Oranges and Lemons - The Parish of Greenford Magna

ORANGES AND LEMONS
BULL EYES AND TARGETS SAY THE BELLS OF ST MARGARETS
Gay go up and gay go down
To Ring the Bells of London Town
"Oranges and Lemons" say the Bells of St. Clements
"Bullseyes and Targets" say the Bells of St. Margaret's
Continuing our London Bells Nursery Rhyme (the forerunner of the famous Oranges and Lemons Rhyme)
Series, this month we look at St. Margaret Lothbury church.
The day we travelled up we got out at Bank Station only to walk straight into a protest. The protest was from
the campaign group Save our Savers who were protesting outside of the Bank of England at the bank’s
monetary policy. They had a pink paper mache pig (made out out of the Financial Times) which was later
smashed open by the group’s director, Jason Riddle.
The pig and the protest signs can be seen in the picture.
Note the cameras – we were so disappointed that we
didn’t make it onto the news that night. Fittingly, St
Margaret’s is the parish church of the Bank of England!
St. Margaret Lothbury – a little history
The church is dedicated to St. Margaret of Antioch, who
was apparently the daughter of a Pagan priest, was
converted to Christianity and then thrown out of her
home by her father. After spurning advances from a
dignitary she was charged with being a Christian and eventually beheaded. She is the patron saint of
childbirth. Lothbury is the road that runs along the side of the Bank of England. Although St. Margaret’s was
founded in 1197 it burnt down in 1440 and was rebuilt at the expense of the then Lord Mayor of London,
Robert Large. This church was then destroyed by the Great Fire of London and rebuilt by Sir Christopher
Wren in 1690. It is one of 51 churches in the city that Wren built after the Great Fire. We walked down the
little alley which leads to the back of the church and remarked how we were walking where Wren would have
walked and wondered what he would have said. We came to the conclusion that it was something like “not
another church to rebuild”.
The church has quite an irregular shape because Wren was constrained by the medieval ground plan. Was
this the forerunner to English Heritage we wonder
The phrase Bulls Eyes and Targets refers to the practice of archery which took
place in nearby fields. Edward III ordered that archery was practiced on
Sundays and holidays to
ensure the safety of the
country and continued until
guns replaced bows. So much
for Sunday being a day of rest
and worship!
The church contains many
beautiful and interesting
features, many from other now
demolished Wren churches.
Grinling Gibbons is thought to have designed the reredos (from St. Christopher–le-Stocks – demolished in
1781), the communion rails and the font. The font is a fantastic piece of craftsmanship, with reliefs of Adam
and Eve, Noah’s ark and the baptism of Christ. Some of which can be seen in this picture.

The choir screen is 1 of only 2 in a Wren church. It was originally in All
Hallows the Great which was demolished in 1894. The pulpit sounding
board also came from All Hallows.
The sword rests which can seen in this picture are from St. Olaves,
Old Jewry (you may recall mention of these in these in St. Clements
last month). We found out
that the sword rests were
used in the City when there
was a ceremonial visit,
such a Lord Mayor, and date back to late 18 th century. The
dignitaries’ swords would be placed in the rest. The paintings on
each side of the alter are of Moses and Aaron and they came from
St. Christopher-Le-Stocks.
In 1801 on Easter Day the organ
was installed by George Pike
restored in 1984) and was once played by Mendalssohn. There are regular
recitals by Richmond Townend, the current resident recitalist, who has put on
more than 2000 concerts. The organ contains most of its original pipes and
casing and is considered to be one of the finest classical organs in the
country.
The stained glass windows were
installed in the late 20 th Century
and shows the arms of the livery
companies associated with the
church.
The Church today
St Margaret’s is a busy parish church in the heart of the City. It is the church of five livery companies (the
Armourers and Brasiers, the Glovers of London, the Tylers and Bricklayers, the Tin Plate Workers also known
as Wire Workers, and the Scientific Instrument Makers), two ward clubs (Broad St. and Coleman St.) and one
professional institution (the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, as well as being the
parish church of the Bank of England, as previously mentioned, and several local firms. All of these hold
special services during the year and the day we visited was just prior to the annual service for the Worshipful
Company of Tylers and Bricklayers which was celebrating the 432nd installation of the Master of the Company
and the Wardens. There is a weekly men’s breakfast, which has been running for 10 years, where men of the
congregation meet to have breakfast and pray together and a fortnightly women’s breakfast. We’ll leave you
to speculate why women only meet fortnightly.
What is around to visit
As with St. Clements (the first in the series), which is only a short walk away, Monument, Bank, Leadenhall
Market, which draws us like a magnet and is difficult to get away from. A walk round the area is worth it just to
see the lovely architecture and the various banks, such as the Bank of China, ABC International, Bank of
England (of course) and the Bank of Persia is right next door.
Jenny Quick and Chris Gentle
Next month "Brickbats and Tiles" say the Bells of St. Giles and Jenny and Chris find a link to Guy
Fawkes