St Mary Woolnoth
City of London, Greater London
On Easter Day 1727 St Mary Woolnoth of the nativity was reopened after it’s rebuilding by Nicholas Hawksmoor, which took 12 years and was paid for from the proceeds of the tax on sea borne coal.
Grinling Gibbons carved the huge limewood reredos, the only piece in the city certainly documented as being by him.
A bomb blast in World War II shattered it into two thousand pieces but it was carefully restored to the original state between 1948 and 1953 when the pieces were meticulously reassembled.
William Snow, a parishioner, painted the breathtaking wide and shallow dome in 1708. The dome, which cannot be seen externally, is supported on eight arches above four plain brick walls, making the interior seem spacious and light.
The woodwork in the interior is the best surviving complete set, with the pulpit and tester, doorcases and west gallery being particularly fine.
