St James Garlickhythe
Encyclopedia
St. James Garlickhythe is a Church of England
parish church in Vintry ward
of the City of London
, nicknamed ‘Wren’s lantern’ owing to its profusion of windows. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London
in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. It is also the official church of eleven City livery companies
.
'Garlickhythe' refers to the nearby landing place, or "hythe", near which garlic
was sold in medieval times.
The earliest surviving reference to the church is as ‘ecclesiam Sancti Jacobi’ in a 12th century will. Other records of the church refer to it as ‘St James in the Vintry’, ‘St James Comyns’, ‘St James-by-the-Thames’ and ‘St James super Ripam’.
The ships from France
loaded with garlic also carried wine and St James has a long association with wine merchants. The church is located in the city ward of Vintry and in 1326, the Sheriff of London and Vintner, Richard de Rothing, paid to have the church rebuilt. Another company with long associations with the church is the Joiners' Company, who trace their origins back to a religious guild founded in St James in 1375.
In the following century, the church became collegiate and was served by 7 chantry priests. The eminence of St. James in the Middle Ages
is reflected in it being the burial place of 6 Lord Mayors.
St. James became a parish church upon the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, although the church was not adversely affected – indeed it was a beneficiary of the demolition of church furnishings associated with the Catholic rite
. In 1560, the rood screen
of the nearby St. Martin Vintry was dismantled and fashioned into pews for St. James. At the same time, the choir was provided with song books.
Another change introduced under Henry VIII
was the order that all parishes in England were to maintain a weekly register of births, deaths and marriages. The oldest surviving registers are those of St. James, the first entry being the baptism of Edward Butler on November 18, 1535.
St. James was repaired and expanded several times during the first half of the 17th century – the north aisle being rebuilt in 1624 and a gallery added in 1644.
Under the Commonwealth
, the parishioners provided a pension for the rector
after he was ousted, in 1647, for using the banned Book of Common Prayer
.
All was lost in the Great Fire. Rebuilding began a decade later, as recorded on the Victorian vestry boards prominent in the church porch;
‘The foundation thereof were laid AD 1676 – John Hinde and John Hoyle, Church Wardens. It was rebuilt and re-opened 1682 and completely finished AD 1683…’ The body of the church may have been finished, but the tower lacked a steeple.
Recorded in the church’s accounts for 1682 are the items
and a payment of 40s each to Wren’s 2 clerks ‘for their care and kindness in hastening the building of the church, and to induce them to do the like for the more speedy finishing of the Steeple.’
This inducement had no effect. Building on the steeple began 33 years later and finished in 1717 by Nicholas Hawksmoor
. The total cost of the church and steeple was £7230.
On August 12, 1711, Richard Steele
attended a Sunday service given by the Rector Philip Stubbs at St. James, and published the ensuing reflections in Issue 147 of The Spectator
. He compares the moving delivery of the rector with a number of stereotypes – the quiet talker, the negligent reader, the fast talker and the bombast, then goes on to criticise the ranting of Presbyterians and Dissenters. Unfortunately, his account includes no description of the congregation or of the church itself.
One month after this sermon, the future composer and Master of the King’s Musick, William Boyce, was baptised in St. James Garlickhythe.
The second half of the 19th century saw a movement of population from the City of London to suburbs in Middlesex
, Kent
, Essex
and Surrey
. This left many of the city churches with tiny congregations. In 1860, Charles Dickens
attended a Sunday service at St. James Garlickhythe which he describes in The Uncommercial Traveller
. The congregation had dwindled to twenty, the building was pervaded with damp and dust, which Dickens uses to convey an impression of the presence of dead parishioners.
The Union of Benefices Act 1860
was passed by Parliament, permitting the demolition of City churches and the sale of land to build churches in the suburbs. While several nearby churches - some of architectural eminence - were destroyed under the Union of Benefices Act, St. James was spared, perhaps due to its links to the guilds.
During World War I
, a bomb dropped by a Zeppelin
missed the Church. In thanksgiving, the church introduced an annual Bomb Sermon.
In May 1941, during the London Blitz a 500 lb German
HE bomb crashed through the roof of St. James and buried itself below the floor in the south aisle. It didn’t explode, but was removed to Hackney Marshes
and detonated. The buildings surrounding St. James were destroyed by incendiary bombs and this caused much external damage to the church, including the destruction of its clock. While this damage was being repaired in 1953, it was found that the woodwork was infested with the Death Watch Beetle
. This caused the church to be closed until 1963, while it was being restored by D Lockhart-Smith and Alexander Gale. The result was said by Sir John Betjeman to be the best restoration of a City church.
In 1991, during construction of Vintners Hall across Upper Thames Street, a crane collapsed and the jib buried itself in the south wall. This caused the church to be closed again while the south face was rebuilt and some of the furnishings replaced.
The church uses the original 1662 Book of Common Prayer and is the church for 11 livery guild companies as well as the church of the Secret Intelligence Service
s.
St James Garlickhythe is in the shape of a rectangle, with the tower adjacent to the West and a protruding chancel (uniquely for a Wren church) projecting from the East. It is built from brick and Kentish ragstone, partly stuccoed, partly faced (since World War II) with Portland stone
. Entrance is through a pedimented doorway with a cherub
keystone in the tower, which is flanked by pairs of round headed windows in the west wall. Above is a recessed clerestory
wall joined to the tower by semi-rounded pediments.
The south front, facing Upper Thames Street, was formerly built against, and it has only become the main façade since 1971. It is five bays long, with blind round headed windows, the one in the centre being much larger. Above the four outer windows are round clerestory windows. These additions were only made in 1981. The north front is similar, although the windows are real.
The 125 foot tower was originally stuccoed. The plaster was removed in 1897 and old photographs of the church show the undressed wall. It was faced with Portland stone after World War II. The clock on the West, with the image of St James is a 1988 replica of a 1682 original. The figure of St James originally stood between two urns. The tower is plain, with round headed belfry windows, until the spire. At the top is a parapet with stirrup shaped piercings and squat urns on the corners. The stone spire was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and is similar to those of St Stephen Walbrook
, St. Michael Paternoster Royal
and, to a lesser extent, the west towers of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It has three levels. The lowest is square, with a contraption of two columns standing in front of two pilasters protruding from each corner on top of which is an entablature and tiny urns. This is linked to the next stage by corner volutes, with a smaller square stage with more urns, and at the top is a tiny concave stage. The whole is capped with a flag finial.
Sacheverell Sitwell stated the spire suggested the grinding out of bell music by turning, as in a hurdy gurdy. The vine leaf and grape motif gates to the west were a gift from the Vintners' Company.
The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.
was installed above the reredos
in the place previously occupied by the window.
When built, the main entrance was in the middle of the north wall. This, too, has now been filled in. The church has a nave and two narrow aisles and is of five bays. There are two rows of five Ionic columns and two semi-columns, running from West to East. The columns support an entablature
, which is broken in the middle and turned to the outside walls, effectively forming transepts. The columns are evenly spaced, except for those in the middle. With the original round-headed windows in the centre (now replaced by round windows), this would have given St. James a strong North-South axis. The cross-axial design was a conceit also used by Wren in St Magnus the Martyr and St Martin Ludgate. Subsequent rearrangement has made this less apparent.
The church was much renovated by the Victorians, most significantly by Basil Champneys
in 1866. Their legacy, including stained glass windows, has been removed in the post-World War II renovation.
The chancel to the east is flanked by pilaster
s, and is slightly narrower than the nave, the ratio of the width being 1/3 chancel and 1/6 each for the aisles. Unlike the rest of the church, which has a flat ceiling, it has a barrel vault
.
To the west is a gallery, erected in 1714 and supported by iron columns. It supports the original organ case of 1719 by Father Smith , decorated with trumpeting cherubs and palm trees. It is surmounted by a scallop shell.
The crystal chandelier, a gift from the Glass Sellers' Company , is a replica of that destroyed by the crashing crane in 1991 and is based on an 18th century original hanging in Wren’s Emmanuel College, Cambridge
.
The reredos is original, with Corinthian columns flanking a Decalogue and supporting an entablature. The pediment was removed in 1815 to accommodate the painting. Also original are the communion table, with doves carved on the legs and the communion rail. And the churchwardens’ pews with iron hat stands. The font was made by the church’s mason, Christopher Kempster
, and has an ogee
cover.
In 1876, the parish was combined with that of St. Michael Queenhithe
– a nearby Wren church, and St James received much of the furnishings. From St Michael’s are the pulpit, with a tester and twisted balusters, as well as a wig peg for the preacher. A Stuart
coat of arms on the west gallery and a sword rest also come from St Michael’s, as do two grand doorways, now used as screens.
No longer on display is a well preserved mummy of an older man, known as ‘Jimmy Garlick’. His body, embalmed, was discovered in the vaults in 1855. Analysis by the British Museum
at one time had postulated that he was an adolescent who died at the turn of the 18th century. The body used to be on display in a glass cabinet, but has been closed to public view. In 2004, Jimmy Garlick featured in the television Discovery documentary series ‘Mummy Autopsy’ which used modern analytical techniques including carbon dating and x-ray analysis, establishing that he died between 1641 and 1801 and that he suffered from osteo-arthritis, a disease that afflicts older people. Physical examination by the Discovery team showed that the mummy appeared to be balding and suffered tooth decay at the time of death, both consistent with an older person. The mummy now sits in the tower in a newly made case.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
parish church in Vintry ward
Vintry
Vintry is a ward of the City of London, within the boundary formed by Queen Victoria Street, Cannon Street, Queenhithe and Cousin Lane....
of 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...
, nicknamed ‘Wren’s lantern’ owing to its profusion of windows. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London
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...
in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. It is also the official church of eleven City livery companies
Livery Company
The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...
.
History
The church is dedicated to the disciple St James known as ‘the Great’. St. James Garlickhythe is a stop on a pilgrim’s route ending at the cathedral of Santiago da Compostela. Visitors to the London church may have their credencial, or pilgrim passport, stamped with the impression of a scallop shell.'Garlickhythe' refers to the nearby landing place, or "hythe", near which garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
was sold in medieval times.
The earliest surviving reference to the church is as ‘ecclesiam Sancti Jacobi’ in a 12th century will. Other records of the church refer to it as ‘St James in the Vintry’, ‘St James Comyns’, ‘St James-by-the-Thames’ and ‘St James super Ripam’.
The ships from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
loaded with garlic also carried wine and St James has a long association with wine merchants. The church is located in the city ward of Vintry and in 1326, the Sheriff of London and Vintner, Richard de Rothing, paid to have the church rebuilt. Another company with long associations with the church is the Joiners' Company, who trace their origins back to a religious guild founded in St James in 1375.
In the following century, the church became collegiate and was served by 7 chantry priests. The eminence of St. James in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
is reflected in it being the burial place of 6 Lord Mayors.
St. James became a parish church upon the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, although the church was not adversely affected – indeed it was a beneficiary of the demolition of church furnishings associated with the Catholic rite
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. In 1560, the rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
of the nearby St. Martin Vintry was dismantled and fashioned into pews for St. James. At the same time, the choir was provided with song books.
Another change introduced under Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
was the order that all parishes in England were to maintain a weekly register of births, deaths and marriages. The oldest surviving registers are those of St. James, the first entry being the baptism of Edward Butler on November 18, 1535.
St. James was repaired and expanded several times during the first half of the 17th century – the north aisle being rebuilt in 1624 and a gallery added in 1644.
Under the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
, the parishioners provided a pension for the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
after he was ousted, in 1647, for using the banned Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
.
All was lost in the Great Fire. Rebuilding began a decade later, as recorded on the Victorian vestry boards prominent in the church porch;
‘The foundation thereof were laid AD 1676 – John Hinde and John Hoyle, Church Wardens. It was rebuilt and re-opened 1682 and completely finished AD 1683…’ The body of the church may have been finished, but the tower lacked a steeple.
Recorded in the church’s accounts for 1682 are the items
- Two bottles of sherry and pipes [wine containers] at the opening of the church 3.4
- Hire of 3 dozen cushions and porterage 13.4
- Wine when the Lord Mayor and Aldermen were at our church 1.11.0
- Wax links to enlighten my Lord Mayor home 4.6
and a payment of 40s each to Wren’s 2 clerks ‘for their care and kindness in hastening the building of the church, and to induce them to do the like for the more speedy finishing of the Steeple.’
This inducement had no effect. Building on the steeple began 33 years later and finished in 1717 by Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...
. The total cost of the church and steeple was £7230.
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....
attended a Sunday service given by the Rector Philip Stubbs at St. James, and published the ensuing reflections in Issue 147 of The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
. He compares the moving delivery of the rector with a number of stereotypes – the quiet talker, the negligent reader, the fast talker and the bombast, then goes on to criticise the ranting of Presbyterians and Dissenters. Unfortunately, his account includes no description of the congregation or of the church itself.
One month after this sermon, the future composer and Master of the King’s Musick, William Boyce, was baptised in St. James Garlickhythe.
The second half of the 19th century saw a movement of population from the City of London to suburbs in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. This left many of the city churches with tiny congregations. In 1860, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
attended a Sunday service at St. James Garlickhythe which he describes in The Uncommercial Traveller
The Uncommercial Traveller
The Uncommercial Traveller is a collection of literary sketches and reminiscences written by Charles Dickens.In 1859 Dickens founded a new journal called All the Year Round and the Uncommercial Traveller articles would be among his main contributions...
. The congregation had dwindled to twenty, the building was pervaded with damp and dust, which Dickens uses to convey an impression of the presence of dead parishioners.
The Union of Benefices Act 1860
Union of Benefices Act 1860
The Union of Benefices Act was a necessary piece of legislation to reduce the number of parish churches in the City of London as the residential population declined in the second half of the 19th century.Churches affected were...
was passed by Parliament, permitting the demolition of City churches and the sale of land to build churches in the suburbs. While several nearby churches - some of architectural eminence - were destroyed under the Union of Benefices Act, St. James was spared, perhaps due to its links to the guilds.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, a bomb dropped by a Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
missed the Church. In thanksgiving, the church introduced an annual Bomb Sermon.
In May 1941, during the London Blitz a 500 lb German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
HE bomb crashed through the roof of St. James and buried itself below the floor in the south aisle. It didn’t explode, but was removed to Hackney Marshes
Hackney Marshes
Hackney Marshes is an area of grassland on the western bank of the River Lea in the London Borough of Hackney. It was incorporated into the Lee Valley Park in 1967...
and detonated. The buildings surrounding St. James were destroyed by incendiary bombs and this caused much external damage to the church, including the destruction of its clock. While this damage was being repaired in 1953, it was found that the woodwork was infested with the Death Watch Beetle
Death watch beetle
The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, is a woodboring beetle. The adult beetle is long, while the xylophagous larvae are up to long....
. This caused the church to be closed until 1963, while it was being restored by D Lockhart-Smith and Alexander Gale. The result was said by Sir John Betjeman to be the best restoration of a City church.
In 1991, during construction of Vintners Hall across Upper Thames Street, a crane collapsed and the jib buried itself in the south wall. This caused the church to be closed again while the south face was rebuilt and some of the furnishings replaced.
The church uses the original 1662 Book of Common Prayer and is the church for 11 livery guild companies as well as the church of the Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
s.
Building
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
. Entrance is through a pedimented doorway with a cherub
Cherub
A cherub is a type of spiritual being mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and cited later on in the Christian biblical canons, usually associated with the presence of God...
keystone in the tower, which is flanked by pairs of round headed windows in the west wall. Above is a recessed clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
wall joined to the tower by semi-rounded pediments.
The south front, facing Upper Thames Street, was formerly built against, and it has only become the main façade since 1971. It is five bays long, with blind round headed windows, the one in the centre being much larger. Above the four outer windows are round clerestory windows. These additions were only made in 1981. The north front is similar, although the windows are real.
The 125 foot tower was originally stuccoed. The plaster was removed in 1897 and old photographs of the church show the undressed wall. It was faced with Portland stone after World War II. The clock on the West, with the image of St James is a 1988 replica of a 1682 original. The figure of St James originally stood between two urns. The tower is plain, with round headed belfry windows, until the spire. At the top is a parapet with stirrup shaped piercings and squat urns on the corners. The stone spire was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and is similar to those of St Stephen Walbrook
St Stephen Walbrook
St Stephen, Walbrook is a small church in the City of London, part of the Church of England's Diocese of London. It is located in Walbrook, next to the Mansion House, and near to Bank and Monument Underground stations.-History:In the second century A.D...
, St. Michael Paternoster Royal
St. Michael Paternoster Royal
St Michael Paternoster Royal is a church in the City of London associated with the historical Dick Whittington. First recorded in the 13th century, St Michael’s was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren...
and, to a lesser extent, the west towers of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It has three levels. The lowest is square, with a contraption of two columns standing in front of two pilasters protruding from each corner on top of which is an entablature and tiny urns. This is linked to the next stage by corner volutes, with a smaller square stage with more urns, and at the top is a tiny concave stage. The whole is capped with a flag finial.
Sacheverell Sitwell stated the spire suggested the grinding out of bell music by turning, as in a hurdy gurdy. The vine leaf and grape motif gates to the west were a gift from the Vintners' Company.
The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.
Interior
The church interior at 40 feet, is the highest of any Wren church. As it was originally surrounded by other buildings, Wren created tall main windows, as well as clerestory windows. The largest window of all was in the East, filling the arched alcove. Early in the 19th century, this was found to be weakening the wall and so was filled in. In 1815, the painting of the Ascension by Andrew GeddesAndrew Geddes
Andrew Geddes was a Scottish portrait painter and etcher.-Life:Geddes was born in Edinburgh. After receiving a good education in the high school and in the University of Edinburgh, he was for five years in the excise office, in which his father held the post of deputy auditor...
was installed above the reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
in the place previously occupied by the window.
When built, the main entrance was in the middle of the north wall. This, too, has now been filled in. The church has a nave and two narrow aisles and is of five bays. There are two rows of five Ionic columns and two semi-columns, running from West to East. The columns support an entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
, which is broken in the middle and turned to the outside walls, effectively forming transepts. The columns are evenly spaced, except for those in the middle. With the original round-headed windows in the centre (now replaced by round windows), this would have given St. James a strong North-South axis. The cross-axial design was a conceit also used by Wren in St Magnus the Martyr and St Martin Ludgate. Subsequent rearrangement has made this less apparent.
The church was much renovated by the Victorians, most significantly by Basil Champneys
Basil Champneys
Basil Champneys was an architect and author whose more notable buildings include Newnham College, Cambridge, Manchester's John Rylands Library, Mansfield College, Oxford and Oriel College, Oxford's Rhodes Building.- Life :...
in 1866. Their legacy, including stained glass windows, has been removed in the post-World War II renovation.
The chancel to the east is flanked by pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, and is slightly narrower than the nave, the ratio of the width being 1/3 chancel and 1/6 each for the aisles. Unlike the rest of the church, which has a flat ceiling, it has a barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
.
To the west is a gallery, erected in 1714 and supported by iron columns. It supports the original organ case of 1719 by Father Smith , decorated with trumpeting cherubs and palm trees. It is surmounted by a scallop shell.
The crystal chandelier, a gift from the Glass Sellers' Company , is a replica of that destroyed by the crashing crane in 1991 and is based on an 18th century original hanging in Wren’s Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
.
The reredos is original, with Corinthian columns flanking a Decalogue and supporting an entablature. The pediment was removed in 1815 to accommodate the painting. Also original are the communion table, with doves carved on the legs and the communion rail. And the churchwardens’ pews with iron hat stands. The font was made by the church’s mason, Christopher Kempster
Christopher Kempster
Christopher Kempster was an English master stonemason and architect who trained with Sir Christopher Wren, working on St Paul's Cathedral.Kempster was from Burford in Oxfordshire, England....
, and has an ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
cover.
In 1876, the parish was combined with that of St. Michael Queenhithe
St. Michael Queenhithe
St. Michael Queenhithe was a church in the City of London located in what is now Upper Thames Street. First recorded in the 12th century, the church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666...
– a nearby Wren church, and St James received much of the furnishings. From St Michael’s are the pulpit, with a tester and twisted balusters, as well as a wig peg for the preacher. A Stuart
Charles Stuart
Charles Stuart may refer to:* Charles I of England , English King, executed* Charles II of England , his son, English King,* Charles Stuart , British general during the French Revolutionary Wars...
coat of arms on the west gallery and a sword rest also come from St Michael’s, as do two grand doorways, now used as screens.
No longer on display is a well preserved mummy of an older man, known as ‘Jimmy Garlick’. His body, embalmed, was discovered in the vaults in 1855. Analysis by the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
at one time had postulated that he was an adolescent who died at the turn of the 18th century. The body used to be on display in a glass cabinet, but has been closed to public view. In 2004, Jimmy Garlick featured in the television Discovery documentary series ‘Mummy Autopsy’ which used modern analytical techniques including carbon dating and x-ray analysis, establishing that he died between 1641 and 1801 and that he suffered from osteo-arthritis, a disease that afflicts older people. Physical examination by the Discovery team showed that the mummy appeared to be balding and suffered tooth decay at the time of death, both consistent with an older person. The mummy now sits in the tower in a newly made case.
See also
- List of churches and cathedrals of London
- List of Christopher Wren churches in London
External links
- St James Garlickhythe's church website
- Mystery Worshipper Report at the Ship of Fools websiteShip of Fools (website)Ship of Fools is a UK-based Christian website. It was first launched as a magazine in 1977. The magazine folded in 1983 and was resurrected as a website on April Fool's Day, 1998. Subtitled "the magazine of Christian unrest", Ship of Fools pokes fun and asks critical questions about the Christian...