For the 9th-century King of East Anglia, Martyr and Saint, see Edmund the Martyr

Edmund the Martyr

St Edmund the Martyr was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.D'Evelyn, Charlotte, and Mill, Anna J., , 1956. Reprinted 1967...

.

St Edmund, King and Martyr is an Anglican church in Lombard Street

Lombard Street, London

Lombard Street is a street in the City of London.It runs from the corner of the Bank of England at its north-west end, where it meets a major junction including Poultry, King William Street, and Threadneedle Street, south-east to Gracechurch Street....

, in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

 dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr

Edmund the Martyr

St Edmund the Martyr was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.D'Evelyn, Charlotte, and Mill, Anna J., , 1956. Reprinted 1967...

.

History

In 1292, the church is first recorded as 'Saint Edmund towards Garcherche', and it reappears in 1348 as 'Saint Edmund in Lombardestrete'. John Stow, in his Survey of London 1598, revised during 1603, refers to it also as St Edmund Grass Church.

This medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire

Great Fire of London

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...

 of 1666, and Sir Christopher Wren built the present building 1670-1679, with a tower designed like a lighthouse ornamented at the angles by flaming urns in allusion to the Great Fire. The position of the church is unusual as it is orientated with the altar at the north, instead of east.

The essayist Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...

  was married here in 1716. The church was restored in 1864 and 1880. It was damaged by bombing in 1917.

It has housed the London Centre for Spirituality and its associated bookshop since 2001, but is still a consecrated Church.

The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.

External links

• The London Centre for Spirituality