Elsyng Spital Church Tower, City of London

Elsyng Spital Church Tower.

The City of London is full of churches. Some are still in use, while others are ruins. Some of these ruins have been turned into pocket gardens, where people can go to escape the bustle of the city. Others, like Elsyng Spital Church Tower, have been left as they are.

I like that places like this have been left, rather than bulldozed, now standing alongside the new office blocks which, no doubt, won't last as long.

This is all that remains of the tower of the church of the medieval hospital of Elsyng Spital. 

 

The entrance to the church was through the archway on the right.

 

Brief History

A London merchant, William Elsyng, founded the hospital in 1330 to provide shelter, spiritual and physical care for London's homeless blind people. It was possibly more like an alms-house than a modern hospital, providing a permanent home for poor people who could not look after themselves.

William Elsyng died in the Black Death, in 1349, and was buried in the church.

Elsyng's hospital remained part of an Augustinian priory until it was closed in 1536. Most of the hospital buildings were then made into a private house which, in 1541, belonged to the Master of the King's Jewels.

St Alphage's parishioners bought the church to replace their own which was derelict.

The entrance to the Tower.

Brief Timeline

c. 1000 - nunnery

1123 - fire destroys the building

1330 - Elsyng Spital (hospital)

1340 - Priory Church

1536 - Parish Church

1541 - Fire destroys the rest of the site and the remains become a private home

1630 - The site is sold and it becomes home to Sion College

1666 - The site is damaged in the Great Fire of London

1777 - St Alphage Church moves to the site

1913 - The north entrance is rebuilt

1919 - It is rebuilt following damage received during World War I

1923 - The Nave is demolished, leaving the Tower and Porch

1940 - The Tower and surrounding area are severely damaged during World War II