St Sepulchre-without-Newgate

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
London, Middlesex
Status:	Parish church
St Sepulchre-without-Newgate
	Church of England
	Diocese of London
Location
Location:	51°31’0"N, 0°6’8"W
History
	Built 15th century, then 1670
	Gothic (tower)
Information

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holborn), is a Church of England church in the City of London, on Holborn Viaduct, almost opposite the Old Bailey. In the Middle Ages it stood just outside ("without") the now-demolished old city wall, near the Newgate. It has been a living of St John's College, Oxford, since 1622.

The church is a Grade I listed building.

History

The original Saxon church on the site was dedicated to St Edmund the King and Martyr. In 1137 it was given to the Priory of St Bartholomew. During the Crusades in the 12th century the church was renamed St Edmund and the Holy Sepulchre, in reference to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, by soldiers who passed by the church on the way to the Holy Lands. The name eventually became contracted to St Sepulchre.

The church is today the largest parish church in the City. It was completely rebuilt in the 15th century but was gutted by the Great Fire of London in 1666, which left only the outer walls, the tower and the porch standing -. Modified in the 18th century, the church underwent extensive restoration in 1878. It narrowly avoided destruction in the Second World War, although the 18th-century watch-house in its churchyard (erected to deter grave-robbers) was destroyed and had to be rebuilt.

The interior of the church is a wide, roomy space with a coffered ceiling installed in 1834. The Vicars' old residence has recently been renovated into a modern living quarter.

The interior of St Sepulchre

During the reign of Queen Mary I in 1555, St Sepulchre's vicar, John Rogers, was burned as a heretic.

The bell

St Sepulchre is named in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons as the "bells of Old Bailey".

In 1605, London merchant tailor Mr. John Dowe paid the parish £50 to buy a handbell on the condition that it would be rung to mark the execution of a prisoner at the nearby gallows at Newgate. This handbell, known as the Execution Bell, now resides in a glass case to the south of the nave. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the clerk of St Sepulchre's was responsible for ringing a handbell outside the condemned man's cell in Newgate Prison the night before his execution and announcing the news by repeating the following "wholesome advice":

All you that in the condemned hold do lie,
Prepare you, for to-morrow you shall die;
Watch all, and pray, the hour is drawing near
That you before the Almighty must appear;
Examine well yourselves, in time repent,
That you may not to eternal flames be sent.
And when St. Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls,
The Lord above have mercy on your souls.
Past twelve o'clock!"

Given its proximity to both Newgate Prison and the Old Bailey, the bells in its tower, in addition to the usual functions of marking time, were rung to announce executions. On the day of the execution, the bells were tolled as the condemned were led to Tyburn.

• 
  The bell tower
• 
  The Execution Bell
• 

Musicians' Chapel

In the north aisle of the church is the Musicians' Chapel. This Chapel (formerly a chapel dedicated to Stephen Harding) was dedicated The Musicians' Chapel by Dr W.R. Matthews, Dean of St Paul's, on 2 January 1955 in the presence of many distinguished musicians including an orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and the BBC Singers. The ashes of the conductor Sir Henry Wood, C.H., founder of the Promenade Concerts, who learnt to play the organ at the church as a boy, had been interred in the Chapel a decade earlier. There are four windows commemorating Sir Henry Wood, John Ireland, the singer Dame Nellie Melba, Walter Carroll respectively.

The Chapel contains the Musicians' Book of Remembrance and both the Chapel and the Book of Remembrance are maintained by the Friends of the Musicians' Chapel. A Service of Thanksgiving for those named in the Book of Remembrance is held at the church each year as well as a Requiem close to All Souls' Day. Many concerts and memorial events for musicians have been held in the church over the years. In 2017 the Rector caused a storm in the media by ending the hiring scheme and excluding many choirs from singing and rehearsing in the church. A protest was held about this and many prominent musicians including John Rutter protested against the church decision. Attempts to mediate failed.

Military link

The south aisle of the church holds the regimental chapel of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) (merged to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers), and its gardens are a memorial garden to that regiment. The west end of the north aisle has various memorials connected with the City of London Rifles (the 6th Battalion London Regiment).

Organ

The organ

The north aisle is dominated by a splendid organ built by Renatus Harris in 1670. The swell was added by John Byfield in c.1730. The organ was enlarged in 1817 by James Hancock and by John Gray in 1828 and 1835, and Gray and Davison in 1849, 1852 and 1855. It was rebuilt in 1932 by Harrison and Harrison. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. It is not currently playable, and a Makin digital organ is used when required for services.

Outside links

• St Sepulchre-without-Newgate