St. Peter's Catholic Church dominates the Lower Town of historic Harpers Ferry West Virginia. It was built in 1833 and is on the National Register of Historical Places.

The street along the side of the church building is part of the Appalachian Trail.

TECH NOTES: Taken with my little Canon Powershot SX230 HS Point & Shoot. Initial post processing done in Photoshop 7 ; I used PIXLR, the free, on line editor, to fix the converging lines of the steeple which also stripped out all the EXIF data.

One of the least admired parts of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy is the greatest accomplishment of Carlo Malderno. Still incredible by my lowly standards, the facade stands almost 150ft tall and 375ft wide, and was built completely of travertine marble between 1608 and 1614.

© LMGFotography 2008; please do not use without permission.

St Peter's Anglican Church

Located in Torrens Square, this church is known for its stained glass windows and is listed on the Heritage Register. The history of the church includes:

1839: Colonel William Light set aside Torrens Square for a church

1852: The first church was built on the site where the Gospel was first proclaimed in the colony

1881: A new church was founded and opened in 1882

1923: The final window was dedicated

2017: The Great West Window was restored

Inside St Peter & St Paul, the Parish Church of Pickering, North Yorkshire. The first church to stand on the current site is believed to have been built in the Anglo-Saxon era.

Innenraum von dem Nebenaltar.

The Church is dedicated to St. Peter and consists of a tower of four stages, surmounted by a peculiar little spire, a Nave with North and South Aisles and a South Porch; and a Chancel with a North Aisle or Chapel.

From a close examination of the fabric it would appear that the Church passed through the following main changes.

The first Norman Church was built about 1150 and would have a tower of three stages (lower than the existing tower) an aisleless nave and a small Chancel, probably apsidal (i.e. semi-circular at the East end).

Barnburgh would be one of very few places in this district where the original church had a tower, the usual Norman construction was without a tower.

The first enlargement was some fifty years later in the Transitional Norman period, when a North Aisle was added to the Nave. It is invariably found that the first enlargements to our churches were made on the North side. This was done because there would be fewer graves to disturb, it being remembered that the people of those days, steeped as they were in superstition, avoided being buried on the North side where the shadow of the church would fall upon them.

The Chancel built by the Normans would, no doubt, as I have said, be small and as the ritual of the church became more elaborate the need for extension would arise. Furthermore there were two great families in the district at that time (the Cresacres and the Bella Aqua's or Bellews) and instead of founding monasteries as in earlier times, the idea had sprung up among many of these great families to institute Chantries. These usually took the form of little chapels inside the church but screened off, where a priest was maintained to pray for the soul of the founder and his family. Chantry certificates show that two chantries were founded in Barnburgh Church, of which more later.

All appearances therefore suggest that about 1330 the church underwent what was almost a rebuilding, and practically only the bottom two stages of the tower remained of the original church. These alterations would include the addition of the South Aisle and Porch, enlargement of the North Aisle, and the rebuilding of the Chancel with the addition of the North Chapel, and also the top two stages of the tower with the little spire. With the raising of the tower the corner buttresses would be built.

At this period there was a famous church architect, Henry de Eynsham, living at Bolton-upon-Dearne and it is probably he who planned the rebuilding. The greater part of the cost would no doubt be borne by the two ruling families of the neighbourhood, and the arms of the Cresacres were placed on the South side and those of the Bella Aqua's on the East side of the tower at the rebuilding.

As the church was then, it would be rather dark in the Nave somewhat similar to what Hickleton is to this day and so it was that about 1410 the earlier 'Decorated' style windows of the Aisles, with one exception, were replaced by the larger ones of the "perpendicular" style, the roof and walls of the Nave were made higher, and the clerestory windows inserted to give extra light. The original pitch of the roof can still be seen low down in the East wall of the tower.

From that date there has been little alteration to the appearance of the church. There have, of course, been restorations, for instance in 1859 part of the top storey of the tower was taken down and rebuilt, and it will also be noted that the windows of the Chancel, including the great East window, are modern, but are no doubt careful reproductions of the originals. This work would probably be done during the restoration of 1869, the cost of which was borne by John Hartop.

Whilst looking round the exterior of the church you will notice other features; the Priest's Door in the South of the Chancel, which is of the 'Decorated period', and on the North side, two blocked up doorways. The one which gave entrance to the North Chapel is of the Perpendicular period and no doubt, was constructed during the last alterations to the Church. This entrance would be used solely by the Cresacre family and their Chantry Priest. The other built-up door near the tower was the "Devil's Door" and would be disused after the Reformation. When in existence it would be opened during baptisms and similar ceremonies, to let the Devil out.

And so we come back to the Porch, which is of 'Decorated' style, with a ribbed and slabbed room. Notice on the spring of the innermost arch on the right hand side, the Mason's mark chiselled in stone : This was his signature to his work.

Notice also the stone benches on either side which remind us of the days when the Church Porch was a very important place, used for many purposes. Here it was that official notices were published (and indeed still are), here that the Coroner held his court, and here that people found guilty of breaking the religious laws had to do penance. Porches were used for many other purposes such as the sale of merchandise, the arranging of fairs, the ratifying of bargains and deals, and sometimes a plough was kept there for Plough Monday which was the Monday after Epiphany when ploughing and rustic toil was restarted.

On entering the church we first notice the font which appears to be of the Transitional Norman period, dating to the latter half of the twelfth century, and as such is most probably the original font.

At the other side of the main entrance is the South Chapel, which, at the Reformation was bereft of its altar, but the mutilated piscina still remains to remind us of its original use for rinsing the sacred vessels at Mass in the days when this was the private Chantry Chapel of the Bella Aqua family.

Returning to the tower we quickly see the indications of the first church in the lower two storeys of the tower which are of a fine type of masonry of the late Norman era, and there is a good example of a deeply splayed Norman window, now blocked up, probably to give added strength when the tower was raised.

The Tower Arch and Chancel Arch are unmistakably the result of the great rebuilding in about 1330 and are of this period.

Looking down the church from under the tower there are a number of features which catch the eye. The fine roofs of the Nave and of the Chancel should be noticed, and although there do not seem to be any marks which give any guide to dates, I have no doubt that this was the roof installed in the fifteenth century when the walls of the Nave were made higher. The massive tie beams each with a different carved boss show unmistakable signs of great age.

Some years ago it was found that some of the ends were rotting and a kind of wall plate was inserted on the South wall and stone corbels were placed here and there without any attempt at uniformity. A piece of one of the tie beams was taken out and may now be seen in a corner of the Chancel doing duty as a table. An examination of this shows the finely moulded carving of which the earlier woodworkers were capable.

A puzzling feature to be noticed from the tower arch is the clerestory which is of perpendicular style and was made in 1410 (or thereabouts) when the roof was lifted. Although the clerestory windows on both sides were inserted at the same time it will be seen that those on the South are two light windows and those on the North three light.

Why was this unusual procedure adopted? Could it be that the two wealthy families who then owned Barnburgh and who would most likely bear most of the expense of the alterations, differed as to the style and finally decided each to have its own way on its own side. It will also be noticed (but more distinctly from the Chancel) that when the clerestory windows were put in they used as lintels, tomb slabs, probably taken from the church floor. This ruthless despoiling of graves can be seen in a number of churches. It has been suggested that they were brought here from the demolished St. Helen's chapel, but I cannot agree with this as it is more than likely that St. Helen's was still in use when the clerestory of St. Peter's was built.

The next thing which draws our attention from under the Tower Arch is the beautiful screenwork for which Barnburgh church is noted, for though it as been damaged much of it remains as it was in pre-Reformation days. In most churches such woodwork as this was utterly destroyed during the Reformation and we at Barnburgh should feel thankful that we have some that escaped this wanton destruction. The entire screenwork of the South Chapel remains and also that at the North end of the Cresacre Chapel, with its original door still doing service.

The woodwork under the Chancel Arch which now forms a screen about four feet high is all that remains of the rood screen. Try to visualise this screen as it was before it was destroyed about four hundred years ago. It would almost entirely fill the arch and high up in the screen would be the Rood Loft or gallery from which certain parts of the services would be conducted. On this Rood Loft would be the great crucifix and a number of beautifully coloured statues. The rood screen in most churches was a thing of beauty and it is little wonder that special windows were inserted and existing ones enlarged to throw more light on the screen.

Fairly high in the walls on both sides of the Chancel Arch (which, by the way, is much wider than is usual in a church such as Barnburgh) can be traced signs of stones having been cut away in order to provide support for the floor beams of the rood loft. At Barnburgh the ascent to the loft was by wooden ladder, but often a stone stairway was hollowed out in the stone pillar. A close examination of the fragment of the rood screen left to us will give some indication of its antiquity and original beauty.

And now let us commence a tour of the church. In the North Wall of the North Aisle will be found a diamond shaped hole cut out in one of the stones. It is a few inches across and has a recess of about the same depth. Four holes filled with lead show that a small iron or wooden door covered the recess at one time. This hole or recess has been the subject of much conjecture, and popular rumour has it that it is a "Lepers Squint." I do not agree with this, as if it had been intended as such it would have been placed in such a position that the lepers (who were not allowed in church) might see the high altar. I am more inclined to the opinion that it was made as a reliquary (a place for relics).

The family of Cresacres is reputed to have had more than one member taking part in the Crusades and it was a common custom when a knight died in the Holy Land to bring back his heart which was then blessed and placed in a box, or hole similar to that at Barnburgh, to be preserved for all time. Often valuable articles of gold or precious stones were placed with them. At the Reformation, however, these reliquaries were completely destroyed and their contents scattered.

The next item is the shaft of what was a cross near the first pillar of the North Aisle. This would be the original praying or preaching cross around which the people of Barnburgh would gather before they had a church. It is of Saxon origin and is older than anything else about the church in which it now stands. It was found last century, buried in the churchyard, in two pieces, one piece it is said was actually under the foundations of the church. Fortunately it was brought and re-erected in its present position some years ago by the Rev. W. R. Hartley. It lacks arms and is much decayed but it can be seen that it must have been a piece of fine workmanship for its day. The carvings show the figure of a priest with a kind of interlacing work acting as a support for the body. A very careful examination will also show pilasters with voluted capitals, and it is this that helps us to arrive at the period of its construction, which would be about a 1,000 years ago. This cross is one of few of its kind remaining in the country and is mentioned in every book I have seen on such subjects.

The bases of the pillars of the North Aisle should next be noticed. They are of late (or Transitional) Norman style and are remnants of the first enlargement which took place to the original church, about 1200. The Transitional Norman arches would be taken down and replaced, and the bases of the pillars lifted when the clerestory was built.

And now we come to the Cresacre Chapel which is of course the great attraction to many visitors to Barnburgh church. There is enough here to interest us for half a day if we examine carefully all it contains. The first thing to attract us is the Cresacre Tomb with the "Cat and Man" effigy which is the centre of one of the most remarkable legends in the land. The tomb and the legend I have dealt with fully earlier in this volume, but there is one thing to which I would draw attention. It will be noted that the two arches between the Chapel and the Chancel are modern (though to be sure they do blend well with the remainder of the church), and these replaced a single arch under which the Cresacre tomb originally stood. These alterations were probably carried out early last century, for the organ, which stands almost under one of the arches was put there in 1829, the gift of Henrietta Griffith of Barnburgh. It may be that these arches were inserted at the same time.

Of the other items of interest in the chapel I have already mentioned elsewhere the two mural tombstones to the Vincents of Barnburgh Grange, the slab tombstone of Alice Cresacre, wife of Sir Percival, and the brass to the memory of Anna Cresacre, the last of that name.

On the wall of the chapel there are three boards which record the charities of the Parish and as they are almost unreadable. Behind one of the boards, the oaken door by which the Cresacres made their entrance can be seen, still hung, the walling up of the doorway having been done on the outside only.

The screen which now encloses the East end of the chapel to form a vestry for the clergy, is part of a much older one than the rest of the screen work in the church and may have been part of the screen which stood in the original arch dividing the chapel and the chancel. It is of excellent though rather crude workmanship and of a design peculiar to South Yorkshire.

This North Chapel is now almost filled by the Organ, the Cresacre Tomb and the Choir and Priest's Vestries so that it is not easy to try to see it as it was when it functioned as the Cresacre Chapel with its own altar under the East window. However, the piscina remains, although its front edge has been shorn off. It is probable that this Chapel continued as a private place of worship to a much later date than the South Chapel.

It is a surprising thing that the North Chapel, which was undoubtedly in the possession of the Cresacre family for several centuries before, was, apparently, not founded as a Chantry Chapel until 1507.

In the Chancel there is a seat for about three persons which, though restored, is extremely old and is of the same workmanship as the small screen at the East End of the North Chapel. Indeed the Rev. E. P. Cook suggests it is part of that screen reconstructed to form a seat.

In the Chancel also may be noted the piece of a roof beam end (now serving as a small table) which I have mentioned earlier, and a number of brasses and tombstones of interest, all of which I also covered in parts of this little book.

Before the Reformation many of the windows of the church would be filled with beautiful stained glass, but unfortunately all was destroyed, with the exception of a few fragments which still remain in the small upper lights of the East window of the South Chapel, during Oliver Cromwell's time when his soldiers even used the churches as stables for their horses.

For two or three centuries after that the windows were filled with plain glass, but to-day there are several windows which once again fill the church with many colours. These are :

Part of the Great East window, given in memory of the Rector who built the present Rectory and gave us our greens the Rev. T, C. Percival and his wife.

In the South wall of the Chancel there is a window given in 1904 to the memory of John Hartop of Barnburgh Hall by his nephews and nieces. He was a great lover and benefactor of Barnburgh Church.

The window behind the font was given in the year 1906 to the memory of her sister by Mrs. Mary Hartop, and the window on the other side of the Tower Arch, in the North Aisle, was given in 1914 to the memory of this same Mary Hartop.

The latest coloured window to be inserted was that in the East end of the South Chapel which was given in 1946 by Archdeacon Clarke in memory of his wife, nee Christabel Marie Lockwood, formerly headmistress of Becket Road Infant School at Doncaster.

Barnburgh Church has a peal of three very fine bells, and although they are of no outstanding historical interest (none of them are pre-Reformation and none have inscriptions apart from being dated) they are of excellent workmanship and have a fine mellow tone. They were cast in the early part of the seventeenth century.

St Peter, Lusby near Horncastle, Lincolnshire. Built of greenstone, this tiny church probably dates from C12.

Today's weather wasn't much for outdoors stuff, so decided to have another crack at some church interior HDR's.

This is a view from inside St Peter's Anglican Church at East Maitland NSW.

Let me know if you like the treatment used please.

Best if viewed large on Black!!

Thanks for looking!

Looking through open windows of the Vatican Museums at St. Peter's Basilica and Michelangelo's dome.

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Rome, Italy

The last few from a highly rewarding afternoon visiting St Peter's, which is a delight. More ironwork, this time on the latch and lock on the main door.

According to the Book of Armagh, the site of St. Peter’s Church has been a religious settlement since 455CE

The Book of Armagh records St. Patrick’s visit to Dunmurraghill in 455CE, where he marked out the foundations for a religious settlement. The St. Peter’s site was laid out at the same time. The earliest churches were wooden in construction.

The Danes destroyed Dunmurraghill in 832.

The church at the St. Peter’s site was rebuilt as can be seen from a civil survey of 1220 which records a stone built Patrician church there.

In 1550 The Aylmer family of Lyons acquired the Manor of Donadea from the Earls of Ormond.

In 1626 Sir Gerald Aylmer Bart., rebuilt church incorporating the existing Patrician church into it.

Duisburg - Marxloh.

Foggy graveyard.

A closer look at the windows of the apse, added to the church by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The shape of the window is the same as in the body of the church, but in the apse he added a pointed surrouns complete with crocketting, slightly complicated tracery in the apex which doesn't echo that of the window below, and a fierce gryphon gargoyle on either side.

In Sts. Peter and Paul's Place, just off Saint Patrick's Street, Cork City, Ireland, is the church of Saints Peter and Paul. This is the parish church of the parish of Saints Peter and Paul. Architecturally, it is one of the finest churches in the city. The foundation stone of the church was laid on 15 August 1859 and the church was dedicated for worship on 29 June 1866. It replaced an older church, built in 1786, which was entered from Carey's Lane and known as Carey's Lane Chapel.

The prime mover in the building of SS Peter and Paul's was Archdeacon John Murphy. He was a member of the wealthy family of brewers and had a most unusual early career for a future priest as he had worked for a time as a fur trader with the Hudson Bay Company in Canada. E.W. Pugin, a noted architect of the time, designed the church. Pugin's father, Augustus Pugin, was largely responsible for the revival of the Gothic style in architecture. The high altar was designed by C.C. Ashlin and executed by Samuel Daly. It was consecrated in August 1874. In 1875 a new pulpit, again designed by Ashlin, and sanctuary stalls were added.

At the present time there are plans for restoration work on the church.

St Peter's was the ancient parish church of Harborne, long before it became absorbed into Birmingham's suburbs. Unfortunately little remains of the medieval building, just the 15th century red sandstone west tower. The rest of the church is Victorian rebuilding by H.R.Yeoville Thomason (architect of Birmingham Art Gallery and Council House, but on a much tighter budget here!) and dates from 1867.

The stained glass comprises the 1860s apse windows by John Hardman Studios, two windows by J.B.Capronnier of Brussels in the transepts and a 1980s south aisle window by F.Skeat.

The church is normally kept locked outside of services but is open to visitors on Summer Thursdays 1-3pm.

St Peter, Nottingham.

East Window by Ward & Hughes, 1878.

Allsop memorial - detail.

The firm of Ward & Hughes spans the history of Victorian stained glass from the Gothic revival to the Aesthetic Movement. Despite having worked in so many styles, their windows are easily recognisable since, unlike those of many artists, they are always signed “Ward & Hughes, London” with the date of manufacture. The partnership of Thomas Ward (1808-1870) and Henry Hughes (1822-1883) began in the early 1850s. Thomas Ward had been a stained glass designer for almost twenty years by this time, in partnership with JH Nixon. When Nixon retired Henry Hughes, one of his pupils and a talented designer, took his place. After Ward’s death in 1870 Hughes was free to run things as he wanted. There was clearly a change of direction in the 1870s away from the now stale Gothic style towards a style influenced by the Aesthetic Movement. Henry Hughes died in 1883 and the firm was taken over by a relative of his, Thomas Figgis Curtis (1845-1924). Soon after, the firm’s output was signed “TF Curtis, Ward & Hughes”. The firm remained operational until the late 1920s, but most of the company’s archives have been lost, so little is known about this remarkable and enduring firm.

101 North Bonner Street

Washington, North Carolina

St. Peter's Episcopal Church was established in 1822, but the 1824 frame church was among the many Washington buildings destroyed by fire in May 1864, during the Union occupation of Washington in the American Civil War. The current church was completed in 1873; the parish hall and Brown Memorial Chapel, also on the church's site, were dedicated in 1927. Much of the town is in Washington Historic District (St. Peter's is one of 512 contributing buildings), added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 (79001661). Note the gazebo in Washington's Festival Park, on the Pamlico River (far right, below tree branches).

Press "L" for larger image, on black.

Harpers Ferry

St. Peter's Church (Latvian: Svētā Pētera Evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca) is a Lutheran church in Riga, the capital of Latvia, dedicated to Saint Peter. It is a parish church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia.

Artillery fire destroyed the church on 29 June 1941. Conservation and restoration began 1954 with research by architect Pēteris Saulītis. The work was carried out from 1967 to 1983 under the direction of Saulītis and architect Gunārs Zirnis.[5] Renovation began with the metal tower frame. A rooster – a precise reproduction of the previous rooster and the seventh rooster in all – was placed atop the steeple 21 August 1970. The renovated tower clock began to show time in July 1975. According to tradition, it has only an hour hand. The bell music began in 1976; it plays the Latvian folk melody "Rīga dimd" five times a day and bells ring at the top of every hour. The tower has an elevator installed that allows visitors a view of Riga from a height of 72 metres (236 ft). Renovation of the interior of the church ended in 1984. The Polish company "PKZ" restored the main facade and portals in 1987–91. The St. Peter's Latvian Lutheran congregation resumed services in the church 1991, and the church was returned to the ownership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia on 4 April 2006.

During World War II, the church lost an important object of cultural heritage - an impressive bronze candelabrum made in 1596 - which was taken to the town of Włocławek by Germans from Riga, resettled during "Heim ins Reich" action to annexed Polish territories. The 310 cm high and 378 cm wide candelabrum, previously called a standing lantern, was ordered by the City Council of Riga from the metal founder Hans Meyer’s Riga foundry. After the war, it was displayed in Włocławek's Basilica Cathedral of the St. Mary of Assumption. On 1 March 2012 this piece of the Late Renaissance art returned to its ancient home, as a result of an agreement on the repatriation of cultural properties. The statue of the rooster on the top of the church weighs 158 kg and 140 grams of gold were used to gold plate the statue. [6][7]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter's_Church%2C_Riga

Norwich, Norfolk, England

According to Wikipedia, "St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. After the two cathedrals, it is the largest church in Norwich and was built between 1430 and 1455."

Kirche St. Peter und Paul auf der Klosterinsel Reichenau

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The problem with Christian churches having an east-west configuration is that you always have a dark side which is perpetually in shadow. At least at St Peter's the stonework is light and there's plenty of room around the church. This is another spiral stairway to a turret, with a glimpse of the top of the tower behind.

Hallo ihr Lieben,

es ist Sonntag und damit Zeit für neuen Lesestoff. Diese Woche haben wir mal wieder etwas für unsere Natur- und Meerfreunde. Wir berichten euch über unseren Kurzurlaub an der Nordsee. Wir verbrachten einige sehr schöne, aber auch stürmische, Tage in St. Peter-Ording.

Ihr erfahrt wieso wir uns für ein paar Fotos durch Orkanböen Richtung Strand gekämpft haben und warum sich das Ganze dann doch gelohnt hat.

Lest hier was wir sonst noch alles erlebt haben:

hasches-abenteuer.de/

Instagram: hasche_

Wiggenhall St Peter's church is roofless and in ruins today although photographic evidence suggests it was largely intact until the 1920s.

The building is now cared-for by the Norfolk Historic Churches Trust, which maintains the structure. All the visible building is thought to date back to the 15th century, although the tower is set inside an earlier nave west-end in a very unusual fashion, creating a vaulted room in the resulting space.

www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/albums/7215767440478... to see the full set.

The building once had a southern aisle but this was demolished in 1840 and the original three-light windows were relocated into the aisle arches when these arches were infilled to became the new south wall. The original aisle pillars are now visible in many places on the south wall as the rubble in-fill has fallen away.

All the brick, flint rubble and stone walling is intact, though the roof, window glass and the majority of the stone tracery is missing. Details such as the human and animal corbels and headstops, window seats, etc, all survive. The tower was struck by lightning in August 2013.

Comparison with Wiggenhall St Germans, about a mile north, suggest the two buildings are similar in layout and contain similar material. Much of the building work may have been contemporaneous. The old font from St Peter's is now on display at St Germans.

Recent widening of the River Ouse and the raising of its embankments have encroached on the church so much that the brick revetment of the river bank virtually blocks the west door (see picture).

Simon Knott's 2005 comment from his Norfolk Churches website is displayed on the church notice board: "A landmark on the river, St Peter sits at the end of a long narrow lane with a few houses for company. It must be bleak in winter, but it was a pleasant spot on this bright and breezy day; I sat for a while and watched them bringing in the harvest in the field across the lane".

Just over two years have passed since my first visit to the ruins of St Peter's Seminary, when I took this photograph of Euan on the altar viewed from the main hall. The ruins were then fascinating and beautiful. I suppose, to an extent, they still are, but, despite having been added in 2007 to the World Monument Fund's '100 Most Endangered Sites', they are now a truly sad sight, and I can relate to what Frank Arneil Walker wrote of the ruins: "nothing prepares one for the sight of the new grown prematurely old." The altar has been smashed into several pieces, one small but still very heavy piece of which I took home with me; the beams of the roof have been burned and fallen; the ground is now totally covered with broken glass and tiles, burnt wood and other rubble.

I like that the wide-angle distortion makes Jocelyn appear to be giant in this photograph.

Cardross, 2010.

What craziness is this, a day in that London on a weekday? Well, working one day last weekend, and another next weekend, meant I took a day in Lieu.

So there.

And top of my list of places to visit was St Magnus. This would be the fifth time I have tried to get inside, and the first since I wrote to the church asking whether they would be open a particular Saturday, and then any Saturday. Letters which were ignored

So, I walked out of Monument Station, down the hill there was St Magnus: would it be open?

It was, and inside it was a box, nay a treasure chest of delights.

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St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge is a Church of England church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument to the Great Fire of London,[1] is part of the Diocese of London and under the pastoral care of the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Fulham.[2] It is a Grade I listed building.[3] The rector uses the title "Cardinal Rector". [4]

St Magnus lies on the original alignment of London Bridge between the City and Southwark. The ancient parish was united with that of St Margaret, New Fish Street, in 1670 and with that of St Michael, Crooked Lane, in 1831.[5] The three united parishes retained separate vestries and churchwardens.[6] Parish clerks continue to be appointed for each of the three parishes.[7]

St Magnus is the guild church of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers and the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, and the ward church of the Ward of Bridge and Bridge Without. It is also twinned with the Church of the Resurrection in New York City.[8]

Its prominent location and beauty has prompted many mentions in literature.[9] In Oliver Twist Charles Dickens notes how, as Nancy heads for her secret meeting with Mr. Brownlow and Rose Maylie on London Bridge, "the tower of old Saint Saviour's Church, and the spire of Saint Magnus, so long the giant-warders of the ancient bridge, were visible in the gloom". The church's spiritual and architectural importance is celebrated in the poem The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, who adds in a footnote that "the interior of St. Magnus Martyr is to my mind one of the finest among Wren's interiors".[10] One biographer of Eliot notes that at first he enjoyed St Magnus aesthetically for its "splendour"; later he appreciated its "utility" when he came there as a sinner.

The church is dedicated to St Magnus the Martyr, earl of Orkney, who died on 16 April in or around 1116 (the precise year is unknown).[12] He was executed on the island of Egilsay having been captured during a power struggle with his cousin, a political rival.[13] Magnus had a reputation for piety and gentleness and was canonised in 1135. St. Ronald, the son of Magnus's sister Gunhild Erlendsdotter, became Earl of Orkney in 1136 and in 1137 initiated the construction of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.[14] The story of St. Magnus has been retold in the 20th century in the chamber opera The Martyrdom of St Magnus (1976)[15] by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, based on George Mackay Brown's novel Magnus (1973).

he identity of the St Magnus referred to in the church's dedication was only confirmed by the Bishop of London in 1926.[16] Following this decision a patronal festival service was held on 16 April 1926.[17] In the 13th century the patronage was attributed to one of the several saints by the name of Magnus who share a feast day on 19 August, probably St Magnus of Anagni (bishop and martyr, who was slain in the persecution of the Emperor Decius in the middle of the 3rd century).[18] However, by the early 18th century it was suggested that the church was either "dedicated to the memory of St Magnus or Magnes, who suffer'd under the Emperor Aurelian in 276 [see St Mammes of Caesarea, feast day 17 August], or else to a person of that name, who was the famous Apostle or Bishop of the Orcades."[19] For the next century historians followed the suggestion that the church was dedicated to the Roman saint of Cæsarea.[20] The famous Danish archaeologist Professor Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae (1821–85) promoted the attribution to St Magnus of Orkney during his visit to the British Isles in 1846-7, when he was formulating the concept of the 'Viking Age',[21] and a history of London written in 1901 concluded that "the Danes, on their second invasion ... added at least two churches with Danish names, Olaf and Magnus".[22] A guide to the City Churches published in 1917 reverted to the view that St Magnus was dedicated to a martyr of the third century,[23] but the discovery of St Magnus of Orkney's relics in 1919 renewed interest in a Scandinavian patron and this connection was encouraged by the Rector who arrived in 1921

A metropolitan bishop of London attended the Council of Arles in 314, which indicates that there must have been a Christian community in Londinium by this date, and it has been suggested that a large aisled building excavated in 1993 near Tower Hill can be compared with the 4th-century Cathedral of St Tecla in Milan.[25] However, there is no archaeological evidence to suggest that any of the mediaeval churches in the City of London had a Roman foundation.[26] A grant from William I in 1067 to Westminster Abbey, which refers to the stone church of St Magnus near the bridge ("lapidee eccle sci magni prope pontem"), is generally accepted to be 12th century forgery,[27] and it is possible that a charter of confirmation in 1108-16 might also be a later fabrication.[28] Nonetheless, these manuscripts may preserve valid evidence of a date of foundation in the 11th century.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the area of the bridgehead was not occupied from the early 5th century until the early 10th century. Environmental evidence indicates that the area was waste ground during this period, colonised by elder and nettles. Following Alfred's decision to reoccupy the walled area of London in 886, new harbours were established at Queenhithe and Billingsgate. A bridge was in place by the early 11th century, a factor which would have encouraged the occupation of the bridgehead by craftsmen and traders.[30] A lane connecting Botolph's Wharf and Billingsgate to the rebuilt bridge may have developed by the mid-11th century. The waterfront at this time was a hive of activity, with the construction of embankments sloping down from the riverside wall to the river. Thames Street appeared in the second half of the 11th century immediately behind (north of) the old Roman riverside wall and in 1931 a piling from this was discovered during the excavation of the foundations of a nearby building. It now stands at the base of the church tower.[31] St Magnus was built to the south of Thames Street to serve the growing population of the bridgehead area[32] and was certainly in existence by 1128-33.[33]

The small ancient parish[34] extended about 110 yards along the waterfront either side of the old bridge, from 'Stepheneslane' (later Churchehawlane or Church Yard Alley) and 'Oystergate' (later called Water Lane or Gully Hole) on the West side to 'Retheresgate' (a southern extension of Pudding Lane) on the East side, and was centred on the crossroads formed by Fish Street Hill (originally Bridge Street, then New Fish Street) and Thames Street.[35] The mediaeval parish also included Drinkwater's Wharf (named after the owner, Thomas Drinkwater), which was located immediately West of the bridge, and Fish Wharf, which was to the South of the church. The latter was of considerable importance as the fishmongers had their shops on the wharf. The tenement was devised by Andrew Hunte to the Rector and Churchwardens in 1446.[36] The ancient parish was situated in the South East part of Bridge Ward, which had evolved in the 11th century between the embankments to either side of the bridge.[37]

In 1182 the Abbot of Westminster and the Prior of Bermondsey agreed that the advowson of St Magnus should be divided equally between them. Later in the 1180s, on their presentation, the Archdeacon of London inducted his nephew as parson.

Between the late Saxon period and 1209 there was a series of wooden bridges across the Thames, but in that year a stone bridge was completed.[39] The work was overseen by Peter de Colechurch, a priest and head of the Fraternity of the Brethren of London Bridge. The Church had from early times encouraged the building of bridges and this activity was so important it was perceived to be an act of piety - a commitment to God which should be supported by the giving of alms. London’s citizens made gifts of land and money "to God and the Bridge".[40] The Bridge House Estates became part of the City's jurisdiction in 1282.

Until 1831 the bridge was aligned with Fish Street Hill, so the main entrance into the City from the south passed the West door of St Magnus on the north bank of the river.[41] The bridge included a chapel dedicated to St Thomas Becket[42] for the use of pilgrims journeying to Canterbury Cathedral to visit his tomb.[43] The chapel and about two thirds of the bridge were in the parish of St Magnus. After some years of rivalry a dispute arose between the church and the chapel over the offerings given to the chapel by the pilgrims. The matter was resolved by the brethren of the chapel making an annual contribution to St Magnus.[44] At the Reformation the chapel was turned into a house and later a warehouse, the latter being demolished in 1757-58.

The church grew in importance. On 21 November 1234 a grant of land was made to the parson of St Magnus for the enlargement of the church.[45] The London eyre of 1244 recorded that in 1238 "A thief named William of Ewelme of the county of Buckingham fled to the church of St. Magnus the Martyr, London, and there acknowledged the theft and abjured the realm. He had no chattels."[46] Another entry recorded that "The City answers saying that the church of ... St. Magnus the Martyr ... which [is] situated on the king's highway ... ought to belong to the king and be in his gift".[47] The church presumably jutted into the road running to the bridge, as it did in later times.[48] In 1276 it was recorded that "the church of St. Magnus the Martyr is worth £15 yearly and Master Geoffrey de la Wade now holds it by the grant of the prior of Bermundeseie and the abbot of Westminster to whom King Henry conferred the advowson by his charter.

In 1274 "came King Edward and his wife [Eleanor] from the Holy Land and were crowned at Westminster on the Sunday next after the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady [15 August], being the Feast of Saint Magnus [19 August]; and the Conduit in Chepe ran all the day with red wine and white wine to drink, for all such as wished."[50] Stow records that "in the year 1293, for victory obtained by Edward I against the Scots, every citizen, according to their several trade, made their several show, but especially the fishmongers" whose solemn procession including a knight "representing St Magnus, because it was upon St Magnus' day".

An important religious guild, the Confraternity de Salve Regina, was in existence by 1343, having been founded by the "better sort of the Parish of St Magnus" to sing the anthem 'Salve Regina' every evening.[51] The Guild certificates of 1389 record that the Confraternity of Salve Regina and the guild of St Thomas the Martyr in the chapel on the bridge, whose members belonged to St Magnus parish, had determined to become one, to have the anthem of St Thomas after the Salve Regina and to devote their united resources to restoring and enlarging the church of St Magnus.[52] An Act of Parliament of 1437[53] provided that all incorporated fraternities and companies should register their charters and have their ordinances approved by the civic authorities.[54] Fear of enquiry into their privileges may have led established fraternities to seek a firm foundation for their rights. The letters patent of the fraternity of St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr of Salve Regina in St Magnus dated 26 May 1448 mention that the fraternity had petitioned for a charter on the grounds that the society was not duly founded.

In the mid-14th century the Pope was the Patron of the living and appointed five rectors to the benefice.[56]

Henry Yevele, the master mason whose work included the rebuilding of Westminster Hall and the naves of Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral, was a parishioner and rebuilt the chapel on London Bridge between 1384 and 1397. He served as a warden of London Bridge and was buried at St Magnus on his death in 1400. His monument was extant in John Stow's time, but was probably destroyed by the fire of 1666.[57]

Yevele, as the King’s Mason, was overseen by Geoffrey Chaucer in his capacity as the Clerk of the King's Works. In The General Prologue of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales the five guildsmen "were clothed alle in o lyveree Of a solempne and a greet fraternitee"[58] and may be thought of as belonging to the guild in the parish of St Magnus, or one like it.[59] Chaucer's family home was near to the bridge in Thames Street.

n 1417 a dispute arose concerning who should take the place of honour amongst the rectors in the City churches at the Whit Monday procession, a place that had been claimed from time to time by the rectors of St Peter Cornhill, St Magnus the Martyr and St Nicholas Cole Abbey. The Mayor and Aldermen decided that the Rector of St Peter Cornhill should take precedence.[61]

St Magnus Corner at the north end of London Bridge was an important meeting place in mediaeval London, where notices were exhibited, proclamations read out and wrongdoers punished.[62] As it was conveniently close to the River Thames, the church was chosen by the Bishop between the 15th and 17th centuries as a convenient venue for general meetings of the clergy in his diocese.[63] Dr John Young, Bishop of Callipolis (rector of St Magnus 1514-15) pronounced judgement on 16 December 1514 (with the Bishop of London and in the presence of Thomas More, then under-sheriff of London) in the heresy case concerning Richard Hunne.[64]

In pictures from the mid-16th century the old church looks very similar to the present-day St Giles without Cripplegate in the Barbican.[65] According to the martyrologist John Foxe, a woman was imprisoned in the 'cage' on London Bridge in April 1555 and told to "cool herself there" for refusing to pray at St Magnus for the recently deceased Pope Julius III.[66]

Simon Lowe, a Member of Parliament and Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company during the reign of Queen Mary and one of the jurors who acquitted Sir Nicholas Throckmorton in 1554, was a parishioner.[67] He was a mourner at the funeral of Maurice Griffith, Bishop of Rochester from 1554 to 1558 and Rector of St Magnus from 1537 to 1558, who was interred in the church on 30 November 1558 with much solemnity. In accordance with the Catholic church's desire to restore ecclesiastical pageantry in England, the funeral was a splendid affair, ending in a magnificent dinner.

Lowe was included in a return of recusants in the Diocese of Rochester in 1577,[69] but was buried at St Magnus on 6 February 1578.[70] Stow refers to his monument in the church. His eldest son, Timothy (died 1617), was knighted in 1603. His second son, Alderman Sir Thomas Lowe (1550–1623), was Master of the Haberdashers' Company on several occasions, Sheriff of London in 1595/96, Lord Mayor in 1604/05 and a Member of Parliament for London.[71] His youngest son, Blessed John Lowe (1553–1586), having originally been a Protestant minister, converted to Roman Catholicism, studied for the priesthood at Douay and Rome and returned to London as a missionary priest.[72] His absence had already been noted; a list of 1581 of "such persons of the Diocese of London as have any children ... beyond the seas" records "John Low son to Margaret Low of the Bridge, absent without licence four years". Having gained 500 converts to Catholicism between 1583 and 1586, he was arrested whilst walking with his mother near London Bridge, committed to The Clink and executed at Tyburn on 8 October 1586.[73] He was beatified in 1987 as one of the eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales.

Sir William Garrard, Master of the Haberdashers' Company, Alderman, Sheriff of London in 1553/53, Lord Mayor in 1555/56 and a Member of Parliament was born in the parish and buried at St Magnus in 1571.[74] Sir William Romney, merchant, philanthropist, Master of the Haberdashers' Company, Alderman for Bridge Within and Sheriff of London in 1603/04[75] was married at St Magnus in 1582. Ben Jonson is believed to have been married at St Magnus in 1594.[76]

The patronage of St Magnus, having previously been in the Abbots and Convents of Westminster and Bermondsey (who presented alternatively), fell to the Crown on the suppression of the monasteries. In 1553, Queen Mary, by letters patent, granted it to the Bishop of London and his successors.[77]

The church had a series of distinguished rectors in the second half of the 16th and first half of the 17th century, including Myles Coverdale (Rector 1564-66), John Young (Rector 1566-92), Theophilus Aylmer (Rector 1592-1625), (Archdeacon of London and son of John Aylmer), and Cornelius Burges (Rector 1626-41). Coverdale was buried in the chancel of St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange, but when that church was pulled down in 1840 his remains were removed to St Magnus.[78]

On 5 November 1562 the churchwardens were ordered to break, or cause to be broken, in two parts all the altar stones in the church.[79] Coverdale, an anti-vestiarian, was Rector at the peak of the vestments controversy. In March 1566 Archbishop Parker caused great consternation among many clergy by his edicts prescribing what was to be worn and by his summoning the London clergy to Lambeth to require their compliance. Coverdale excused himself from attending.[80] Stow records that a non-conforming Scot who normally preached at St Magnus twice a day precipitated a fight on Palm Sunday 1566 at Little All Hallows in Thames Street with his preaching against vestments.[81] Coverdale's resignation from St Magnus in summer 1566 may have been associated with these events. Separatist congregations started to emerge after 1566 and the first such, who called themselves 'Puritans' or 'Unspottyd Lambs of the Lord', was discovered close to St Magnus at Plumbers' Hall in Thames Street on 19 June 1567.

St Magnus narrowly escaped destruction in 1633. A later edition of Stow's Survey records that "On the 13th day of February, between eleven and twelve at night, there happened in the house of one Briggs, a Needle-maker near St Magnus Church, at the North end of the Bridge, by the carelessness of a Maid-Servant setting a tub of hot sea-coal ashes under a pair of stairs, a sad and lamentable fire, which consumed all the buildings before eight of the clock the next morning, from the North end of the Bridge to the first vacancy on both sides, containing forty-two houses; water then being very scarce, the Thames being almost frozen over."[83] Susannah Chambers "by her last will & testament bearing date 28th December 1640 gave the sum of Twenty-two shillings and Sixpence Yearly for a Sermon to be preached on the 12th day of February in every Year within the Church of Saint Magnus in commemoration of God's merciful preservation of the said Church of Saint Magnus from Ruin, by the late and terrible Fire on London Bridge. Likewise Annually to the Poor the sum of 17/6."[84] The tradition of a "Fire Sermon" was revived on 12 February 2004, when the first preacher was the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres, Bishop of London.

Parliamentarian rule and the more Protestant ethos of the 1640s led to the removal or destruction of "superstitious" and "idolatrous" images and fittings. Glass painters such as Baptista Sutton, who had previously installed "Laudian innovations", found new employment by repairing and replacing these to meet increasingly strict Protestant standards. In January 1642 Sutton replaced 93 feet of glass at St Magnus and in June 1644 he was called back to take down the "painted imagery glass" and replace it.[86] In June 1641 "rail riots" broke out at a number of churches. This was a time of high tension following the trial and execution of the Earl of Strafford and rumours of army and popish plots were rife. The Protestation Oath, with its pledge to defend the true religion "against all Popery and popish innovation", triggered demands from parishioners for the removal of the rails as popish innovations which the Protestation had bound them to reform. The minister arranged a meeting between those for and against the pulling down of the rails, but was unsuccessful in reaching a compromise and it was feared that they would be demolished by force.[87] However, in 1663 the parish resumed Laudian practice and re-erected rails around its communion table.[88]

Joseph Caryl was incumbent from 1645 until his ejection in 1662. In 1663 he was reportedly living near London Bridge and preaching to an Independent congregation that met at various places in the City.[89]

During the Great Plague of 1665, the City authorities ordered fires to be kept burning night and day, in the hope that the air would be cleansed. Daniel Defoe's semi-fictictional, but highly realistic, work A Journal of the Plague Year records that one of these was "just by St Magnus Church"

Despite its escape in 1633, the church was one of the first buildings to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.[91] St Magnus stood less than 300 yards from the bakehouse of Thomas Farriner in Pudding Lane where the fire started. Farriner, a former churchwarden of St Magnus, was buried in the middle aisle of the church on 11 December 1670, perhaps within a temporary structure erected for holding services.[92]

The parish engaged the master mason George Dowdeswell to start the work of rebuilding in 1668. The work was carried forward between 1671 and 1687 under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, the body of the church being substantially complete by 1676.[93] At a cost of £9,579 19s 10d St Magnus was one of Wren's most expensive churches.[94] The church of St Margaret New Fish Street was not rebuilt after the fire and its parish was united to that of St Magnus.

The chancels of many of Wren’s city churches had chequered marble floors and the chancel of St Magnus is an example,[95] the parish agreeing after some debate to place the communion table on a marble ascent with steps[96] and to commission altar rails of Sussex wrought iron. The nave and aisles are paved with freestone flags. A steeple, closely modelled on one built between 1614 and 1624 by François d'Aguilon and Pieter Huyssens for the church of St Carolus Borromeus in Antwerp, was added between 1703 and 1706.[97] London's skyline was transformed by Wren's tall steeples and that of St Magnus is considered to be one his finest.[98]

The large clock projecting from the tower was a well-known landmark in the city as it hung over the roadway of Old London Bridge.[99] It was presented to the church in 1709 by Sir Charles Duncombe[100] (Alderman for the Ward of Bridge Within and, in 1708/09, Lord Mayor of London). Tradition says "that it was erected in consequence of a vow made by the donor, who, in the earlier part of his life, had once to wait a considerable time in a cart upon London Bridge, without being able to learn the hour, when he made a promise, that if he ever became successful in the world, he would give to that Church a public clock ... that all passengers might see the time of day."[101] The maker was Langley Bradley, a clockmaker in Fenchurch Street, who had worked for Wren on many other projects, including the clock for the new St Paul's Cathedral. The sword rest in the church, designed to hold the Lord Mayor's sword and mace when he attended divine service "in state", dates from 1708.

Duncombe and his benefactions to St Magnus feature prominently in Daniel Defoe's The True-Born Englishman, a biting satire on critics of William III that went through several editions from 1700 (the year in which Duncombe was elected Sheriff).

Shortly before his death in 1711, Duncombe commissioned an organ for the church, the first to have a swell-box, by Abraham Jordan (father and son).[103] The Spectator announced that "Whereas Mr Abraham Jordan, senior and junior, have, with their own hands, joinery excepted, made and erected a very large organ in St Magnus' Church, at the foot of London Bridge, consisting of four sets of keys, one of which is adapted to the art of emitting sounds by swelling notes, which never was in any organ before; this instrument will be publicly opened on Sunday next [14 February 1712], the performance by Mr John Robinson. The above-said Abraham Jordan gives notice to all masters and performers, that he will attend every day next week at the said Church, to accommodate all those gentlemen who shall have a curiosity to hear it".[104]

The organ case, which remains in its original state, is looked upon as one of the finest existing examples of the Grinling Gibbons's school of wood carving.[105] The first organist of St Magnus was John Robinson (1682–1762), who served in that role for fifty years and in addition as organist of Westminster Abbey from 1727. Other organists have included the blind organist George Warne (1792–1868, organist 1820-26 until his appointment to the Temple Church), James Coward (1824–80, organist 1868-80 who was also organist to the Crystal Palace and renowned for his powers of improvisation) and George Frederick Smith FRCO (1856–1918, organist 1880-1918 and Professor of Music at the Guildhall School of Music).[106] The organ has been restored several times - in 1760, 1782, 1804, 1855, 1861, 1879, 1891, 1924, 1949 after wartime damage and 1997 - since it was first built.[107] Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was one of several patrons of the organ appeal in the mid-1990s[108] and John Scott gave an inaugural recital on 20 May 1998 following the completion of that restoration.[109] The instrument has an Historic Organ Certificate and full details are recorded in the National Pipe Organ Register.[110]

The hymn tune "St Magnus", usually sung at Ascensiontide to the text "The head that once was crowned with thorns", was written by Jeremiah Clarke in 1701 and named for the church.

Canaletto drew St Magnus and old London Bridge as they appeared in the late 1740s.[112] Between 1756 and 1762, under the London Bridge Improvement Act of 1756 (c. 40), the Corporation of London demolished the buildings on London Bridge to widen the roadway, ease traffic congestion and improve safety for pedestrians.[113] The churchwardens’ accounts of St Magnus list many payments to those injured on the Bridge and record that in 1752 a man was crushed to death between two carts.[114] After the House of Commons had resolved upon the alteration of London Bridge, the Rev Robert Gibson, Rector of St Magnus, applied to the House for relief; stating that 48l. 6s. 2d. per annum, part of his salary of 170l. per annum, was assessed upon houses on London Bridge; which he should utterly lose by their removal unless a clause in the bill about to be passed should provide a remedy.[115] Accordingly, Sections 18 and 19 of 1756 Act provided that the relevant amounts of tithe and poor rate should be a charge on the Bridge House Estates.[116]

A serious fire broke out on 18 April 1760 in an oil shop at the south east corner of the church, which consumed most of the church roof and did considerable damage to the fabric. The fire burnt warehouses to the south of the church and a number of houses on the northern end of London Bridge.

As part of the bridge improvements, overseen by the architect Sir Robert Taylor, a new pedestrian walkway was built along the eastern side of the bridge. With the other buildings gone St Magnus blocked the new walkway.[117] As a consequence it was necessary in 1762 to 1763 to remove the vestry rooms at the West end of the church and open up the side arches of the tower so that people could pass underneath the tower.[118] The tower’s lower storey thus became an external porch. Internally a lobby was created at the West end under the organ gallery and a screen with fine octagonal glazing inserted. A new Vestry was built to the South of the church.[119] The Act also provided that the land taken from the church for the widening was "to be considered ... as part of the cemetery of the said church ... but if the pavement thereof be broken up on account of the burying of any persons, the same shall be ... made good ... by the churchwardens"

Soldiers were stationed in the Vestry House of St Magnus during the Gordon Riots in June 1780.[121]

By 1782 the noise level from the activities of Billingsgate Fish Market had become unbearable and the large windows on the north side of the church were blocked up leaving only circular windows high up in the wall.[122] At some point between the 1760s and 1814 the present clerestory was constructed with its oval windows and fluted and coffered plasterwork.[123] J. M. W. Turner painted the church in the mid-1790s.[124]

The rector of St Magnus between 1792 and 1808, following the death of Robert Gibson on 28 July 1791,[125] was Thomas Rennell FRS. Rennell was President of Sion College in 1806/07. There is a monument to Thomas Leigh (Rector 1808-48 and President of Sion College 1829/30,[126] at St Peter's Church, Goldhanger in Essex.[127] Richard Hazard (1761–1837) was connected with the church as sexton, parish clerk and ward beadle for nearly 50 years[128] and served as Master of the Parish Clerks' Company in 1831/32.[129]

In 1825 the church was "repaired and beautified at a very considerable expense. During the reparation the east window, which had been closed, was restored, and the interior of the fabric conformed to the state in which it was left by its great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. The magnificent organ ... was taken down and rebuilt by Mr Parsons, and re-opened, with the church, on the 12th February, 1826".[130] Unfortunately, as a contemporary writer records, "On the night of the 31st of July, 1827, [the church's] safety was threatened by the great fire which consumed the adjacent warehouses, and it is perhaps owing to the strenuous and praiseworthy exertions of the firemen, that the structure exists at present. ... divine service was suspended and not resumed until the 20th January 1828. In the interval the church received such tasteful and elegant decorations, that it may now compete with any church in the metropolis.

In 1823 royal assent was given to ‘An Act for the Rebuilding of London Bridge’ and in 1825 John Garratt, Lord Mayor and Alderman of the Ward of Bridge Within, laid the first stone of the new London Bridge.[132] In 1831 Sir John Rennie’s new bridge was opened further upstream and the old bridge demolished. St Magnus ceased to be the gateway to London as it had been for over 600 years. Peter de Colechurch[133] had been buried in the crypt of the chapel on the bridge and his bones were unceremoniously dumped in the River Thames.[134] In 1921 two stones from Old London Bridge were discovered across the road from the church. They now stand in the churchyard.

Wren's church of St Michael Crooked Lane was demolished, the final service on Sunday 20 March 1831 having to be abandoned due to the effects of the building work. The Rector of St Michael preached a sermon the following Sunday at St Magnus lamenting the demolition of his church with its monuments and "the disturbance of the worship of his parishioners on the preceeding Sabbath".[135] The parish of St Michael Crooked Lane was united to that of St Magnus, which itself lost a burial ground in Church Yard Alley to the approach road for the new bridge.[136] However, in substitution it had restored to it the land taken for the widening of the old bridge in 1762 and was also given part of the approach lands to the east of the old bridge.[137] In 1838 the Committee for the London Bridge Approaches reported to Common Council that new burial grounds had been provided for the parishes of St Michael, Crooked Lane and St Magnus, London Bridge.

Depictions of St Magnus after the building of the new bridge, seen behind Fresh Wharf and the new London Bridge Wharf, include paintings by W. Fenoulhet in 1841 and by Charles Ginner in 1913.[139] This prospect was affected in 1924 by the building of Adelaide House to a design by John James Burnet,[140] The Times commenting that "the new ‘architectural Matterhorn’ ... conceals all but the tip of the church spire".[141] There was, however, an excellent view of the church for a few years between the demolition of Adelaide Buildings and the erection of its replacement.[142] Adelaide House is now listed.[143] Regis House, on the site of the abandoned King William Street terminus of the City & South London Railway (subsequently the Northern Line),[144] and the Steam Packet Inn, on the corner of Lower Thames Street and Fish Street Hill,[145] were developed in 1931.

By the early 1960s traffic congestion had become a problem[147] and Lower Thames Street was widened over the next decade[148] to form part of a significant new east-west transport artery (the A3211).[149] The setting of the church was further affected by the construction of a new London Bridge between 1967 and 1973.[150] The New Fresh Wharf warehouse to the east of the church, built in 1939, was demolished in 1973-4 following the collapse of commercial traffic in the Pool of London[151] and, after an archaeological excavation,[152] St Magnus House was constructed on the site in 1978 to a design by R. Seifert & Partners.[153] This development now allows a clear view of the church from the east side.[154] The site to the south east of The Monument (between Fish Street Hill and Pudding Lane), formerly predominantly occupied by fish merchants,[155] was redeveloped as Centurion House and Gartmore (now Providian) House at the time of the closure of old Billingsgate Market in January 1982.[156] A comprehensive redevelopment of Centurion House began in October 2011 with completion planned in 2013.[157] Regis House, to the south west of The Monument, was redeveloped by Land Securities PLC in 1998.[158]

The vista from The Monument south to the River Thames, over the roof of St Magnus, is protected under the City of London Unitary Development Plan,[159] although the South bank of the river is now dominated by The Shard. Since 2004 the City of London Corporation has been exploring ways of enhancing the Riverside Walk to the south of St Magnus.[160] Work on a new staircase to connect London Bridge to the Riverside Walk is due to commence in March 2013.[161] The story of St Magnus's relationship with London Bridge and an interview with the rector featured in the television programme The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank, first broadcast on BBC Four on 14 June 2012.[162] The City Corporation's 'Fenchurch and Monument Area Enhancement Strategy' of August 2012 recommended ways of reconnecting St Magnus and the riverside to the area north of Lower Thames Street.

A lectureship at St Michael Crooked Lane, which was transferred to St Magnus in 1831, was endowed by the wills of Thomas and Susannah Townsend in 1789 and 1812 respectively.[164] The Revd Henry Robert Huckin, Headmaster of Repton School from 1874 to 1882, was appointed Townsend Lecturer at St Magnus in 1871.[165]

St Magnus narrowly escaped damage from a major fire in Lower Thames Street in October 1849.

During the second half of the 19th century the rectors were Alexander McCaul, DD (1799–1863, Rector 1850-63), who coined the term 'Judaeo Christian' in a letter dated 17 October 1821,[167] and his son Alexander Israel McCaul (1835–1899, curate 1859-63, rector 1863-99). The Revd Alexander McCaul Sr[168] was a Christian missionary to the Polish Jews, who (having declined an offer to become the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem)[169] was appointed professor of Hebrew and rabbinical literature at King's College, London in 1841. His daughter, Elizabeth Finn (1825–1921), a noted linguist, founded the Distressed Gentlefolk Aid Association (now known as Elizabeth Finn Care).[170]

In 1890 it was reported that the Bishop of London was to hold an inquiry as to the desirability of uniting the benefices of St George Botolph Lane and St Magnus. The expectation was a fusion of the two livings, the demolition of St George’s and the pensioning of "William Gladstone’s favourite Canon", Malcolm MacColl. Although services ceased there, St George’s was not demolished until 1904. The parish was then merged with St Mary at Hill rather than St Magnus.[171]

The patronage of the living was acquired in the late 19th century by Sir Henry Peek Bt. DL MP, Senior Partner of Peek Brothers & Co of 20 Eastcheap, the country's largest firm of wholesale tea brokers and dealers, and Chairman of the Commercial Union Assurance Co. Peek was a generous philanthropist who was instrumental in saving both Wimbledon Common and Burnham Beeches from development. His grandson, Sir Wilfred Peek Bt. DSO JP, presented a cousin, Richard Peek, as rector in 1904. Peek, an ardent Freemason, held the office of Grand Chaplain of England. The Times recorded that his memorial service in July 1920 "was of a semi-Masonic character, Mr Peek having been a prominent Freemason".[172] In June 1895 Peek had saved the life of a young French girl who jumped overboard from a ferry midway between Dinard and St Malo in Brittany and was awarded the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society and the Gold Medal 1st Class of the Sociâetâe Nationale de Sauvetage de France.[173]

In November 1898 a memorial service was held at St Magnus for Sir Stuart Knill Bt. (1824–1898), head of the firm of John Knill and Co, wharfingers, and formerly Lord Mayor and Master of the Plumbers' Company.[174] This was the first such service for a Roman Catholic taken in an Anglican church.[175] Sir Stuart's son, Sir John Knill Bt. (1856-1934), also served as Alderman for the Ward of Bridge Within, Lord Mayor and Master of the Plumbers' Company.

Until 1922 the annual Fish Harvest Festival was celebrated at St Magnus.[176] The service moved in 1923 to St Dunstan in the East[177] and then to St Mary at Hill, but St Magnus retained close links with the local fish merchants until the closure of old Billingsgate Market. St Magnus, in the 1950s, was "buried in the stink of Billingsgate fish-market, against which incense was a welcome antidote".

A report in 1920 proposed the demolition of nineteen City churches, including St Magnus.[179] A general outcry from members of the public and parishioners alike prevented the execution of this plan.[180] The members of the City Livery Club passed a resolution that they regarded "with horror and indignation the proposed demolition of 19 City churches" and pledged the Club to do everything in its power to prevent such a catastrophe.[181] T. S. Eliot wrote that the threatened churches gave "to the business quarter of London a beauty which its hideous banks and commercial houses have not quite defaced. ... the least precious redeems some vulgar street ... The loss of these towers, to meet the eye down a grimy lane, and of these empty naves, to receive the solitary visitor at noon from the dust and tumult of Lombard Street, will be irreparable and unforgotten."[182] The London County Council published a report concluding that St Magnus was "one of the most beautiful of all Wren's works" and "certainly one of the churches which should not be demolished without specially good reasons and after very full consideration."[183] Due to the uncertainty about the church's future, the patron decided to defer action to fill the vacancy in the benefice and a curate-in-charge temporarily took responsibility for the parish.[184] However, on 23 April 1921 it was announced that the Revd Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton would be the new Rector. The Times concluded that the appointment, with the Bishop’s approval, meant that the proposed demolition would not be carried out.[185] Fr Fynes-Clinton was inducted on 31 May 1921.[186]

The rectory, built by Robert Smirke in 1833-5, was at 39 King William Street.[187] A decision was taken in 1909 to sell the property, the intention being to purchase a new rectory in the suburbs, but the sale fell through and at the time of the 1910 Land Tax Valuations the building was being let out to a number of tenants. The rectory was sold by the diocese on 30 May 1921 for £8,000 to Ridgways Limited, which owned the adjoining premises.[188] The Vestry House adjoining the south west of the church, replacing the one built in the 1760s, may also have been by Smirke. Part of the burial ground of St Michael Crooked Lane, located between Fish Street Hill and King William Street, survived as an open space until 1987 when it was compulsorily purchased to facilitate the extension of the Docklands Light Railway into the City.[189] The bodies were reburied at Brookwood Cemetery.

The interior of the church was restored by Martin Travers in 1924, in a neo-baroque style,[191] reflecting the Anglo-Catholic character of the congregation[192] following the appointment of Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton as Rector.[193] Fr Fynes, as he was often known, served as Rector of St Magnus from 31 May 1921 until his death on 4 December 1959 and substantially beautified the interior of the church.[194]

Fynes-Clinton held very strong Anglo-Catholic views, and proceeded to make St Magnus as much like a baroque Roman Catholic church as possible. However, "he was such a loveable character with an old-world courtesy which was irresistible, that it was difficult for anyone to be unpleasant to him, however much they might disapprove of his views".[195] He generally said the Roman Mass in Latin; and in personality was "grave, grand, well-connected and holy, with a laconic sense of humour".[196] To a Protestant who had come to see Coverdale's monument he is reported to have said "We have just had a service in the language out of which he translated the Bible".[197] The use of Latin in services was not, however, without grammatical danger. A response from his parishioners of "Ora pro nobis" after "Omnes sancti Angeli et Archangeli" in the Litany of the Saints would elicit a pause and the correction "No, Orate pro nobis."

In 1922 Fynes-Clinton refounded the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina.[198] The Fraternity's badge[199] is shown in the stained glass window at the east end of the north wall of the church above the reredos of the Lady Chapel altar. He also erected a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham and arranged pilgrimages to the Norfolk shrine, where he was one of the founding Guardians.[200] In 1928 the journal of the Catholic League reported that St Magnus had presented a votive candle to the Shrine at Walsingham "in token of our common Devotion and the mutual sympathy and prayers that are we hope a growing bond between the peaceful country shrine and the church in the heart of the hurrying City, from the Altar of which the Pilgrimages regularly start".[201]

Fynes-Clinton was General Secretary of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union and its successor, the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, from 1906 to 1920 and served as Secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Eastern Churches Committee from 1920 to around 1924. A Solemn Requiem was celebrated at St Magnus in September 1921 for the late King Peter of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

At the midday service on 1 March 1922, J.A. Kensit, leader of the Protestant Truth Society, got up and protested against the form of worship.[202] The proposed changes to the church in 1924 led to a hearing in the Consistory Court of the Chancellor of the Diocese of London and an appeal to the Court of Arches.[203] Judgement was given by the latter Court in October 1924. The advowson was purchased in 1931, without the knowledge of the Rector and Parochial Church Council, by the evangelical Sir Charles King-Harman.[204] A number of such cases, including the purchase of the advowsons of Clapham and Hampstead Parish Churches by Sir Charles, led to the passage of the Benefices (Purchase of Rights of Patronage) Measure 1933.[205] This allowed the parishioners of St Magnus to purchase the advowson from Sir Charles King-Harman for £1,300 in 1934 and transfer it to the Patronage Board.

St Magnus was one of the churches that held special services before the opening of the second Anglo-Catholic Congress in 1923.[207] Fynes-Clinton[208] was the first incumbent to hold lunchtime services for City workers.[209] Pathé News filmed the Palm Sunday procession at St Magnus in 1935.[210] In The Towers of Trebizond, the novel by Rose Macauley published in 1956, Fr Chantry-Pigg's church is described as being several feet higher than St Mary’s Bourne Street and some inches above even St Magnus the Martyr.[211]

In July 1937 Fr Fynes-Clinton, with two members of his congregation, travelled to Kirkwall to be present at the 800th anniversary celebrations of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. During their stay they visited Egilsay and were shown the spot where St Magnus had been slain. Later Fr Fynes-Clinton was present at a service held at the roofless church of St Magnus on Egilsay, where he suggested to his host Mr Fryer, the minister of the Cathedral, that the congregations of Kirkwall and London should unite to erect a permanent stone memorial on the traditional site where Earl Magnus had been murdered. In 1938 a cairn was built of local stone on Egilsay. It stands 12 feet high and is 6 feet broad at its base. The memorial was dedicated on 7 September 1938 and a bronze inscription on the monument reads "erected by the Rector and Congregation of St Magnus the Martyr by London Bridge and the Minister and Congregation of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall to commemorate the traditional spot where Earl Magnus was slain, AD circa 1116 and to commemorate the Octocentenary of St Magnus Cathedral 1937"

A bomb which fell on London Bridge in 1940 during the Blitz of World War II blew out all the windows and damaged the plasterwork and the roof of the north aisle.[213] However, the church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950[214] and repaired in 1951, being re-opened for worship in June of that year by the Bishop of London, William Wand.[215] The architect was Laurence King.[216] Restoration and redecoration work has subsequently been carried out several times, including after a fire in the early hours of 4 November 1995.[217] Cleaning of the exterior stonework was completed in 2010.

Some minor changes were made to the parish boundary in 1954, including the transfer to St Magnus of an area between Fish Street Hill and Pudding Lane. The site of St Leonard Eastcheap, a church that was not rebuilt after the Great Fire, is therefore now in the parish of St Magnus despite being united to St Edmund the King.

Fr Fynes-Clinton marked the 50th anniversary of his priesthood in May 1952 with High Mass at St Magnus and lunch at Fishmongers' Hall.[218] On 20 September 1956 a solemn Mass was sung in St Magnus to commence the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the restoration of the Holy House at Walsingham in 1931. In the evening of that day a reception was held in the large chamber of Caxton Hall, when between three and four hundred guests assembled.[219]

Fr Fynes-Clinton was succeeded as rector in 1960 by Fr Colin Gill,[220] who remained as incumbent until his death in 1983.[221] Fr Gill was also closely connected with Walsingham and served as a Guardian between 1953 and 1983, including nine years as Master of the College of Guardians.[222] He celebrated the Mass at the first National Pilgrimage in 1959[223] and presided over the Jubilee celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Shrine in 1981, having been present at the Holy House's opening.[224] A number of the congregation of St Stephen's Lewisham moved to St Magnus around 1960, following temporary changes in the form of worship there.

In 1994 the Templeman Commission proposed a radical restructuring of the churches in the City Deanery. St Magnus was identified as one of the 12 churches that would remain as either a parish or an 'active' church.[226] However, the proposals were dropped following a public outcry and the consecration of a new Bishop of London.

The parish priest since 2003 has been Fr Philip Warner, who was previously priest-in-charge of St Mary's Church, Belgrade (Diocese in Europe) and Apokrisiarios for the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Since January 2004 there has been an annual Blessing of the Thames, with the congregations of St Magnus and Southwark Cathedral meeting in the middle of London Bridge.[227] On Sunday 3 July 2011, in anticipation of the feast of the translation of St Thomas Becket (7 July), a procession from St Magnus brought a relic of the saint to the middle of the bridge.[228]

David Pearson specially composed two new pieces, a communion anthem A Mhànais mo rùin (O Magnus of my love) and a hymn to St Magnus Nobilis, humilis, for performance at the church on the feast of St Magnus the Martyr, 16 April 2012.[229] St Magnus's organist, John Eady, has won composition competitions for new choral works at St Paul's Cathedral (a setting of Veni Sancte Spiritus first performed on 27 May 2012) and at Lincoln Cathedral (a setting of the Matin responsory for Advent first performed on 30 November 2013).[230]

In addition to liturgical music of a high standard, St Magnus is the venue for a wide range of musical events. The Clemens non Papa Consort, founded in 2005, performs in collaboration with the production team Concert Bites as the church's resident ensemble.[231] The church is used by The Esterhazy Singers for rehearsals and some concerts.[232] The band Mishaped Pearls performed at the church on 17 December 2011.[233] St Magnus featured in the television programme Jools Holland: London Calling, first broadcast on BBC2 on 9 June 2012.[234] The Platinum Consort made a promotional film at St Magnus for the release of their debut album In the Dark on 2 July 2012.[235]

The Friends of the City Churches had their office in the Vestry House of St Magnus until 2013.

Martin Travers modified the high altar reredos, adding paintings of Moses and Aaron and the Ten Commandments between the existing Corinthian columns and reconstructing the upper storey. Above the reredos Travers added a painted and gilded rood.[237] In the centre of the reredos there is a carved gilded pelican (an early Christian symbol of self-sacrifice) and a roundel with Baroque-style angels. The glazed east window, which can be seen in an early photograph of the church, appears to have been filled in at this time. A new altar with console tables was installed and the communion rails moved outwards to extend the size of the sanctuary. Two old door frames were used to construct side chapels and placed at an angle across the north-east and south-east corners of the church. One, the Lady Chapel, was dedicated to the Rector's parents in 1925 and the other was dedicated to Christ the King. Originally, a baroque aumbry was used for Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, but later a tabernacle was installed on the Lady Chapel altar and the aumbry was used to house a relic of the True Cross.

The interior was made to look more European by the removal of the old box pews and the installation of new pews with cut-down ends. Two new columns were inserted in the nave to make the lines regular. The Wren-period pulpit by the joiner William Grey[238] was opened up and provided with a soundboard and crucifix. Travers also designed the statue of St Magnus of Orkney, which stands in the south aisle, and the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham.[239]

On the north wall there is a Russian Orthodox icon, painted in 1908. The modern stations of the cross in honey-coloured Japanese oak are the work of Robert Randall and Ashley Sands.[240] One of the windows in the north wall dates from 1671 and came from Plumbers' Hall in Chequer Yard, Bush Lane, which was demolished in 1863 to make way for Cannon Street Railway Station.[241] A fireplace from the Hall was re-erected in the Vestry House. The other windows on the north side are by Alfred Wilkinson and date from 1952 to 1960. These show the arms of the Plumbers’, Fishmongers’ and Coopers’ Companies together with those of William Wand when Bishop of London and Geoffrey Fisher when Archbishop of Canterbury and (as noted above) the badge of the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina.

The stained glass windows in the south wall, which are by Lawrence Lee and date from 1949 to 1955, represent lost churches associated with the parish: St Magnus and his ruined church of Egilsay, St Margaret of Antioch with her lost church in New Fish Street (where the Monument to the Great Fire now stands), St Michael with his lost church of Crooked Lane (demolished to make way for the present King William Street) and St Thomas Becket with his chapel on Old London Bridge.[242]

The church possesses a fine model of Old London Bridge. One of the tiny figures on the bridge appears out of place in the mediaeval setting, wearing a policeman's uniform. This is a representation of the model-maker, David T. Aggett, who is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and was formerly in the police service.[243]

The Mischiefs by Fire Act 1708 and the Fires Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774 placed a requirement on every parish to keep equipment to fight fires. The church owns two historic fire engines that belonged to the parish of St Michael, Crooked Lane.[244] One of these is in storage at the Museum of London. The whereabouts of the other, which was misappropriated and sold at auction in 2003, is currently unknown.

In 1896 many bodies were disinterred from the crypt and reburied at the St Magnus's plot at Brookwood Cemetery, which remains the church's burial ground.

Prior to the Great Fire of 1666 the old tower had a ring of five bells, a small saints bell and a clock bell.[246] 47 cwt of bell metal was recovered[247] which suggests that the tenor was 13 or 14 cwt. The metal was used to cast three new bells, by William Eldridge of Chertsey in 1672,[248] with a further saints bell cast that year by Hodson.[249] In the absence of a tower, the tenor and saints bell were hung in a free standing timber structure, whilst the others remained unhung.[250]

A new tower was completed in 1704 and it is likely that these bells were transferred to it. However, the tenor became cracked in 1713 and it was decided to replace the bells with a new ring of eight.[251] The new bells, with a tenor of 21 cwt, were cast by Richard Phelps of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Between 1714 and 1718 (the exact date of which is unknown), the ring was increased to ten with the addition of two trebles given by two former ringing Societies, the Eastern Youths and the British Scholars.[252] The first peal was rung on 15 February 1724 of Grandsire Caters by the Society of College Youths. The second bell had to be recast in 1748 by Robert Catlin, and the tenor was recast in 1831 by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel,[253] just in time to ring for the opening of the new London Bridge. In 1843, the treble was said to be "worn out" and so was scrapped, together with the saints bell, while a new treble was cast by Thomas Mears.[254] A new clock bell was erected in the spire in 1846, provided by B R & J Moore, who had earlier purchased it from Thomas Mears.[255] This bell can still be seen in the tower from the street.

The 10 bells were removed for safe keeping in 1940 and stored in the churchyard. They were taken to Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1951 whereupon it was discovered that four of them were cracked. After a long period of indecision, fuelled by lack of funds and interest, the bells were finally sold for scrap in 1976. The metal was used to cast many of the Bells of Congress that were then hung in the Old Post Office Tower in Washington, D.C.

A fund was set up on 19 September 2005, led by Dickon Love, a member of the Ancient Society of College Youths, with a view to installing a new ring of 12 bells in the tower in a new frame. This was the first of three new rings of bells he has installed in the City of London (the others being at St Dunstan-in-the-West and St James Garlickhythe). The money was raised and the bells were cast during 2008/9 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The tenor weighed 26cwt 3qtr 9 lbs (1360 kg) and the new bells were designed to be in the same key as the former ring of ten. They were consecrated by the Bishop of London on 3 March 2009 in the presence of the Lord Mayor[256] and the ringing dedicated on 26 October 2009 by the Archdeacon of London.[257] The bells are named (in order smallest to largest) Michael, Margaret, Thomas of Canterbury, Mary, Cedd, Edward the Confessor, Dunstan, John the Baptist, Erkenwald, Paul, Mellitus and Magnus.[258] The bells project is recorded by an inscription in the vestibule of the church.

The first peal on the twelve was rung on 29 November 2009 of Cambridge Surprise Maximus.[260] Notable other recent peals include a peal of Stedman Cinques on 16 April 2011 to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter to the Plumbers' Company,[261] a peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal on 28 June 2011 when the Fishmongers' Company gave a dinner for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at their hall on the occasion of his 90th birthday[262] and a peal of Avon Delight Maximus on 24 July 2011 in solidarity with the people of Norway following the tragic massacre on Utoeya Island and in Oslo.[263] On the latter occasion the flag of the Orkney Islands was flown at half mast. In 2012 peals were rung during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June and during each of the three Olympic/Paralympic marathons, on 5 and 12 August and 9 September.

The BBC television programme, Still Ringing After All These Years: A Short History of Bells, broadcast on 14 December 2011, included an interview at St Magnus with the Tower Keeper, Dickon Love,[264] who was captain of the band that rang the "Royal Jubilee Bells" during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.[265] Prior to this, he taught John Barrowman to handle a bell at St Magnus for the BBC coverage.

The bells are currently rung every Sunday around 12:15 (following the service) by the Guild of St Magnus.

Every other June, newly elected wardens of the Fishmongers' Company, accompanied by the Court, proceed on foot from Fishmongers' Hall[267] to St Magnus for an election service.[268] St Magnus is also the Guild Church of The Plumbers' Company. Two former rectors have served as master of the company,[269] which holds all its services at the church.[270] On 12 April 2011 a service was held to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the granting of the company's Royal Charter at which the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres KCVO, gave the sermon and blessed the original Royal Charter. For many years the Cloker Service was held at St Magnus, attended by the Coopers' Company and Grocers' Company, at which the clerk of the Coopers' Company read the will of Henry Cloker dated 10 March 1573.[271]

St Magnus is also the ward church for the Ward of Bridge and Bridge Without, which elects one of the city's aldermen. Between 1550 and 1978 there were separate aldermen for Bridge Within and Bridge Without, the former ward being north of the river and the latter representing the City's area of control in Southwark. The Bridge Ward Club was founded in 1930 to "promote social activities and discussion of topics of local and general interest and also to exchange Ward and parochial information" and holds its annual carol service at St Magnus.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Magnus-the-Martyr

Annual Festival in St Peter's Church South Weald Village, near Brentwood Essex (UK) A few members of Brentwood & District Photographic Club were made very welcome. I took my 2002 Hasselblad 501CM with 120mm f4 'Macro-Planar and a Sunpak AutoZoom 3000 flash and 2006 dated KONICA VX 400 film

Inside St Peter's Church Rowley in monochrome 31 May 2018

The stained-glass windows in the apse were designed by Thomas Willement – for the original apse in the church that was completed in 1826. This was redesigned in 1858 and the windows altered so they would fit. Willement has been described as ‘the father of Victorian stained glass’ and was Heraldic Artist to George IV and then Artist in Stained Glass to Queen Victoria. He was also the first glassmaker to be commissioned by Pugin and was keen to maintain the methods of medieval glassmakers alongside heraldic glass, which then became less fashionable. As well as these windows locally, he also designed the rose windows at St Leonard’s in Charlecote and heraldic windows at Charlecote House itself.

The windows depict scenes from the life of St Peter. Also displayed are the Royal Arms of Mary Tudor and Philip of Spain – interestingly as, in the sixteenth century, Sir Thomas Lucy was very much involved with the search for recusant Catholic priests and the families who concealed them. There's also the coat of arms of the Bishop of Worcester and a representation of the arms and the three pikes of the Lucy family.

The Basilica di San Pietro, or St Peter`s, Rome , Italy,

This great building is the center of christianity. The opulence of the building's interior bears testimony to the wealth of the catholic church in the 16th century.

In a county full of Medieval churches I'd say St Peter's is one of the prettiest. And this year the estate have planted flax in front of it.

Get there now I'd say!

St. Peter's Island, Canton of Bern, Switzerland

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At the top centre, around the inside base of the dome lantern are inscribed in letters 2 metres high: S PETRI GLORIAE SIXTUS PP V A MDXC PONTIF V; or "To the glory of Saint Peter, Pope Sixtus V, in 1590 the fifth year of his pontificate"

{ Additional information is marked on the photo itself. You need to be using a PC, not a phone/tablet, and move your mouse over the photo to view these notations. }

Radiating down from here are sixteen vaulting rib framing the many figures depicted in mosaic tiles.

At the lowest level are lunettes with the busts of the 16 popes buried inside the basilica. Just above these are large figures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, St Joseph, John the Baptist and the 12 Apostles.

On the next level up are angels bearing instruments from Christ's Passion. In three more levels above them are smaller figures of angels and cherubs.

Saint Peters Basilica, Rome; July 2019

The Basilica of Saint Peter (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City in Rome. It occupies a "unique position" as one of the holiest sites and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom". In Catholic tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, was the first Bishop of Antioch, and later first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the papal succession. While St. Peter's is the most famous of Rome's many churches, it is not the first in rank, an honour held by the Pope's cathedral church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage, for its liturgical functions and for its historical associations. It is associated with the papacy, with the Counter-reformation and with numerous artists, most significantly Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. Contrary to popular misconception, Saint Peter's is not a cathedral, as it is not the seat of a bishop. It is properly termed a basilica. Like all the earliest churches in Rome, it has the entrance to the east and the apse at the west end of the building.

-wikipedia-

St Peter Mancrofts Church - Norwich

I have been doing the Kent church project for 11 years now, so I thought I knew most churches in Kent and all in East Kent, but just before Christmas a contact posted shots of a church I had not heard of before, St Peter-in-Thanet.

Once life settled down, I tried to arrange a visit before Christmas, that was impossible, but the church will be open every days from 2nd January I was told.

And as I had one more day off, why not start the year with a crawl?

I programmed the sat nav with the post code, and let it guide me to Sandwich then to Ramsgate and across the island via Westwood Cross, with the urban sprawl of Ramsgate and Broadstairs merging into one large town all around.

I saw the tower of St Peter from a mile away, surprisingly large. Nearer, I see that the area declares itself a village, also called St Peter, and there is a traditional village pub opposite.

I point out again at this point, the towns of Ramsgate and Broadstairs merge into one, St Peter is now part of Broadstairs. And indeed was the ancient centre of the town before the resort took off.

I park next to the church, present myself in the large and friendly parish offices next door, and told the church is open.

I just have to find which one of the half dozen doors into the church and vestry is actually unlocked.

I introduce myself, again, and they are happy to let me go around taking shots, whilst they water the multitude of plants. But they do stop to point out interesting details.

Nothing more fabulous that the highly decorated chancel; painted panels on the roof, painted beams, tiles and mosaics.

Even at first glance it is stunning.

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The medieval church of Broadstairs, St Peter's stands well inland to serve the original farming community that showed little interest in the coast that was to change the later life of this part of Kent. The tower, however, is easily visible from the sea and was long used as a landmark to shipping, which is why it still flies the White Ensign. Although the church was restored in the nineteenth century by Joseph Clarke and is stamped with the atmosphere he usually managed to create, there is some fine Norman architecture in the five bay aisle arcades (although the central arch in the south arcade is a later insertion into an inexplicable break in the Norman work). The chancel arch is of the thirteenth century and there is a good cut-down sedilia in the sanctuary. The delicate marble font is of eighteenth century date and there are some fine hanging wall tablets of the same period. The stained glass presents a good cross-section of the nineteenth century art, much of it by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=St+Peters

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ST. PETER'S

LIES the next parish south-eastward from St. John's, being so called from the dedication of the church of it to St. Peter. This parish is within the liberty and jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and is an antient member of the town and port of Dover, and though united to it ever since king Edward I.'s reign, yet so late as in that of king Henry VI. it became a dispute, whether this parish was not in the county at large; to take away therefore all doubt of it, that king, by his letters patent, united it to Dover, to which place, in like manner as St. John's above-mentioned, it is subsect in all matters of civil jurisdiction. The mayor of Dover here too appoints one of the inhabitants to be his deputy, who is chosen either yearly, or once in two or three years, at the mayor's pleasure; and to the charges of the sessions formerly held at Margate, this parish and Birchington used to contribute their proportion.

THE PARISH OF ST. PETER is as pleasant and healthy a situation as any in this island, the lands open and uninclosed, the soil a dry chalk, with frequent hill and dale interspersed throughout it. At Sowell hill, in the northern part of the parish, the land is reckoned to be the highest in the island. The village stands on a pleasing eminence, surrounded with trees, which is rather uncommon in these parts, having the church on the north-west side of it; at a little distance southward from which, is a small neat chapel, built by the sect of Methodists. Several genteel families reside in this village, situated about the middle of the parish, which is about two miles and a half across each way, and is bounded by the high chalk cliffs on the sea shore towards the north and east. It seems formerly to have been more populous than it is at present, for there were in the year 1563, as appeared by archbishop Parker's return to the orders of the privy council, one hundred and eighty-six housholds within this parish. Besides the village above mentioned, there are several other small hamlets and houses interspersed throughout it, viz. towards the south, Upton, Brompston, which is now the joint property of Henry Jessard, esq. and Mr. John Grey; Dumpton, great part of which extends into St. Laurence, it belongs to the earl of Hardwick; and Norwood. On the north-west side of the parish is Sacket's-hill, so called from its being the estate of an antient yeomanry family of this name, several of whom lie buried in this church, one of whom, John Sackett, as appears by his will, resided here and died possessed of his estate in this parish in 1444; on it there has been lately built a handsome house by Mr. King, for his summer residence, whose children are now possessed of it. In the northern part of the parish is the hamlet of Reading-street, southward of which is a small forstall, and then Sowell-street. In the eastern part of the parish, close to the cliffs, is Hackendon downe, or banks, where several antiquities have been dug up, as will be further mentioned hereafter; and the hamlet of Stone, formerly the residence of the Pawlyns, and then of the Huggets, where a few years ago Sir Charles Raymond, bart. built a small pleasant seat for his summer residence; Sir Harry Harper, bart. is the present owner of it. Not far from hence there formerly stood a beacon, which used to be fired to alarm the country in case of an invasion; a few years since some remains of the timber of it was dug up on the top of the Beacon-hill, about fifty five rods nearer to Stone than the present light-house.

¶About a mile and an half north-eastward from the church, at the extremity of the chalk cliff, is a point of land called the NORTH FORELAND, (suppofed by most to be the Cantium of Ptolemy) so called to distinguish it from the other Foreland, betwixt Deal and Dover, usually called the South Foreland; it is a promontory, or cape of land, that reaches further into the sea, and is somewhat higher than most of the land herebouts. On the top of it was formerly a house, built of timber, lath, and plaister work, with a large glass lanthorn on the top of it, in which a light was kept to direct ships in the night in their course, that they might keep clear of the Goodwin Sands, which lie off this point, and on which ships are apt to strike before they are aware, on account of their endeavouring to keep clear of this land, which extends so far into the sea. This house being by some accident burnt down in 1683, there was for some time a sort of beacon made use of, on which a light was hoisted; but about the latter end of the last century there was built here a strong house of flint, an octagon, on the top of which was an iron greate, quite open to the air, in which was made a blazing fire of coals. But about the year 1732, the top of this light-house was covered with a sort of lanthorn, with large sash lights, and the fire was kept burning by the help of bellows, which the light-men kept blowing all night. This invention was to save coals, but the sailors complained of it, as being very much to the prejudice of the navigation, many vessels being lost on the Goodwin Sands for want of seeing it, and indeed it was so little seen at sea, that some of the sailors asserted, they had in hazy weather seen the Foreland before they saw the light; whereas, before the lanthorn was placed here, when the fire was kept in the open air, as the wind kept the coals constantly alight, the blaze of it was seen in the air far above the light-house; complaint being made of this, the governors of Greenwich hospital ordered Sir John Thomson to view it, who ordered the lanthorn to be taken away, and the light-house to be made nearly the same as it was before, the light to continue burning all night and till day-light; since which, a few years ago, it was again repaired, and two stories of brick were raised on the former building. The height of it at present, including the small room in which the lights are kept, is somewhat more than one hundred feet; this room, which may be perhaps best described as a done raised on a decagon, is about ten feet in diameter, and twelve feet high; it is coated with copper, as is the gallery round it, to prevent fires. From the gallery there is a very extensive view, of which a conception may be formed from these lights being visible in clear weather at the Nore, which is ten leagues distant; in each of the sides of the decagon, towards the sea, is a patent lamp, kept burning all night, with a reflector and magnifier, the latter being very large. The whole building is white-washed, except the light room on the top; and all the rooms in it are used by the man and his family, who take care of it. (fn. 1) To the repair and maintenance of this light-house, every ship belonging to Great Britain, which sails by this Foreland, is obliged to pay two-pence for each ton; and every foreigner four-pence. It is under the direction of the governors of Greenwich hospital, in whom it is vested. There is a signal house between the North Foreland and Stonehouse, erected in 1795, the establishment of it is a lieutenant and midshipman of the navy, and two men.

Here were two fairs formerly kept every year, one on June 29, being St. Peter's day; and the other on March 25, being Lady-day; but they have for several years past been changed to the 10th of july, and the 5th of April.

The manor of Minster claims paramount over the greatest part of this parish; the landholders holding of it, by a certain rent called Pennygavel. Subordinate to this manor is that of

Near this place, in 1574, a monstrous fish shot himself on shore on a little sand, now called Fishness, where, for want of water it died the next day; before which his roaring was heard above a mile; his length, says Kilburne, was twenty-two yards; the nether jaw opening twelve feet; one of his eyes was more than a cart and six horses could draw; a man stood upright in the place from whence his eye was taken; the thickness from his back to the top of his belly (which lay upwards) was fourteen feet; his tail of the same breadth; the distance between his eyes was twelve feet; three men stood upright in his mouth; some of his ribs were fourteen feet long; his tongue was fifteen feet long; his liver was two cart loads, and a man might creep into his nostril. (fn. 7) There were four whales, or monstrous large fish, towed ashore by the fishermen on this island a few years ago, one of which had been found floating on the sea dead, and was brought to Broadstairs, and measured about sixty feet long, and thirty-eight feet round the middle; its forked tail was fifteen feet wide, its lower jaw nine feet long; it had two rows of teeth, twenty-two in each row, about two inches long; the upper jaw had no teeth, only holes for the lower ones to shut in. It had only one nostril. It had two gills, and the lower jaw shut in about three feet from the end of the nose. It is said this fish sold at Deal for twenty-two guineas.

MANY BRASS COINS of the Roman emperors have been found near Broadstairs, on a fall of the adjoining cliff, after much rain and frost at different times; but they have been so much worn and defaced, as not to be distinguished what they were.

Near the cliffs, about midway between the lighthouse and Kingsgate, are two large barrows, or banks of earth, called by the country people Hackendon, or Hackingdown banks, already noticed before. The tradition is, that these banks are the graves of those English and Danes, which were killed in a fight here; and that as one bank is greater than the other, the former is the place where the Danes were buried, who are said to have been defeated. It is not improbable that this battle referred to in history, was that fought A. D. 853, when the Danes having invaded this island with a considerable force, were attacked by earl Alcher with the Kentish men, and earl Huda with those of Surry, and an obstinate battle was fought, in which the English at first got some advantage, yet were at last deseated; great numbers were killed, among which were the two English generals; and the battle being fought so near the sea, a great many on both sides were pushed into it and drowned.

One of these barrows was opened in 1743, in the presence of many hundred people; a little below the surface of the ground several graves were discovered, cut out of the solid chalk and covered with flat stones; they were not more than three feet long, in an oblong oval form, and the bodies seem to have been thrust into them almost double; a deep trench was dug in the middle, and the bodies laid on each side of it; two of the skulls were covered with wood-coals and ashes. The skeletons seem to have been of men, women, and children, and by the smallness of the latter, these were conjectured to have been unborn.

¶Three urns made of very coarse black earth, not half burnt, one of them holding near half a bushel, were found with them, which crambled into dust on being exposed to the air. The bones were rather of a large size, and for the most part perfectly found. In 1765, the smaller barrow was opened, the appearances were similar to the former, but no urns were found. In memory of this battle, lord Holland erected a fantastic house, or monument, with an inscription, on the larger of the two banks.

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Westbere.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, stands on a rising ground. It is a small structure which has something pleasing in the appearance of it. It is built, as the rest of the churches are hereabouts, of flints, covered with rough-cast, and the quoins, windows and doors cased with ashlar stone, only the porch has more workmanship used about it; above are stone battlements; the roof is covered with lead, and the portal or door way has a mitred arch of wrought stone. It consists of a nave with a small isle on each side of it, a large middle chancel, and a smaller one on the north side of it, part of which is now made into a vestry. The middle chancel, which is beautiful, is ceiled in compartments, the framing of which is enriched with carved work, as is the cornice round it. The church is elegantly pewed with wainscot, and has a very handsome desk and pulpit. In the middle isle are two handsome brass chandeliers, which were purchased by subscription, and there is a neat gallery at the west end, well contrived for the convenience of the inhabitants, and the whole is kept in excellent order, and more than usual neatness. At the west end of the middle isle, under the gallery, is a handsome font, of white marble, the gift of John Dekewer, esq. as appears by the inscription, erected in 1746; below the inscription are the arms of Dekewer. At the west end of the north isle stands the tower, which is a sea mark. There were antiently five bells in it, which some years ago were cast into six, the great bell being made into two. The high or middle chancel was beautified about the year 1730, at the expence of Mrs. Elizabeth Lovejoy, lessee of Callis grange; who, out of the profits of that estate, ordered this chancel as well as hers and her husband's monuments in it, to be repaired as often as should be needful; and the sum of twenty shillings to be paid yearly to the clerk, on the day of the anniversary of her death, March 29, as an encouragement for him to take due care of the monuments.

At the west end of the south isle is a room taken off for the school house. In this church were antiently, besides the high altar in the middle chancel, three other altars dedicated to St. James the Apostle, St. Mary of Pity, and St. Margaret. Before these altars, on which were the images of these saints, were wax-lights constantly burning, for the maintenance of which there were several fraternities and legacies left. Several antient monuments and inscriptions are in the body and chancels of this church, the principal ones of which are in the middle or high chancel: Among others, a monument for James Shipton, vicar, obt. 1665; another, for George Lovejoy, first school-master at Islington, then of the king's school at Canterbury, obt. 1685. He lies buried within the altar-rails; arms, Azure, three bars, dancette, or, impaling chequy, azure and or, on a fess, three leopards faces of the second. On a marble against the north wall is an account of the charities given by Mrs. Elizabeth Lovejoy, as follows: By her will and testament, to the mayor and commonalty of the city of Canterbury, her lease of Callis grange, upon trust, to pay yearly to the vicar of this parish, forty pounds; to a school master, to teach twenty poor children gratis in the parish, twenty pounds; to Jesus hospital, Canterbury, five pounds; to St. John's hospital, in Canterbury, ten pounds; to Kingsbridge hospital, in Canterbury, five pounds; to Cogan's hospital, in Canterbury, four pounds; to St. Stephens's hospital, five pounds; to Harbledown hospital, five pounds per annum; and she gave by her will to the school and hospital at Islington, 200l. and to the school at Wicomb, in Buckinghamshire, 100l.

She wainscotted and adorned this chancel, and gave plate for the communion table in her life time, and two silver flagons by her will, A. D. 1694. She died of an apoplexy before she had sealed or finished her will, so that it took no effect as to her real estate, but after many suits and controversies was adjudged good as to her personal estate; and twenty shillings she left yearly to be paid to this parish clerk to keep both monuments clean. A memorial for Mr. Leonard Rowntree, minister, obt. 1624. In the north chancel, on an altar tomb, an inscription for Manasses Norwoode, of Dane court, and Norwoode, esq. obt. 1636; arms, Ermine, a cross, engrailed, impaling six coats. There are several brass plates and inscriptions for Culmer and Elmstone. In the north isle an altar tomb for Michael Webb, obt. 1587. A brass plate for Philip Smith, obt. 1451. Another for John Sacket, of this parish, obt. 1623. A memorial for Alexander, son of Alexander Nor woode, esq. of Dane-court. A black marble for Cornelius Willes, A. M. nineteen years vicar of this parish, and prebendary of Wells, obt. 1776. A like stone for the Rev. John Deane, A. M. forty-one years vicar, obt. 1757. A memorial for Daniel Pamflet, gent. and Mary his wife. He died 1719. An antient tomb for Mrs Elizabeth Omer, obt. 1709. A mural monument and inscription for the Rev. Roger Huggett, M. A. late vicar of the king's free chapel of St. George, in Windsor, and rector of Hartley Waspaill, in Southampton, eldest son of Roger Huggett, of Stone, in this parish, who was sole heir of the Pawlyns, an antient and respectable family of that place. He died at Hartley, in 1769, where he was buried; on it are inscriptions for others of the same name; arms, Gules, a chevron, between three stags heads, or, impaling parted per pale, sable and gules, a griffin passant, counterchanged. A tomb for Mr. Henry Huggett, gent. sole heir of the Pawlins, of Stone; he died in 1751; and for others of this family. A mural monument, shewing that in a vault underneath, lies Mary, wife of John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, who died without surviving issue, one son and one daughter lying interred with her, obt. 1748. In the same vault lies the abovementioned John Dekewer, esq. an especial benefactor to this parish, obt. 1762, æt 76; arms, Vert, on a cross, or, five fleurs de lis, sable, between two caltrops, and two lions, rampant, impaling argent, parted per fess, three escallops, two and one, in chief, gules, in base three piles waved, sable. A tomb for John Dekewer, son of the above John, obt. 1740. In the same vault are others of this family. A beautiful mural monument of white marble, on which is the figure of a child sitting, weeping and leaning on an urn, erected to the memory of John-Alexander Dekewer, son of John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, and Elizabeth his wife, obt. 1778, æt. ten years. A mural monument for the Rev. Tho. Reynolds, obt. 1754. Besides these there are memo rials for Noble, Gray, Read, Witherden, White, Simons, Cooke, Culmer, Wild, Jeken, Tilman, and Kerby. In the middle of the chancel, a memorial for Grace, wife of James White, gent. of Chilham, daugh ter of Gratian Lynch, gent. of Grove, in Staple, obt. 1740, and for Grace her daughter, wife of Thomas Hawkins, obt. 1746. A brass plate in the north isle, for John Sacket, of this parish, obt. 1623, æt. 59. At the end of the north isle is a large white stone, much obliterated, for Michael Pavlen, obt. 1662; Anne his wife, and Anne their daughter. In the church yard are many handsome tombs and grave-stones, of persons of different trades and occupations, residents of this parish. In the tower is a great crack on the east and west sides of it, from the top almost to the bottom, where it opened near an inch, and more than two at the top, so that the tower by it inclines to the northward; and it is wonderful, that when it was so rent it did not fall; the fissure is filled up with stone and mortar. As tradition reports, it was occasioned by the earthquake in queen Elizabeth's reign, in the 22d year of which, Mr. Camden tells us, there was a great one felt in this county.

This church was one of the three chapels belonging to the church of Minister, and very probably was made parochial sometime after the year 1200, when the church of Minster, with its appendages, was appropriated, in the year 1128, to the monastery of St. Augustine; it was at the same time assigned, with the above-mentioned chapels, with all rents, tithes, and other things belonging to that church and those chapels, to the sacristy of the monastery; and it was further granted, that the abbot and convent should present to the archbishop in the above-mentioned chapels, fit perpetual chaplains to the altarages of them; but that the vicar of the mother church of Minister should take and receive in right of his vicarage, the tenths of the small tithes, viz. of lambs and pigs, and the obventions arising from marriages and churchings, which were forbidden at these chapels, and were solemnized, &c. at the mother church only.

As to the chaplains of these chapels, though they were to receive no more than ten marcs of these altarages, yet they were not excluded the enjoyment of the manses and glebes given to these chapels when they were first consecrated, which made some additiou to their income, and enabled them to keep a deacon to assist them on the great and principal festivals. The inhabitants of these three chapelries, preceded by their priests, were accustomed to go in procession to Minster, in token of their subjection to their parochial or mother church. (fn. 10)

After this the appropriation of the church of Minster, with its appendant chapels, and the advowsons of the vicarages of them, continued with the abbot and convent till the dissolution of the monastery in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. when they were surrendered, together with the rest of the possessions of the monastery, into the king's hands.

After the dissolution of the monastery and the change in the service of the churches wrought by the reformation, this parochial chapel of St. Peter became entirely separated from the mother church of Minster, the vicar of this parish having no further subjection to it in any shape whatever; but by the same change he was likewise deprived of several of those emoluments he had before enjoyed in right of his vicarage, and all the great tithes of this parish, being appropriated to Callis and Salmestone granges, formerly belonging to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, as has been already taken notice of before; the endowment of this vicarage consisted only of the small tithes of this parish, the payment of two bushels of corn yearly at Midsummer, from Salmanstone grange, and a pension of ten pounds to be paid yearly out of Callis grange; besides which he had a vicarage house, orchard, garden, and two parcels of land.

The small tithes of this parish being chiefly arable land, with the other emoluments of the vicarage, by reason of the great increase of every necessary article of life, falling far short of a reasonable maintenance, Mrs. Elizabeth Lovejoy, in the year 1694, further augmented it with the sum of forty pounds per annum, to be paid half yearly out of Callis grange above-mentioned; in consideration of which augmentation, the vicar is obliged, without accepting any dispensation, to be constantly resident on this vicarage, with several other injunctions mentioned in her will.

This vicarage is valued in the king's books at nine pounds, and the yearly tenths at eighteen shillings. In 1588 here were one hundred and forty-six communicants. In 1640 here were three hundred communicants, and it was valued at seventy pounds, but it appears by the return made in 1709, to the enquiry into the clear value of church livings, that this vicarage was worth only thirty pounds clear yearly income, before Mrs. Lovejoy's addition of forty pounds per annum.

¶The advowson of this vicarage coming into the hands of the crown, on the dissolution of the abbey of St. Augustine, continued there till king Edward VI. in his first year, granted the advowson of the vicarage of Minster, with the three chapels appendant to it, one of which was this church of St. Peter, among other premises, to the archbishop; since which this advowson has continued parcel of the possessions of that see, the archbishop being the present patron of it.

In 1630 the churchwardens and assistants reported, that here were belonging to the vicarage a mansion, with a well house, one orchard, one garden, and one acre of land adjoining to it, and one parcel of land, called the Vicar's Acre, lying within the lands of Capt. Norwood, who paid to the vicar, in consideration of it, five shillings a year; but no care being taken to preserve the bounds of this acre, the place where it lay was forgot, and the rent paid for it disputed, and at length quite discontinued.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol10/pp355-377

St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and remains one of the largest churches in the world. (Wikipedia)

3xp HDR

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This basilica certainly has its WOW factor. It feels stupid to say I've never seen any thing like it, but that is true!

Construction of the present basilica, replacing the Old St. Peter's Basilica of the 4th century, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.

In Black and White:

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Dome: successive and final designs

The dome of St. Peter's rises to a total height of 136.57 metres (448.1 ft) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross. It is the tallest dome in the world. Its internal diameter is 41.47 metres (136.1 ft), slightly smaller than two of the three other huge domes that preceded it, those of the Pantheon of Ancient Rome, 43.3 metres (142 ft), and Florence Cathedral of the Early Renaissance, 44 metres (144 ft). It has a greater diameter by approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) than Constantinople's Hagia Sophia church, completed in 537. It was to the domes of the Pantheon and Florence duomo that the architects of St. Peter's looked for solutions as to how to go about building what was conceived, from the outset, as the greatest dome of Christendom.

Bramante's plan for the dome of St. Peter's (1506) follows that of the Pantheon very closely, and like that of the Pantheon, was designed to be constructed in Tufa Concrete for which he had rediscovered a formula. With the exception of the lantern that surmounts it, the profile is very similar, except that in this case the supporting wall becomes a drum raised high above ground level on four massive piers. The solid wall, as used at the Pantheon, is lightened at St. Peter's by Bramante piercing it with windows and encircling it with a peristyle.

Michelangelo redesigned the dome in 1547, taking into account all that had gone before. His dome, like that of Florence, is constructed of two shells of brick, the outer one having 16 stone ribs, twice the number at Florence but far fewer than in Sangallo's design. As with the designs of Bramante and Sangallo, the dome is raised from the piers on a drum. The encircling peristyle of Bramante and the arcade of Sangallo are reduced to 16 pairs of Corinthian columns, each of 15 metres (49 ft) high which stand proud of the building, connected by an arch. Visually they appear to buttress each of the ribs, but structurally they are probably quite redundant. The reason for this is that the dome is ovoid in shape, rising steeply as does the dome of Florence Cathedral, and therefore exerting less outward thrust than does a hemispherical dome, such as that of the Pantheon, which, although it is not buttressed, is countered by the downward thrust of heavy masonry which extends above the circling wall.

The dome was brought to completion by Giacomo della Porta and Fontana. Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana brought the dome to completion in 1590, the last year of the reign of Sixtus V. His successor, Gregory XIV, saw Fontana complete the lantern and had an inscription to the honour of Sixtus V placed around its inner opening. The next pope, Clement VIII, had the cross raised into place, an event which took all day, and was accompanied by the ringing of the bells of all the city's churches. In the arms of the cross are set two lead caskets, one containing a fragment of the True Cross and a relic of St. Andrew and the other containing medallions of the Holy Lamb.

In the mid 18th century, cracks appeared in the dome, so four iron chains were installed between the two shells to bind it, like the rings that keep a barrel from bursting. As many as ten chains have been installed at various times, the earliest possibly planned by Michelangelo himself as a precaution, as Brunelleschi did at Florence Cathedral.

Around the inside of the dome is written, in letters 2 metres (6.6 ft) high:

TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM. TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM (... you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. ... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ... Vulgate, Matthew 16:18–19.) Beneath the lantern is the inscription: S. PETRI GLORIAE SIXTVS PP. V. A. M. D. XC. PONTIF. V.(To the glory of St Peter; Sixtus V, pope, in the year 1590, the fifth of his pontificate.)

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St Peter's Church is the Church of England parish church of the parish of Ardingly in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The present building dates from the 14th century and was restored during the Victorian era, but Christian worship on the site has a much longer history. The stone-built, Decorated Gothic-style church, west of the village centre, has been designated a Grade I Listed building