Church of St Magnus the Martyr is a Grade I listed building in the City of London local planning authority area, England. First listed on 4 January 1950. Church. 1 related planning application.
Church of St Magnus the Martyr
- WRENN ID
- young-railing-dale
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- City of London
- Constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 4 January 1950
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street Ec3, City and County of the City of London, EC3R 6DN
- OS grid reference
- TQ 329 806
- Coordinates
- 51.50935, -0.08617
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Magnus the Martyr, built between 1671 and 1687 with the steeple completed in 1705, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It is a rectangular, aisled building featuring a clerestory. The west tower, which was originally surrounded by aisles, has been shortened. The church has round arched windows, with those on the north side designed as circles within long panels. The concealed south elevation is rendered, as is the entire clerestory, which includes circular openings. The east side, recently exposed, is made of rubble and patched with brick, with a single opening that has been blocked. The north elevation is constructed of Portland stone, featuring a modest cornice and blocking, with three windows that were originally centered, a pedimented doorway, and a circular opening above adorned with a carved festoon.
The west front is more ornate, with much of the original masonry reset. The tower now has archways on the north and south sides, flanked by pilasters, with a pediment and an impressive doorway to the west. Above this is a multiple pedestal stage with a bracketed clock dated 1709. The tower includes a round arched belfry opening and a crowning entablature, topped by a pierced parapet with pairs of urns at the corners. The high lantern is pilastered and arcaded, featuring a lead-covered dome, a small lantern, and a spire.
Inside, the church has an altered Ionic colonnade on octagonal bases, which supports a later 18th-century plaster barrel vault and flat ceilings in the aisles. There is a west organ gallery with a fine case, supported partly by a pair of wrought iron columns, and an enclosed vestibule below. The interior also features a large and impressive reredos with added figures and two painted panels depicting Moses and Aaron. Additionally, there are two good doorcases (displaced), a pulpit with a tester, high pews to the west, wainscot, a wrought iron altar rail, and a sword rest.
Local climate
Church of St Magnus the Martyr sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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