St Olave's Church, Silver Street was a church on the south side of
Silver Street, off
Wood Street[1] in the
Aldersgate ward of the
City of London. It was dedicated to
St Olaf, a Norwegian Christian ally of the English king
Ethelred II. The church was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
History
The first reference to the church, in the twelfth century, refers to it as "St Olave de Mukewellestrate" from its proximity to Monkwell Street.[2]John Stow described it as "a small thing, without any noteworthy monuments".[1]
It was rebuilt in 1609[3] and repaired 1662, at a cost of £50 7s 6d.
It had a small
churchyard, and owned another piece of land for burials in Noble Street, which, from its connection with the
Barber Surgeons, was known as the "anatomizer's ground".[4] From 1540 the Barber Surgeons carried out dissections at Monkwell Street for the purpose of anatomical teaching.
The church was destroyed in the
Great Fire[5] and not rebuilt. Instead the parish was united with that of
St Alban, Wood Street.[1] The site is now a garden,[6] at the end of Noble Street. A late 17th-century tablet marks the spot where it once stood,[7] off
London Wall, near the
Museum of London.