St Andrew Undershaft

St Andrew Undershaft
St Andrew Undershaft
	St Andrew Undershaft in 2013
Location	London,EC3
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Conservative Evangelical
History
Founded	1147
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade Ilisted building
Style	Perpendicular style
Years built	1532
Administration
Diocese	London

St Andrew Undershaftis aChurch of England churchin theCity of London,the historic nucleus and modern financial centre of London. It is located onSt Mary Axe,within theAldgateward, and is a rare example of a City church that survived both theGreat Fire of Londonandthe Blitz.^[1]

The present building was constructed in 1532 but a church has existed on the site since the 12th century. Today, St Andrew Undershaft is administered from the nearbySt Helen's Bishopsgatechurch.

History

The first church on the site, which today is bordered bySt Mary AxeandLeadenhall Street,was built inmedieval times,being recorded in 1147.^[2]It was rebuilt in the 14th century and again in 1532;^[3]this third incarnation of the building survives today. It is in thePerpendicular style^[4]with its entrance located at the base of its off-centre tower. The interior is divided into six bays, with many of the original fittings that survived theVictorianrenovation. Formerly, St Andrew Undershaft had one of London's few surviving large stained-glass windows, installed in the 17th century, but this was destroyed in theBaltic Exchange bombingin 1992.

The church's curious name derives from the shaft of themaypole^[5]that was traditionally set up each year opposite the church.^[6]The custom continued each spring until 1517, when student riots put an end to it, but the maypole itself survived until 1547 when it was seized by a mob and destroyed as a "pagan idol".^[7]According toJohn Stow,the chronicler who is buried here, they had it "raised from the hooks whereon it had rested for two-and-thirty years, sawn in pieces and burnt."^[8]

St Andrew Undershaft is now administered from the nearby church ofSt Helen's Bishopsgate.St Andrew Undershaft was designated a Grade Ilisted buildingon 4 January 1950.^[9]

The tower holds a peal of six bells in the key of G, with the tenor being cast in 1597 by Robert Mot. These are now hung dead (they can only be rung stationary) inside the tower.^[10]

Organ

Theorganwas installed in 1696 byRenatus Harris.A swell was added in 1750 by John Byfield. There have been other restorations and enhancements byGeorge Pike Englandin 1810–11 and 1826. Further work was carried out by William Hill, Speechly and J. W. Walker & Sons, andRushworth and Dreaper.A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register^[11]

The organ is of such historic significance that it has been awarded a Grade I historic organ certificate by theBritish Institute of Organ Studies.

Organists

William Goodgroome, 1696
Philip Hart,1697–1749
John Worgan,1749–1790
Mary Allen, 1790–1836
Richard Limpus,1847
William Rea, 1847–1858
Elizabeth Stirling,1858–1880
C. F. Frye, 1880–1886
W. M. Wait, 1887–1891
Herbert George Preston, 1891–1912^[12]
William A. S. Ballard, 1913–1921^[13]

Notable people associated with the church

Sir Thomas Offley,Lord Mayor of London 1563–64, was buried in 1582. The monument to Sir Thomas and his wife Joan (died 1578) survives in St Andrew Undershaft. Joan was a granddaughter ofSir Stephen Jennings,Lord Mayor, who funded the rebuilding of the church.^[14]
John Stow,author of theSurvey of London:buried in 1605. The quill pen held in the hand of his alabaster monument is renewed periodically by, alternately, the Lord Mayor of London and the Master of theWorshipful Company of Merchant Taylors,at a memorial service organised by theLondon and Middlesex Archaeological Society.
Hugh Hamersley,Lord Mayor of London in 1627, whose memorial is in St Andrew Undershaft.
Hans Holbein the Younger,a former parishioner of St Andrew Undershaft was possibly buried in the church.
Frederick George Blomfield, rector of St Andrew Undershaft (1853–1879), son ofCharles James Blomfield(Bishop of London) and father ofDorothy Gurney(poet and hymn writer).
John Lawrence Toole,a comedian who was born and christened in St Andrew Undershaft.
Fabian Stedmanthe father of church bellringing was buried in St Andrew Undershaft.

Notes

^The Visitors Guide to the City of London ChurchesTucker, T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006ISBN 0-9553945-0-3
^The London EncyclopaediaHibbert, C.; Weinreb, D.; Keay, J.: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993, 2008)ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5
^London:the City ChurchesPevsner, N./Bradley, S.: New Haven, Yale, 1998ISBN 0-300-09655-0
^The City of London ChurchesBetjeman, J.Andover, Pikin, 1967ISBN 0-85372-112-2
^The City ChurchesTabor, M. p. 27:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917
^Cobb, G.London city churches:London, B T Batsford Ltd., 1977
^"The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p36: London; Quartet; 1975
^A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to London.Ward Lock & Co. 1928. p. 124.Guide to London.
^Historic England."Church of St Andrew Undershaft (1079155)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved23 January2009.
^"St Andrew Undershaft".london.lovesguide.Archived fromthe originalon 18 February 2003.
^"NPOR [N17628]".National Pipe Organ Register.British Institute of Organ Studies.Retrieved7 October2021.
^Dictionary of Organs and Organists,First Edition, Frederick W. Thornsby, 1912
^Dictionary of Organs and Organists,Second Edition. G. A. Mate, 1921
^W. J. Thoms,A Survey of London written in the year 1598, by John Stow(Chatto & Windus, London 1876),p. 194.

External links

St Helen's Bishopsgate

51°30′49.18″N0°4′52.72″W/ 51.5136611°N 0.0813111°W/51.5136611; -0.0813111

[1] The Visitors Guide to the City of London ChurchesTucker, T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006ISBN 0-9553945-0-3

[2] The London EncyclopaediaHibbert, C.; Weinreb, D.; Keay, J.: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993, 2008)ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5

[3] London:the City ChurchesPevsner, N./Bradley, S.: New Haven, Yale, 1998ISBN 0-300-09655-0

[4] The City of London ChurchesBetjeman, J.Andover, Pikin, 1967ISBN 0-85372-112-2

[5] The City ChurchesTabor, M. p. 27:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917

[6] Cobb, G.London city churches:London, B T Batsford Ltd., 1977

[7] "The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p36: London; Quartet; 1975

[8] A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to London.Ward Lock & Co. 1928. p. 124.Guide to London.

[9] Historic England."Church of St Andrew Undershaft (1079155)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved23 January2009.

[10] "St Andrew Undershaft".london.lovesguide.Archived fromthe originalon 18 February 2003.

[11] "NPOR [N17628]".National Pipe Organ Register.British Institute of Organ Studies.Retrieved7 October2021.

[12] Dictionary of Organs and Organists,First Edition, Frederick W. Thornsby, 1912

[13] Dictionary of Organs and Organists,Second Edition. G. A. Mate, 1921

[14] W. J. Thoms,A Survey of London written in the year 1598, by John Stow(Chatto & Windus, London 1876),p. 194.

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v t e Churches in the City of London
extant churches	All Hallows-by-the-Tower All Hallows-on-the-Wall City Temple Dutch Church, Austin Friars St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe St Andrew, Holborn St Andrew Undershaft St Anne and St Agnes St Bartholomew-the-Great St Bartholomew-the-Less St Benet, Paul's Wharf St Botolph, Aldersgate St Botolph, Aldgate St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate St Bride, Fleet Street St Clement, Eastcheap St Dunstan-in-the-West St Edmund, King and Martyr St Ethelburga, Bishopsgate St Giles, Cripplegate St Helen, Bishopsgate St James, Garlickhythe St Katharine Cree St Lawrence Jewry St Magnus the Martyr St Margaret Lothbury St Margaret Pattens St Martin, Ludgate St Mary Abchurch St Mary Aldermary St Mary Moorfields St Mary Woolnoth St Mary-at-Hill St Mary-le-Bow St Michael, Cornhill St Michael, Paternoster Royal St Nicholas, Cole Abbey St Olave, Hart Street St Paul's Cathedral St Peter upon Cornhill St Sepulchre-without-Newgate St Stephen Walbrook St Vedast alias Foster Temple Church
churches of which only the tower remains	All Hallows Staining Christ Church, Greyfriars St Alban, Wood Street St Alphage London Wall St Augustine, Watling Street St Dunstan-in-the-East St Martin Orgar St Mary Somerset St Olave, Old Jewry
churches rebuilt after the Great Fire but since demolished	All Hallows Bread Street All Hallows Lombard Street All-Hallows-the-Great St Antholin, Budge Row St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange St Benet Fink St Benet Gracechurch St Christopher le Stocks St Dionis Backchurch St George Botolph Lane St Katherine Coleman St Mary Aldermanbury St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street St Matthew Friday Street St Michael Bassishaw St Michael, Crooked Lane St Michael Queenhithe St Michael Wood Street St Mildred, Bread Street St Mildred, Poultry St Stephen Coleman Street St Swithin, London Stone
churches destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt	All Hallows Honey Lane All-Hallows-the-Less Holy Trinity the Less St Andrew Hubbard St Ann Blackfriars St Benet Sherehog St Botolph Billingsgate St Faith under St Paul's St Gabriel Fenchurch St Gregory by St Paul's St John the Baptist upon Walbrook St John the Evangelist Friday Street St John Zachary St Laurence Pountney St Leonard, Eastcheap St Leonard, Foster Lane St Margaret Moses St Margaret, New Fish Street St Martin Pomary St Martin Vintry St Mary Bothaw St Mary Colechurch St Mary Magdalen Milk Street St Mary Mounthaw St Mary Staining St Mary Woolchurch Haw St Michael-le-Querne St Nicholas Acons St Nicholas Olave St Olave, Silver Street St Pancras, Soper Lane St Peter, Paul's Wharf St Peter, Westcheap St Thomas the Apostle
other former churches	College of Minor Canons Holy Trinity Gough Square Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate Hospital of St Thomas of Acre Old St Paul's Cathedral St Audoen within Newgate St Augustine Papey St James Duke's Place St Martin Outwich St Mary Axe St Nicholas Shambles St Peter le Poer

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