In 1980, The Heritage of London Trust was set up to restore neglected buildings in Greater London. Their Trust identifies buildings in need and funds its restoration. They liaise with community projects and local councils to aid their projects. In addition to this, they have His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester to back their projects. They have restored many historical monuments such as St Antholin’s Spire often known as Wren’s Spire in Forest Hill.
St Antholin’s spire is a hidden gem among the housing estates of South East London and in December Heritage of London decided to reveal its restoration.
Originally St Anotholin’s church stood on the same site as the spire, unfortunately, this was another casualty of the Great Fire of London in 1666. One of Britain's most famous architects who helped restore London after 1666, Christopher Wren took the liberty of rebuilding the church for a hefty sum of £5,700. During a storm, the spire became damaged and was sold to a churchwarden called Robert Harrild. The church itself was then destroyed to make way for Queen Victoria Street. The spire was kept at Round Hill House, which was later developed as a social club, which was then demolished. The Spire still sits in the Round Hill House Estate. After this long and complicated history, the spire has become one of the only landmarks in the area.
The spire had begun to fall into disrepair, the structure was dirty and needed to be professionally cleaned, the weathervane was unstable, some of the carved sections were in dire need of some reshaping, the stonework has been repointed and the scrolls were beginning to degenerate. Heritage of London also suspects that it has been sandblasted. Locals of Forest Hill were expressing their concern about the integrity of the structure on several of the areas online forums.
On the 3rd of December 2019, a launch party was set up to celebrate the completed restoration as well as cookies, mince pies and other festive treats being passed out. Heritage of London was interested in having the local primary schools come to inspect the newly rejuvenated spire to aid their history lessons on the Great Fire Of London.
However, would the £13000 be better spent on something else in the community? St Antholin’s spire does not attract the most visitors and is not the most valued landmark in London. This money could have been spent on an attraction that receives more visitors, for example, The National Theatre or The Seven Dials Monument. This monument has a distant relation to Christopher Wren, many believe that grants can be given to more helpful charities than this. Although restoring London’s historical sites is important, should this money be put towards a minor attraction or people on our streets who are in need. Particularly as Christmas approaches, people feel that donating to charities is more urgent but is this the right choice.
On the other hand, some people feel that monuments such as these are an important part of our history and once they are gone history is forgotten.
By Emilia Beveridge
