Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, The City EC2V 6AU. Telephone: 0207 248 5139. Website: stmarylebow.org
How much do the tickets cost?
St. Mary-le-Bow is free.
What are the opening hours?
Opening times are 7.30am to 6pm (Mon-Fri).
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to St. Mary-le-Bow takes 15 minutes.
Which buses go to St. Mary-le-Bow?
Bus routes 8, 25 and 242 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Mansion House, which connects with the Circle and District lines. It only takes two minutes to walk to St. Mary-le-Bow.
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of St. Mary-le-Bow: One New Change, Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall, London Mithraeum, Mansion House, Bank of England Museum, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Royal Exchange, Postman’s Park, Globe Theatre, The Monument, Leadenhall Market, St. Bartholomew-the-Great, Sky Garden and Horizon 22.
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Email My review of St. Mary-le-Bow
After the Normans conquered the capital they put up three big buildings – the Tower of London, Old St. Paul’s and this place – the unlucky church of St. Mary-le-Bow. I call it unlucky because ten years later it was flattened by a tornado. The next attempt was wiped out in a fire and number three collapsed in 1271.
You would have thought they would have given up after that but nope, the church’s unlucky streak continued in 1666 when the Great Fire of London reduced it to a box of cracked and blackened walls. The Luftwaffe tried to finish it off with an incendiary bomb but only managed to burn out the insides, causing the famous Bow Bells to come crashing to the floor.
After the war the church was sympathetically restored to Christopher Wren’s original design and a new set of bells were cast from the melted metal of the old ones.
Photo: londondrum.comCockneys born within the sound of the Bow Bells
Every Londoner has heard of the Bow Bells because if you want to call yourself a Cockney then you have to be born within the sound of them. This dates all the way back to 1363 when the bells were used to signal the city’s curfew. Back in those days you could hear them as far away as Hackney Marshes (Dick Whittington was supposed to have heard them on Highgate Hill) but nowadays you’d be hard pressed to hear them beyond the big buildings of the Square Mile. And given that this area is mainly shops and offices now – with no maternity hospitals whatsoever – the chances of being born a true Cockney are practically non-existent. So it looks like they might soon become extinct!
Photo: londondrum.comThe 11th-century Norman Crypt & Restaurant
It’s quite a squat little church inside with just one big room and a couple of side chapels by the altar. The windows are filled with stained glass but you have to invest a bit of time in them because they’re behind a thick crisscross of metal, and rather dark and difficult to follow.
Photo: londondrum.com
Photo: londondrum.comWhile Christopher Wren was digging out the foundations he uncovered the original Norman undercroft and converted it into a burial chamber, which has now become a cafe. A fragment of the old medieval staircase can still be seen in the north-west corner but if you want to get a photo of it then you’ll have to stand amongst the plates and tables while the waiters wipe them down.
The restaurant is quite nice inside but it’s not the kind of place for a tea break. You feel as if you should be sitting down for a meal rather than having a quick coffee.
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brian Hello. I was wondering how far can the famous Bow Bells actually be heard? Given that you need to hear them to be able to call yourself a cockney. Do they even ring anymore? (reply)
Craig Hi Brian. According to wikipedia they can only be heard as far as Shoreditch nowadays, which isn’t very far at all. But to be honest I’m surprised you can even hear them from that far away, what with all the traffic and city noise. (reply)
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