London Undone

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today. 45. Hidden within the walls of the ancient St Barts Hospital is the church of St Bartholomew the Less... part medieval, part Georgian and part Victorian... this church is a welcome place of contemplation for the patients of and visitors to the hospital. It also has an unusual shape and some stained glass of note. It's a short podcast but not a lesser one! With thanks to Kevin Larder and Alexandra Epps from Art in the City.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today. 44. Ok, it’s not a City church (it’s a stone’s throw from the boundary) BUT it’s worth a podcast. It’s hidden: set back from the quiet cul de sac behind the diamond district of Hatton Garden, St Etheldreda’s Catholic church is a gem of its own; a medieval survivor and a spiritual survivor that happens to boast some magnificent stained glass windows too. Most importantly its story reflects a bigger national story. Press play! With thanks to marvellous contributors Anthony Weaver from the church and Alexandra Epps from Art in the City.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today. 43. St Helen's Bishopsgate. From the weird bollard outside the church to the unusually elaborate doorway that leads out of it, St Helen's is full of curiosities and features I've not yet encountered while producing this series. Here you will find nun's squints, raised floors, sunken fonts and the oldest sword rest in the City. More than this, here are two churches rolled into one. This is a fascinating church.  Kevin Larder enlightens us all... thank you Kevin!

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.42. St Margaret Lothbury’s name is curious… and so are its features. It contains a hoard of ecclesiastical items taken from other (now gone) City of London Churches including an unusual candy-cane wooden screen, a giant tester board, some impressive memorials and gigantic paintings. These varied and ‘unoriginal’ features mean the church is a joy to enter. Signe Hoffos who contributes so expertly to this podcast also shares some of the dramas that have taken place here over the years including the struggle to keep their neighbours, the Bank of England, at bay.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.41. All that remains of St Bartholomew the Great is still indeed great. Some of the spectacular features of this 900 year old half-church are its Norman architecture, its delightful memorial to the Whitings family, a golden Damien Hirst sculpture of St Bartholomew and... its hot cross bun ceremony. Oh - did I mention some classic films were filmed on location here too. Kevin Larder brings this and its long history to life in this episode.. and more! Many thanks to the wonderfully enthusiastic Kevin who is a guide at St Barts Hospital Museum.  

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.40. St Mary Abchurch demonstrates yet another of Christopher Wren's methods of creating a large domed roof. It also contains superb wood carving by Grinling Gibbons. Hear about the many details contained within its unassuming brick walls as a few myths about the church are dispelled along the way.With thanks to Signe Hoffos from The Friends of the City Churches

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.39. Hear Rector George Bush explain once and for all that the bells of St Mary-le-Bow were indeed the Bow bells! More than this, this church has the most extraordinary stained glass windows, has a 9ft dragon as a weather vane, and has always been connected to the Archbishop of Canterbury. For foodies, the very first City church cafe/ restaurant still operates in the old Norman crypt. There’s a lot more to St Mary-le-Bow than its Christopher Wren (or Robert Hooke) walls. Press ‘play'!

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.38. Oddly Christopher Wren's largest parish church (now a guild church) is well hidden below Holborn Circus. But don't miss out on St Andrew Holborn which has recently been refurbished and brought back to its former splendour. Connected to the church are Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, children's champion Thomas Coram and novelist Charles Dickens. But most magically of all, the fresh underground water from one of the three wells in the crypt of the church is pumped up to the font. With great thanks to Nick Hills for enlightening us.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.37. This is the only church in the East of England dedicated to St Bridget and there is much to learn about it… layers and layers of London’s history… of stones… of unusual treasures… of people: From the Roman pavements in the depths of the crypt to the top of the ‘wedding cake’ Christopher Wren spire you will be astounded by what The Reverend Canon Dr Alison Joyce has to say about her much loved church… and if you listen… you may feel like this is ‘London’s’ church too.With great thanks to Rev Alison for her enthusiastic and comprehensive contribution.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.36. Woof! The only church in the city of London to deliver an animal blessing service. Hear from the pets and their owners about this annual event. Also hear from Rector Fr. David Armstrong about the rebellious nature of this liberal church, its tennis court and its link to the notorious Bedlam ‘hospital’! With great thanks.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.35. This is the only Roman Catholic church in the square mile and it's easily mistaken for a shop! But do take a walk through its oft open doors for some peace and tranquility and tune in to this podcast where Fr Chris Vipers shares its history, features and a sense of its spirituality.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.34. St Olave Hart Street has been described by John Betjeman, once poet laureate, as a ‘country church’ but was also described by Charles Dickens in one of his essays a century earlier as ‘the church of ghastly grim’. It was also the local church for the great diarist Samuel Pepys’s. Curious? Hear about these and its other connections in this podcast. With thanks to Reverend Arani Sen.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.33. St Mary-at-Hill – home of the Fish Harvest Festival. Tucked in between two atmospheric, cobbled alleys up from old Billingsgate market is another church with peculiar and diverse associations including trombone playing vicars and plague pits. Hear here from the fishmongers who help raise money at the annual harvest festival of the sea. Learn about what it was like before the old fish market closed. Hold your noses! With thanks to Fiona Lukas, church watcher for the Friends of the City Churches, Bill Halley and Thomas Wicker – from Billingsgate – past and present.

The London Undone 'City of London Churches' podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and may churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.32. City Temple: In the City but not "of the city". This is a a non-conformist church with a polycultural congregation and behind the Victorian facade is a post-war building full of surprises. Want to know more?With thanks to Rev Rodney Woods for sharing its history and curiosities.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.31. This is said to be the most perfectly proportioned building in the world. It is also where Samaritans began its life and where you can sing to your hearts content every week.  Step inside and hear about this and more from Fiona Lukas and Tony Tucker, and Tom and Elizabeth from the Community choir. Thank you to you all.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.30. St Katharine Cree was built to keep the riff raff out of the nearby Priory. It pre-dates the Great Fire of London. Every year a sermon is preached from here entitled 'In the Lion's Den'. And most movingly, it is the church where people who have a connection to the sinking of the Lancastria (1940) remember this tragedy. All of this, and more, is shared in this podcast - the 30th in the series.        Thanks to Judy Stephenson from Friends of the City Churches and Brian Grumbridge, the church's historian, Roger Round and Martin Coops whose relatives died and survived (respectively) the sinking of the Lancastria. 

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.29. You may challenge my inclusion of this private, floating, chapel in the City of London Churches series… but I think its story is worth hearing. And it is, after all, within the boundaries of the City, hiding in plain sight. Listen to Commissioner Dawn Heatwole share some unusual stories about the Salvation Army and its founder William and Catherine Booth in this episode.Thanks to Salvation Army IHQ - who also provided the photograph.

Behind a very plain door of an ordinary terraced house on a main road in South West London you’ll find the incredible craftsmanship, vision and atmosphere as created by the Kenyan civil servant Mr Asalache. Pass through the door to hear more… or just listen to this. Thanks to the National Trust and Rachel Pearson.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.28. In the middle of the brutalist Barbican stands the medieval church of St Giles Cripplegate with some prominent and some touchingly simple memorials to many famous men, and one intriguing woman.With thanks to Tony Tucker from the Friends of the City Churches and Katharine Rumens, the Rector at St Giles Cripplegate.

The London Undone ‘City of London Churches’ podcast series: A journey around the magnificent and many churches of the City of London. Learn about their histories, architecture, associations, features and their spiritual lives today.27. The smallest and least obvious of all City of London churches, St Clement Eastcheap is the church that features in the nursery rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’. Today it’s an office! Thanks to Tony Tucker from the Friends of the City Churches.