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St Mary-at-Hill is an Anglican parish church in the Ward of Billingsgate, City of London and is situated on Lovat Lane, a cobbled street off Eastcheap. Originally founded in the 12th century,〔 it was first known as "St. Mary de Hull" or "St. Mary de la Hulle". It was severely damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666, afterwards being only partially rebuilt and has been much altered since, although some of its mediaeval fabric survives. The Church of St Mary-at-Hill is situated among some of the City's most ancient lanes: St Mary at Hill EC3, in which has a large double-faced clock extending several feet into the street and which provides the best view of the church's elegant exterior; a narrow alleyway running alongside, but with no right of way; and, its entrance on Lovat Lane EC3, its postal address. ==History and architecture== St Mary-at-Hill dates to 1336. The north aisle was rebuilt at the end of the 15th century, and a south aisle and steeple were added a little later. John Stow, writing at end of the 16th century, described it as "the fair church of Saint Marie, called on the Hill, because of the ascent from Billingsgate". The Great Fire of 1666 started in the neighbouring street of Pudding Lane severely damaging the church.〔"The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker,T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 ISBN 0-9553945-0-3〕 After the blaze, the parish of St Mary's was united with that of St Andrew Hubbard, whose church was not rebuilt. Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt the church's interior and east end, managing to retain its medieval walls on the other three sides, and the west tower to which he added a lantern. Wren included in his design a venetian window at the east end, now blocked up, and a pediment, now broken. His interior displays four free-standing corinthian columns, supporting barrel vaults in a Greek cross pattern, and a coffered central dome. The church is 96 ft long and 60 ft wide. A hoard of coins (now known as the Mary Hill Hoard) was found in a basement near St Mary-at-Hill in the 18th century. The hoard included the only known example of a coin from the Horndon mint. There have been considerable further alterations since the 17th century. In 1787–88, George Gwilt rebuilt the west wall and replaced the tower in brick and in 1826–27 James Savage installed round-headed iron-framed windows in the north wall and replaced the vaults, ceilings and plasterwork. In 1848–49 he added a cupola to the dome and cut windows through the chancel vault. In 1849, the 17th century wooodwork was sympathetically augmented and adapted by W. Gibbs Rogers. In 1904 the church's parish was united with that of St George Botolph Lane, and St Mary-at-Hill received the sword rests, plate, royal arms, ironwork, organ and organ case from St George. The church survived the Blitz unscathed but was severely damaged by a fire in 1988, after which its roof and ceiling required rebuilding. Much of the woodwork, including box pews, was unable to be reinstated. Writing before St Mary's 1988 fire, John Betjeman said of the church: "This is the least spoiled and the most gorgeous interior in the City, all the more exciting by being hidden away among cobbled alleys, paved passages, brick walls, overhung by plane trees…" The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950. On the street St Mary at Hill, there is an adjacent Grade II brick and stone rectory of 1834 designed by James Savage, incorporating a vestry of the late 17th century. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St Mary-at-Hill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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