Christ’s message in the financial district
Work in the banking business »can represent a challenge for Christians who want to live for Jesus«, says the website of the church without overstating the case. For Bible groups and midday talks, St Helen’s Bishopsgate opens its doors to employees from the flashy high-rises of financial institutions that overshadow it. Externally, the church looks squat and modest, which makes the light-filled, spacious interior all the more surprising. St Helen’s has two naves, as the church of a nunnery was added to the existing parish church in 1210. After the dissolution of the convent in 1538, the division between the two parts was removed to make a wide space whose brightness today is the result of IRA bombs that destroyed the dark Victorian stained glass in 1992 and 1993.
It is worth taking time to explore St Helen’s, as it has been at the heart of a prosperous community for 800 years. In the Middle Ages, rich merchants, anxious to secure their salvation and the family reputation, embellished the church. A father of City finance lies in a sumptuous tomb in the north-east corner: Sir Thomas Gresham (1519–79), who founded the London Exchange. The Renaissance monument to Sir William Pickering, English ambassador to Spain († 1574), is even more imposing. Framed by iron railings and marble columns, he lies with hands folded in prayer, wearing armour on his chest, delicate wrist ruffs and a trunk hose that looks as if it had been pumped up.
Info
Address Great St Helen’s, EC3A 6AT | Public Transport Liverpool Street (Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Line) | Hours Mon–Fri 9.30am–12.30pm, usually also Mon, Wed, Fri afternoon| Tip Diners in the Duck and Waffle (110 Bishopsgate, tel. 020/36407310) look down on churches and banks from the 40th floor of the 202-metre Heron Tower. Given this location, the prices of the food are acceptable.
As St Helen’s is not only a piece of preserved heritage but a lively meeting place for Christians, workaday items stand among the ostentatious tombs in quirky contrast: plain plastic chairs, chequered tablecloths and coat stands on wheels. To prevent utilitarian fittings from spoiling the church more than necessary, the legally required notice »Fire Exit« has been painted on the carved wooden doors in beautiful golden lettering.
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