page_title: St Botolph Billingsgate
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St Botolph Billingsgate / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This image is of a carved angel corbel recovered from spoil removed from the archaeological dig of St Botolph's Billingsgate in 1984
context_page_description: St Botolph's, Billingsgate was a Church of England parish church in London. Of medieval origin, it was located in the Billingsgate ward of the City of London and destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666.
context_section_description: The church, which dated back to medieval times stood on the south side of Thames Street, at the corner of Botolph Lane. It was one of four churches in medieval London dedicated to St Botolph, a 7th-century East Anglian saint, each of which stood by one of the gates of the London Wall. The others erected were St Botolph's, Aldgate; St Botolph's, Aldersgate; and St Botolph's, Bishopsgate. By the end of the 11th century Botolph was regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension of trade and travel. This was apt as the church was close to the city wharves and also to London Bridge, which at the time of the church's construction lay slightly further east. 
  During the 15th century the church was extended to the south over an undercroft. On the south side of this extension, at the south-east corner of the enlarged church, was a small stone-built vestry, which also had a cellar beneath. The parish rented out these cellars, usually to the same tenant. Archaeological excavations beneath part of the Billingsgate Lorry Park in 1982 uncovered the remains of the vault beneath the aisle of the church, and what may have been those of the one beneath the vestry.
  A piece of land, formerly used as a passageway was given to the parish by the City corporation for use as an additional churchyard. Having been enclosed within a brick wall, it was consecrated in 1617. In 1620 the church was "repaired and beautified" at a cost of more than £600.
  The composer Thomas Morley was buried in the churchyard.
caption: Angel corbel from St Botolph, accidentally cleared from the site by developers in 1984 and dumped on waste land in Thurrock from where it was recovered and saved. It had gone unnoticed during the archaeological excavation. Mid-1440s, possibly from the extension built by John Reynewell.[6]
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