The Church Tower
Newgate Street, London EC1
Architect: Boyarsky Murphy
Register for similar homes“An exercise in ecclesiastical grandeur, marrying the marks of centuries of use with a modern, domestic reincarnation”
Located in the heart of the City of London, Church Tower is an extraordinary home set within a Sir Christopher Wren-designed masterpiece. Arranged over some eight floors, this Grade I-listed, 150ft-high monument is a spectacular example of the English Baroque style. The main tower was built in 1687 as part of the rebuilding of the city after the great fire of 1666 to replace an earlier Medieval church on the same site; the steeple, made from Portland stone, was a later addition in 1704 attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor – Wren’s then understudy.
The tower is an exercise in ecclesiastical grandeur; a highly successful palimpsest, marrying the marks of centuries of use with a modern, domestic reincarnation care of architects Boyarsky Murphy, whose ingenious and precise insertions characterise every floor.
The Building
The church was one of some 50 parish churches built as part of a decades-long campaign by Wren within the fire zone, the most important being the neighbouring St Paul’s Cathedral, which the steeple of Church Tower overlooks. Originally one part of a greater building, the church itself was destroyed in the 1940 Blitz, with only the tower remaining. For more information on the building, please see the History section below.
The Tour
Reached from a footpath just off Newgate Street, the tower’s exterior gives few clues that a 2,200 sq ft home lies within. Only new, double-height oak doors at its base hint at the interior architectural interventions. A simple, round-arched main entranceway and windows above are decorated with neoclassical pediments. Large carved pineapples – historically symbolising welcome – decorate the exterior, while a freestanding Ionic colonnade sits in the centre of the steeple, topped with stone finials.
Entry is to the dining room/entrance hall, formed from the church’s original entrance vestibule. There is an elegant Greek-cross plan layout and a high domical vault, which looks directly out to the rose gardens beyond through a full-height glass aperture. From here, stairs with risers and treads of polished limestone, an inner balustrade of white plaster, and an outer balustrade of glass, curve upwards. The stairs are streamlined and clearly modern, yet utterly sympathetic to the building’s original structure.
A custom-designed kitchen with granite worktops and concealed appliances has been inserted on a mezzanine level, between the winding stair and the outer walls. A breakfast bench sits in an arched niche overlooking the gardens below. Polished limestone runs underfoot on both these floors, with the remaining levels crafted using English oak.
The library lies on the floor above. This has tall, multi-paned windows in all four directions that draw light in from multiple aspects, and built-in oak cabinetry. Boyarsky Murphy built all of the joinery and furnishings on-site to a meticulous fit and finish, with space-saving measures and interventions characterising every room. The lift is positioned off-centre in the plan on this floor, connecting the library with the bedrooms, bathrooms and on the eighth floor, the living room. The original, if somewhat vertiginous, stone staircase remains enclosed to the left, connecting all of the floors.
The next three levels form a triplex; two bedrooms with mezzanine study areas look out through grand oculus windows and there are independent shower rooms, with a laundry area below. A generous bathroom and cedar-lined walk-in wardrobe occupy the next level, surmounted by the main bedroom; this has large windows housing restored external louvres in Portland stone for privacy.
The eighth floor contains the living room – rising 49 ft high into the bell chamber – with visible notations left on the walls by previous inhabitants. The ascent continues up a final corkscrew staircase to an internal deck with a transparent glass floor set within a delicate steel frame, which is home to an oak-lined study. Paddle steps lead up to the exterior belvedere viewing deck, which offers axial views across the cityscape. St Pauls Cathedral is in immediate view, and on a fine day, you can see the distant Kentish Hills.
Outdoor Space
The tower looks directly out to the nave of the church’s remains; a carapace surrounding a roofless void – now a beautiful rose garden managed and carefully maintained by the City of London Corporation as a public space. In 1989, the rose garden was established to reflect the floorplan of the original church, with box-edged beds representing the position of the pews and wooden towers covered in clematis representing the stone columns. The aisles, now terraces for quiet contemplation, are laid in original York stone.
The Area
Church Tower is wonderfully positioned and occupies an incredibly central location. The River Thames is a five-minute walk away, with the Millennium footbridge providing access to Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre. Smithfield Market, soon to house the new Museum of London, lies immediately to the rear; the Barbican Centre is also a short walk away, home to world-class concerts and exhibitions. Cheapside, One New Change and Paternoster Square all offer excellent shops and restaurants, while the surrounding historic side streets are home to several distinguished independent provisors.
The Ned hotel and members club, the Soho House group’s crowning glory and an Edward ‘Ned’ Lutyens masterpiece, is located nearby. It is home to several restaurants and bars, a spa and a barbershop, as well as one of the best private gyms and swimming pools in central London.
Transport links are excellent; St Pauls tube station (Central Line), and Mansion House (District and Circle Lines) are both moments away. The City Thameslink provides access to St Pancras International station and Gatwick Airport while Crossrail, due for completion in 2022 at nearby Farringdon, has trains reaching Heathrow Airport in under 30 minutes.
Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.
History
The Church Tower is a lasting monument to the greatest English architect of the 17th century, Sir Christopher Wren. Crafted from the medieval foundations of what was once one of the largest Franciscan churches in London, The Church Tower contains a rich and fascinating history within its walls.
The original church founded on the site dates to 1226, when a fledgling order of Franciscan friars established themselves in the City of London. Known as the Grey Friars, they became one of the most influential and prosperous arms of the church, rivalling even the affluence of the Bishop at nearby St Paul’s. The Grey Friars advertised their success in their church at Newgate Street, which became the largest Friary church in England. An impressive 300ft long and 65ft high, it boasted a tower and spire over 150ft tall. Royalty and countless nobility were all buried here; their magnificent marble tombs later sold in Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
The remarkable medieval edifice was destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire of London. It remained untouched for over a decade, until Sir Christopher Wren breathed new life into its ruins, building on top of the medieval foundations to create one of the most elegant churches in the City of London. The first phase of the new building was completed in 1687 at a cost of £11,778. Of the 51 London churches rebuilt by Wren after the fire, this was the second-largest budget made available and “a testimony to its status”. The second phase of construction, which began in 1703 and was completed a year later, saw the addition of a steeple above the tower. This is attributed to the noted English Baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, himself an apprentice of Wren.
The fate of The Church Tower was sealed on the evening of Sunday 29 December 1940: at the height of the Blitz, a firebomb scored a direct hit, destroying everything inside the body of the church. The aisle pillars collapsed, taking the roof with them and leaving the charred remains of Wren’s ornamental plasterwork. Overnight, one of the most magnificent interiors in the city was destroyed. Only the tower and steeple were spared the impact of the firebomb, although the delicate steeple was later found to have suffered severe structural damage and was dismantled by the Diocese of London. All the stones were numbered, removed and laid out on the floor of the nave. A new brick and concrete skin were then erected and the original stones replaced.
The fate of the main church remained undecided for many years following the Second World War. Restoration work on the tower began in the late 1950s by ecclesiastical architects Seely & Paget. They took a lease on the building in the 1960s, refurbishing it for their own use and creating offices in the old double-height porch. At the same time, the finials on the tower, which had been removed in the 19th century, were replaced. Later in that same decade, the Corporation of London acquired the freehold of the nave and, in 1973, demolished the east wall, along with five of the six bays along the south wall, to create a rose garden.
The remains of The Church Tower were Grade I-listed in 1950, and in 1975 the site was identified as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. In 2000, planning permission was granted for conversion to residential use along with the sale of the freehold. Works were completed in the middle of that same decade.
