More Spires Of City Churches
St Lawrence Jewry, Gresham St
I waited so long for a clear day to take pictures of spires in the City of London that, when we were blessed with several, I could not resist taking as many photographs as possible. Such has been my preoccupation that, in future, I shall always be inclined now to think of clear days early in the year as “ideal weather to photograph church spires in the City.”
Yet there were other obstacles beyond the meteorological that I had to contend with in my quest for spires, not just delivery vans parked in the wrong places and people standing in front of churches making long mobile phone calls, but the over-zealous guard who challenged my motives as I stood with my camera upon the public footpath, suspiciously implying I might have sinister intent in photographing church spires – which could have grave implications for national security. “You realise this is the City of London,” he informed me in explanation of his impertinence, as if I could be unaware.
Fortunately, it is in the nature of photographing church spires that I had no choice but to lift up my eyes above these trifles of life and I was rewarded for my tenacity in the pursuit with all the wonders that you see here. In Rome or any other European capital, such a close gathering of architectural masterpieces would be venerated among the finest treasures of the city. In London, our overfamiliarity with these epic churches means they have become invisible and hardly anyone looks at them. Commonly, the ancient spires are overshadowed by the modern buildings which surround them today, yet I found – in many cases – that the act of focusing attention upon these under-appreciated edifices revealed them newly to my eyes.
St Mary Le Bow, Cheapside
St Margaret’s, Lothbury
St Vedast, Foster Lane
Christchurch Greyfriars, Newgate St
Christchurch Greyfriars, Newgate St
St Mary Le Bow, Cheapside
St Mary Le Bow, Cheapside
St Stephen, Walbrook
Whittington’s Almshouses, College Hill
St James, Garlickhythe
St Michael Paternoster Royal, College Hill
1 & 2 Lawrence Pountney Hill – Built in 1703, these are the finest surviving merchants’ houses in the City.
Churchyard of St Laurence Pountney
St Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames St
St Dunstan in the East, Idol Lane
All Hallows Staining, Mark Lane
St Botolph’s, Aldgate
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Years ago, when I first discovered The Gentle Author, I recommended the blog to one of my sisters in the United States. She declared it was like taking a vacation every day. Today’s post reminded me of that yet again – because looking at these wonderful pictures of beautiful old churches, whose names recall so much history, it was my daily vacation. Thank you.
Beautiful atmospheric photographs, GA, balm to the soul. And these too shall become historical documents.
So sorry you, too, have suffered from a Jobsworth; picking on a quiet and honest citizen of the metropolis must have made his day; there’s nothing like an easy target for a Jobsworth!
Thank you for your wonderful website. I don’t say this enough!
Now aged 92, and living in Glasgow, yet every time that I read one of your photo-essays on the City, like today’s, I itch to satisfy my yearning to be footloose and fancy-free in London town, just as I was as an unappreciative teenager. Sic transit gloria mundi, alas!
How I neglected London when I lived there for the first half of my life. Now, at 84 and living in a city only founded in 1869, in Australia, I so miss civilised architecture. I am amazed at the number of city churches and can’t help wondering if they are all still in use?
When I worked in the City my favourite was St Mary le Bow at Cheapside.