Whenever we have tried to see inside St Dunstan’s in the past, always on a Saturday, there has been a christening taking place, or some other service, which means I have only glimpsed inside before we had to leave as the stares were quite hard from people attending the service.
I left St Spelchure, intending to walk straight to St Magnus, as that was the one church I wanted to visit. I turned of Holborn, thinking I knew the directions, ending up on Fleet Street in the end after all, with the clock of St Dunstan’s just a few hundred yards away.
With the rain falling ever harder, I walk past ambling tourists and find my way into the church.
Sadly, I underestimated the darkness inside, and not may shots came out, but we can always go back.
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"St Dunstan in the West, the church of, is situated on the north side of the west end of Fleet Street, where it has been long known as a grievous incumbrance to Hackney and stage coachmen, drivers of omnibuses, and country females. But as it is about to be taken down, to the infinite regret of the city pickpockets, any description of it is unnecessary. It, however, unfortunately for the public, narrowly escaped destruction by the great fire of 1666, the flames having been stopped within three houses of its walls. It has been several times repaired, but it will, ere long,…be removed. It is a church of very ancient foundation, in the gift of the abott and convent of Westminster, who in 1237 gave it to Henry III towards the maintenance of the foundation of the house called the Rolls, for the reception of converted Jews. It was afterwards conveyed to the abbot and convent of Alnwick, in Northumberland, in whom it continued till the dissolution of the religious houses by Henry VIII. Edward VI granted the advowson of this church under the name of a vicarage to Lord Dudley. Soon after this, the rectory and vicarage were granted to Sir Richard Sackville, and the impropriation has ever since remained in private hands.
familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/St_Dunstan_in_the_West
The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in the City of London, England. It is dedicated to a former Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is of medieval origin, although the present building, with an octagonal nave, was constructed in the 1830s to the designs of John Shaw.
First founded between AD 988 and 1070, there is a possibility that a church on this site was one of the Lundenwic strand settlement churches, like St Martin in the Fields, the first St Mary le Strand, St Clement Danes and St Brides. These churches may pre-date any within the walls of the city . It is not known exactly when the original church was built, but it was possibly erected by Saint Dunstan himself, or priests who knew him well. It was first mentioned in written records in 1185.[2] King Henry III gained possession of it and its endowments from Westminster Abbey by 1237 and then granted these and the advowson to the "House of Converts" i.e. of the converted Jews, which led to its neglect of its parochial responsibilities. This institution was eventually transformed into the Court of the Master of the Rolls.
The medieval church underwent many alterations before its demolition in the early 19th century. Small shops were built against its walls, St Dunstan’s Churchyard becoming a centre for bookselling and publishing.[3] Later repairs were carried out in an Italianate style: rusticated stonework was used, and some of the Gothic windows were replaced with round headed ones, resulting in what George Godwin called "a most heterogeneous appearance".[3] In 1701 the church’s old vaulted roof was replaced with a flat ceiling, ornamented with recessed panels.[3]
The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers has been associated with the church since the 15th century. The company holds an annual service of commemoration to honour two of its benefactors, John Fisher and Richard Minge, after which children were traditionally given a penny for each time they ran around the church.
William Tyndale, the celebrated translator of the Bible, was a lecturer at the church and sermons were given by the poet John Donne. Samuel Pepys mentions the church in his diary.[4] The church narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Dean of Westminster roused 40 scholars from Westminster School in the middle of the night, who formed a fire brigade which extinguished the flames with buckets of water to only three doors away.
In the early 19th century the medieval church of St Dunstan was removed to allow the widening of Fleet Street and a new church was built on its burial ground. An Act of Parliament was obtained authorising the demolition of the church in July 1829 and trustees were appointed to carry it into effect. In December 1829 and September 1830 there were auctions of some of the materials of the old church. The first stone of the new building, to the design of John Shaw, Sr. (1776–1832), was laid in July 1831 and construction proceeded rapidly. In August 1832 the last part of the old church, which had been left as a screen between Fleet Street and the new work, was removed.[3]
Shaw dealt with the restricted site by designing a church with an octagonal central space. Seven of the eight sides open into arched recesses, the northern one containing the altar. The eighth side opens into a short corridor, leading beneath the organ to the lowest stage of the tower, which serves as an entrance porch. Above the recesses Shaw designed a clerestory, and above that a groined ceiling. The tower is square in plan, with an octagonal lantern, resembling those of St Botolph, Boston, and St Helen’s York. George Godwin Jr suggested that the form of the lantern might have been immediately inspired by that of St George’s church in Ramsgate ( where Shaw was architect to the docks), built in 1825 to the designs of H.E. Kendall.[3] John Shaw Sr. died in 1833, before the church was completed, leaving it in the hands of his son John Shaw Jr (1803–1870).
The communion rail is a survivor of the old church, having been carved by Grinling Gibbons during the period when John Donne served as vicar (1624–1631). Some of the monuments from the medieval building were reinstituted in the new church and a fragment of the old churchyard remains between Clifford’s Inn and Bream’s Buildings.
Apart from losing its stained glass, the church survived the London Blitz largely intact, though bombs did damage the open-work lantern tower.[6] The building was largely restored in 1950. An appeal to raise money to install a new ring of bells in the tower, replacing those removed in 1969, was successfully completed in 2012 with the dedication and hanging of 10 new bells.[7]
The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.
On the façade is a chiming clock, with figures of giants, perhaps representing Gog and Magog, who strike the bells with their clubs. It was installed on the previous church in 1671, perhaps commissioned to celebrate its escape from destruction by the Great Fire of 1666. It was the first public clock in London to have a minute hand. The figures of the two giants strike the hours and quarters, and turn their heads. There are numerous literary references to the clock, including in Thomas Hughes’ Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Oliver Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, David Lyddal’s The Prompter (1810)[9] and a poem by William Cowper. In 1828, when the medieval church was demolished, the clock was removed by art collector Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford to his mansion in Regent’s Park; during World War I, a new charity for blinded soldiers was lent the house, and took the name St Dunstan’s from the clock.[10] It was returned by Lord Rothermere in 1935 to mark the Silver Jubilee of King George V.
Above the entrance to the old parochial school is a statue of Queen Elizabeth I, taken from the old Ludgate, which was demolished in 1760. This statue, dating from 1586, is contemporaneous with its subject and thought to be the oldest outdoor statue in London. In the porch below are three statues of ancient Britons also from the gate, probably meant to represent King Lud and his two sons.
Adjacent to Queen Elizabeth is a bust of Lord Northcliffe, the newspaper proprietor, co-founder of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror. Next to Lord Northcliffe is a memorial tablet to James Louis Garvin, another pioneering British journalist.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Dunstan-in-the-West
St.Dunstan-in-the-West has a long and illustrious history. Visitors are often struck by how St. Dunstan’s differs in appearance and style to other Anglican churches. The church looks traditionally Neo-Gothic on the outside, yet is octagonal inside.
Saint Dunstan
Dunstan was one of the foremost saints of Anglo-Saxon England: he was also one of the most venerated before the cult of St Thomas Becket took hold of the popular imagination. He was born in 909 A.D. and was taught by Irish monks at Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, where he developed a reputation as a formidable scholar. He also learnt metalworking, and was later adopted as the patron saint of Goldsmiths. Dunstan became a companion to King Aethelstan’s stepbrothers, Edmund and Eadred, although he was banished after the king died in 939. He then lived at Glastonbury as a hermit, before being appointed Abbot there in 945. He was appointed as the Bishop of Worcester and then the Bishop of London, before being elected Archbishop of Canterbury in 960. Dunstan sought peace with the Danes and promoted monastic living, as well as establishing the library at Canterbury Cathedral, where he was buried in 988. St Dunstan’s feast day is the 19th May and is still celebrated at this church: in 2013 our Patronal Festival will be held on Saturday 18 May.
The Original Church
The original St Dunstan-in-the-West stood on the same site as today, spilling in the past onto what is now the tarmac of Fleet Street. It is not known exactly when the original church was built, but it was between 988 and 1070 AD. It is not impossible that St Dunstan himself, or priests who knew him well, decreed that a church was needed here. The church narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666. The quick thinking of the Dean of Westminster saved the church: he roused forty scholars from Westminster School in the middle of the night, who extinguished the flames with buckets of water.
The Church is Rebuilt
The wear and tear of time took its toll, however, and St Dunstan’s was rebuilt in 1831. The architect, John Shaw, died in 1832, leaving his son, who bore the same name, to complete the task. The tower was badly damaged by German bombers in 1944, and was rebuilt in 1950 through the generosity of newspaper magnate Viscount Camrose. In 1952, St Dunstan-in-the-West became a Guild Church, dedicating its ministry to the daytime working population around Fleet Street.
The Clock and Giants
St Dunstan-in-the-West was a well-known landmark in previous centuries because of its magnificent clock. This dates from 1671, and was the first public clock in London to have a minute hand. The figures of the two giants strike the hours and quarters, and turn their heads. There are numerous literary references to the clock, including in Tom Brown’s Schooldays, the Vicar of Wakefield and a poem by William Cowper (1782):
When labour and when dullness, club in hand,
Like the two figures at St. Dunstan’s stand,
Beating alternately in measured time
The clockwork tintinnabulum of rhyme,
Exact and regular the sounds will be,
But such mere quarter-strokes are not for me.
The courtyard also contains statues of King Lud, the mythical sovereign, and his sons and Queen Elizabeth I, all of which originally stood in Ludgate. The statue of Queen Elizabeth I dates from 1586 and is the only one known to have been carved during her reign. (Please note: we regret that, due to building works, the statue of Queen Elizabeth I is not on view until the autumn of 2013.)
Inside the Church
Much of the internal fabric pre-dates the rebuilding of the church in the 1830s. The high altar and reredos are Flemish woodwork dating from the seventeenth century. There are also a large number of monuments from the original
church. Some of the earliest are two bronze figures thought to date from 1530.
The Organ
The original church has an organ dating from 1674-75 made by Renatus Harris. However, none of the original parts are likely to have remained as over the years it has had to be entirely rebuilt. Much of the present organ dates from 1834, when a Joseph Robson organ was bought at the same time as the Church was being rebuilt. Many distinguished organists have played here, including John Reading, the composer of Adeste Fideles, who died in 1764. Handel was even invited to play here, although whether the great composer ever accepted the invitation remains unknown.
The Romanian Orthodox Church
As well as being an Anglican church, the building of St Dunstan’s is home to the Romanian Orthodox Church in London. The beautiful iconostasis (altar screen) was brought here from a monastery in Bucharest in 1966.
St Dunstan-in-the-West is home to the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, and is a centre of prayer for Christian Unity. It is therefore appropriate that the side chapels contain altars dedicated to various traditions, including the Lutheran Church in Berlin (EKD). There is also an altar of the Oriental Churches (Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian, Syro-Indian) and a shrine of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. St Dunstan’s continues in its special role of promoting good relations with Churches outside the Anglican Communion, including through its role as the Diocese of London’s Church for Europe.
Other Famous Connections
The poet John Donne held the benefice here from 1624-31, while he was Dean of St Paul’s. William Tyndale, who pioneered the translation of the Bible into English, was a lecturer here. The famous diarist Samuel Pepys worshipped here a number of times. Lord Baltimore, who founded the State of Maryland in the USA, was buried here in 1632, as was his son. The church has been associated with the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers (old English for shoemakers) since the fifteenth century. Once a year the company holds a service here to commemorate the benefactors John Fisher and Richard Minge, after which children used to be given a penny for each time they ran around the church!
The Hoare Bank
The church has long had an association with C. Hoare and Co., whose bank has been situated opposite the church since 1690. The Hoare family donated the four stained glass windows behind the high altar and the carved canopies of the altar-piece. The windows show Archbishop Lanfrance; St Dunstan beside a roaring furnace into which he has thrust his pincers ready to pull a devil’s nose; St. Anselm and Archbishop Langton with King John at the signing of the Magna Carta. Members of the Hoare family, as well as being generous benefactors, have maintained a tradition of service as churchwardens over the centuries. Two have been Lord Mayors of London and a family vault still lies in the church crypt.
The staple of Victorian penny shockers, the story of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, stalks the no-man’s land between urban myth and historical fact. According to some sources, Todd, a barber, tooth-puller and surgeon, did actually exist, and in 1785 set up shop at 186 Fleet Street. It is claimed that he murdered over 100 of his clients, before selling their flesh on to Margery Lovett, who owned a pie shop in nearby Bell Yard!
