St Nicholas Cole Abbey

It is not known why the church is called Cole Abbey, but Stow attributes this potentially to its exposed site, i.e. 'Cold Bay'; another explanation is that it is corruption of 'Cold Harbour' or a shelter for travellers. The pre-Fire church was ancient, the main body predating the tower and south aisle which were built in 1377 by a benefactor named Buckland who restored the building, extending it over adjacent property. The church contained monuments from early C14th and by the C16th the church was below the surrounding ground-level, which had been raised in the interim. Other works were carried out to the building in 1628 and 1630. Patronage of St Nicholas Cole Abbey had belonged to the Dean and Chapter of St Martin-le-Grand until Henry VII granted it to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster; it devolved to the Crown upon Dissolution whereupon it was assigned to various families including that of Colonel Francis Hacker who commanded the guard that led Charles I to the scaffold and who was later executed after the Restoration, when the Crown once again took possession of the church. The building was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and in 1677 the new and larger church by Wren was, according to Strype, the first to be completed after the fire. At that time the parish joined with that of St Nicholas Olave. In 1874 further works were undertaken including an overthrow of the gateway to Queen Victoria Street with a statue of St Nicholas, later moved to the Vestry. The cornship weathervane on the steeple was erected here when St Michael Queenhithe was sold and demolished in 1875. The church was again restored in 1928/31 but it was bombed in World War II and rebuilt in 1961/2 by Arthur Bailey, with a Chagall-esque stained glass window by Keith New. The parish was combined with St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe (q.v.) and the church became the Diocesan Council for Mission and Unity. From 1982-2003 the church was leased by the Free Church of Scotland, but later closed.

In 2006 the Church of England announced that it was to be converted as a National Centre for Religious Education, and it is now The St Nicholas Cole Abbey Centre for Workplace Ministry, teaching the Bible through weekly lunchtime talks, small group studies and one-to-one meetings, with occasional use for events and services. Gate piers and railings remain either side of the flight of steps leading up to the church door from Queen Victoria Street with gravelled areas either side. The church was associated with the Fishmongers' Company, Distaff Lane previously being known as Fish Street.

In the 1960s the area to the west side of church was laid out as public open space with paving, a raised bed along the wall abutting the church and seating; a number of trees have been planted and it provides excellent views of St Paul's Cathedral.