St Botolph's Aldgate

St Botolph’s Aldgate stands at the crossing of Houndsditch and Aldgate High Street, just beyond the line of the old London Wall. The church is one of four medieval London churches dedicated to the 7th-century East Anglian saint Botolph, each once sited by a gate in the City wall. The others were at Bishopsgate, Aldersgate and Billingsgate, though only the first two survive. The priory just inside Aldgate was founded by clergy from St Botolph’s Priory in Colchester, nearly fifty miles away along the Roman road. The church has been rebuilt several times, most recently in the 18th century to designs by George Dance the Elder. It escaped the Great Fire of London but suffered severe bombing during the Blitz. The organ, built in the early 18th century by Renatus Harris and later enlarged, is regarded as the oldest church organ in the United Kingdom. The parish united with Holy Trinity, Minories in 1899, bringing with it a preserved head reputed to be that of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk. Inside, the nave and aisles are divided by four widely spaced piers under a flat ceiling, with galleries along three sides. Two rows of windows light the space above and below the galleries. The churchyard was laid out as a public garden in 1892 by Fanny Wilkinson and contains a drinking fountain installed in 1906. The church is surrounded by busy roads and the Aldgate tube station, giving it an island-like setting in the heart of the East End.