Welcome to Holy Sepulchre, The National Musicians’ Church.
My name is Fr Nick Mottershead, and I am delighted to be able to guide you around almost 1,000 years of history, prayer, music and worship. If at the end of your visit, you have enjoyed your tour and you want to learn more of the life of the community here at Holy Sepulchre why not sign up for our regular newsletter from our website.
Within the App can be found a map to guide you around the church and the [ ] Stops selected especially for you where you can pause and examine a few of the interesting areas of the church, items and people of interest and their history. There are notes associated with each of the 11 Stops in the App although audio is also available at each Stop. That audio tour will take about half an hour and I hope it will provide you with a little insight of the exciting story of Holy Sepulchre, the National Musicians’ Church.
However, before we start the tour let me give you a little of the history. Holy Sepulchre is the largest parish church in the City of London and was originally dedicated to St Edmund, the East Anglian king and martyr around AD 870. The church was originally known as St Edmund without Newgate, then St Edmund Sepulchre but in 1096 with the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre being formed for the first crusade to Jerusalem, the name became St Edmund and the Holy Sepulchre. Over time the saint’s name was lost altogether, and today it is known as Holy Sepulchre, the National Musicians’ Church.
Hagno the clerk was made the first priest of St Sepulchre in 1137 by Rahere, the prior of St Bartholomew the Great across the road. While there has been a church at the site of Holy Sepulchre for much longer, the current building dates from c.1450 when it was ‘newly re-edified or builded’ by Sir John Popham. The walls, porch and most of the tower all date from this rebuilding. The interior is a polyglot of different styles and re-designs. The church was completely gutted in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the interior had to be totally re-built. The legend is that Sir Christopher Wren designed and whilst he was supposed to do the work, the Church Wardens at the time got bored of waiting and rushed the work resulting in delays whilst awaiting his sign off on the work. Since then, the interior has been substantially changed a number of times, the most recent being in 1955.
So to begin the tour, let’s get you to the start position, Stop 1, which is right at the back of the church in the porch. I hope you enjoy your tour and finding out more about Holy Sepulchre, the National Musicians’ Church. Now move on when ready to the first stop in the porch.
