London No. 57 / Hupenhulle / East Cheap / Eastcheap

Tyack (1899) cites churchwardens' records of font-related expenditures "in the early sixteenth century 'for water to be hallowed' at Easter even." Allen (1839?) notes ''at the west end of the south aisle is a large and handsome font of marble, of an octangular form, more modern than the period of the fire'' [i.e., the London fire of 1666]. Blatch (1995) does not mention the marble font, but reports that the fire of 1988 destroyed much of the interior and furnishings [NB: it is not clear whether the marble font was just damaged, and awaiting restoration, or it was totally destroyed]. [NB: the church itself goes back to Norman times, but we do not have any information on the the earlier font(s) of this church; the original church was probably 12th-century; the 15th-century church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666; the church was re-built in the 1670s by Wren, and renovated several times in the later centuries]