page_title: National Churchill Museum
section_title: Churchill's Living Memorial:  St. Mary, Aldermanbury
hierarchical_section_title: National Churchill Museum / Churchill's Living Memorial:  St. Mary, Aldermanbury
caption_attribution_description: English: CHURCH OF ST. MARY ALDERMANBURY; A 17TH CENTURY CHRISTOPHER WREN CHURCH THAT WAS EXTENSIVELY BOMBED DURING WW II. THE CHURCH WAS MOVED PIECE BY PIECE TO FULTON AS A LIVING MEMORIAL TO WINSTON CHURCHILL This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 72000708 More images
context_page_description: The National Churchill Museum, located on the Westminster College campus in Fulton, Missouri, United States, commemorates the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill. In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Sinews of Peace" address in the Westminster Historic Gymnasium. In it was the line: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." This sentence caused the oration to become known as the "Iron Curtain" speech. "Sinews of Peace" heralded the beginning of the Cold War.
  The National Churchill Museum comprises three distinct but related elements: the Church of St Mary Aldermanbury, the museum, and the "Breakthrough" sculpture.
context_section_description: In 1961, Westminster College President Dr. Robert L. D. Davidson began formulating a plan to commemorate both Winston Churchill's life and the "Sinews of Peace."  A LIFE magazine feature on war-ravaged, soon-to-be-demolished Christopher Wren churches in London prompted the suggestion to import one of the churches to serve as both a memorial and the College chapel.  After further investigation, college officials selected St. Mary, Aldermanbury as the church to be saved.
  St. Mary, Aldermanbury was not only an ideal choice because of its relatively small size, but also because of its unique and nearly 1,000 year history.  St. Mary's was a focal-point of religious life in the Old City of London, serving as a place of worship for literary greats William Shakespeare and John Milton.  Founded in the late 12th century, the church shared in the rich history of London, surviving both the English Reformation, Restoration, and numerous civil wars.  However, on September 2, 1666, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, which swept through St. Mary's parish, burning for five days.  When the fire was finally subdued, almost the entire City of London north of the River Thames—including St. Mary, Aldermanbury—lay in ruins.
  With so much of London in ruins, reconstruction of the many churches destroyed in the fire was of secondary importance—many would never be rebuilt.  However, St. Mary, Aldermanbury became the ninth church restored, placing it among the earliest.  With approval for rebuilding granted in 1670, famed architect Christopher Wren began renovating the church in 1672 with the removal of 1,068 cubic yards (817 m³) of rubble.  Wren rebuilt the church on part of the old foundation with as much original stones as could be salvaged—saving both time and money.  By 1677, the work was essentially complete; the cupola was added to the tower in 1679.
  St. Mary, Aldermanbury's location near the heart of London again proved dangerous during World War II at the height of the Blitz.  On Sunday evening, December 29, 1940, the German Luftwaffe mounted a massive air raid, dropping 20,000 incendiary bombs on London.  Luftwaffe command planned the raid to coincide with low tide to impede fire fighting.  It worked.  The shortage of water and the scale of the attack forced firemen to let parts of the city burn.  At 6:45 pm, St. Mary's suffered a direct hit by an incendiary bomb, quickly setting the church ablaze.  Noel Mander, a young fire warden, later recorded his observations:
  "We couldn't do anything because the water mains had all been fractured, and the river was so low, record low, they couldn't suck water up from there.  They could do little, very little. ...  I saw that night St. Mary, Aldermanbury; St. Vedast-alias-Foster, my own church—I saw them all burn, and it was a sensation that I will never forget—hearing the bells fall down the tower, hearing the organs burn, because the hot air blowing through the organ pipes almost sounded as if the poor old organs were shrieking in agony in their destruction."
  That night, thirteen Christopher Wren churches shared St. Mary's fate.  By morning, only its blackened shell and tower stood—the roof, the interior, and all furnishings destroyed.
  In the war's aftermath, there were neither the funds nor the need to rebuild all of London's destroyed churches.  After standing as a ruin for twenty years, St. Mary, Aldermanbury joined the list of parish churches slated for demolition.
  It was at this point that Westminster College stepped in to save the church from destruction and to reconstruct it in order to honor one of Britain's most famous citizens—Winston Churchill.  Churchill's inspiration for the British people during the Blitz made the reconstruction of St. Mary, Aldermanbury, itself a victim of the Blitz, a fitting memorial to the man.  "I am honored ...," Churchill said. ... ."  "The removal of a ruined Christopher Wren Church, largely destroyed by enemy action in London in 1941  [sic], and its reconstruction and re-dedication at Fulton, is an imaginative concept. ... "  "It may symbol
caption: St. Mary, Aldermanbury as rebuilt
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