St Michael Paternoster Royal

St Michael Paternoster Royal
Photo of St Michael Paternoster Royal
Location	City of London
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed building
Architect(s)	Sir Christopher Wren
Style	Baroque
Years built	1694
Administration
Diocese	London
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Bishop of London
Archdeacon	Archdeacon of London

St Michael Paternoster Royal is a church in the City of London. The original building, which was first recorded in the 13th century, was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The church was rebuilt under the aegis of Sir Christopher Wren. However St Michael’s was severely damaged during the London Blitz in the Second World War. It was restored between 1966 and 1968.

In 1423 Richard "Dick" Whittington, the fabled Lord Mayor of London, was buried within its precincts; although the tomb is now lost.

Pre-Great Fire London had seven churches dedicated to the Archangel Michael, all but one (St Michael le Querne) of which were rebuilt after the Great Fire. The earliest record of St Michael’s is as St Michael of Paternosterchierch and is dated 1219. The suffix comes from its location on Paternoster Lane, (now College Hill), which, in turn was named after the sellers of paternosters – or rosaries – based there. The suffix Royal is first recorded in the next century and refers to another nearby street, now vanished, called Le Ryole, which was a corruption of La Reole, a town in Bordeaux. This street was so named due to the presence of numerous wine merchants.

A local resident in the early 15th century was Richard Whittington, four times Lord Mayor of London. One of his earlier philanthropic acts, made in 1409, was to pay for the rebuilding and extension of St Michael Paternoster Royal after a vacant plot of land was acquired in Le Ryole. He later founded the College of St Spirit and St Mary within the church, so that St Michael's became a collegiate church, i.e. it was administered by a college of priests, in this case five, instead of a rector. It was commonly known as Whittington's College, or Whittington College. (The college was relocated from College Hill to Highgate Hill c. 1820s, and removed again in 1966 to Felbridge, West Sussex.)

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