The patronage of the church belonged to the canons of
St Paul's and it is mentioned in the register of the Dean and Chapter as early as 1181.[1]John Stow implies that was rebuilt some time in the late fourteenth century, describing John Barnes, Lord Mayor in 1371 as "a great builder of S. Thomas Apostles parish church as appeareth by his armes there both in stone and glasse".[1]
The parish was staunchly
Royalist[3] in the years leading up to the
Civil War[4] In 1642, the rector, named Cooper, was sequestered and imprisoned in
Leeds Castle owing to his loyalty to the king.[1]
St Thomas' was destroyed by the Great fire in 1666. Following the fire, a Rebuilding Act was passed and a committee set up under
Sir Christopher Wren to decide which buildings would be rebuilt.[5] Fifty-one were chosen, but St Thomas the Apostle was not among those chosen.[6] Instead, the parish was united with that of
St Mary Aldermary. Part of the site was used for the creation of Queen Street, though a small portion of the churchyard survived.[1]
The site of the church is marked by a plaque in Great St Thomas Apostle Street near
Mansion House tube station.
^
abcdeJenkinson, Wilberforce (1917). London Churches Before the Great Fire. London: Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. p. 171.
^"The Survey of Building Sites in London after the Great Fire of 1666" Mills, P/ Oliver, J Vol I pp31-35:
Guildhall Library MS. 84 reproduced in facsimile, London,
London Topographical Society, 1946
^Hibbert,C; Weinreb,D; Keay,J (2008) [1983]. The London Encyclopaedia (Revised ed.). London: Pan Macmillan.
ISBN978-1-4050-4924-5.
^Borer, M.I.C (1978). The City of London – a history. New York: D.McKay Co.
ISBN0094618801.