St Mary Aldermary

The Guild Church of St Mary Aldermary has changed since January 2010. In that time a lay spiritual community called the Moot Community have taken up residence, with the aim of opening up this beautiful building to support spirituality, the arts and wellbeing for those who live, work or visit the City of London. The building is incredible, and there is now a growing cafe at the back with book stall and other wares for sale.
The space also supports art exhibitions and events for those who consider themselves to be spiritual rather than religious in the traditional sense.
It is a great place to take some time out from the business of the day, and if you come during the week, there is a growing mini market with various food choices from Mexican to THai right on your doorstep. Bow Lane right outside the Church is a beautiful medieval street, a rarity in London, so worth checking out.

St. Mary Aldermary is another of the many beautiful City churches rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire of 1666. Located near St. Paul’s, it is wedged into a triangle between Watling Street and Queen Victoria Street. The church is first mentioned circa 1080, although likely has Saxon origins. The church was rebuilt in 1510. Only the tower and the walls survived the Great Fire, although Wren chose to rebuild the church in a Gothic style (his only Gothic church). It was damaged in the Blitz, restored, and became a Guild church in 1954. When I visited in fall 2008, the tower was covered in scafolding for restoration work.

Unfortunately, St. Mary Aldermary has limited opening hours (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., I believe), and was closed when I visited. I understand that the interior is beautiful: most importantly, it features a fan-vaulted ceiling. This is the only known fan-vaulted ceiling in a parish church in London: fan-vaulted ceilings are usually associated with cathedrals. I plan to go back to see the interior.