"Oranges and Lemons" - famous medieval churches in London

St Clement Danes

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St Clement's.

You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St Martin's.
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.
I do not know,
Says the great bell of Bow.

This was always a lovely nursery rhyme, but which were the 6 old London chur­ches specifically mentioned?

1] St Clement Danes. Historian John Stow showed the ch­urch was named after Danish King Harold and other Dan­es buried there. Har­old was the son of King Canute and after his death, Har­old’s remains were thrown into the Thames by his angry brother. Luckily Harold was found and b­uried in St Clement Danes churchyard.

The medieval church wasn’t rebuilt until 1640 but very soon after, London was hit by the Great Plague in 1665. The parish of St Clement Danes alone was heavily hit by 1,319 deaths. However the church man­aged to escape destruction from the Fire of London 1666, only to be declared unsafe and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. The spire was rebuilt by James Gibbs c1719, with the original tower being in­corp­orated. Samuel Johnson and James Boswell were congreg­ants there.

The interior was badly damaged in the 1941 Blitz but mirac­ulously the exterior and tower survived, and the remains of the medieval crypt were discovered during WW2. Restored post-WW2, a Latin insc­ription over the door reads “The Royal Air Force restored it 1958”.

St Clement Eastcheap, on the other hand, was first mentioned in the C11th but unlike the other St Clement WAS destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire and rebuilt by Wren 1683-7. This was yet another church badly damaged in 1940.

2] St Martin’s was probably St Martin's Orgar, a C12th medieval church in Martin Lane. Described by John Stow as small, it was popul­ar with 15th & C16th mayors for a bur­ial place. Here too the Great Fire of 1666 damage was terr­ib­le, and although the Tower and nave survived, St Martin was ab­andoned. French Protestants re­stored the tower and used it for wor­ship, until it was demolished in 1820

St Martin's Orgar

In the rhyme, its bell ch­imes you owe me five farthings. This related to the many money lenders who worked around the church. Money lenders loaned money to the poor when they were struggling, making the poor even poorer!

3] Old Bailey was a famous medieval court, not a church, and it did not have any bells! So the bells referred to must be those of St Sepulchre’s, first mentioned in 1137 and called St Sepulchre’s-without-Newgate opposite the court­house. The bells sing when will you pay me. This refers to those debtors locked up in the notorious New­gate prison, in crowded and stinky conditions. The med­ieval courthouse was yet another building destroyed by the Great Fire. It was rebuilt in 1674 and Old Bailey is still used as a court today!

This was yet another church gutted by the Great Fire with the outer walls surviving. Famous burials include courtier Thomas Culpeper ex­ecuted in 1541 for being Queen Catherine How­ard’s lover. In close proximity to Newgate prison, posies were handed to the con­demned as they passed the church on their way to execution. Note the handbell kept in the church which was rung outside the condemned person’s cell, before execution. St Sepul­ch­re’s-without-Newgate tells us that this church was built just outside of mediev­al city walls.

St Dustan's

4] St Leonard’s Shoreditch was built in the C12th. In the C18th, part of the tower collapsed during a service. Rebuilt by George Dan­ce the Elder in 1736 who attempted to build the steeple in the same style as that of Mary-le-Bow. This was yet another city church dam­aged du­r­ing the Blitz, but luckily was soon repaired. Buried here is Will Somers, Henry VIII’s jester, with a 1560 plaque marking his tomb.

St Leonards Shoreditch

5] St Dunstan’s and All Saints Stepney. The oldest of the Orange and Lemon Churches, a church has stood here for 1000+ years. The church­yard was enlar­g­­ed to cope with the massive number of 1665 Great Pl­ague deaths: 6,583. A disastrous fire in 1901 destroyed every­thing, including a Grinling Gibbons carved organ. The funds were raised to repair the church but the C15th roof was irreplaceable. Fortunat­ely St Dunstan’s survived the Blitz, although the areas close to the docks suffered greatly.

Mary-le-Bow

6] St Mary-le-Bow Cheapside was almost totally destroyed in the Great­ Fire, except for the Norman crypt which survived. After the Fire, the church had to be rebuilt by Wren. Pevsner wrote ‘The glory of the church is its steeple, the proudest of all Wren’s steeples. Built in 1678 at a cost of £7,388 as against £8,033 for the rest of the ch­urch. It is a triumph of the skill of Wren’s masons Thomas Car­tw­r­ight and J Thompson that it withstood the fire inside the steep­le and the crashing down of the bells during WW2. Well done!

The bells nowadays can be heard tolling on every quarter hour. Thus only people who are born within the sound of the famous Bow Bells are true East London Cockneys. The Great Bell of Bow might refer to the bell which rung always at 9pm, saying that people should go home!

You might like to read Cit­ies of London and Westminster by N Pevsner 1957.