Puneet Varma (Editor)

St Giles without Cripplegate

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Country
  
United Kingdom

Style
  
perpendicular gothic

Diocese
  
Diocese of London

Denomination
  
Church of England

Phone
  
+44 20 7638 1997

St Giles-without-Cripplegate

Heritage designation
  
Grade I listed building

Address
  
Fore St, London EC2Y 8DA, UK

Burials
  
John Milton, John Speed, John Foxe, Martin Frobisher

Similar
  
St Andrew Holborn, St Botolph‑without‑Bishopsgate, St Andrew‑by‑the‑Wardrobe, St Botolph's Aldgate, St Andrew Undershaft

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St Giles-without-Cripplegate is a Church of England church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and the handicapped. It is one of the few medieval churches left in the City of London, having survived the Great Fire of 1666.

Contents

History

There had been a Saxon church on the site in the 11th century but by 1090 it had been replaced by a Norman one. In 1394 it was rebuilt in the perpendicular gothic style. The stone tower was added in 1682.

The church has been badly damaged by fire on three occasions: In 1545, in 1897 and during an air raid of the Blitz of the Second World War on the night of 24 August 1940. German bombs completely gutted the church but it was restored using the plans of the reconstruction of 1545. A new ring of twelve bells was cast by Mears and Stainbank in 1954, and this was augmented with a sharp second bell cast in 2006 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.

Notable people associated with the church

  • John Field, curate of the church, c. 1570
  • John Foxe, author of the Book of Martyrs, surrogate for Crowley c. 1565 and buried in the church, 1587
  • Robert Crowley, rector of St Giles's and Protestant polemicist was buried in the church in 1588
  • Thomas Deloney, English novelist and balladist, had his son baptized here in 1586
  • Lancelot Andrewes, rector of the church after Crowley
  • Sir Martin Frobisher, captain who fought against the Spanish Armada, buried in the church, 1594
  • Nathaniel Eaton, first schoolmaster of Harvard College, was baptized here in 1610
  • Oliver Cromwell, military commander and Lord Protector of England during the Commonwealth, married in the church, 1620
  • Nicholas Tooley, Shakespearean Actor, Sharer of Globe Theatre Buried 5 June 1623
  • John Speed, author of the Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, was buried in the church in 1629
  • John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, was buried in the church in 1674
  • John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, attended the church
  • Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, died in the parish, 1731
  • Rick Wakeman, keyboardist who recorded his track "Jane Seymour" (from The Six Wives of Henry VIII) and Yes track "Close to the Edge" in the church
  • Roger Townshend was buried in the church in 1590.
  • Jack Nitzsche, composer, pianist, recorded "St. Giles Cripplegate" with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1972 (Reprise Records).

    • Layout of the church

    1. John Milton buried here in 1674
    2. The altar from St. Luke's, Old Street, which was dismantled in the 1960s due to subsidence.
    3. The east window. Designed by the Nicholson Studios, following the pattern of the original medieval window.
    4. Sedilia (where the priest sat) and piscina of the medieval church.
    5. Display cabinet containing the historic treasures of Cripplegate.
    6. John Foxe, author of "The Book of Martyrs" is buried here.
    7. Plaque commemorating Sir Martin Frobisher, explorer and sea Captain.
    8. Bust of John Speed, map maker and historian.
    9. Statue of John Milton by Horace Montford
    10. The organ. From St. Luke's, Old Street
    11. Bust of Daniel Defoe, author of "Robinson Crusoe" and John Milton.
    12. Busts of Oliver Cromwell and John Bunyan, author of "Pilgrim's Progress".
    13. Portrait of Dr. William Nicholls, the first Rector of St. Luke's Church and Vicar of St. Giles'.
    14. The West Window – shows the coats of arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, Milton, Cromwell and Frobisher.
    15. The font – from St. Luke's Church.
    16. The Cripplegate Window which celebrates the centenary of the charity The Cripplegate Foundation.
    17. Bust of Sir William Staines, Lord Mayor of London in 1801.

    References

    St Giles-without-Cripplegate Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA