Bow Bells

St. Mary-le-Bow
Interior of St. Mary-le-Bow
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England, originally Roman Catholic
Architecture
Architect(s)	Sir Christopher Wren
Style	Baroque

St. Mary-le-Bow is an historic church in the City of London^[1], off Cheapside. According to tradition, a true Cockney must be born within earshot of the sound of the church's bells.

Chimes

The sound of the bells of St. Mary's are credited with having persuaded Dick Whittington to turn back from Highgate and remain in London to become Lord Mayor.^[2]

Traditionally, distances by road from London have been measured from the London Stone, or the "Standard" in Cornhill, but, on the road from London to Lewes, the mileage is taken from the church door of St. Mary le Bow. To emphasize the difference, mileposts along the way are marked with a cast-iron depiction of a bow and four bells.

The church is also immortalised in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that a church existed on this site in Saxon period England. A medieval version of the church had been destroyed in 1091 by one of the earliest recorded (and one of the most violent) tornadoes in Britain, the London Tornado of 1091.^[3] During the Norman period, a church known as “St Mary de Arcubus” was built and was famed for its two arches (“bows”) of stone. From at least the 13th century, the church was a peculier of the Diocese of Canterbury and the seat of the Court of Arches, to which it gave the name.^[4][5] The church with its steeple had been a landmark of London and the “Bow bells”, which could be heard as far away as Hackney Marshes, were once used to signal a curfew in the City of London. This building burned in the Great Fire of London of 1666.

The current building was built to the designs of Christopher Wren, 1671-1673, with the 223-foot steeple completed 1680. The mason-contractor was Thomas Cartwright^[6], one of the leading London mason-contractors and carvers of his generation.

In 1914, a stone from the crypt of St Mary-le-Bow church was placed in Trinity Church, New York, in commemoration of the fact that King William III granted the vestry of Trinity Church the same privileges as St Mary-le-Bow. A recording of the Bow Bells made in 1926 has been used by the BBC World Service as an interval signal for the English language broadcasts since the early 1940s. It is still used today preceding some English broadcasts.

Much of the current building was destroyed by a German bomb during the London Blitz on May 10, 1941, during which fire the bells crashed to the ground. Restoration under the direction of Laurence King^[7] was begun in 1956 (with internal fittings made by Faith-Craft, part of the Society of the Faith) and the bells rang again only in 1961 to produce a new generation of Cockneys. The church was formally reconsecrated in 1964 and was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.^[8]

In the churchyard is a statue of Captain John Smith, founder of Virginia and former parishioner of this church. St Mary-le-Bow ministers to the financial industry and livery companies of the City of London.^[9] There is a memorial in the church to the first Governor in Australia, Arthur Phillip, who was born nearby. Through this connection the Rector of St Mary le Bow is the Chaplain of the Britain-Australia Society.

Image gallery

West door	Tower	Interior	The crypt chapel
A "Bow Bells" milepost on the London to Lewes road	Bust of Arthur Phillip

See also

• List of churches and cathedrals of London
• List of Christopher Wren churches in London

References

Further reading

• Howard Colvin, Biographical Dictionary of British Architects
• Michael Byrne and George R.Bush (eds), St Mary-le-Bow: A History (Privately published, 2007).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St Mary-le-Bow

Anglicanism portal

• St Mary-le-Bow

Coordinates: 51°30′50″N 0°05′37″W / 51.51389°N 0.09361°W / 51.51389; -0.09361