St Mary Bothaw (or Saint Mary Boatehaw by the Erber[1]) was a parish church in the Walbrook ward of the
City of London. It was destroyed in the
Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.[2] However, some of its materials were used in the rebuilding of
St Swithin, London Stone, with which parish it was merged.
Location
The church stood in the
Walbrook ward, in a narrow lane just to the south of Candlewick Street[2] (now Cannon Street).[3]
History
St Mary Bothaw was described by
Stow as a "proper church".[4] The dedication is generally derived from "boat-haw", meaning "boat house".[5] The church was in existence by 1279, when William de Hamkynton was recorded as becoming rector following the death of Adam Lambyn.[6] It was one of the 13 "peculiars" within the
City under the
patronage of the dean and chapter of
Canterbury Cathedral.[7]
Along with the majority of parish churches in the city, St Mary Bothaw was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. A Rebuilding Act was passed in 1670 and a committee set up under Sir Christopher Wren to decide which would be rebuilt;[9] St Mary Bothaw was not amongst them. Instead the parish was united to that of
St Swithin, London Stone, and some of the materials from St Mary's were used to rebuild that church.[10] The site was retained as a churchyard until the
Cannon Street Railway Station was built over it in the nineteenth century.[5]
References
^Hibbert, C; Weinreb, D; Keay, J (1983). The London Encyclopaedia. Pan Macmillan.
ISBN978-1-4050-4924-5.
^
abJenkinson, Wilberforce (1917). London Churches Before the Great Fire. London: Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. p. 202.
^White, JG (1910). The Ancient Records and Antiquities of the Parishes of St. Swithin, London Stone, and St. Mary Bothaw. London: London & Middlesex Archaeological Society.
Sources
Seymour, Robert (1733). A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, Borough of Southwark, and Parts Adjacent. Vol. 1. London: T. Read.