London's Alleys: Martin Lane, City of London, EC4

"For most of its life, the alley's main feature was the church of St Martin Orgar, possibly named after Ordgarus, a Dane who donated the church to the canons of St Paul's. Sadly, most of the church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London. The badly damaged remains were restored and used by French Protestants right up to 1820."

"Further down the alley past the modern offices is The Olde Wine Shades, a wine bar that claims to be in a building that survived the Great Fire of London, which is impressive considering that the church a few yards away was destroyed, and its proximity to Pudding Lane. Remembering not to treat old maps as gospel, a map of London just after the fire doesn't show any surviving buildings on Martin Lane, and even notes that the church is marked as destroyed."

Martin Lane is a narrow cobbled passage beside London Bridge that once reached the riverside. The alley's main feature was St Martin Orgar, likely named for the Dane Ordgarus who donated it to the canons of St Paul's. The church was largely destroyed in the Great Fire; damaged remains were restored and used by French Protestants until 1820. Most of the building was later demolished, but the tower was rebuilt in 1851–53 as the campanile of St Clement Eastcheap and retained its clock. The old churchyard is now a private garden. Martin Lane is associated with the nursery rhyme line “You owe me five farthings.” The street was shortened when London Bridge moved east in 1830 and by new roads, with its lower half becoming Arthur Street. The Olde Wine Shades nearby claims pre-fire survival based on a 1663 lead cistern, though early post-fire maps show no surviving buildings on Martin Lane.

Read at ianVisits