This church defies category, having been restored and rebuilt numerous times while still retaining some of its medieval features. It has been known as ‘St Sepulchre’s’ since before Stow’s day, but was originally dedicated to St Edmund, the martyr king of East Anglia. It stood just outside what was called the ‘Chamberlain Gate’ in earliest times and was called variously ‘St Sepulchre’s by Chamberlain Gate’ or ‘St Sepulchre’s in the Bayly’. The association with the city gate stuck when its name was changed to Newgate. The official name, however, is The Church of the Holy Sepulchre Without Newgate. It alludes to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and undoubtedly had associations with the Crusaders, who perhaps thought of themselves as linking London and Jerusalem through their exploits.
This, the largest parish church in the City, has had a remarkable number of connections with famous people and events over the centuries: the Saxons, the Crusaders, the Reformation, Elizabeth I, the Virginia Colony, the condemned inmates of Newgate Prison, military units of London and some of London’s finest musicians. While the association with the Saxons is a bit vague, the link with the Crusaders is more tangible in that it is located in approximately the same spot in relation to the walled city of London as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is to the walled city of Jerusalem. There is evidence that some of the Crusaders departed from here and that their hostelry was an ancient inn on Snow Hill nearby, the Saracen’s Head, which lasted well into the nineteenth century.
During the reigns of either Henry VI or Edward IV (that is, between 1422 and 1483), a member of the wealthy Popham family financed a reconstruction of the twelfth-century building. At this time a beautiful chapel was added on the south side as well as the porch which remains today, the original fan vaulting still intact. A remnant of an Easter Sepulchre with carved canopy on the north wall dates to the fifteenth century as well.
On the left side, as one enters the nave through the glass doors, there is a framed roster of vicars and rectors of the church since 1249. Here may be seen the name of John Rogers, who worked with Tyndale in translating the Scriptures and was himself the producer of the Matthew Bible. Upon the accession of Mary in 1553 he boldly spoke out against a return to Roman Catholicism, for which he was arrested. Ultimately, he was condemned to death and burned at Smithfield, the first Protestant martyr of many during Mary’s reign.
Queen Elizabeth’s Latin secretary and tutor, Roger Ascham, a widely recognized scholar and author, is buried in the Easter Chapel. Somewhere in the southeast corner of the church lie the remains of Captain John Smith, one of history’s most colourful soldiers of fortune. His leadership of the Virginia Colony, founded in 1607, is commemorated by a brass plate and also a memorial window on the south side. Smith’s success in Virginia resulted from his friendship with the native tribespeople through the intercession of Princess Pocahontas. (His statue may also be seen in the court next to Bow Church.)
The seventeenth century brought to St Sepulchre’s a great treasure worthy of a ‘musician’s church’, namely a fine organ built by Renatus Harris in 1670. According to tradition, both Handel and Mendelssohn played it, and both Samuel Wesleys certainly did, as well as the famous Sir Henry Wood, founder of the Promenade Concerts. The organ originally stood in what is now the Musicians’ Chapel, but was moved in 1878 and again in 1932, when it was rebuilt. Everything in the Musicians’ Chapel was given either by or in memory of London musicians, and the Musicians’ Book of Remembrance contains hundreds of their names.
St Sepulchre’s was for centuries cheek-by-jowl with the city prison, which at first was in the wall at Newgate and later (after 1774) a separate building. The site is now occupied by Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court. In early times condemned prisoners were taken by cart to Tyburn for hanging, passing the church on the way. While the bells pealed, they were given a nosegay of flowers, and the sexton would ring a handbell and exhort the crowd to pray for the man. Concern for the spiritual welfare of these doomed persons motivated Robert Dowe in 1602 to give a fund to establish what seems now a quaint custom. The sexton went early to the cell of the condemned prisoner, rang a handbell, and recited a message as follows:
Examine well yourself, in time repent, That you may not to eternal flames be sent. The handbell used for this purpose may be seen in a glass case on the south aisle.
Later, when hangings took place at Newgate Prison, the church bells tolled the moment of executions at 8.00 a.m. Like several other London churches, St Sepulchre’s honours certain of London’s military units. In the north aisle is the war memorial of the 6th Battalion City of London Rifles, with a book of remembrance containing 1,329 names. On the south aisle is the regimental chapel of the Royal Fusiliers, City of London Regiment, with rolls of honour, memorial book and the colours of the various battalions. Several livery companies dating from medieval times have yearly services in St Sepulchre’s. Also, the choir stalls are used throughout the year by many fine singing groups from colleges, academies and schools of music.