Today is the feast of St Ethelburga, the Abbess of Barking, and founder of the church of All Hallows Barking in the City of London, in the seventh century (also the sister of Erkenwald, Bishop of London).
The church dedicated to her on Bishopsgate in the City of London was probably originally built in timber in the Saxon period, and subsequently rebuilt and extended in stone in the later Medieval to post-Medieval.
It survived the Great Fire of London and the Second World War, only to be severely damaged by an IRA bomb on 24th April, 1993, and substantially rebuilt, and reopened as a Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, focussing on the role of faith in conflict resolution, in 2002.
The “Peace Garden” and “Tent” at the back were built at the same time, to encourage inter-faith dialogue.