St Swithin, London Stone

St Swithin’s was an Anglican church on the north side of Cannon Street in the City of London. Its narrow lane ran north to King William Street and took the church’s name. The first building dated from the 13th century and was rebuilt after the Great Fire to designs by Sir Christopher Wren. Bombing in the Second World War left the church in ruins, and the remains were cleared in the early 1960s. London Stone stood opposite the medieval church on the south side of the street. The church held a notable Welsh prisoner, Catrin Glyndŵr, daughter of Owain Glyndŵr. Records show £1 was spent on her burial in 1413 inside St Swithin’s. The patronage passed from a Sussex priory to the Earl of Oxford, then to the Salters Company. Wren’s church measured 61 feet by 42 feet and rose to about 150 feet with a spire. An organ was added in 1805, and the interior was altered several times in the 19th century. London Stone was moved beside the church door in 1742 and later set into the south wall. After demolition, the churchyard became St Swithin’s Church Garden, re-landscaped in 2010. A memorial there honours Catrin Glyndŵr and all women and children lost to war. Excavations found remains of a Roman street and medieval foundations beneath the Wren church. The garden also contains a church mark in nearby Salters’ Hall Court.