St Olave's Church, City of London

This church is a stopping point on the five-mile London Royal Route pilgrimage trail developed to connect the city’s sacred sites

Highlights

• Fragment of St Olave’s tomb
• Church founded on site of 11th-century battle
• Saxon holy well (now dry)

Like many early martyrs, St Olave fought to defend England from the Danes. Unlike the others, he was not only Norwegian but went on to become king of Norway a few years later. On top of that, he is also Norway’s patron saint.

St Olave’s Church marks the place where he helped save his English allies from a Danish invasion force. The conflict took place in 1013, and is known as the Battle of London Bridge. The church is a couple of minutes’ walk from the Tower of London, hidden down a narrow lane. It was originally built to honor St Olave soon after his death in 1030, and retains a close link with Norway.

A stone fragment from his medieval tomb, which is in Trondheim Cathedral, is displayed at the front of the nave. It was donated to the church in 1951 by King Haakon VII of Norway. The grey stone fragment is embedded in the left-hand end of a small wall, which separates the nave from the chancel. It bears a plaque with a Latin inscription – and uses the old name for Trondheim, Nidaros. The tomb made Trondheim a popular pilgrimage site in northern Europe during the middle ages. His bones were removed from the shrine during Norway’s Reformation.

St Olave spent time in England as an exile, supplementing his income by piracy and fighting for European allies. He became a Christian during his travels. The king was a skilled military leader, and is credited with securing victory for the English forces, fighting alongside King Ethelred the Unready.

Such military experience became invaluable when he returned to Norway in 1016 and seized the throne. He reintroduced Christianity to the country and was recognized as a saint soon after his death in a battle with other Scandinavian powers. The English did not forget their important ally either.

At first, a wooden church was built in his honor on the site of the battle, presumably after he was canonized. The church was rebuilt in stone at the end of the 12th century, and rebuilt again in the 15th. The current church dates mostly from this later rebuilding, but the crypt is 12th century. It contains a holy well that might be Saxon in origin, though its early history is unknown.

Even the well itself was lost for many centuries, rediscovered when the crypt was cleared of rubble in the 1930s. A heavy metal grille covers the chamber, but as far as I could tell it is dry anyway. A few coins and some discarded tapers lay on the bottom.

St Olave’s Church has many other historical features. Samuel Pepys is buried here with his wife, near his monument in the south aisle of the nave. At the end of this aisle is the Trinity House Chapel, dedicated to Britain’s lighthouse and shipping authority.

Directions

St Olave’s Church, 8 Hart Street, London EC3R 7NB

www.saintolave.com

W3W: poem.trees.mental 

GPS: 51.5109N 0.0796W 

Fenchurch Street railway station 50m 

Aldgate and Monument Tube stations 450m

You can enter the church via Hart Street, or through the small churchyard on Seething Lane. It is open every weekday 10am–5pm except during August, the week after Christmas, and the week after Easter. Lunchtime communion is held on Tuesdays at 12:30pm.