(St.) Mary le Bow

   On the north side of Cheapside at No. 56 at the north-west corner of Bow Lane (P.O. Directory). In Cordwainer Ward. The parish extends into Cheap Ward.

   Earliest mention found in records : "Ecclesiae Sancta Mariae quae dicitur ad Arcus" (Annales de Margam, p. 5). Date 1091.

   Stow says it was built in the reign of William the Conqueror (S. 255-6).

   Other forms of name : "St. Mary de Archis," c. 1193 (Anc. Deeds, A. 1513). "St. Mary of Arches," temp. John (ib. A. 2542). "St. Mary de Arch." (temp. H. III. ib. A. 1474). "St. Mary le Bow," 55 H. III. (ib. D. 309). "le clocher des Arches," 56 H. III. (Fr. Chron. p.11). "Sce Mar' ad Arcub," 3 Ed. I. (Rot. Hund. I. 407). "St. Mary atte bowe," 1323 (Ct. H.W. I. 304). "St. Mary atte Bowe," 1335 (ib. 405). "St. Mary atte Boghe," 1343-4 (ib. 472). "Our Lady of the Arches" (nostre dame des Arches), 37 Ed. III. (Cal. L. Bk. G. p. 150). "Our Lady of the Bow," 1486 (H. MSS. Com. Var. Coll. II. 296). "Our Lady of the Bowe," 1517-18 (Ct. H.W. II. 625).

   In 1091 a storm blew the roof off (Ann. de Margam, p. 5).

   In 1271 the steeple fell down and killed many people (Ann. Lond. p. 81).

   The curfew was rung there, 37 Ed. III. (Cal. L. Bk. G. p. 150).

   Repaired and beautified 1620. Burnt in the Fire and rebuilt 1671-80. Archt., Sir C. Wren. Steeple 125 ft. high.

   The church has always been famous for its bells, which were replaced after the Fire, but not completed until 1762.

   St. Pancras Soper Lane and Allhallows Honey Lane united to this parish after the Fire.

   A Rectory. Patron : Archbishop of Canterbury. One of the 13 peculiars in the City belonging to the Archbishop and exempt from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. The Court of Arches for these parishes was held in this church until the peculiars were abolished in 1847.

   The church possessed from early times the right of sanctuary, and many disputes occurred in the course of its history in connection with this privilege.

   The crypt under the church is of Norman work and forms one of its most interesting features. Roman bricks have been used in its construction possibly belonging to some Roman building on or near the sites.

   A pavement and temple of Roman work found under the church and a Roman causeway beneath the tower, 4 ft. thick, at a depth of 18 ft. Underneath lay the natural clay (Wren's Parentalia, 265, and Arch. XL.).

   Derivation of name : Stow in his first edition says it was called "de arcubus" of the stone arches or bowes on the top of the steeple or bell tower, which arching was as well on the old steeple as on the new (p. 199). The new steeple was finished 1512, the arches being built of stone from Caen.

   But in his second edition he has abandoned this derivation, and speaks of it as so-called as being built on arches of stone, and the name may have been given originally to a church or chapel in the crypt (ed. 1603, pp. 255-6 and 258).

   There is a church in Exeter called "St. Mary Arches" or "de Arcubus," but no satisfactory derivation of the name is forthcoming from this source. It is a 12th century church, one of the oldest in the City.

   In Lincoln the church of St. Peter at Arches is so called from its proximity to the Stone Bow, a gateway with three arches across the high street.