St Martin, Ludgate

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name = St. Martin, Ludgate
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denomination = Anglican, earlier Roman Catholic
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address = City of London
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St Martin, Ludgate is a Church of England church on Ludgate Hill in the ward of Farringdon, in the City of London.

St Martin Lugate, also called St Martin within Ludgate, was rebuilt in 1677-84 by Sir Christopher Wren. Some legends connect the church with legendary king Cadwallo (now usually referred to as Cadwallon ap Cadfan, father of Cadwaladr. A sign on the front of the church reads "Cadwallo king of the Britons is said to have been buried here in 677". Modern historians would place his death about 682. Cadwallo's image was allegedly placed on Lud Gate, to frighten away the Saxons. However the earliest written reference is from 1174. The organ is a Bernard Schmidt design dating from 1684 [Pearce,C.W. “Notes on Old City Churches: their organs, organists and musical associations” London, Winthrop Rogers Ltd 1909] . There are carvings by Grinling Gibbons inside ["The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker,T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 ISBN 0955394503] . The church stands sideways to the street.

St Martin of Tours is a Patron Saint of travelers. Churches which are dedicated to him often stand just within city gates. A blue plaque next to church records the earlier presence of Ludgate, demolished 1760. A Blackfriars monastery was built nearby in 1278. The church was probably rebuilt in 1437. The parish books start from 1410. It is half-way down Ludgate Hill. From the lower part of Fleet street the steeple stands between the viwer and the dome of St Paul's. Wren probably planned to make a contrast between the spiky steeple of St Martin's and the circular dome of St Paul's ["The Old Churches of London" Cobb,G: London, Batsford, 1942] .. It is a curious combination of a lead-clad dome, topped by a lantern and on top of that a sharp obelisk steeple, somewhat like an exclamation mark [ "The City of London Churches" Betjeman,J Andover, Pikin, 1967 ISBN 0853721122] .

In "The Roaring Girl, or Moll Cutpurse" by Dekker and Middleton, Sebastian says "The clock at Ludgate, sir, it ne'er goes true". This might refer to St Martin's church. "I owe you three farthings, say the bells of St Martin", might refer to this church, but is more likely to refer to St Martin Orgar in Cannon Street (previously Eastcheap). In 1614 Samuel Purchas, a travel wrier, became the rector. On the 17th century font there is a Greek palindrome - Niyon anomhma mh monan oyin (Cleanse my sin and not my face only). There is a 17th-century carved oak double churchwarden's chair [ "London:the City Churches” Pevsner,N/Bradley,S New Haven, Yale, 1998 ISBN 0300096550] - the only one of its kind known to exist. In 1669 a Roman tombstone, now in the Ashmolean Museum, was found.

The original medieval church was repaired in 1623, only to be destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. It is topped by a lead-covered octagonal cupola supporting a balcony and tapered spire rising to a height of convert|158|ft|m|abbr=on. The centre of the church is in the form of a Greek cross, with four large columns. The chandelier dates from about 1777 and comes from the West Indies. As a curiosity, this is from the burial register: "“1615, February 28, St. Martin’s, Ludgate, was buried an anatomy from the College of Physicians.” (It was first noticed by Andrew Lang, in an article in "Books and Bookmen"). The Royal College of Physicians were based in Amen Corner, a few yards away from 1614 to 1666 [Mentioned in Pepys Diary "Samuel Pepys-The Shorter Pepys" Latham,R(Ed) p484: Harmondsworth,1985 ISBN 0140094180] . In 1678 Robert Hooke designed a new hall in Warwick Lane, also nearby. There are organ recitals every other Monday; chamber music every Wednesday and Friday.

The view from the steeple towards the river is spectacular. It was painted by T.M. Baynes.

Notes

* [http://www.roughwood.net/ChurchAlbum/GreaterLondon/StMartinsWithinLudgate2003.htm photograph]
* [http://www.londonancestor.com/stow/stow-church-91.htm Cadwallo - Cadwallader]
* [http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/default.asp?Document=3.S.1.3,1 Looking At buildings]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45038 Greek Palindrome]
* [http://courses.ed.asu.edu/gonzalez/APHB/ETexts/Lang.A/Books%20And%20Bookmen.txt The 1615 Anatomy]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/epigraphy/rib_south_england.htm Roman inscription]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9B03E0DF1439F933A25754C0A965948260 Live Music]
* [http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?
]

External links

* [http://www.stmartin-within-ludgate.org.uk/ St Martin's-within-Ludgate website]