Building    From 1250  To 1962

St Swithin's church, London Stone

Categories: Religion

Of medieval origin, the church was destroyed by the Great Fire of London, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It was badly damaged by bombing during WW2, and the remains were demolished in 1962.

At first known as "St Swithin in Candlewick Street" (the medieval name of Cannon Street). The name "St Swithin at London Stone" was first used in 1597. London Stone itself stood on the south side of Candlewick Street, opposite the church. In 1742 London Stone was moved from the south side of the street to a location beside the church door. In the 1820s it was placed in an alcove within a stone casing set into the south wall of the church, where it remained until the demolition of the church in 1962.

This drawing shows the casing as it was in 1839.  It is remarkable how similar the design is to that of the 1962 cubicle, and then the 2019 one.

Saint Swithin was a 9th-century bishop of Winchester.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
St Swithin's church, London Stone

Commemorated ati

London stone - 2011

This is the text that was on top of the cubicle in which the Stone sat from a...

Read More

London Stone - 2019

The Stone is not inscribed - the lettering you can see is a reflection from t...

Read More

Other Subjects

John Townsend

John Townsend

Nonconformist minister.  Born Whitechapel.   Minister at Kingston, Bermondsey and then the Orange Street Chapel.  1807 co-founder of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Old Kent Road, which he part...

Person, Philanthropy, Religion, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Bishop Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram

Bishop Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram

Bishop of London (1901-39), Chairman of the Trustees of Whiteley Village. Born and died in Worcestershire.

Person, Religion

1 memorial
St Martin Orgar

St Martin Orgar

Largely destroyed in the Great Fire. Then restored and used by French Protestants until 1820. Most of it was then pulled down and what was left was incorporated into St Clement Eastcheap.

Building, Religion

1 memorial
St Elizabeth of Hungary

St Elizabeth of Hungary

Princess and saint.  Born either in the castle of Sárospatak, or in Pozsony, both in the Kingdom of Hungary.  She was married at the age of fourteen to Louis IV, the Landgrave of Thuringia, and wid...

Person, Religion, Royalty, Hungary

1 memorial
St Thomas the Apostle Church

St Thomas the Apostle Church

Destroyed in the Great Fire 1666

Building, Religion

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Bloomsbury Group

Bloomsbury Group

An influential group of artists and writers who were friends during the first half of the 20th century. Our picture shows: Auberon Duckworth; Duncan Grant; Julian Bell; Leonard Woolf, and front: Vi...

Group, Art, Literature, Seriously Famous

3 memorials
Coram's Fields

Coram's Fields

The memorial at the entrance to these fields tells how this playground came into existence. It is the only public space in London where adults are not allowed without children.

Place, Children, Gardens / Agriculture

3 memorials
Eleanor Harvey

Eleanor Harvey

Eleanor Harvey was born on 2 September 1907 in Merton, Surrey, (now the London Borough of Merton), the second of the three daughters of William George Harvey (b.1874) and Winifred Harvey née Gunner...

Person, Children, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Rotherhithe Tunnel

Rotherhithe Tunnel

Road tunnel crossing under the River Thames, connecting Rotherhithe to the Ratcliff district of Limehouse. Designed by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, it was constructed using both a tunnelling 'shield' a...

Building, Engineering, Transport

7 memorials
Archery practice

Archery practice

From the Norman period, at least, until the introduction of firearms in the 16th century, some version of the longbow was the long-distance weapon of choice.  The last recorded use in England seems...

Event, Armed Forces

4 memorials