I stumbled across this tiny green garden in the City of London a couple of weeks ago. It is close to the Guildhall but I had never noticed it before and only wandered in because I was curious as to why there was a memorial to Shakespeare.
But it is not Shakespeare that it commemorates but two men, John Heminge and Henry Condell. They were fellow actors and friends of the Bard who lived in this parish and were buried here. Although I had never heard of them the world owes them much as the two men collected all of Shakespeare's plays after his death in 1616 and are credited with having them published.
An information board in the corner had more intriguing information about this tiny garden. It used to be the site of St Mary Aldermanbury, records of which date back to 1181. Destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 it was rebuilt by Wren but damaged by bombing in WW2, it was decided not to rebuild it again. But the story doesn't end there as the ruins were shipped to Fulton, Missouri where the church was re-erected. More research was needed.
In 1961, the President of Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri discussed having a memorial to Sir Winston Churchill who had made a speech at the College in 1946 which became known as his 'Iron Curtain' speech. A Life magazine feature on war-ravaged Wren churches which were going to be demolished sparked the idea of importing the ruins of one of them to be rebuilt as a memorial and the college chapel.
St Mary Aldermanbury was chosen for its size but there was negative comments in the British press calling it ......'the last word in sentimental extravagance'. It took 4 years to get permission to remove the remains of the church and also to raise the $2 million ($10 million in today's money) necessary to ensure the completion of the project. Removal began in 1965 with 7000 stones being labelled and their position noted on a diagram of the original church. Any missing stones were replaced by stone quarried from the original Portland Quarry. Wren's original plans were used to reconstruct the building.
The foundation stone was laid in 1966. Three hundred years after the Great Fire of London and the year following Churchill's death. The last stone was put in place in May 1967 but it took another two years for English woodcarvers to recreate the pulpit, balcony and baptismal font using pre-war photographs. An American firm manufactured the glass for the windows and a Dutch company cast five new bronze bells for the Tower.
The fire warden who watched the church burn in 1940 built the organ and helped with the authenticity of the interior and finally in May 1969 the dedication of the memorial took place.
"I am honoured... The removal of a ruined Christopher Wren Church, largely destroyed by enemy action in London in 1941 (sic), and its reconstruction and re-dedication at Fulton, is an imaginative concept..."-Winston S Churchill
Back in London the church and churchyard site was acquired by the City of London in 1970 and laid out as a garden. The College of Westminster, Fulton had a plaque laid in the garden
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