St Ethelburga’s Bishopgate
St Ethelburga was a 7th Century abbess of the Benedictine Abbey at Barking, and sister to Erkonwald, Bishop of London, for whom Bishopgate is named. Ethelburga was noted to have offered significant care to her community during an outbreak of plague in 664 C.E. – eventually dying of the disease herself.
The exact date of construction of the church named for her is unknown, but it existed as early as 1250, going by the name of St Adelburga-the-Virgin. The medieval church survived both the Great Fire in 1666 and the Blitz, and the fallout of becoming one of the few churches in which divorced people could remarry in 1930. Sadly, the 1993 IRA bombing of Bishopgate destroyed around 70% of the church, with demolition of the remains looking certain at one point.
However, the church was rebuilt to the original plan, though with many changes internally, medieval now mixing with modern. Incredibly, the 18th Century bell survived the bomb and was re-hung in the restored tower. St Ethelburga’s was reopened in 2002 as the Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, a charity aiming to build relationships across divisions of conflict, culture and religion. To the rear of the church is a peaceful garden, in which stands a Bedouin tent, a sturdy construction with soft cushions inside, apparently perfect for dialogues, workshops, meetings and away days.
