The present building was constructed in 1532 but a church has existed on the site since the 12th century. Today, St Andrew Undershaft is administered from the nearby
St Helen's Bishopsgate church.
History
The first church on the site, which today is bordered by
St Mary Axe and
Leadenhall Street, was built in
medieval times, being recorded in 1147.[2] It was rebuilt in the 14th century and again in 1532;[3] this third incarnation of the building survives today. It is in the
Perpendicular style[4] with its entrance located at the base of its off-centre tower. The interior is divided into six bays, with many of the original fittings that survived the
Victorian renovation. Formerly, St Andrew Undershaft had one of London's few surviving large stained-glass windows, installed in the 17th century, but this was destroyed in the
Baltic Exchange bombing in 1992.
The church's curious name derives from the shaft of the
maypole[5] that was traditionally set up each year opposite the church.[6] The custom continued each spring until 1517, when student riots put an end to it, but the maypole itself survived until 1547 when it was seized by a mob and destroyed as a "pagan idol".[7] According to
John Stow, the chronicler who is buried here, they had it "raised from the hooks whereon it had rested for two-and-thirty years, sawn in pieces and burnt."[8]
St Andrew Undershaft is now administered from the nearby church of
St Helen's Bishopsgate. St Andrew Undershaft was designated a Grade I
listed building on 4 January 1950.[9]
The tower holds a peal of six bells in the key of G, with the tenor being cast in 1597 by Robert Mot. These are now hung dead (they can only be rung stationary) inside the tower.[10]
Organ
The
organ was installed in 1696 by
Renatus Harris. A swell was added in 1750 by John Byfield. There have been other restorations and enhancements by
George Pike England in 1810–11 and 1826. Further work was carried out by William Hill, Speechly and J. W. Walker & Sons, and
Rushworth and Dreaper. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register[11]
The organ is of such historic significance that it has been awarded a Grade I historic organ certificate by the
British Institute of Organ Studies.
Sir Thomas Offley, Lord Mayor of London 1563–64, was buried in 1582. The monument to Sir Thomas and his wife Joan (died 1578) survives in St Andrew Undershaft. Joan was a granddaughter of
Sir Stephen Jennings, Lord Mayor, who funded the rebuilding of the church.[14]
Hugh Hamersley, Lord Mayor of London in 1627, whose memorial is in St Andrew Undershaft.
Hans Holbein the Younger, a former parishioner of St Andrew Undershaft was possibly buried in the church.
Frederick George Blomfield, rector of St Andrew Undershaft (1853–1879), son of
Charles James Blomfield (Bishop of London) and father of
Dorothy Gurney (poet and hymn writer).
John Lawrence Toole, a comedian who was born and christened in St Andrew Undershaft.
Fabian Stedman the father of church bellringing was buried in St Andrew Undershaft.