St Etheldreda's: London's Oldest Catholic Church

St Etheldreda's Church on Ely Place in London is one of only two surviving structures in the city built during the reign of King Edward I, dating between 1250 and 1290. Spared by the Great Fire of London, the chapel was later used for Catholic masses under Spanish diplomatic protection in 1620, and holds nineteen victims of the 1623 Blackfriars floor collapse in its crypt.

London Β· from the walk β€œLondon Through the Eyes of a Black Cab Driver” Β· audio ~4 min Β· Generated

St Etheldreda's Church, 14 Ely Place, London EC1N 6RY

How did St Etheldreda's Church in London survive the Great Fire of London?

Right, now I've got you standing at the end of a dead-end street called Ely Place, and I need you to look around for a second. Notice those gates at the entrance? The little gatehouse? See, this is one of those stories I love telling passengers, because it's properly weird... even by London standards.......... Ely Place was until relatively recently considered to be a part of Cambridgeshire. For centuries, it was an enclave β€” an area of land physically located in the City of London but not under its jurisdiction. Instead, it was privately owned by the Bishops of Ely, and even today the street has its own gatehouse and beadles. That's right... a street in the middle of Holborn that didn't technically belong to London.......... Now, there's a legend the cabbies love β€” that in times past, the City of London police could not enter to arrest someone as it was legally still part of Cambridgeshire. Truth is, that's mostly a myth. There are reports in the news of police chasing criminals into Ely Place without any hesitation. But it's a cracking tale, and every cabbie worth his salt will tell it.......... Now look at this church beside you. This is Saint Etheldreda's. The building is one of only two surviving in London from the reign of Edward the First, and dates from between twelve fifty and twelve ninety. Think about that. When this chapel was built, there was no Tower Bridge. No Saint Paul's Cathedral β€” not the one you know. London's population was about Forty thousand people.......... In thirteen eighty-one, John of Gaunt moved to the palace here, after the Savoy Palace was destroyed during the Peasants' Revolt. Shakespeare made this the setting in Richard the Second where John of Gaunt delivers his famous "sceptered isle" speech. And in Richard the Third, the Bard has the Duke of Gloucester ask the Bishop of Ely to send over some of his famous strawberries from these very gardens!......... But here's the bit the tour buses never mention. In sixteen twenty, the Spanish Ambassador moved into Ely Palace, and once again the chapel was used to celebrate Catholic mass β€” this at a time when Catholic worship was Illegal in England. The embassy gave it diplomatic protection... a loophole that desperate Catholics across London exploited. A tragedy occurred on the twenty-sixth of October, sixteen twenty-three, when three hundred Catholics crowded into the upper floor of Hunsdon House on the site of the former Blackfriars monastery. The floors collapsed and ninety-five people died, and nineteen of them are buried in the crypt of Saint Etheldreda's.......... The Great Fire of London swept through the City and destroyed everything in its path until it reached Saint Etheldreda's. Then the wind changed and the ancient church was saved. Seven hundred years of history... and it survived by a shift in the breeze.......... Oh, and one more thing. If you fancy a pint after all this, tucked down a nearly invisible alleyway just beside us is Ye Olde Mitre β€” believed to have been established in fifteen forty-six by one of the Bishops of Ely to provide refreshment for the servants working at Ely House. It is said that the pub received its licence from Ely, not from the local licensing authorities, and this anomaly seems to have continued until the early nineteen seventies. Good luck finding it, though. Even some cabbies can't.

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