St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate

Although it is thought that a Roman or a Saxon building might have stood on the site, the first mentions of the parish church of St Helen date back to the mid-12th century. In 1210, the Dean and chapter of St. Paul's gave William, son of William Goldsmith, permission to establish a priory of Benedictine nuns, and a nunnery was built alongside the existing church.[4] The new church was four feet wider than the parish church, and longer too, so the parish church was lengthened to match. The masonry of the outer walls as it currently stands was in place by 1300.[5][6] The church was divided in two by a partition running from east to west, the northern half serving the nuns and the southern the parishioners. In 1480, four great arches were installed between the nun's choir and the parishioner's nave, and a wooden screen was put in place to separate the two. An additional screen was placed in the parish church to separate the chancel in the east end of the church, where the altar was located, from the nave.

A crypt extended north from the church under the hall.[6] Next to the church, the priory had extensive monastic buildings; they were later acquired and used by the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers until their demolition in 1799. The church is the only surviving building from a nunnery in the City of London.

Interior of St Helen's Bishopsgate

When the priory was dissolved in 1538, the nunnery was incorporated in the parish church and the screen separating it from the rest of the church was removed. This gave the church its unusual construction consisting of two naves. In the following years, the building was rearranged according the principles of the Reformation, which put the emphasis on the preaching of the Word and on the full and active participation of the congregation. A Jacobean pulpit was erected in 1615 in a central position on the south wall, accompanied by an ornamental tester in 1640. Box pews were installed and arranged around the pulpit.

In the 17th century, extensive repairs were carried out, most notably resulting in the addition of two Classical wooden doorcases.[6][7] By the end of the century, a bell turret was also erected. St Helen's was one of only a few City of London churches to survive the Great Fire of London of 1666.

A new organ and organ loft were installed on the west end of the church in 1742, designed by Thomas Griffin. In 1874 the parish was united with that of St Martin Outwich when the latter's church was demolished, and the first incumbent of the new parish was John Bathurst Deane.

During the Victorian era, two significant restorations were carried out. The first, in 1865, provided the two stone tracery windows on the east end of the church and stained glass throughout the building. The second, more significant, Victorian restoration was carried out from 1891 to 1893 by John Loughborough Pearson under supervision of the then rector, Rev. John Alfred Lumb Airey. This restoration was inspired by the Oxford movement, which advocated moving the centre of importance in the church from preaching to the sacrament of the Eucharist. This new arrangement resulted in a new floor with levels gradually ascending from the west to a new high altar in the east, completed by an ornated reredos and marble pavement, once again enclosed in a chancel by a neo-Gothic screen. The organ was expanded and moved to the south transept, where two additional altars were also placed in two side chapels, the Chapel of the Holy Ghost and the Chapel of our Lady. The church was reopened on St John the Baptist's Day in 1893 by the Bishop of London, Frederick Temple.

The Jacobean pulpit

As the church had been used as a burial ground for centuries, it is thought that over a 1000 bodies had been interred in vaults under the floor by this period. The excavation of the floor at the start of the 1891 restoration caused some of the burials to emerge from the vaults: all work had to stop for one year until all human remains were translated to Ilford Cemetery, and a 2-foot concrete slab was put in place between the floor and the remains of the vault.

The church was left undamaged by the Blitz during World War II[8] and it was designated a Grade I-listed building on 4 January 1950.[9]

When Dick Lucas became rector in 1961, St Helen's grew from a small congregation of a few individuals to a large thriving church within the conservative evangelical tradition of the Church of England, with a reputation for strong Bible teaching and preaching. As the City of London had grown to become a major business and Financial centre, the church started providing an active midweek ministry to City workers. Next to the lunchtime midweek talks for workers, the three Sunday services are now attended by a diverse range of people including students, young workers, families and internationals.

In 1992 and 1993, the church was badly damaged by two IRA bombs that were set off nearby.[10] A full restoration was carried out by architect Quinlan Terry, an enthusiast of Georgian architecture, and designed along Reformation lines. The floor was evened out and returned to its original level, which allowed for the installation of underfloor heating, a sound reinforcement system and a baptistry in front of the pulpit. A new gallery was erected on the west end to provide additional seating and house the organ, now returned to its original position. All the windows were glazed in clear glass. The Victorian screen was rotated by 90 degrees across the south transept, opening up the former chancel. A new door was opened in the south transept. All altars were removed, giving space to a restored Georgian communion table.

The principles of this restoration sought to arrange the building once again around the preaching of the Word and strip it down of the ritualistic elements added in Victorian times, following the needs of the large Evangelical congregation. This new arrangement allowed the seating capacity to be increased from 500 to a 1000, all in a large open space with a clear view on the pulpit and lectern.[11]

The church holds three English-speaking services each Sunday, one at 10:30 am, another at 4:00 pm, and a 6:00 pm evening service. The Sunday afternoon and evening services are followed by an informal meal and opportunities to socialise. A Mandarin-speaking service takes place each Sunday at 2:00 pm.

A number of lunchtime talks and meetings take place during the working week, providing an opportunity for people who work in the City of London to hear the Christian message and be encouraged to live as Christians at works.

There are also numerous small groups which meet at the church during the week. These include the "Read, Mark, Learn" (RML) groups which either study the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of John, the Epistle to the Romans or a Bible overview over the course of a year, and the Central Focus group which studies a whole variety of topics and books from the Bible. The church also runs the Christianity Explored course regularly.

Some activities take place in the nearby church of St Peter upon Cornhill and the church of St Andrew Undershaft, which are also administered by St Helen's.

The present building is the result of a substantial restoration in 1993-1995 by architect Quinlan Terry, after consistent damages were incurred by two IRA bombs in 1992 and 1993.

The restoration resulted in a bright, large, flexible open-space interior that can be used in different configurations. It is equipped with modern lighting, underfloor heating, and public address system. Although some of the monuments where lost due to the bombings, the majority of them survived and were preserved in the building.

Organ

The organ dates from 1742 when an annuity organ by Thomas Griffin was installed. It has undergone several restorations since by builders such as George Pike England in 1810, J. C. Bishop and Son in 1910 and 1923, Hill, Norman and Beard in 1929 and 1957 and Martin Goetze & Dominic Gwynn in 1996. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

The organ on the west gallery

The organ is of historic significance and has been awarded a Grade II* listing by the British Institute of Organ Studies.

St Helen's has been involved in numerous church planting initiatives, some within the auspices of the Church of England, some outside of it.[14]

St Helen's

Aldersgate

St Peter's Barge

CC Mayfair

Euston

GC Hackney

Islington

GC Dulwich

GC Sydenham

GC Wanstead

GC Brockley

Redeemer Croydon

GC Greenwich

Crossway Stratford

Cole Abbey

Churches planted from St Helen's (red = London Diocese; blue = outside CoE)

• List of buildings that survived the Great Fire of London
• List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches

• Hales, John W. (January–June 1904). "London Residences of Shakespeare". The Athenaeum. London: John C. Francis: 401–2. Retrieved 8 December 2013.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Helen's Bishopsgate.

• Official website
• Talk by architect Quinlan Terry about the history of the building and its most recent restoration
• St Helen's iOS app
• St Helen's Android app