Church of St Magnus the Martyr, London EC3
Address
Church of St Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6DNRecommended by
Highlight
St Thomas window, south naveArtist, maker and date
Lawrence Lee, 1950-52Reason for highlighting
The St Thomas window is one of a series of four south nave windows commemorating the lost churches of the surrounding area. St Magnus and his ruined church of Egilsay, St Margaret of Antioch with her lost church in New Fish Street (where the Monument to the Great Fire of London of 1666 now stands), St Michael with his lost church of Crooked Lane (demolished to make way for Great William Street) and Thomas Becket with his lost Chapel of St Thomas.
Each figure stands upon plinths containing references to these lost churches incorporating some delightful vignettes of sleepy monks, angels swinging censers and nuns in prayer.
Thomas Becket, as Archbishop of Canterbury, stands upon a plinth depicting the thirteenth century Chapel of St Thomas. This originally stood on ‘old’ London Bridge and was an important start point on the pilgrimage route to Canterbury.
Artist/maker notes
Lawrence Stanley Lee (1909 – 2011) trained at Kingston Art School and the Royal College of Art before the war. After the war he worked for Martin Travers, and it was Travers’ unexpected death in 1948, which led to Lee forming his own studio. A wide range of commissions followed, including his famous windows at Coventry Cathedral, with Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke. Lee was also a teacher both formally at the Royal College of Art, and in his studio to a succession of assistants. He was notable in acknowledging the contribution of his assistants by including their initials on windows, along with his own.
Other comments
The large circular north windows by Alfred L Wilkinson are dedicated to City Livery Companies associated with the church. That of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, 1959, includes a splendid mermaid and merman.