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Location: St Helen, Bishopsgate, City of London, London, England, United Kingdom. (51.5148°N 0.0818°W).
Website: www.st-helens.org.uk
Phone: +44 20 7283 2231
St Helen, Bishopsgate
St Helen's Bishopsgate is a large conservative evangelical Anglican church located off Bishopsgate in London.
It is the largest surviving church in the City of London and it contains more monuments than any other church in Greater London except Westminster Abbey, hence it is sometimes referred to as the Westminster Abbey of the City.
History of St Helen, Bishopsgate:
The church of St Helen's dates from the 12th century and a priory of Benedictine nuns was founded there[clarification needed] in 1210. It is unusual in that it was designed with two parallel naves, giving it a wide interior. Until the dissolution of the priory in 1538, the church was divided in two by a partition running from east to west, the northern half serving the nuns and the southern the parishioners. It is the only building from a nunnery to survive in the City of London.
The priory had extensive monastic buildings; its hall was later used by the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers until its demolition in 1799. A crypt extended north from the church, under the hall.
St Helen's was the parish church of William Shakespeare when he lived in the area in the 1590s.
In the 17th century two classical doorcases were added to the otherwise Gothic church. The building was heavily restored by John Loughborough Pearson between 1891-1893 and reopened on St John the Baptist's Day in 1893 by the Bishop of London, Frederick Temple.
St Helen's was one of only a few City of London churches to survive both the Great Fire of London of 1666 and the Blitz during World War II. In 1992 and 1993, however, the church was badly damaged by two IRA bombs that were set off nearby. The roof of the building was lifted and one of the City's largest medieval stained glass windows was shattered. The church has since been fully restored although many of the older monuments within it were entirely destroyed. The architect Quinlan Terry, an enthusiast of Georgian architecture, designed the restoration along Reformation lines.
Due to parish consolidation over the years, the parish is now named "St. Helen Bishopsgate with St Andrew Undershaft and St Ethelburga Bishopsgate and St Martin Outwich and St Mary Axe". The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors are the patrons of the benefice.
The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.
