the air, a campaign known asthe Blitz; London was struck especially heavily. Throughout most of the campaign, St Mary-le-Bow suffered only minor damage. However, on the final night of the Blitz, 10–11 May 1941, the church took several direct hits. A major fire started, destroying most of the building except the outer walls and the tower. The tower was not directly hit, but the fires from the church interior spread, burning out the tower floors and causing its bells to crash to the floor. The use of Portland stone in the tower, rather than the brick used in the body of the church, contributed to its survival.^[4][13][7]

From 1956 to 1964, the church was sympathetically rebuilt and restored by Laurence King to Wren's designs, at a cost of £63,000.^[9][5] The tower survived, mostly as Wren left it, but part of it required rebuilding due to fire damage weakening the walls. The church was reconsecrated in 1964, achieving Grade I listed status whilst still a ruin in 1950.^[5]

The church building has a rectangular plan, with the tower situated on the northwest corner, separated from the main body of the church by avestibule. The design of the church is such that the chancel occupies the eastern end of the nave, both with north and south aisles, which are noted to be extremely narrow. A vestry adjoins the vestibule to the north of the north aisle.^[4][5][16]

Unusually, due to the addition of the vestibule separating the tower and nave, the building has a greater length north to south than east to west;^[4] measuring 79 feet (24 m) from east to west but 131 feet (40 m) from the north wall of the tower to the south wall of the nave.^[14] The total area of the church building is 761 square metres (8,190 sq ft), which according to theChurch of England, makes it a "large" sized church building.^{[16][nb 1]}

The exterior of St Mary-le-Bow is mostly constructed from red brick with dressings of Portland stone, with the exception of the tower, which is built entirely from Portland stone.^[5] The three principal facades of the building (south, north and east) havegabled walls andpedimented centres, complete with triplets of round-headed windows. The most prominent aspect of the exterior is Wren's imposing tower, measuring 30 feet (9.1 m) square externally and with a height of 221 feet 9 inches (67.6 m), it is the third highest of any Wren church.^[8][16][17]

The tower, constructed of Portland stone, is formed of four stages surmounted by an elaborate stonespire. The lowest stage has doorways in the north and west faces of the tower, set in substantial stone recess with addedrustication. The recess has a round head and is flanked byDoric order columns, which support a mouldedentablature above.^[18] The doorways inside these recesses are set betweenTuscan order columns which support a Doricfrieze. The second and third stages of the tower are more simple in construction, with two large square windows to the second stage, and a single round-headed window to the third. The fourth stage, housing the bell chamber, has a large round-headed opening in each wall, divided into three sections by thinmullions and filled withlouvre boards. Framing the bell openings are pairs ofIonic orderpilasters supporting an entablature, above which is theparapet. The parapet comprises an openbalustrade between four cornerpinnacles, formed of fourogee scrolls topped with small stone vases.^{[4][13][14][7][8][16][19]}

The spire above the tower is also formed of four stages. The lowest stage is a circular drum-shaped structure surrounded by twelve columns which have carvedacanthuscapitals. These twelve columns support acornice withmodillion decoration. Above the cornice is a second open balustrade, similar in design to that on the top of the tower. The second stage is formed of twelve curvedflying buttresses which support a circular-shaped moulded cornice. The third stage stands on the base of the cornice, and is square in plan, withgranite columns on the corners. These columns support the fourth and final stage of the spire, which takes the form of a tall, square, tapering pinnacle, surmounted by a ball andweathervane, the latter taking the shape of a winged dragon.^[2]

• 
  View from Cheapside in 2022
• 
  Western doorway in tower showing entablature and rustication
• 
  Church from the west
• 
  Western facade
• 
  Detail on the tower and spire

Only three bays make up the nave of the church, which is divided into small aisles by large round-headed arches. These arches are supported by compound piers with attached demi-columns that feature shorter pilasters for the openings andCorinthian capitals for the nave and aisles.^[5] Thetunnel vault above the nave is covered in ornamental panelling that is painted blue and white and is penetrated by theclerestory windows.^[16]

The church windows are among the structure's most prominent elements following its 1964 restoration. They, along with the other furniture, vestments, etc., were created byJohn Hayward.^[2] All three of the east windows have rounded arches, although the central window is taller and wider than its neighbours, who have small round windows above them.^[16]

Linking the church and tower is a vestibule, featuring a tallgroin-vaulted stone ceiling.^[5] The top of the vault is pierced by a removable circular trapdoor, opened to allow the bells to be lowered or raised from the tower.^[4]

Beneath the church, built on almost the same floorplan, is the 11th-century crypt.^[19] The crypt, originally built as the undercroft for the church destroyed in the tornado in 1091, is three bays in length and features Norman-era round arches, some of which contain Roman bricks, and a groined vault.^[14] The crypt is now in use as the "Café Below".^[4]

• 
  Interior, looking east
• 
  Coat of arms on the Organ gallery
• 
  Stained glass window by John Hayward
• 
  Crypt
• 
  Hanging crucifix

The earliest record of an organ at the church dates to 1802 when Hugh Russell of London built a small instrument formed of 13stops and 2manuals.^[20] This organ, like its successors, was situated on a gallery above the west doors. This organ lasted until 1867, whenGeorge Maydwell Holdich, also of London, rebuilt and enlarged the organ. He added a third manual, a pedalboard and 11 additional stops to make a total of 24.^[21][22]

In 1880, the organ was purchased byWalker & Sons at a cost of £255 and transferred to theMethodist Church atThornton, Leicestershire.^[22] Walker & Sons constructed a new instrument for St Mary-le-Bow in the same year, at a cost of £1,108. This new instrument was much larger, formed of 33 stops and 3 manuals plus a pedalboard and was situated in the sanctuary at the eastern end of the church.^[23] This organ lasted unaltered until the Blitz, when following the first strike to hit the church, which only caused minor damage, it was removed for safekeeping byRushworth and Draper.^[21]

Following the restoration of the church from 1956, the organ was remodelled in 1964. The organ was reduced in size by almost half, only 18 of the original 33 stops were reinstated and a new case designed and installed above the west door. This organ was considered by many to be a rather poor imitation of its pre-war condition but funds did not permit its replacement for 40 years.^[21]

In 2004, a project to replace the organ was launched by the church, with Kenneth Ticknell & Co chosen as builders.^[24] The project, which cost £380,000, was funded by corporate and personal donors. In January 2010, the old organ was removed, though the 1964 case, based on work by theAlsaceSilbermann family, was kept. The organ was completed in August 2010 and the first recital was given byThomas Trotter on 29 September. The new organ, which reuses the old case, has 34 stops and two manuals plus pedalboard.^[21][24][25]

The church also has a small chamber organ, formed of 1 manual and with 5 stops, made by an unknown builder. It is situated in the south nave aisle.^[21][24][26]

The bells at St Mary-le-Bow are often considered to be the most famous peal in the world.^[27] According to legend, Richard (Dick) Whittington heard the bells in 1392 when he left the city, calling him back and leading him to becomeLord Mayor.^[12][3][28] The earliest written record of bells at the church is in 1469, when the Common Council orders acurfew bell should be rung at St Mary-le-Bow at 9.00 each evening.^[29] In 1515, William Copland, one ofHenry VIII'smerchants, gave money for a "great bell" to be installed, with directions it should be rung to announce the curfew. With Copland's gift, the tower then contained five bells.^{[3][27][28][29]}

In the 1552 survey of church goods ordered byEdward VI, the tower is recorded as containing five bells with two additional "sanctus" bells. These five bells would later be augmented, when in 1635, six are recorded. In 1666, during the Great Fire of London, the bells and tower, along with the church, were damaged beyond repair.^{[3][27][28][29]}

Following the Great Fire and Wren's rebuilding of the church, the tenor bell of a proposed ring of eight was cast byChristopher Hodson ofSt Mary Cray in 1669, placed in a temporary structure in the churchyard until the tower was completed. The bell weighed approximately 52 long cwt (2,600 kg). In 1677, Hodson cast the remaining seven and hung all eight bells in the newly completed tower in a new oak frame.^[3][27][28]

No further work would take place to the bells until 1738 when the tenor bell was recast byRichard Phelps and Thomas Lester; Phelps had previously cast the hour bell at St Paul's Cathedral, called Great Tom, which still survives today.^[3] In 1762, Lester & Pack recast and rehung the other seven bells and added two more, to make a ring of ten, keeping the Hodson frame. The bells were rehung again in 1835 by Thomas Mears ofWhitechapel and then a third time byMears & Stainbank in 1863.^{[3][27][28][29]}

In 1881, Mears & Stainbank cast two new bells to augment the ring to twelve, rehanging the 3rd and 4th bells concurrently. This gave London its 5th ring of twelve, following St Bride's, Fleet Street;St Michael Cornhill; St Paul's Cathedral; andSt Giles Cripplegate. In 1902, the bells needed rehanging again, with work taking place to the heaviest three bells byGillett & Johnston ofCroydon. This was evidently not successful, for the bells needed rehanging just 5 years later, the work given to Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel again.^[3][27][28]

In January 1927, following the deterioration of the fittings and the condition of the tower, the bells were declared unringable in a report first published byThe Times.^[30] Over the ensuing six years, much work was done to the tower and the church to restore it, but the bells remained unringable, to much public outcry. Finally, in 1933,Harry Gordon Selfridge offered to defray the cost of restoring the bells, an offer which was accepted by the church, who gave the contract to Gillett & Johnston, who Selfridge had worked with a few years previously on bells for hisOxford Street store.^{[3][27][28][29]}

The announcement that Gillett & Johnston intended to recast the tenor, which was believed to be cracked, caused so many objections that a meeting of theProvince of Canterbury's ecclesiastical court was called; the decision of the court was eventually that the tenor should be recast.^[31] Gillett & Johnston found upon removing the bells to their works in Croydon that four more of the bells (6, 7, 8 and 10) were cracked, in addition to the tenor. All five cracked bells were recast in addition to the three lightest bells, leaving only the 4th, 5th, 9th and 11th from the previous ring to be retained; these four bells were retuned.^[32] The bells were rehung in their original frame with new cast iron headstocks,ball bearings andwrought iron clappers. The frame was substantially strengthened with a massive concrete and steel grillage weighing 3.5 long tonnes (3,556 kg).^[33] The bells were rededicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 7 July 1933.^{[3][27][28][29]}

Shortly after their installation, theBBC World Service recorded the bells for use as atime signal, which brought the attention of the bells to a global audience; the recording survives today.^[12] On the night of 10 May 1941, the church was struck by several incendiary bombs. Though the tower was spared a direct hit, the flames from the body of the church were fanned into the tower, which acted like a furnace, destroying all of the internal floors and the frame, causing the bells to crash over 100 feet (30 m) to the ground, irrevocably damaging them.^[3][27][28]

The damaged bells were removed shortly after their destruction to Mears & Stainbank's foundry in Whitechapel, but they remained in storage for more than 10 years. In 1956, as the restoration of the church began, attention turned to the restoration of the tower and the recasting of the bells. Much of the cost of restoring the tower and bells was met by theBernard Sunley Charitable Foundation and Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York City. A new ring of twelve was cast by Mears & Stainbank in 1956, partially reusing metal salvaged from the 1933 ring. However, due to the condition of the tower, which required repairs, the bells were not hung until late 1961.^[3][27][28]

The bells were dedicated in the presence ofPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh byRobert Stopford,Bishop of London, on 21 December 1961.^[2] The tenor was tolled by Prince Philip at the beginning of the service. The bells were hung in a new frame, made ofJavanese Jang (Dipterocarpus terminatus^[28]).^[3][34] Since then, the bells have been frequently rung, both by members of theAncient Society of College Youths who reside in or near the city, and by visiting bands of ringers, who come from across the world to ring the bells.^[3]

All the bells are named and each bell has an inscription fromPsalms, the first letter of each forming theacrostic "D. Whittington".^[27] The largest bell weighs 41 long cwt 3 qrs 21 lb (4,697 lb or 2,131 kg),^[34] the third heaviest tenor bell in London after St Paul's andSouthwark Cathedral.^[3]

The bells, often considered amongst the most famous in the world, have typically been used to define whether or not one is a true Londoner orCockney; anyone born within their earshot is considered such. With theurbanisation of the City of London in the 20th and 21st centuries, the increasing population,noise pollution and the soundproofing measures installed in the belfry, the range of the Bow bells is significantly smaller than at its peak.^[35][36]

In 1851, the bells could be heard across north and east London, as far asHackney Marshes,Stratford andLimehouse, with reports that they could also be heard south of theThames inSouthwark. An acoustic study taken in 2012 shows that this range has shrunk substantially, and is now confined to the eastern parts of the Square Mile andShoreditch. With no maternity hospitals within this range and only limited residential properties, arguably the modern chance of the birth of a "true" cockney is now very low.^[35][36]

The bells are also mentioned in the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons": "I do not know, says the Great Bell of Bow".^[13][6]

Ordinarily, distances by road from London are now measured fromCharing Cross but, before the late 18th century, they were measured from theLondon Stone inCannon Street, or theStandard in Cornhill. However, on the road from London toLewes, the mileage is taken from the church door of St Mary-le-Bow. To note the reference point used, mileposts along the way are marked with therebus in cast-iron of a bow and four bells.^[12][13]

The church is also mentioned in the song "The London Boys" byDavid Bowie ("… Bow Bell strikes another night…").

TheWest Ham United F.C. away shirt for the 2024/25 season features a graphic representation of the St Mary-le-Bow woven into the fabric along with a reference to the church's bells on the back of the neck.^[37][38]

St Mary-le-Bow ministers to thefinancial industry andlivery companies of the City of London. Consequently, services are held on weekdays rather than the more traditional Sunday morning. Services generally consist of two sessions of 15 minute prayer, one at 8.30 am and another at 5.45 pm on every weekday. These are supplemented by two more formal services of Eucharist, one on a Wednesday lunchtime at 1.05 pm and the second on a Thursday evening at 6.05pm.^[39]

• Howard Colvin,Biographical Dictionary of British Architects
• Michael Byrne and George R. Bush (eds),St Mary-le-Bow: A History (Privately published, 2007).

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSt Mary-le-Bow.

• Official website
• 360° panorama inside St Mary-le-Bow

51°30′50″N0°05′37″W / 51.51389°N 0.09361°W /51.51389; -0.09361

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