London No. 24 / Jewry

INFORMATION

FontID: 09890LON
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Church/Chapel: Church of St. Lawrence Jewry [originally from Holy Trinity, Minories]
Church Patron Saints: St. Lawrence [aka Laurence]
Country Name: England
Location: Greater London, South East
Directions to Site: Located on Gresham St., at the entrance of Guildhall
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, under the organ gallery
Date: 1620
Century and Period: 17th century(early), Renaissance
Church Notes: Official place of worship of the City's Corporation
Font Notes:
Allen (1839?) informs that this church "was an ancient rectory, being given by Hugo de Wickenbroke, to Baliol college, in Oxford, anno 1294", at which point is coverted to a vicarage that remained under the patronage of the said college. Allen (ibid.) adds that "the old church being destroyed by the fire of 1666"" it was soon re-built on the same spot. The font described in Allen (ibid.) "at the south-west angle of the church, is a large and plain basin of marble." A font is described in Blatch (1995): "Font dates from 1620 and comes from Holy Trinity, Minories. It lies under the organ gallery. The cover incorporates wood from the roof of Guildhall", obviously not the same font, since Blatch (ibid.) adds: "The church was gutted during the air-raid of 29 December 1940; restoration was carried out by Cecil Brown and it was reopened in 1957".

REFERENCES

Allen, Thomas, The History and Antiquities of London, Wsetminster, Southwark, and parts adjacent, London: published by George Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, [1839?]
Blatch, Mervyn, Guide to London's churches (2. ed.), London: Constable, 1995