St Benet Paul's Wharf
St Benet Paul's Wharf is one of the oldest and most quietly extraordinary churches in the City of London, a survivor of the Great Fire of 1666 and a rare example of the distinctive Dutch-influenced Baroque architecture championed by Sir Christopher Wren. Tucked behind Upper Thames Street in the ward of Castle Baynard, this small but immensely characterful church is easy to overlook amid the noise and pace of central London, yet for those who seek it out it offers an atmosphere of unhurried antiquity quite unlike almost any other building in the capital. It is today the Metropolitan Welsh Church, the only Welsh Anglican church in London, and services are held in the Welsh language, giving it a living cultural identity that sets it apart from the many City churches that now serve primarily ceremonial or heritage functions.
The church was built between 1677 and 1683, part of the enormous programme of rebuilding that followed the catastrophic fire of September 1666, which destroyed the medieval city almost in its entirety. The medieval church that once stood on this site had Saxon origins and was mentioned in records as early as the eleventh century. The dedication to St Benet — a Latinisation of St Benedict — reflects the medieval tradition of naming churches after saints popular in monastic culture. The "Paul's Wharf" element of the name refers to the ancient wharf at the foot of what is now Peter's Hill, just to the east, from which goods were once unloaded onto the north bank of the Thames. Wren's rebuilt church, designed after the fire, shows the influence of the Dutch architecture that Charles II and his court had encountered during their exile, and the result is a building that feels more Flemish than English in certain lights.
The exterior is a joy to examine slowly. The church is built of dark red brick banded with stone, with a distinctive hipped roof that curves in an almost domestic fashion. The tower is modest and squat by comparison with Wren's more famous steeples — St Mary-le-Bow or St Bride's — but it has a sturdy, compact elegance, and the rounded windows with their original iron grilles give the whole structure a warm, handcrafted feeling. Garlands carved in stone ornament the south side, typical of the rich decorative vocabulary Wren and his associates employed. In winter, when the surrounding trees are bare, the rosy brick glows against grey London skies. In summer, ivy and vegetation softens the edges. The church sits on a corner with Queen Victoria Street, and the contrast between its seventeenth-century scale and the towering modern and Victorian office buildings around it is quite startling.
The interior, when accessible, is intimate and moving. The fittings are largely original or of the period, including fine carved woodwork, and the space retains the feeling of a working place of worship rather than a museum. The use of the church by the Welsh Anglican community since 1879 has kept it in active liturgical life, and this animated quality is palpable. The sound of Welsh being spoken or sung within these Wren-built walls is one of the more unexpectedly poignant experiences available in London. The church has strong associations with the College of Arms, whose building lies just to the north on Queen Victoria Street, and for many centuries the heralds of England attended services at St Benet's. This heraldic connection is still acknowledged, and certain officers of the College maintain ties with the church.
The surroundings are rich with history and interest. The Thames is only a few metres to the south, beyond Upper Thames Street and the embankment. The Millennium Bridge, which connects the City to Tate Modern on Bankside, is a short walk to the west. St Paul's Cathedral looms magnificently to the north, its dome visible above the rooftops. Blackfriars station is immediately to the west, and the area as a whole — sometimes called Queenhithe or Castle Baynard depending on historical period — is one of the oldest continuously occupied parts of London, with Roman foundations discovered at multiple points in its streets. The College of Arms on Queen Victoria Street is well worth combining with a visit, as is a walk along the Thames path eastward toward Southwark Bridge.
For visitors, the church is most reliably accessed via Blackfriars station, served by both the District and Circle lines and by Thameslink, from which St Benet's is only a three-minute walk along Queen Victoria Street. Mansion House station on the District and Circle lines is also close. The church is not always open to casual visitors given its role as an active parish church for the Welsh community, so checking the website or telephoning ahead is advisable if an interior visit is desired. Welsh-language services are held on Sundays and certain feast days. The exterior can be admired at any time. The area is busy with office workers on weekday lunchtimes but quieter at weekends, when the City empties and the church can be appreciated with more calm.
One particularly engaging footnote in the church's history is its association with the architect Inigo Jones, who is believed to have been baptised at the medieval church on this site in 1573 — a fact commemorated in various accounts of the building's history, though primary documentation is thin. If accurate, this would make St Benet's the baptismal church of one of the greatest figures in English architectural history, a man who brought Renaissance classicism to Britain a generation before Wren transformed London with his own brand of Baroque grandeur. Whether or not the tradition is entirely reliable, it lends the church a layered significance that its quiet, unassuming exterior entirely belies. It is one of those London places — deeply embedded in centuries of civic, religious and artistic life — that rewards the curious visitor far beyond what its modest scale might suggest.