page_title: St Mary Abchurch
section_title: Interior
hierarchical_section_title: St Mary Abchurch / Interior
caption_attribution_description: English: The grand altar-piece of St Mary Abchurch, London, carved by Grinling Gibbons
context_page_description: St Mary Abchurch is a Church of England church off Cannon Street in the City of London. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is first mentioned in 1198–1199. The medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and replaced by the present building.
context_section_description: The ceiling of the church takes the form of a dished cupola pierced by four elliptical openings, which become almost circular externally in the dormer windows. The cupola springs from four plain brick walls, has no external thrusts, and spans more than forty feet across. It was  painted with the present decorative scheme in 1708, when the whole church went under repair and beautification. The artist was almost certainly William Snow, a member of the Painter-Stainers' Company, who lived in a house just to the north of the church; the church's accounts from the time list payments totalling £170 to a "Mr Snow", without, however, specifying the services rendered. Painted in oils directly on the plaster,  the decorations are divided in two horizontally by a painted  Trompe-l'œil cornice. Above this  a choir of angels and cherubs in adoration surrounds a golden glow, in the centre of which it the name of God in Hebrew characters. Below it are eight seated female figures painted in monochrome in imitation of sculpture; their precise  symbolism has been  variously interpreted. The painting was restored once in the 18th century and twice in the 19th. before the complete rebuild and repainting of the decorations following the end of the Second World War.
  The pulpit is by William Grey, and the door cases, a font cover, rails and Royal Arms are by William Emmett. Its grand altar-piece is by Grinling Gibbons. Gibbons' original bill for what he called the 'Olter Pees' was rediscovered in the Guildhall Library in 1946. The motif of the gilded 'Pelican in her piety' makes its appearance both on the reredos and in the original copper weathervane made by Robert Bird, which was relocated to sit over the north door after being removed from the spire for safety reasons. Also to be seen there are original high box pews on three sides of the church. The church was without an organ until 1822, when public subscription allowed one to be built by J.C. Bishop. This sustained serious bomb damage during the Second World War and a new organ was made by N. P. Mander in the 1950s, using the 1717 organ casing once belonging to All Hallows, Bread Street.
  The remains of the former Lord Mayor of London Peter Perchard and his family are buried at St Mary Abchurch.
caption: Grinling Gibbons' altar-piece
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