Oranges and Lemons - The Parish of Greenford Magna

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