Medieval Churches in the City Walk

Chapel of St John (Tower of London)

Oldest church in London, the 11th century Norman chapel of St. John the Evangelist, part of the original construction of the White Tower of the Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror beginning in 1072.

 

St. Peter ad Vincula (St Peter in chains)

Originally a parish church, the Chapel was incorporated into the walls of the castle during Henry III’s reign. It has been rebuilt at least twice, once in the reign of Edward I, and then again in its present form in Henry VIII’s reign.

Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Jane Grey, and Sir Thomas More and John Fisher, are all buried here. Their headless bodies were buried under the nave or chancel without any memorial until the 19th century when remains found in the nave were re-interred in the crypt.

Note to self: need to visit these two churches! 

Who were the Crutched Friars?

Crutched Friars is a street in the city of London, so named as this was where a monastery was founded in 1249. The monastery remained until it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666

The monks were also known as the Canons regular of the Order of the Holy Cross from where they got their name; a reference to the Red Cross they wore on their habits. The Latin for cross is 'crux'....

Statue on the corner of Crutched Friars/Rangoon Street

The site of the monastery has long been replaced by office blocks, and it is here in an alcove set into a corner of one such block that you can see a sculpture of two monks by Michael Black 1985. Described by Pevsner in his Architectural Guide as 'eerily static'.. I would have to agree. They look most out of place with their modern surroundings!