ST. BENET, PAUL’S WHARF
St. Benet, Paul’s Wharf, is sometimes called St. Bennet Huda, or At the Hyth, and sometimes St. Benet Woodwharf. The date of the foundation of the original church is unknown. It was destroyed by the Great Fire, and the present building, the work of Wren, was finished in 1683. The neighbouring church of St. Peter was not rebuilt and after the Fire the parishes were united. This rectory has ceased to be parochial, its parish having been united with that of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey. In 1879 the church was handed over to the Welsh congregation by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners ratified by an Order in Council. The patron is the Bishop of London. It is now used for services for Welsh residents in London. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1150.
The patronage of the church had always been in the hands of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s since 1150 up to 1879.
Houseling people in 1548 were 336.
The present church is built of red brick, with stone quoins and festoons over the windows. It is 54 feet long, 50 feet broad, and 36 feet high. There is one aisle, on the north side, separated from the nave by two Corinthian columns on lofty bases. The steeple, rising at the north-west, reaches a height of 115 feet and consists of a square-based tower, with a cornice, a cupola with oval openings, and a lantern supporting a ball and vane.
A chantry was founded here at the Altar of Our Lady for Sir William de Weyland, to which John Love de Canterbury was admitted, April 10, 1334.
This church formerly contained monuments to: Sir William Cheyne, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, who died in 1442; Dr. Richard Caldwell, President of the Royal College of Physicians, who died in 1585; Inigo Jones was buried here in 1652, but his memorial perished in the Great Fire; there is a marble tablet to his memory on the north-side wall. Many heralds and dignities of the Ecclesiastical Courts were buried in this church owing to its contiguity to the College of Arms and Doctors’ Commons, among whom are John Charles Brooke, William Oldys, author of the Life of Raleigh, who died in 1761, also Mrs. Manley, author of the New Atlantis, who died in 1724. Elias Ashmole, the antiquary, was married here.
There was a charity school here for twenty poor boys; also almshouses, consisting of six tenements for six poor widows. Each widow received 7s. 4d. per quarter from Christ’s Hospital, 9s. 6d. at Christmas from the Embroiderers, and 25s. each at Christmas from the churchwardens. In the event of marriage, the benefit of this foundation was forfeited.
As this brings us down to Thames Street again, we must retrace our steps and come right along the river-side from the westward limit of our section.
