Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: St. Michael Paternoster Royal, College Hill, The City EC4R 2RL
How much do the tickets cost?
St. Michael Paternoster Royal is free.
What are the opening hours?
The church doesn’t have regular hours. If visitors want to be sure it’s open they can try contacting nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-michael-paternoster-royal-city-london.
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to St. Michael Paternoster Royal takes 10 to 15 minutes.
Which buses go to St. Michael Paternoster Royal?
Bus routes 8, 56, 242 and 521 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Cannon Street, which connects with the Circle and District lines. It also serves National Rail trains. It only takes a minute to walk to St. Michael Paternoster Royal.
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of St. Michael Paternoster Royal: London Mithraeum, Mansion House, Bank of England Museum, One New Change, Royal Exchange, The Monument, Guildhall Art Gallery, Globe Theatre, Clink Prison Museum, Golden Hinde, Guildhall, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Sky Garden, Leadenhall Market and Billingsgate Roman House & Baths.
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Email My review of St. Michael Paternoster Royal
I always feel sorry for Dick Whittington because he did about as much good as it’s possible for one man to do – he opened an almshouse for the poor, built a new school for the kids, refurbished a dilapidated old gaol – and what do we remember him for? As a Christmas panto character. In real life this guy was Mother Theresa! But we stick him in a pair of tights, throw some custard pies in his face, and send everyone home from the theatre believing he’s fictitious.
Photo: londondrum.comThey don’t even get his backstory right because in the pantomime he’s portrayed as a poor boy (he was a very rich man), gets fired for theft (he was a very generous philanthropist), has a chat with a cat (he hated cats), and becomes friends with a fairy (there’s no such thing as fairies).
Dick Whittington - The Lord Mayor of London
The real Dick Whittington became a very rich merchant by sending his ‘cats’ to Africa (‘cats’ was a type of boat in those days, so that’s presumably where his sidekick cat came from). Then he ran for Mayor a few times and ended up as a Member of Parliament. So all of that panto pap about a bedraggled little beggar boy bounding down Highgate Hill believing the streets were paved with gold is total baloney.
Photo: londondrum.comThis little church was his local and you’ll notice in their stained-glass window that they’ve portrayed him as a man about town, like a flat-cap country gent, and included his cartoon cat. So it’s obviously been based on the panto character. Other churches show Biblical scenes and angels and saints in their religious windows, but St. Michael’s has based theirs on the plot of a Christmas kids’ show. How mad is that!
In the window above the altar they’ve included another unlikely guest: Satan. It’s not often that the devil gets a death scene by an altar but here he is, being speared through the throat by St. Michael. It’s quite a bloodthirsty spectacle for such a peace-loving building.
Photo: londondrum.comApart from the windows there’s not a lot else to see. The guts of Christopher Wren’s rebuild were destroyed when the Nazis dropped a V1 Doodlebug on top (and those things we’re impossible to aim, so it was an incredibly unlucky hit). Only the tower and walls survive from his time, and the rest is just plain plaster and panelling from the 1960s. I think it looks more like a courtroom than a church.
Dick Whittington’s grave is supposed to be under the floor somewhere, but nobody knows where. They buried him. Lost him. Forgot him. Then resurrected him as a panto star.
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Richard Can you see Dick (my namesake) Whittington’s grave? (reply)
Craig Hi Richard. No, nobody knows where the grave is located anymore. History says that it was definitely within the grounds somewhere, but nobody has a clue where, or even whether it still exists. The original church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London so maybe it’s been destroyed. (reply)
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