Barbican Living

Today, St Giles' is the home of a flourishing church community. It's open most of the day. You should go and pay a visit: nobody is going to bother you, and you might decide you like it. I am not a religious person myself, but it seems like a warm, friendly place to me, and it is the working centre of the parish and the Barbican estate. Click here to go to the church's own website

The church itself has a long and interesting history. To give an idea of relative importance and population, ten or more churches were built in Cripplegate Within, and just one in Cripplegate Without (the Barbican). It was built in 1090 by Alfune, the Norman bishop of London. He called it St Giles Without Cripplegate, meaning it was outside the Cripple Gate. As explained in the Cripplegate page, the word Cripplegate has nothing to do with cripples, but people came to assume it did, as memory of the original meaning was lost. Dedication of churches to St Giles are often related to places of healing. There has always been a tradition of healing in the vicinity: from earliest times there was a well the water of which was said to cure eye diseases; in mediaeval times there was a hospital opposite the church.

The ancient-looking church which survives in the centre of the Barbican complex is not Alfune’s church. That church was deemed impossibly unfashionable in the 14th century and it was pulled down and rebuilt in the Perpendicular or Gothic style during Richard II’s reign. Building began in 1394. It has been burnt and restored three times since. The first fire was in 1545 during the reign of Henry VIII. As a result, St Giles' looks Tudor rather than mediaeval in style. The church escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666, but it was badly burnt in the Cripplegate Fire of 1897.

In December 1941, it was burnt by incendiary bombs; only the walls and tower survived. After the war, it was rebuilt under the guidance of Godfrey Allen. He managed to uncover Henry VIII’s restoration plans, still preserved in Lambeth Palace, so he was able to restore the church fairly close to its appearance in Tudor times. It is worth remembering that churches like this were bustling places, not museums. It was the Victorians who often distorted the feel of churches with all their brown-stained wood. So one effect of the fire and restoratiion is that St Giles' has a remarkably light and spacious feel to it; and the simplicity allows you really appreciate the beautiful stone work.

Andrewes House is named for Lancelot Andrewes, St Giles’ most famous vicar.

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