St Michael Royal with St Martin Vintry, London Genealogy

Returned to the London Parishes St I-S page.

St Michael Royal with St Martin Vintry,the church of, stands on the eastern side of College Hill, Upper Thames Street. It derives its name from its patron saint and from its contguity to the Tower Royal, that stood anciently at the upper or northern end of College Hill. It was a spacious, strongly fortified and magnificent mansion, belonging to the kings of England and supposed to have been founded by Henry I. The church... has been a rectory from a very ancient date, and the patronage was in the prior and Canon's of Canterbury as early as 1285... Field church was pulled down and rebuilt in 1410, when my license from Henry IV, it was made collegiate of the Holy Spirit and St. Mary... Contiguous to this new College, which gave its name to its site, he also erected and founded an alms house, which he called "God's house" (hence the addition Paternoster), or" hospital" for the accommodation of 13 persons... [see Mercer's Alms Houses and Whittington College] [This church is] one of the 13 peculiars within the city, belonging to the Archbishop of that see. The ancient church, college and alms houses, were all consumed by the great fire of 1666, and the present edifice erected in its stead, by Sir Christopher Wren in 1694. It was made parochial for this parish and for that of St. Martin's Vintry, the church of which was also destroyed by the same fire and the two parishes united by an act of parliament [see St. Martin Vintry].

The spacious and well proportioned church is a fine piece of construction and well wrought masonry... The interior is a large capacious all...; is 86 feet long, 48 broad, and 40 high, and lighted by a series of lofty semicircular edit windows. These united parishes form one rectory, in the city of London, in the province of Canterbury, and as one of the 13 peculiars of that see, within the city, is exempt from archidiaconal jurisdiction. They are under the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury for St. Michael Royal and of the Bishop of Worcester... For St. Martin Vintry.

[Adapted from: "Topographical Dictionary of London" by James Elmes; published 1831]