oranges and lemons - The Parish of Greenford Magna

It was rebuilt, by Wren of course, between 1670 and 1683. Wren based his design on the Basilica ofMaxentius of Rome. The tower, which houses the Bow Bells, is thought to be his most ambitious project afterSt. Paul’s. It is 68 metres high and shows the city symbol of a dragon. The entrances to the tower are basedon the Hotel De Conti in Paris. The peal of ten Bow Bells were installed in the 1750s and were rung for the firsttime on 4 th June, 1762 to celebrate the King George III’s 25 th birthday.Inside the church is a number of interesting features, butfar too many to mention here, so we have picked out afew. This picture (left) is the Rood which hangs abovethe alter and was a gift from the Federal Republic ofGermany in 1964. The picture (right) of St. George andthe Dragon is a bronze piece of work given to the churchby Norway to commemorate work carried out by theNorwegian resistance and as a recording of the BowBells were rung across Europe in 1944 to indicate thecoming liberation. There is a beautiful sculpture of Mary(to which the church is dedicated too of course) with thebaby Jesus. (shown left). Many other features includebeautiful stained glass windows, a stone font as well assome quite modern pieces, such as this Christ figure(shown right)The church has many links with famous people such as:John Donne – in 1631 he left a bequest for the upkeepof Bow Bell. He wrote the poem “For whom the belltolls” – presumably that bell?Dick Wittington - as well as the Orange and Lemon rhyme, the church isassociated with the Dick Wittington rhyme, which tells of Dick as a poor orphan attracted to the so called goldpaved streets of London. Once here he worked in a rich merchant’s house, but was often beaten by the cook.Dispirited, one day he decided to leave but heard the Bells of Bow ringing out“Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London”And he returned back to his job, eventually marrying his master’s daughter, Alice, and becoming Lord Mayor ofLondon 3 times.Enoch Powell and Malcolm Muggeridge – in 1970 they debated “race” whilst plain clothes detectives andtelevision cameras watched on. This was part of a series of debates of the day introduced by JosephMcCulloch, the rector at this time. These ran from 1964-1979 and where popular amongst the city workers.McCulloch’s aim was not to recruit Anglicans, nor provide answers but to stimulate thinking. The church wasoften packed during these debates and in 1974 McCulloch produced a book of 20 of the best. The book wasentitled Under Bow Bells and his slogan was “I do not know says the great bell of bow: certainties divide usand doubts bring us together”.The church, is of course, known as the Cockney’s church as it is said that to be a cockney you must be bornwithin the sounds of Bow Bells. As the bells were destroyed in WWII on 11 th May, 1941 and not replaced until21 st December, 1961, it can be argued that no Cockneys were born during this period. The sound of the BowBells were actually used by the BBC at the start of all their broadcasts to occupied Europe.