St. Clements Eastcheap

Dedicated to St.Clement, Bishop of Rome, this is the third church on this site since 1106. Shoehorned into Clement’s Lane, the Southside of the church historically faced onto Eastcheap. This changed when London Bridge was relocated in 1831 and the road layout redesigned, King William Street being created.

Christopher Wren had the present church built from 1683-87, the previous church being destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Stone Mason Edward Strong built the church at a cost of £ 4365 3s 4d. On completion, Wren was presented with a One-third of a Hogshead of Wine (over 11 gallons) by grateful Parishioners.

The exterior is a plain design with a Steeple-less Tower, topped out with a Pier and Balustrade balcony. The interior is greatly from the Post-Fire era, exhibiting the excellent work of joiner Thomas Poultney and Carver Jonathon Maine.

During a Victorian make-over by Gothic Revivalist Architect William Butterfield, the windows had Stained Glass added and the church interior considerably altered. Many of the Victorian Stained Glass windows were blown out by bombs in 1940 and  replaced with Plain Glass, as Wren had originally designed.

The well known English Nursery Rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’ includes, ’Oranges and Lemons, say the Bells of St. Clements’.  This is thought to derive from the unloading of Fruit from the nearby Docks.