C O N T E X T 1 1 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 0 53 Architecturally speaking New life for a great survivor On first hearing that yet another church has embarked on fundraising for its renovation or restoration, it can sometimes be difficult for conservationists and architectural historians to muster the requisite amount of enthusiasm for the project. However, to allow ourselves, either corporately or individually, to become complacent (or even battle-weary) about the situation could be to overlook some of the real architectural gems among our churches and perhaps even the solutions to their struggles. St Katharine Cree church in Leadenhall Street in the heart of the City of London is one such architectural gem. Its unique role in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London in 1666 also makes it invaluable historically. The church is currently raising money for a surprising renovation which will see it returning to a use that it once had in the 17th century. The Grade I church was almost completely rebuilt in 1630, retaining only the Tudor tower from the previous church, which dates to 1504, in the new structure. In pure architectural terms the building is a hybrid of late medieval or Tudor architecture, heavily laced with early attempts at classicist forms and decoration. St Katharine Cree’s unknown architect was clearly experimenting with the transition from the gothic to the renaissance, and the fabric of the building records this phase of architectural history particularly well. The church happily accommodates a stylistically confused but beautiful clerestory of classical pilasters and gothic windows. It also has a fine Tudor rose window (purported to be modelled on the larger one at St Paul’s Cathedral which was destroyed in the Great Fire). This exists alongside a classical arcade of Corinthian columns and renaissance arches. Externally the walls appear Tudor in their construction but are decorated with classical ornaments such as the pedimented doorcases. The value of the church lies not in its architectural purity but in the record it provides of the transition between the two styles. It is also highly valued for its rarity. Few new churches were built at all in the Jacobean period, although many were refurbished and, due to the fire, St Katharine Cree’s is the only Jacobean church to survive in London. It is one of only eight churches in the City to survive the Great Fire. The Great Fire, which began in the early hours of Sunday 2 September 1666, consumed 87 parish churches and six consecrated chapels. It gutted St Paul’s Cathedral, whose lead roof melted and, according to the diarist John Evelyn and other eye-witnesses, flowed down Ludgate Hill. The fire destroyed three city gates, 52 livery company halls, the Customs House, the Royal Exchange, Newgate Prison, Bridewell and at least 13,200 domestic dwellings. Eighty thousand Londoners were made homeless at a stroke, flocking to open ground such as Hampstead Heath and Moorfields to escape the fire and watch the destruction. This national crisis immediately prompted Charles II to create a commission to consider the rebuilding of London. He personally appointed the architects Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723), Sir Roger Pratt (1620– 1685), Hugh May (1621–1684) and Robert Hooke (1605–1703), among others, to make plans for the task. The proposals put forward by these men, under the aegis of Wren, formed the basis of the Rebuilding Act (passed in 1667), which focused on domestic property. A second Rebuilding Act was passed in 1670 to enable and supervise the building of 51 new churches in London, to be funded by a tax on all coal being imported into the capital. The new churches, almost all designed byWren and Hooke, were nearly all completed in the 1670s and 1680s. All new churches were in use by 1696. Many of the steeples and towers were added later, however, which accounts for the more confident use of the classical style on these steeples and towers, compared with the main body of some of the churches. Sadly 27 of the 51 new churches were destroyed in the blitz during the second world war. St Katharine Cree, having survived the fire, went on to survive both the war and also the Baltic Exchange bomb of 1992, which blew out the centre of the 1630s rose window. Robert Hooke, with the surveyor Peter Mills (1598–1670), began marking out the new streets of the City using stakes of timber. Starting in Fleet Street, they completed the entire task between March and May 1667. St Katharine Cree’s, right in the heart of this 17th century building site and one of the few remaining structures in the City, became a focal point during the rebuilding. The church opened its doors and was used as a refectory for feeding the workers and builders every day as they reconstructed their livery company halls in the City. Today St Katharine Cree’s, no longer a parish church but a guild church, seeks to make provision for the very large daytime population of the City involved in commerce, finance and industry. As of autumn this year, the church plans to revert to its 17th century use combining its role as a place of worship with a refectory for City workers, thus feeding both body and soul. St Katharine Cree’s new, combined use has a historic precedent and will ensure the survival of this unique Jacobean building. Most parish churches have led relatively quiet lives in comparison to St Katharine Cree, especially those located in our rural English villages. Perhaps, though, the details of individual church histories may unearth some surprising results. Their past uses, no matter how unorthodox, may just inspire the ‘appropriate, modern’ use for which we are searching. Carole Fry, a director of AHC Consultants References Lisa Jardine, On a Grander Scale, the outstanding career of Sir Christopher Wren, Harper Collins, London 2002 Giles Worsley, Classical Architecture in Britain: the heroic age,Yale University Press, new Haven and London 1995 Howard Colvin, A Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840,Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1995 TF Reddaway, The Rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, 1940
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