St Mary Abchurch

St. Mary Abchurch
The interior of St Mary Abchurch
Location	Abchurch Lane, City of London, England
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Anglican
Churchmanship	Traditional Catholic
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed building
Architect(s)	Sir Christopher Wren
Style	Baroque
Years built	1681–1687 (rebuilt after the [[Great Fire of London]], 1666)

1681–1687 (rebuilt after the [[Great Fire of

St Mary Abchurch is a Church of England church off Cannon Street in the City of London. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is first mentioned in 1198–1199. The medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and replaced by the present building.

The church dates back to the twelfth century and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The additional name "Abchurch" may be a variant of "Upchurch", referring to its position on comparatively high ground.

The patronage of the church belonged to the convent of St Mary Overy, Southwark, until around 1455, when it passed to the master and chaplains of the college of Corpus Christi at the church of St Laurence Pountney. After the Reformation, Archbishop Parker persuaded Elizabeth I to grant the church to his college, Corpus Christi, Cambridge, which has appointed the incumbent ever since.

"Restored and beautified" in 1611 at the cost of the parishioners, St Mary's was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666.

The church was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren in 1681–1686. The parish was united with that of the nearby church of St Laurence Pontney, also destroyed in the Great Fire but not rebuilt.

A bomb hit the church in September 1940 during the London Blitz. The greatest damage was to the dome. W. Godfrey Allen repaired the church between 1948–1953.

The dome was restored by E. W. Tristan, and work on it was completed after his death in 1952 by the artist Walter Hoyle. Many sources describe the reredos as having been shattered into many pieces by the bombing and then carefully restored. In fact it was removed from the church by order of the church wardens, and kept in a place of safety for the duration of the war. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.

The church has a red brick exterior with stone dressings. There is a four-storey, 51-foot-high tower with a leaded spire. The church was originally intended to be much larger, with a structure similar to St. Stephen Walbrook, however for reasons unknown it was rebuilt on a smaller scale under the supervision of Robert Hooke.