NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Christ Church Greyfriars

Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate, was an Anglican church located on Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and the ruins are now a public garden. Image File history File links Photo taken by Lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Photo taken by Lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Newgate was a gate in the west of London Wall round the City of London. ... St Pauls Cathedral from the south St Pauls Cathedral is a cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, England and the seat of the Bishop of London. ... Coat of arms The City of London is a small area in Greater London. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

The first church on the site was built between 1306 and 1327 as the conventual church of the Franciscan monastery which stood there. The Franciscans were known as the Greyfriars due to the grey habits they wore. This church was in the gothic style, measuring about 300 feet long, 89 feet across and 64 feet from pavement to roof. It had at least 11 altars. Extensive royal patronage helped it prosper. Benefactors included Marguerite of France, second wife of King Edward I. She was buried at the church; the heart of Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III, was interred there as well. The church was the principal place of worship for the students of Christ's Hospital school, located just to the north. Events March 25 - Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland June 19 - Forces of Earl of Pembroke defeat Bruces Scottish rebels at the Battle of Methven Philip IV of France exiles all the Jews from France and confiscates their property In London, a city ordinance degrees that heating with... Events January 25 - Edward III becomes King of England. ... The Order of Friars Minor and other Franciscan movements are disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. ... Gothic architecture characterizes any of the styles of European architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, in use throughout Europe during the high and late medieval period, from the 12th century onwards. ... Marguerite of France (1282 â€“ 14 February 1317) was a daughter of Philip III of France and Maria of Brabant. ... Edward I (June 17, 1239 â€“ July 7, 1307), popularly known as Longshanks because of his 6 foot 2 inch (1. ... Eleanor of Provence (c 1223 â€“ 26 June 1291) was Queen Consort of King Henry III of England. ... Rulers with the title Henry III include: Henry III of Champagne Henry III of England Henry III of France Henry III of Germany (later Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor) Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) Henry III, Duke of Saxony (Henry the... View of the Christs Hospital campus View of the Christs Hospital quad Christs Hospital (also popularly known as the Bluecoat School, and also known by the nicknames Housey and CH) is a full board boarding school located in the countryside just south of Horsham, West Sussex, England. ...

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, in 1538, King Henry VIII gifted the church to the City. The neighbouring monastery buildings were later used by Christ's Hospital. The Dissolution of the Monasteries (referred to by Roman Catholic writers as the Suppression of the Monasteries) was the formal process, taking place between 1538 and 1541, by which King Henry VIII confiscated the property of the Roman Catholic monastic institutions in England and took them to himself, as the... Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... For the play, see Henry VIII (play). ... View of the Christs Hospital campus View of the Christs Hospital quad Christs Hospital (also popularly known as the Bluecoat School, and also known by the nicknames Housey and CH) is a full board boarding school located in the countryside just south of Horsham, West Sussex, England. ...

The church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was rebuilt on a smaller scale under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, in the neo-classical style that came to be known as the English Baroque. The unused space became the churchyard. The Great Fire of London was a major fire that swept through the City of London from 2-5 September 1666, and resulted more or less in the destruction of the city. ... 1666 is often called Annus Mirabilis. ... Sir Christopher Wren, (20 October 1632â€“25 February 1723) was a 17th century English designer, astronomer, geometrician, and the greatest English architect of his time. ... Greenwich Hospital: Sir Christopher Wren, 1694. ...

After ten years of work, the new church and tower were completed in 1687, at a total cost of 11,778 pounds, 9 shillings and 7 ¼ pence, according to the book The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren. It measured 113 feet long and had two rows of five columns running east to west, with pilasters on the east and west walls. Pews were said to have been made from the timbers of a wrecked Spanish galleon. The east end had trinity windows and a large wooden altar screen. The organ, located on the west wall, was built by Renatus Harris in 1690, according to a pre-war guide to the church. The steeple, standing about one hundred sixty feet tall, was finished in 1704 at an additional cost of 1,963 pounds, 8 shillings and 3 ½ pence. It is an ornate series of receding squares, with decorative urns at one of its stages. A vestry house was built flush against the facade’s south side and part of the south wall. Events March 19 - The men under explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle murder him while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. ... Renatus Harris (c 1652 - 1724) was a master organ maker in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. ... Events Giovanni Domenico Cassini observes differential rotation within Jupiters atmosphere. ...

Over the course of the church’s life, significant modifications were made-—a stainglass window depicting Christ with the children was installed in the center trinity window to replace the original clear ones. Rooms were built in the north and south aisles. This page is about the title or the Divine Person. For the Christian figure, see Jesus. ...

The church functioned as an important center of City of London society and music. The Lord Mayor attended an annual service to hear the Ancient Spital Sermon, placing his ceremonial sword in a special holder. The Christ's Hospital boys continued to attend services at the church, sitting in galleries over the north and south aisles. According to a pre-war guide book to the church, these students included the young Samuel Coleridge and Charles Lamb. Felix Mendelssohn played Bach’s A minor fugue and other works on the organ in 1837. Samuel Wesley also performed at the church. Councillor Patrick (Pat) John Stannard, Lord Mayor of Oxford (2004). ... This page is about the nineteenth century English poet. ... Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 â€“- 27 July 1834) was an English essayist, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the childrens book Tales from Shakespeare, which he produced along with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764â€“1847). ... Felix Mendelssohn at the age of thirty Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 â€“ November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... In music, the BACH motif is the sequence of notes B flat, A, C, B natural. ... | Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about an English composer of the late Georgian period. ...

Around the turn of the 20th Century, Christ's Hospital moved out of the City to Horsham, West Sussex, ending the Sunday influx of schoolboys. A new vicar, T.R. Hine-Haycock, took over in 1912. A July 1922 Christ Church newsletter preserved at Guildhall Library shows that at that time it had an 8:30 a.m. Holy Communion service every Sunday, and musical services at 11 a.m. every first and third Sunday. The church was open daily for private prayer from noon to 3 p.m. In its final years, the congregation continued to drop in size, a common trend for City churches as people relocated to outlying neighborhoods of London. Parish records at the Guildhall Library show there were 112 members in April 1933, most of them residents of places outside the parish boundaries. Many of those living in the parish were "housekeepers," living in and looking after commercial buildings. In April 1937, the membership had dropped to 77. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Horsham is a market town in West Sussex, England with a population of roughly 50,000. ... West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove), Hampshire and Surrey. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Guildhall Library is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England. ... The Eucharist is either the Christian sacrament of consecrated bread and wine or the ritual surrounding it. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Guildhall Library is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The church was severely damaged in the Blitz on December 29, 1940, during the Second World War, in one of the fiercest air raids of the war. A bomb struck the roof, according to the book "Christ Church, Newgate Street: Its History and Architecture." Much of the surrounding neighborhood was set alight—-a total of eight Wren churches burned that night. A finely carved wooden font cover was the only fitting saved at Christ Church, recovered by an unknown postman who ran inside as the flames raged. A photograph from the time shows fire brigade members hosing down smouldering ruins in the light of the following day. Heinkel He 111 German bomber over the Surrey Docks, Southwark, London (German propaganda photomontage) The Blitz was the sustained bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

In 1949, in a reorganization of the Anglican Church in London, authorities decided not to rebuild Christ Church. In 1954, its parish was merged with that of the nearby St Sepulchre-without-Newgate. The spire, still standing after the wartime fire but weakened, was disassembled in 1960 and put back together using modern construction methods. The surviving east wall was demolished in 1962 to make way for a widening of King Edward Street. The ruins of the nave became a public garden and memorial; a repaired vestry house and the tower became commercial space. 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... St Sepulchre Church Newgate Execution Bell St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holborn), is an Anglican church in the City of London. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

In 2002, the financial firm Merrill Lynch completed a regional headquarters complex on land abutting to the north and the west. In conjunction with that project, the Christ Church site got a major renovation and archeological examination. King Edward Street was put back to its former course so that the site regained its original footprint. The churchyard was spruced up, its metal railings restored. In 2006, work was completed to convert the tower and spire into a modern twelve-level private residence. The nave area continues as a memorial; the wooden font cover, topped by a carved angel, can today be seen in the porch of St. Sepulchre’s. For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Merrill Lynch & Co. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Christ Church Font Cover

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (555x640, 74 KB)Photo by Lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (555x640, 74 KB)Photo by Lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

See also