St Ethelburga
The church of St Ethelburga was originally built in around 1250, possibly on the site of an even older, Saxon, church, and extended in 1390, and again in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was undamaged in the Great Fire of 1666, although nonetheless restored in 1861-2, and again in 1912, only to be severely damaged by an IRA bomb on 24th April, 1993. It was then substantially rebuilt, and reopened as a Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, focussing on the role of faith in conflict resolution, in 2002.
The west front was rebuilt using stone from the Medieval church. “The Tent” and “Peace Garden” at the back were built at the same time, to encourage inter-faith dialogue.
Ethelburga was the sister of the seventh-century Saxon Bishop Erkenwald.
Entrance to Peace Garden
Tent
Below are links to the other blog posts in this ongoing occasional series on the surviving medieval churches (or surviving bits of such) in the City of London. The remaining one will be added in due course as the series continues.
All Hallows Barking, St Andrew Undershaft, All Hallows Staining
St Helen St Katharine Cree (to follow – St Olave)
West front of St Ethelburga, showing the medieval stone
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Interesting – I haven’t visited this Church, yet!