St Mary Axe, London
Encyclopedia
St Mary Axe, sometimes referred to as St Mary Pellipar, was a mediaeval church in the City of London
whose full name was St Mary, St Ursula and her 11,000 virgins situated just north of Leadenhall Street
. First mentioned as St Mary apud Ax, it belonged for a time to the nearby Priory of St Helen’s
. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
it was still extant but in decline, and in 1562 it was offered to Spanish
Protestant refugees as a place of worship
. Three years later, however, it was unused and in a state of disrepair. Shortly afterwards it was pulled down and its parish united with that of St Andrew Undershaft
.
The church also gave its name to the street, St Mary Axe, which runs from Leadenhall Street
to Houndsditch
. Number 30 was the former location of the Baltic Exchange
before the building was blown up in 1992 (the Baltic Exchange is now located at 38 St Mary Axe), and more recently the Gherkin
was built on the site. It was also the location of the sorcerer's shop in Gilbert and Sullivan
's operetta The Sorcerer
, which documents the former pronunciation Simmery Axe.
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
whose full name was St Mary, St Ursula and her 11,000 virgins situated just north of Leadenhall Street
Leadenhall Street
Leadenhall Street is a street in the City of London, formerly part of the A11. It runs east from Cornhill to Aldgate, and west vice-versa. Aldgate Pump is at the junction with Aldgate...
. First mentioned as St Mary apud Ax, it belonged for a time to the nearby Priory of St Helen’s
St Helen's Bishopsgate
St Helen's Bishopsgate is a large conservative evangelical Anglican church, in Lime Street ward, in the City of London, close to the Lloyd's building and the 'Gherkin'.-History:...
. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
it was still extant but in decline, and in 1562 it was offered to Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
Protestant refugees as a place of worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
. Three years later, however, it was unused and in a state of disrepair. Shortly afterwards it was pulled down and its parish united with that of St Andrew Undershaft
St Andrew Undershaft
St Andrew Undershaft is a Church of England church located at St Mary Axe, in Aldgate ward of the City of London, near the Lloyd's Building. It is a rare example of a City church that has managed to escape both the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the Second World War bombing during the London...
.
The church also gave its name to the street, St Mary Axe, which runs from Leadenhall Street
Leadenhall Street
Leadenhall Street is a street in the City of London, formerly part of the A11. It runs east from Cornhill to Aldgate, and west vice-versa. Aldgate Pump is at the junction with Aldgate...
to Houndsditch
Houndsditch
Houndsditch is a street in the City of London that connects Bishopsgate in the north west to Aldgate in the south east. The modern street runs through a part of the Portsoken Ward and Bishopsgate Ward Without...
. Number 30 was the former location of the Baltic Exchange
Baltic Exchange
The Baltic Exchange is the world's only independent source of maritime market information for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts...
before the building was blown up in 1992 (the Baltic Exchange is now located at 38 St Mary Axe), and more recently the Gherkin
30 St Mary Axe
30 St Mary Axe, the Swiss Re Building , is a skyscraper in London's main financial district, the City of London, completed in December 2003 and opened at the end of May 2004...
was built on the site. It was also the location of the sorcerer's shop in Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's operetta The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876...
, which documents the former pronunciation Simmery Axe.