St Mildred, Poultry
Encyclopedia
St Mildred, Poultry was a parish church in the Cheap
ward, of the City of London
. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London
and demolished in 1872.
; by 1456, it had fallen into disrepair, and had to be taken down and rebuilt.
The medieval building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and a new church was completed in 1676 to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren
, after which the parish was united with that of St Mary Colechurch
, which was not rebuilt. George Godwin
described the interior of the new church as "a simple room with a flat ceiling coved at the sides … remarkable for nothing but a strange want of symmetry apparent at the west end". It was 56 feet long, 42 feet wide and 36 feet high. The most ornamented part of the exterior was the south side, towards Poultry, with a central pediment and Ionic pilasters. There was a 75 foot high tower, topped by a copper weather-vane in the form of a ship.
The building was sold for £50,200 in 1871 under the Union of Benefices Act and demolished the following year. A City Corporation Plaque now marks the site. The parish was united with that of St Olave Old Jewry and the proceeds of the sale were used to build and endow the new church of St Paul, Goswell Road, which also received the City church's pulpit and woodwork. The weather vane was transferred to St Olave Old Jewry.
When the parish of St Olave also ceased to be viable, the combined paishes were in turn united with St Margaret Lothbury
.
St Mildred in the Poultry was the burial place of the writer Thomas Tusser
. Some description of the church and its monuments is given in John Stow
's Survey of London.
Cheap (ward)
Cheap is a small ward of the City of London. It stretches west to east from King End Street, the border with Farringdon Within to Old Jewry, which adjoins Walbrook and north to south from Gresham Street, the border with Aldersgate and Bassishaw to Cheapside, the boundary with Cordwainer.The...
ward, of the City of London
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...
. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
and demolished in 1872.
History
The church stood the north side of Poultry at its junction with Mansion House Street The first church can be traced back to 1175, in the reign of Henry the SecondHenry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
; by 1456, it had fallen into disrepair, and had to be taken down and rebuilt.
The medieval building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and a new church was completed in 1676 to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
, after which the parish was united with that of St Mary Colechurch
St Mary Colechurch
St Mary Colechurch was a parish church in the City of London destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.-History:The Great Fire of London of 1666 destroyed 86 of the 97 parish churches in the City of London.. By 1670 a Rebuilding Act had been passed and a committee set up...
, which was not rebuilt. George Godwin
George Godwin
George Godwin FRS was an influential architect, journalist, and editor of The Builder magazine.He was one of nine children of the architect George Godwin senior and trained at his father's architectural practice in Kensington where he set up in business with his brother Henry Godwin .Encouraged...
described the interior of the new church as "a simple room with a flat ceiling coved at the sides … remarkable for nothing but a strange want of symmetry apparent at the west end". It was 56 feet long, 42 feet wide and 36 feet high. The most ornamented part of the exterior was the south side, towards Poultry, with a central pediment and Ionic pilasters. There was a 75 foot high tower, topped by a copper weather-vane in the form of a ship.
The building was sold for £50,200 in 1871 under the Union of Benefices Act and demolished the following year. A City Corporation Plaque now marks the site. The parish was united with that of St Olave Old Jewry and the proceeds of the sale were used to build and endow the new church of St Paul, Goswell Road, which also received the City church's pulpit and woodwork. The weather vane was transferred to St Olave Old Jewry.
When the parish of St Olave also ceased to be viable, the combined paishes were in turn united with St Margaret Lothbury
St Margaret Lothbury
St. Margaret Lothbury is a Church of England parish church in the City of London; it spans the boundary between Coleman Street Ward and Broad Street Ward. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren....
.
St Mildred in the Poultry was the burial place of the writer Thomas Tusser
Thomas Tusser
Thomas Tusser was an English poet and farmer, best known for his instructional poem Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, published in 1557. It contains the lines...
. Some description of the church and its monuments is given in John Stow
John Stow
John Stow was an English historian and antiquarian.-Early life:The son of Thomas Stow, a tallow-chandler, he was born about 1525 in London, in the parish of St Michael, Cornhill. His father's whole rent for his house and garden was only 6s. 6d. a year, and Stow in his youth fetched milk every...
's Survey of London.
Rectors (incomplete list)
- 1523-1527 John Smith
- 1541 John Weale
- 1590-1617 Thomas Sorocold
- 1618-1638 Nathaniel Shute
- 1638, ejected Richard Maden
- 1645-6 Henry ScudderHenry Scudder (clergyman)Henry Scudder was an English clergyman of presbyterian views, known as a devotional writer, and member of the Westminster Assembly.-Life:...
as minister - 1661-1673 Richard PerrinchiefRichard PerrinchiefRichard Perrinchief or Perrincheif was an English royalist churchman, a biographer of Charles I, writer against religious tolerance, and archdeacon of Huntingdon.-Life:...
, Archdeacon of Huntingdon - 1673-1696 John WilliamsJohn Williams (Bishop of Chichester)-Life:He was born about 1636 in Northamptonshire, matriculated from Magdalen Hall, Oxford, on 24 June 1653, graduating B.A. on 14 December 1655 and M.A. on 11 June 1658. He was incorporated at Cambridge in 1660, and was created D.D. of Cambridge, comitiis regiis, in 1690.On 4 September 1673 he was...
- 1726-1748 William Wallis
- 1748-1775 Benjamin (John) Newcombe, Dean of Rochester
- 1775-1806 Robert Bromley
See also
- List of Christopher Wren churches in London
- List of churches rebuilt after the Great Fire but since demolished