Monuments

Monuments: The medieval church was the resting place of many prominent citizens, most famously Henry Yeuelle or de Yeveley, master mason to Edward III, Richard II and Henry IV, who built the monument to Richard's first queen, Anne of Bohemia, in Westminster Abbey, and his own in St. Magnus; hers remains, his was lost in 1666. Having largely survived fire and war since, the church again has a fine collection, of which Pevsner & Bradley, in London: The City Churches, particularly commend Thomas Collet d.1704, Robert Dickins d.1705, Sir James Sanderson d.1798, Miles Stringer d.1799, and Thomas Preston d.1826. In 1850, the Metropolitan Interments Act put an end to burials in City churches, as new commercial cemeteries were established in the suburbs.

Miles Coverdale: The church's most conspicuous monument commemorates Miles Coverdale (1487-1569), who began his career in an Augustinian monastery under Henry VIII, became an early and industrious advocate of the Reformation, and survived interesting times to oversee production of the first complete Bible in English (printed in Zurich in 1535, when church and state in England were still officially opposed to the venture) and then the first authorised version (the Great Bible, printed in London only four years later), subsequent elevation to Bishop of Exeter under Edward VI, a second period of exile under Mary I, and a short spell as rector of St. Magnus the Martyr under Elizabeth I (1564-66, after which he resigned his living rather than conform further). He was buried in another of his erstwhile parishes, St. Bartholomew by the Exchange; when that church was demolished in 1840 to make way for the new Royal Exchange, his remains and newly-erected monument (by George Sharp of Gloucester, 1837) were moved to St. Magnus. For a fascinating, historical look at the City of London both from a 1960s perspective to comparisons with today - please click: http://www.historyinfocus-london.co.uk/

The Clock: For over two centuries, the great clock projecting from the tower of St. Magnus was a London landmark, until its profile was subsumed by skyscrapers. It was made by Langley Bradley, dated 1700 on a benefaction board within, but presented by Sir Charles Duncombe in 1709, legendarily in fulfilment of a vow made as an apprentice, after missing an appointment for want of a reliable public clock. It cost £485 5s 4d, at a time when the national per capita income was less than £12; its original gilded figures (of St. Magnus and St. Margaret, Atlas and Hercules, and two cupids) were replaced in the early 19thC by the present plain pediment. Sir Charles was a wealthy goldsmith, Lord Mayor in 1709, satirised by Pope for his purchase of an aristocratic country seat; in town, he lived under the sign of The Grasshopper in Lombard Street, once the home of Sir Thomas Gresham (founder of the Royal Exchange) and now No. 68.

The Organ: The same Sir Charles Duncombe three years later presented the organ, which was built by Abraham Jordan, father and son, who announced in The Spectator of 8 February 1712 that one of the four sets of keys "is adapted to the art of emitting sounds by swelling the notes, which never was in any organ before" - the first 'swell organ', though since rebuilt.

The Bells: The tower formerly contained ten bells, and was one of the principal peals of the City. They were removed for safekeeping in 1940; ironically, the tower survived, but the bells did not, being first taken to Whitechapel Bell Foundry for restoration but finally scrapped in 1976 for lack of funds; the tenor rang last during a performance of the 1812 Overture at the Royal Albert Hall.