St Benet Fink

St. Benet Fink
Current photo of site
Address	London
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Anglican

Not to be confused with St Benet Fink, Tottenham.

St. Benet Fink was a church in the City of London located on what is now Threadneedle Street. Recorded since the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, then rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The rebuilt church was demolished between 1841 and 1846.

History

‘St. Benet’ is short for ‘St. Benedict’ and this was one of 4 churches in pre-Fire London so dedicated. In the case of St. Benet Fink, it is not certain whether the Benedict referred to was St. Benedict of Nursia, the 6th century founder of Western monasticism or Benedict Biscop, the 7th century Anglo-Saxon founder of Jarrow Priory. ‘Fink’ according to John Stow is derived from Robert Fink, or Finch, a 13th century benefactor who paid to have the church rebuilt. Finch Lane, a lane which still runs off Threadneedle Street, was named after the same family.

The earliest surviving reference to the church is in a document of 1216, although the discovery of a 10th century wheel-headed cross in its former churchyard suggests a Saxon foundation.

The most significant event in the pre-Fire church was the marriage there, on September 24, 1662, of the Puritan divine Richard Baxter.

St. Benet Fink was one of 89 churches destroyed in the Great Fire. Rebuilding began comparatively quickly, in 1670, thanks partly to a donation of £1000 by George Holman, a Catholic parishioner. In gratitude, he was given two pews and a place in the vault. Building of the church and spire was completed in 1675 at a total cost of £4129.

The parish registers record the death of the church warden, Thomas Sharrow, in 1673, from falling in a vault in Paternoster Row and lying there undiscovered for 11 days. The register entry includes the admonition “Let all who read this take heed of drink.”

On 1801-04-09, John Henry Newman, the future cardinal, was baptised in St. Benet Fink.

In 1838, the Royal Exchange, which had also been rebuilt after the Great Fire, burnt down. In order to improve the site of the Exchange, the Corporation of London petitioned Parliament for permission to demolish the tower of St. Benet Fink and appropriate its churchyard, as well as demolish the nearby St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange. Over 20 City churches were demolished between the second half of the 19th century and the Second World War, but in 1840, church demolition was enough of a novelty to elicit protests from John Carlos, editor of The Gentleman's Magazine and the parish. The Bishop of London, however, supported the Corporation as there were many other churches in the immediate neighbourhood.

The first stage of demolition was carried out in 1842. A new entrance in the west wall was created in the truncated church. This proved unsatisfactory, and the Corporation petitioned Parliament for another Act to demolish the remains of the church. This was granted and the church was knocked down in 1846.

The parish was combined with that of St Peter le Poer and proceeds of the sale of the site were used to build St. Benet Fink Tottenham. Sale of the furnishings proved a disgrace, realising only £15 5s.

The paintings of Moses and Aaron that formed part of the altarpiece are now in the chapel of Emanuel School, Battersea.

Today, the site is occupied by No.1 Threadneedle Street, an 8 story office block completed in 1991.

Architecture

The pre-Fire church was rectangular. After the Fire, the City appropriated the northwest corner of the church for widening Threadneedle Street. This left an irregular site on which to build, which Wren addressed by rebuilding St. Benet’s in the shape of a decagon. On top of the decagon sat an oval dome with a lantern, supported from within by six arches. The church had two aisles being spanned by entablatures supporting barrel vaults.

It is possible that the decagonal design employed by Wren was borrowed from Sant'Andrea al Quirinale by Bernini in Rome. One must remember that Wren studied the drawings of Bernini when he met him in Paris in 1665.

The walls were made from brick and rubble, faced with Portland stone, although the church was built around by houses for much of its history.

The tower protruded from the west of the church. It had a square dome surmounted by a bell cage, and – uniquely for a Wren church - a ball and cross, instead of a vane. The tower, including the steeple, was 110 ft. high.

St. Benet Fink was one of the few post-Fire churches to have cloisters. The backs of houses constructed in Sweetings Rents – a lane demolished in the rebuilding of the Royal Exchange - were partly built over the churchyard, and these were supported by pillars, forming a colonnade.

References

• Jeffery, Paul. The city churches of Sir Christopher Wren, {Hambledon Press, 1996}
• Ellen,R.G. A London steeplechase, {City Press, 1972}
• Cobb,Gerald. London city churches, {B T Batsford Ltd., 1977}
• Huelin, Gordon. Vanished churches of the City of London, {Guildhall Library Publications, 1996}
• Hibbert,C./Keay,J./Weinreb,D. The London Encyclopaedia {Pan Macmillan, 2008)

See also

• List of Christopher Wren churches in London
• List of churches rebuilt after the Great Fire but since demolished