St Michael Wood Street

After King James IV of Scotland was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, it is said that his head was brought to London and later buried in the crypt of this church.{{cite news|title=The sad tale of James IV's body|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23993363|accessdate=9 September 2013|newspaper=BBC News Scotland|date=8 September 2013|author=Dr. Tony Pollard}}G. Huelin, Vanished Churches of the City of London (Guildhall Library Publishing, London) 1996ISBN 0900422424 John Stow admired the building, and called it a "proper thing."W. Thoms (ed.), John Stow's A Survey of London (A Whittaker & Co, London 1842) (original 1598).

The church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London,Reynolds, 1922 and after some pressureA. Hallows (ed.), (London, Guildhall Library Research, 1974) {{ISBN|0-900422-30-0}} it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1673.M. Whinney, Wren (Thames & Hudson, London 1971) {{ISBN|0-500-20112-9}}

The main facade toward Wood Street was described by Godwin as "a pleasing and well-proportioned morceau of Italian architecture", with four Ionic columns above a stylobate, supporting an entablature and pediment. The west side, towards Huggin Lane, was much plainer. The tower was originally 90 ft high;{{cite book |last1=Hatton |first1=Edward |title=A New View of London: Or, An Ample Account of that City, in ... Eight Sections |date=1708 |publisher=J. Nicholson|page=435 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-ZCAQAAMAAJ&q=hatton+new+view+of+london+volume+2 |language=en}} Henry Thomas, writing in 1828, noted that the tower seemed to have survived from the previous building, and that it had recently received a spire, increasing the overall height to 120 feet.{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Henry |title=The Wards of London: Comprising a Historical and Topographical Description of Every Object of Importance Within the Boundaries of the City. With an Account of All the Companies, Institutions, Buildings, Ancient Remains ... and Biographical Sketches of All Eminent Persons Connected Therewith |date=1828 |publisher=J. Gifford |page=97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDMQAAAAYAAJ&q=%22henry+thomas%22+++london |language=en}}

George Godwin described the interior of the church as "a large and well-lighted parallelogram with a coved ceiling, but ... not ecclesiastical in any respect in its general appearance". The building was restored in 1831, at which time the tower was opened up into the interior of the church. There was a gallery at the west end and a reredos at the east end, with paintingsof Moses and Aaron.{{cite book |last1=Godwin |first1= George |author2=John Britton |title=The Churches of London: A History and Description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis |chapter=St Micheal, Wood Street |year=1839 |publisher=C. Tilt |location= London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6g4HAAAAQAAJ&q=godwin+britton+churches+of+london }}

The organ was built by Thomas Elliot in 1800: the most noted organist was Dr Henry Hiles, who served during 1859.{{cite DNB12|wstitle=Hiles, Henry|first=Joseph Cox|last=Bridge}}C.W. Pearce, Notes on Old City Churches: their organs, organists and musical associations (Winthrop Rogers Ltd, London 1900)

In 1854 the declining residential population led to proposals to reduce the number of churches within the "Square Mile"'Proposed Removal Of Thirty City Churches', The Times, Wednesday 4 January 1854 (Issue 21629), p. 5, column F. – a procedure the church's vicar had himself proposed.C. Hume, Proposal for supplying the Suburbs of London with some of the Churches not required in the City (London, 1853) The church was eventually demolished under the auspices of the Union of Benefices ActC. Hibbert, D. Weinreb and J. Keay, The London Encyclopaedia (Pan Macmillan, London, 1983) (revised 1993, 2008) {{ISBN|978-1-4050-4924-5}} in 1897,G. Cobb, The Old Churches of London (London, Batsford, 1942). and many bodies were disinterred from the churchyard and reburied at Brookwood Cemetery.J.M. Clarke, The Brookwood Necropolis Railway (Oasdale, Usk, 2006) {{ISBN|978-0-85361-655-9}}

The parish was then united with St Alban Wood Street,P. Norman, On the destroyed church of St. Michael Wood street in the City of London (The Society, London 1902) and, after the destruction of that church in World War II, with St Vedast Foster Lane.J. Betjeman, The City of London Churches (Andover, Pitkin, 1972) {{ISBN|0-85372-112-2}}

The site has undergone several redevelopments: between 1994 and 2016 it was a pub called the Red Herring.[https://whatpub.com/pubs/ELC/14834/red-herring-london#:~:text=Premises%20Status,This%20pub%20is%20permanently%20closed. Whatpub.com]

• John Ive, fl 1399 Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas: The National Archives (UK) CP 40/555, Year 1399 (first term of Henry IV), [http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/bCP40no555dorses/IMG_0304.htm; 4th entry, county margination "london"]: John Ive, parson, as plaintiff
• Arthur Jackson (minister), c.1624 [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/684a3b1e-8d94-49e2-9a58-4a74796cba6e Lambeth Library CM VII/34]

• 'Church of England, Parish of St. Michael Wood Street. - Assessment of the annual tithes of the joint parishes of St. Michael Wood St, 1671'. - M0014588CL cited in City of London Parish Registers Guide 4

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