St Dunstan-in-the-West Burial Ground

This is a fragment of the former burial ground of St Dunstan in the West Church, which is further south facing onto Fleet Street. The site is on Bream's Buildings, which was an C18th close off Chancery Lane that was extended to Fetter Lane in 1882. It has mature trees and is overlooked by offices of architects Yorke, Rosenberg & Mardall built 1960/61. St Dunstan's Church was the last medieval City church to be rebuilt, and was first mentioned in c.1185, known as St Dunstan's Over Against the New Temple in 1237, later that century becoming known as St Dunstan in the West to distinguish it from St Dunstan in the East (q.v.). St Dunstan was Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. The old church escaped the Great Fire in 1666, which halted only 3 houses to the east of the church. However by the early C19th the church was dilapidated and in 1829 an Act of Parliament was passed to enable it to be taken down and a new church built to designs of John Shaw. Building commenced in 1831 and it was consecrated in 1833, although Shaw did not live to witness this, having died in 1832.

While the foundations of the old church were excavated a lead coffin of 1747 was discovered and accidentally broken open in which the body was, 'to the astonishment of all', extremely well preserved. The old church had projected much further forward onto Fleet Street 'and was so surrounded by shops or stalls as to render the road-way dangerously narrow' (Godwin). The present church was built further north and stands on the site of the burial ground; earlier burials apparently appeared to have been reinterred in different positions. An extraordinary church clock made by Thomas Harrys in 1671 had formerly overhung Fleet Street with two life-size wooden carvings of savages with clubs in their right hands with which they struck the quarter hours, their heads moving at the same time. This was removed in 1830 to St Dunstan's Lodge, the Marquis of Hertford's villa in Regent's Park (q.v.) when the old church was demolished. There was also a statue of Queen Elizabeth I originally at Ludgate until that was demolished, which was installed in 1766. What remains of the burial ground has modest gate/brick gate piers with a low brick wall to Bream's Buildings, behind which is a raised area of grass. Boundary railings are set back from the wall and the few tombstones remaining are effectively outside, being in front of the railings. The garden has a few larger trees and some shrubbery.