England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Mary at Hill

The Parish

The parish of St Mary at Hill is located in the southeastern end of the city of London forming s stretch of the city's Thames frontage and thus with the neighbouring county of Surrey. St Mary at Hill was oblong in shape with that edge fronting the Thames being little more than 2 city blocks wide yet it extended northwards from the Thames as far as Eastcheap. At the time of this transcript St Mary at Hill would have been a maze of tiny streets and yards with seedier areas by the river, largely destroyed in the Great Fire it was a lost opportunity to resolve the road pattern. Today St Mary at Hill has few nightime residents with offices and business premises dominating the area. The parish is drained the short distance to the nearby Thames by mostly underground routes. St Mary at Hill is sited at 12 metres above the sea, land rising steadily away from the Thames to local heights of little more than 20 metres for some distance. St Mary at Hill parish was a tiny enclave covering no more than a few blocks of the city, it nevertheless supported a population of close to 800 parishioners at the time of this transcript.

The Church

Although St Mary is documented from as early as the late 12th century that church was substantially destroyed during the Great Fire. Today's church was one chosen to be rebuilt with the famous Christopher Wren chosen to be its architect. The church he saw built stands on the western side of the road that bears its name, St Mary at Hill, and extends through to the eastern side of Lovat Lane. Some of the medieval walls of the original church were recoverable and Wren used both northern and southern walls as well as the western one. The church was completed in 1674 with the final flourish of the lantern atop the western tower. Investigations of 1984 & in 1991, following a serious fire, into the north wall have revealed its building material as Kentish rag and it is genuinely medieval and believed to be contemporary with the rebuilding of the aisles between 1487 & 1504. Whilst the southern wall has been rendered its medieval origins can also be seen from the narrow Church Passage. Sadly the western wall was a victim of the many documented changes since construction, it being rebuilt in 1788 including the tower. A series of minor adjustments is documented by Pevsner. Like most urban churches this is one to visit on foot, the tube station of Monument being the closest. The site is a challenge to the photographer given the church is crowded on all sides by neighbouring buildings with very few definitive views other than from the roads.