Inventory Site Record

Due to its dedication to St Botolph the church is deemed to be of Saxon origin, St Botolph being the Anglo-Saxon patron saint of travellers. Evidence of burials in the C10th or C11th was revealed when the crypt was excavated in 1990. Although it escaped the Great Fire of 1666, the medieval church was dilapidated by 1741 and the present building was completed by 1744. Its raised churchyard was being used as public open space by 1875, following closure for burials as a result of the 1855 Burial Act, and it was converted as a public garden in 1892. Enclosed by railings, the garden had grass and flower beds on the north side, tombstones set against the east wall. The south-facing area was paved, with flower beds, a few small trees, tombs and seats, and a modern sculpture. A drinking fountain erected in 1906 is against the railings. The garden was reconfigured in 2016-18 as part of infrastructure works in the surrounding area. The former churchyard to the north remains largely grass with mature plane trees, with tombs formerly set into the grass now re-sited.

Previous / Other name:

St Botolph, Aldgate

Site location:

Aldgate High Street/St Botolph Street

Postcode:

EC3N 1AB

What 3 Words:

actual.animal.jumped

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

City of London

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

unrestricted. Church: Mon-Fri 10am-3pm

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Concerts in church

Public transport:

Tube: Aldgate (Metropolitan; Circle)

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

05/08/2021

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/openspaces

Due to its dedication to St Botolph the church is deemed to be of Saxon origin; St Botolph was the Anglo-Saxon patron saint of travellers, and as a result churches dedicated to him were usually located at city gates. Evidence of burials here in the C10th or C11th was revealed when the crypt was excavated in 1990. The church is within an area of land to the east of the City, subsequently called Portsoken ward, which had been granted by King Edgar to thirteen knights who had served the state well, on condition that they completed certain heroic tasks. In 1115 their descendants gave this land, including the church of St Botolph which stood upon it, to the Priory of the Holy Trinity at Aldgate that Henry I's wife Matilda had founded. In 1125 the church is referred to as the Church of the Cnihtengild (Knightenguild); a churchyard is recorded here by 1230 and in 1468 there is mention of a box tree there. The church had been enlarged in 1418 through the benefaction of a wealthy bell founder, Robert Burford. It enjoyed the patronage of the Priory, which was responsible for rebuilding in the 1520s, until Dissolution of the Monasteries when it passed to Henry VIII in 1531.

Although it escaped the Great Fire of 1666, it was dilapidated by 1741 in which year the parishioners were empowered by Act of Parliament to raise money for a new church. This is the present building, which was designed by George Dance the Elder and built 1741-44. It was later restored by Bentley, the architect of Westminster Cathedral. Among the monuments from the older church is that of Thomas Lord Darcy of the North (d.1537), Sir Nicholas Carew (d.1538) and members of their families; Lord Darcy and Sir Nicholas were both beheaded on Tower Hill having been found guilty of high treason. The head of Lady Jane Grey's father was moved to St Botolph's in the late C19th, having been discovered in 1852 in the Holy Trinity Minories, when that parish joined St Botolph's parish in 1893.

The church has a raised churchyard on three sides and by 1875 this was being used as public open space. Like many overcrowded churchyards in London, its closure came as a result of the first Burial Act of 1852 and its subsequent amendments during the 1850s. The Metropolitan Open Spaces Acts of 1877 and 1881 and the Disused Burial Grounds Act of 1884, later extended under the Metropolitan Open Spaces Act of 1887, enabled 'open spaces and burial grounds in the Metropolis for the use of the inhabitants thereof for exercise and recreation'. It was laid out as a public garden in 1892, designed by Fanny Wilkinson, landscape gardener for the MPGA, for whom she laid out over 75 public gardens in London, many of them disused burial grounds. The garden was enclosed by railings and had grass and flower beds on the north side. Tombstones have been set against the east wall with flower beds in front of them. The south facing area of the former churchyard was paved, with flower beds, a few small trees, a number of tombs and seats, and a modern sculpture (1985) 'Sanctuary' by Naomi Blake. Fine gate and railings remain at the south entrance of the church, with a drinking fountain within classical stone surround, erected in memory of Frederic David Mocatta in 1906 against the railings. The churchyard to the north of the church was largely grass with 2 plane trees, tombs set into the ground and some headstones, a small area of rose beds alongside church west wall.

Since the mid C20th, the church site was practically a traffic island, with Aldgate Station and a modern office block adjacent. However, since 2016 St Botolph's has become far more accessible and the garden reconfigured as part of a major infrastructure scheme to re-route the traffic. As part of the scheme Aldgate Square has been created as a new public open space adjacent to the church, and opened in 2018 along with re-landscaping in the churchyard gardens. The north churchyard garden remains with its grass and plane trees, although tombs and headstones have been re-sited and Naomi Blake's sculpture is now positioned here. Aldgate Square has a central lawn flanked by raised planters that double as seating and a water feature, with pleached hornbeams planted on the southern edge of this new space.

Sources consulted:

B Plummer and D Shewan, 'City Gardens', London, 1992; George Godwin & John Britton 'The Churches of London: A history and description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis, Volume II', London, 1839; Simon Bradley & Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England, London 1: The City of London', 1997 (1999 ed.); Philip Norman, 'The London City Churches, Their Use, Their Preservation and Their Extended Use', The London Society, (1920s); Elizabeth Crawford, 'Enterprising Women: The Garretts and their Circle' (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2nd ed. 2009). See London Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches data

Grid ref:

TQ335812 (533553,181221)

Size in hectares:

0.1148

Site ownership:

Diocese of London

Site management:

City of London Corporation Open Spaces Dept.

Date(s):

medieval; 1892

Designer(s):

1892: MPGA (Fanny Wilkinson)

Listed structures:

LBI: St Botolph's Church. LBII: gateway to churchyard on Aldgate High Street

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

St Botolph without Aldgate Church, April 2011. Photo: S Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.