St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate

St. Sepulchre's will be closed throughout July and August due to expected major redevelopment works. The church will be open for the Service in Commemoration of Sir Henry Wood on 15th September 2009 at 6.15pm, when the address will be given by the composer James MacMillan.

St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate is the largest church in the City of London. The tower and outer walls were built around 1450. Badly damaged in the Great Fire of 1666, the church was rebuilt by Wren's masons in 1670-71. The ashes of Sir Henry Wood, founder of the Promenade Concerts - the longest running continuous series of orchestral concerts in the world - are interred in the Musicians' Chapel where now can be found the Musicians' Book of Remembrance containing the names of over two thousand professional musicians.

On the south wall there is a stained glass window commemorating Captain John Smith, the first Governor of the state of Virginia, USA, whose exploits included sailing to America in "the little ships" in 1607, where he was captured by Indians and freed by Princess Pocahontas. Smith died in 1631 and is buried in the south aisle. St. Sepulchre's was the first London home of the School of English Church Music - now the RSCM - and the historic tower holds the twelve bells of the Old Bailey made famous by the nursery rhyme 'Oranges and Lemons'.