CHRIST CHURCH
Christ Church, which unites the ancient parishes of St. Ewen’s and St. Nicholas and part of St. Sepulchre, stands on the eastern part of the noble Franciscan Church which was greatly destroyed by the Fire.
On the suppression of the convent of the Franciscans, their Church was named Christ Church and was made parochial. After the Great Fire it was rebuilt by Wren between 1687 and 1704. St. Leonard’s, Foster Lane, was annexed to this parish in 1672. The earliest date of a custodian is 1225. The earliest date of a vicar is 1547.
The patronage of the church was given by Henry VIII. to the governors of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, in whose successors it continues.
The present building contains two side-aisles separated from the nave by slender Corinthian columns. At the east part of the church shelves are attached to the north and south walls, to hold loaves for distribution among the poor. The steeple attains a height of 153 feet.
The original church of the Franciscans was a favourite place of sepulture. Dame Mary Ramsey, a benefactress to Christ’s Hospital and other institutions, was buried here in 1596, and a modern tablet records her deeds on the north wall of the church. The two most conspicuous monuments are those of the Rev. Samuel Crowther and the Rev. Michael Gibbs, both of whom were vicars of the parish for many years. Lady Venetia, wife of Sir Kenelm Digby, was buried here. Also the celebrated Nonconformist, Richard Baxter, in 1691, and his wife in 1681. On the east wall a tablet commemorates John Stock, who at his death in 1781 bequeathed £13,000 to charitable purposes.
No large gifts are recorded in this parish by Stow: John Bankes was donor of £1 for a sermon; Thomas Barnes was donor of £1 for a sermon, and several others were donors of the same amounts.
There were two charity schools, one for fifty boys and one for forty girls.
Some of the most notable vicars were: Sampson Price (1585-1620); William Jenkyn (1613-1685); Robert Cannon (1663-1722), Prebendary of Westminster; Joseph Trapp, D.D. (1679-1747); and William Bell (1731-1816), Prebendary of Westminster.
King Edward Street was formerly Butchers’ Lane or Stinking Lane or Chick Lane. The Franciscans, on their coming to London, were allotted a piece of ground on the west side of this lane, probably the least desirable place of residence in the whole city. When we read of shops and tenements in the Shambles, this is the place intended.