New Project to Map the Lost Churches of the City of London
The newly launched Lost London Churches Project aims to promote interest in the ancient church buildings and parishes of the City of London through collectable cards, books, maps and explorers walks.
London, United Kingdom, September 10, 2021 --(PR.com)-- The aim of the Lost London Churches Project is to promote interest in the ancient church buildings and parishes of the City of London. A series of 78 collectable cards with illustrations of City of London Churches, both extant and lost, has been published. These are in the old "cigarette card" format with a picture of the church on the front and historical notes on the back. They are available in the city churches that are participating in the project – the idea being that as you visit the churches you can collect the card for that church and also a random pack of 5 other cards in return for a small donation.
The loss of the City of London churches happened in three main waves. First, the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed 87 churches in the centre and west of the city, of which 34 were never rebuilt. The second wave of demolition was triggered by the Union of Benefices Act of 1860 which sought to combine parishes and free up commercial space for the swelling capital of the British Empire. It proved to be almost as damaging to the city churches as the Great Fire with a further 26 being lost. Lastly, London suffered badly in the Blitz in Word War 2, which took its toll on these ancient buildings though most were painstakingly restored.
Although the buildings disappeared, the parishes remained because they still performed some administrative functions. So you can still explore the ecclesiastical history of the city through the parish boundary markers high up on modern office buildings if you look hard enough. To encourage these explorers, a Collector’s Book of parish maps has also been published in addition to the cards. It has spaces where you can stick the cards in your collection.
The maps in the Collector’s Book are based on the wonderful Ogilvie & Morgan map of 1676 which shows in house-by-house detail the City of London just after the Great Fire. That map was originally published in 20 separate sheets, but they have all been joined together and redrawn in in colour where appropriate. That map, published ten years after the Great Fire, shows the locations and parish boundaries of all the churches, even those that were destroyed, and so it is the most useful map for reference purposes. Remarkably little has changed since then so you can still use it to navigate the City, but you will see it through a historic lens.
Modern technology makes exploring much easier. Details of the cards, the Collector’s Book and exploratory walks are available the project’s website at lostlcp.com. Here you can download a google map of a historic church walk onto your mobile phone and follow the path live as you walk along. The GPS on your phone will show if you are on the right track.
The loss of the City of London churches happened in three main waves. First, the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed 87 churches in the centre and west of the city, of which 34 were never rebuilt. The second wave of demolition was triggered by the Union of Benefices Act of 1860 which sought to combine parishes and free up commercial space for the swelling capital of the British Empire. It proved to be almost as damaging to the city churches as the Great Fire with a further 26 being lost. Lastly, London suffered badly in the Blitz in Word War 2, which took its toll on these ancient buildings though most were painstakingly restored.
Although the buildings disappeared, the parishes remained because they still performed some administrative functions. So you can still explore the ecclesiastical history of the city through the parish boundary markers high up on modern office buildings if you look hard enough. To encourage these explorers, a Collector’s Book of parish maps has also been published in addition to the cards. It has spaces where you can stick the cards in your collection.
The maps in the Collector’s Book are based on the wonderful Ogilvie & Morgan map of 1676 which shows in house-by-house detail the City of London just after the Great Fire. That map was originally published in 20 separate sheets, but they have all been joined together and redrawn in in colour where appropriate. That map, published ten years after the Great Fire, shows the locations and parish boundaries of all the churches, even those that were destroyed, and so it is the most useful map for reference purposes. Remarkably little has changed since then so you can still use it to navigate the City, but you will see it through a historic lens.
Modern technology makes exploring much easier. Details of the cards, the Collector’s Book and exploratory walks are available the project’s website at lostlcp.com. Here you can download a google map of a historic church walk onto your mobile phone and follow the path live as you walk along. The GPS on your phone will show if you are on the right track.
Contact
Lost London Churches Project
John Donald
+44 1732461108
lostcp.com
John Donald
+44 1732461108
lostcp.com
Contact
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