St Andrew's Holborn

Today's free lunchtime concert was at St Andrew's Holborn. A wooden church was first recorded in 951 on the banks of the River Fleet (now the Fleet Sewer under Farringdon Road). It was rebuilt in stone in the 15th century. It escaped the Great Fire of London at the last minute when the wind changed direction. But that didn't prevent Sir Christopher Wren from rebuilding it - he was a man on a mission to improve London! However he didn't demolish the medieval church tower, instead he clad it in marble. In 1941 the church was bombed and gutted, with only the walls and tower remaining. It has been rebuilt to Wren's plans, but the tower is still the medieval tower with Wren's original marble cladding. The sun has finally come out, and I'll give Sir Christopher Wren a rest for a while after today :-)