Description
Lothbury is first recorded in connection with St Margaret's Church in the late C12th and probably derives from a family called Lotha. The medieval church was rebuilt in 1440, destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666 and the present church by Christopher Wren dates from 1683-9. St Margaret's is now sandwiched between two commercial buildings, the Overseas Bankers' Club of 1866 to the east, and the former Royal Bank of Canada of 1932 to the west. To the north what remains of the churchyard is a small secluded garden.
Practical Information
| Site location | Lothbury, via Church Court |
|---|---|
| Postcode | EC2R 7HH |
| What3Words | ///slice.apples.paper |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | City of London |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | As Church: Mon-Fri 9am-5.15pm |
| Public Transport | Tube: Bank (Central, DLR, Northern, Waterloo & City) / Monument (Circle, District) |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2003 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Lothbury is first recorded in connection with St Margaret's Church in the late C12th and probably derives from a family called Lotha. The medieval church stands over the Wallbrook, which was arched over when the church was rebuilt as a larger building in 1440 largely paid for by Robert Large, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1439. Among those buried in the old church was Reginald Coleman (d.1383), the son of Robert Coleman who was probably the first builder or owner of Coleman Street. The church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and the present church of St Margaret's by Christopher Wren dates from 1683-90, with the tower completed by 1700. The parish was later united with that of St Mildred Poultry, a C12th church also rebuilt by Wren, which was demolished in 1872. The early C19th church organ was restored in 1984. Either side of the altar are wooden figures of Moses and Aaron that were originally in St Christopher le Stocks church, which was demolished to make way for the Bank of England, at which time its parish was united with that of St Margaret. St Margaret's Church is now sandwiched between two interesting commercial buildings, the Overseas Bankers' Club, built in 1866 for the General Credit Company to the east, and the former Royal Bank of Canada completed in 1932 to the west of the church.
St Margaret's Court is a small courtyard north of the church with Vestry and parish room built by H C Ingram, son of the rector, Revd A J Ingram, in 1908-10; W Rowlands Ingram, the same rector's brother, designed a screen in the south aisle of the church.
St Margaret's Court is a small courtyard north of the church with Vestry and parish room built by H C Ingram, son of the rector, Revd A J Ingram, in 1908-10; W Rowlands Ingram, the same rector's brother, designed a screen in the south aisle of the church.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ327812 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.0235 |
| Site Ownership | Diocese of London |
| Site Management | Church |
| Dates | 1683/90 |
| Listed Structures | LBI: St Margaret's Church. LBII*: Overseas Bankers' Club (No 7, Lothbury). LBII: former Royal Bank of Canada (No 6 Lothbury) |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | City of London |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Bank |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
The Bank of England dates from 1694 but did not have its own building until 1724; it has had a Garden Court since 1781 when, the Bank's premises needing enlargement, the Church of St Christopher-le-Stocks was demolished and its churchyard incorporated as a garden. As the Bank's business increased in the late C18th onwards, Sir John Soane was commissioned to further expand the buildings which he reconstructed between 1788 and 1827, his banking halls particularly famous. From 1916 the Bank underwent further rebuilding largely under Sir Herbert Baker, completed in 1939, during which the original position of the garden courtyard had changed to the present site. A War Memorial with a bronze statue of St Christopher by Richard R Goulden, 1921, stands in the current garden, which has lawns, trees and flower beds.
The Grocers' Company, which had grown out of the Guild of Pepperers recorded in 1180, purchased the house of Lord Fitzwalter in 1427, at that time a much larger site. The Company's first Hall dated from 1428-33 and was rebuilt over the years; it was let to the Bank of England from 1690-1734. The present Hall was built in 1970 after its late C19th predecessor was destroyed in a fire. There was a garden in Victorian times, although it was reduced in size when the Bank was extended and Prince's Street realigned in 1798-1805, and encroached further when the Midland Bank was extended in the 1920s. What remains of the garden is a triangular courtyard with a small amount of planting along one side; a statue of St Anthony of Vienne is by the main entrance, formerly in the Hall of 1889.
St Olave's House is the tower of the church of St Olave Jewry, its former churchyard now a secluded railed garden. Among those buried here were Thomas Morsted, surgeon to Henry IV, V and VI and one-time Sheriff of London, and Giles Dewes, clerk of the libraries of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Following the Great Fire of 1666, the medieval church was replaced by a Wren church, itself demolished in 1892 apart from the tower, which was converted for the rectory for St Margaret Lothbury. The garden has been open to the public since the 1890s and St Olave's House is leased as offices to solicitors.
