5/5 Fred S. 5 years ago on Google
St
Olaves
is
one
of
the
few
examples
of
mediaeval
churches
that
existed
before
the
Great
Fire
of
London
in
1666,
the
present
building
was
built
around
1450,
with
churches
having
been
on
the
site
from.
The
fire
was
raging
towards
it
and
got
to
within
100
metres
and
then
the
wind
changed
direction!
However,
the
second
world
war
was
not
so
kind
and
the
building
was
badly
damaged
and
was
the
restored
in
the
1950s
to
what
it
remains
today.
The
church
has
a
range
of
connections
to
nationalities
and
people.
Wikipedia
has
a
good
history
of
the
church,
which
identifies
some
notable
patrons.
Sir
William
Penn
who
helped
save
the
church
in
1666
by
ordering
his
men
to
blow
up
the
houses
around
the
church
to
create
a
barrier
from
the
Great
Fire.
Samuel
Pepys:
the
famous
diarist
was
a
regular
worshipper
and
called
St
Olaves
as
‘our
own
church’.
Both
he
and
his
wife
are
buried
in
the
graveyard.
Charles
Dickens:
is
thought
to
have
been
inspired
by
the
church
and
included
it
in
‘Uncommercial
Traveller’
describing
it
as
‘St
Ghastly
Grim’.
Norway:
the
church
is
dedicated
to
the
patron
saint
of
Norway,
King
Olaf
II
of
Norway
and
it
is
said
that
the
well
in
the
crypt
has
some
aspect
of
the
saint
in
it!
After
the
‘blitz’
restoration
was
completed,
in
1954,
King
Haakon
VII
of
Norway
presided
over
the
rededication
ceremony
and
laid
a
stone
from
Trondheim
Cathedral
in
front
of
the
sanctuary.
America:
‘in
the
tower,
there
is
a
memorial
with
an
American
connection.
It
honours
Monkhouse
Davison
and
Abraham
Newman,
the
grocers
of
Fenchurch
Street
who
shipped
crates
of
tea
to
Boston
in
late
1773.
These
crates
were
seized
and
thrown
into
the
waters
during
the
Boston
Tea
Party,
one
of
the
causes
of
the
American
War
of
Independence.’
It
is
a
modest
parish
church
in
the
centre
of
a
global
metropolis,
‘a
sanctuary
in
the
city’.
Wonderfully,
in
such
a
densely
populated
area,
there
is
a
very
well-maintained
garden
graveyard
attached
with
benches
and
some
very
well
looked
after
grassed
areas
and
well-tended
roses.
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