This venerable church near Leadenhall Market in the heart of Old London was first mentioned in the twelfth century. However, it was rebuilt on more than one occasion, the latest being between 1520 and 1532 during the reign of Henry VIII. Its exterior combines perpendicular gothic features, such as the fine south door, with Tudor stone. Like St Helen’s, it is especially associated with lord mayors and other City dignitaries. There is a half-dozen interesting monuments of important personages and a number of fine brasses. The painter Hans Holbein is believed to have resided in the parish, and a brass tablet on the south wall honours him.
The famous May-pole to which the name refers was a fir shaft higher than the church steeple— hence ‘under shaft’. Each May 1 it was hung with flowers and was the centre of day-long revels, essentially pagan in nature. On this holiday in 1517, later called ‘Evil May Day’, a riot broke out in which city apprentices attacked foreign merchants, particularly the Lombards, and a number of people were killed. The king then banned the May Day holiday, and the shaft was hung on hooks in an alley. In 1550, according to John Stow, an eccentric curate of St Katharine Cree named Stephen preached a sermon at Paul’s Cross against the May-pole, condemning it as an idol because it was attached to the name of a church. The people who lived in the alley where the shaft was kept then sawed it into lengths and burned the pieces. Stow goes on to describe the eccentric antics of Stephen: ‘I have oft times seen this man, forsaking the pulpit of his said parish church, preach out of a high elm tree in the midst of the churchyard’.
The good old London historian John Stow himself was a member of St Andrew Undershaft, and a monument with his likeness may be seen on the north wall. Each year a ceremony is held near the anniversary of his death on April 5, when the lord mayor, attended by sheriffs, renews his quill pen and presents a copy of the Survey to the writer of the best essay on London received that year. Although it has been restored several times, St Andrew Undershaft was undamaged by either the Great Fire or the bombing. It presents a delightful contrast to the ultramodern office building across the street. But it is not just an historical monument; it serves as a chapel of ease to the very active St Helen’s nearby, with a special ministry to under-thirties working in the City.