13 and 23 July, 2021
Cornhill, first mentioned in the 12th century, is a ward and a street in The City. The street goes between Bank and Leadenhall Street. Cornhill is one of the three ancient hills of London, the other being Tower Hill and Ludgate Hill. This was the site of the Roman forum of Londinium, and later a corn market, which gave the area its name. Here also was the first underground public toilet, which cost 1d, creating the term ‘to spend a penny.’ Today, the street is associated with opticians and makers of things like microscopes and telescopes. To me, it’s just a beautiful street with some stunning architecture.
Finally we reached St Michael’s Cornhill, but before we went into the church, we wandered down St Michael’s Alley. At the bottom is The Jamaica Wine House, known by locals as The Jampot. The red sandstone building dates from 1869 and was designed in art nouveau style. Many of the original features are still here, On this site in 1652, London’s first ever coffee house opened. Samuel Pepys was one of its earliest patrons. There’s a lovely detail from the original coffee house, Pasqua Rosée. At the back there are medieval courtyards.
With not much time before evensong begun, we went back to the church.
In front there is a beautiful war memorial.
For those who love historical and architectural detail, St Michael Cornhill was built over the northern part of the great Roman Forum. It’s a medieval church with the original building lost in the Great Fire of London, leaving just the tower. It’s been in existence since 1055 and was under the patronage of The Drapers’ Company during the 15th century. The present Gothic Revival style church is attributed to architects Christopher Wren (there’s doubt about that), with Nicholas Hawksmoor between 1669 and 1672. The tower was designed by Wren and Hawksmoor in the ‘Gothick’ style between 1718 and 1722. It has twelve bells cast by the Phelps Foundry of Whitechapel. Sir George Gilbert Scott, architect of the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station, remodelled the interior in the High Victorian manner between 1857 and 1860. It has Tuscan columns and still has pre-Victorian features, with panelling and sculptures dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Church escaped serious damage in the Second World War and the interior was restored in 1960, with the roofs and the nave of the tower being renewed in 1975.
There’s a very interesting organ in the church. It’s built so that two parts join at a 90 degree angle. The sound was very full, but the recording I made didn’t bring that out so I was disappointed. There have been some famous organists, some serving the church for many decades. The present organist has been there for over fifty years, a fact Krish and I found quite astounding. It must be humblng to sit at the organ and play on it knowing how many other hands have touched the keys and produced music. I’m a bit sad that my recording was so poor because it was an unusual piece being played. I did find this video online that may very well be the sort of music I heard – not your normal choral sound. It’s too bad that there is a focus on hands and feet and no pull back to see the organ itself.
Continue reading “A walk to Cornhill – 2: St Michaels and St Peters”
