St Giles-without-Cripplegate

History

Notable people associated with the church

• John Field, curate of the church, c. 1570
• John Foxe, author of the Book of Martyrs, surrogate for Crowley c. 1565 and buried in the church, 1587
• Robert Crowley, rector of St Giles's and Protestant polemicist was buried in the church in 1588
• Thomas Deloney, English novelist and balladist, had his son baptised in the church in 1586
• Lancelot Andrewes, rector of the church after Crowley
• Roger Townshend, buried in the church in 1590
• Sir Martin Frobisher, captain who fought against the Spanish Armada, buried in the church, 1594
• Sir Francis Willoughby, industrialist and coalowner, buried in the church in 1596
• Nathaniel Eaton, first schoolmaster of Harvard College, baptised in the church in 1610
• Oliver Cromwell, military commander and Lord Protector of England during the Commonwealth, married Elizabeth Bourchier in the church, 1620
• Nicholas Tooley, Shakespearean actor, shareholder in the Globe Theatre, buried 5 June 1623
• John Speed, author of the Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, buried in the church in 1629
• John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, buried in the church in 1674
• John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress, attended the church
• Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, died in the parish, 1731
• Mark Catesby, naturalist, artist, and author of Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, was a parishioner and several of his children were baptised in the church, and later buried in the churchyard
• Rick Wakeman, keyboardist, recorded his track "Jane Seymour" and the pipe organ parts in the third section of Yes track "Close to the Edge" using the pipe organ in the church
• Jack Nitzsche, composer, pianist, recorded "St. Giles Cripplegate" with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1972

  Layout of the church

1. John Milton buried here in 1674
2. The altar from St. Luke's, Old Street, which was dismantled in the 1960s due to subsidence.
3. The east window. Designed by the Nicholson Studios, following the pattern of the original medieval window.
4. Sedilia and piscina of the medieval church.
5. Display cabinet containing the historic treasures of Cripplegate.
6. John Foxe, author of "The Book of Martyrs" is buried here.
7. Plaque commemorating Sir Martin Frobisher, explorer and sea Captain.
8. Bust of John Speed, map maker and historian.
9. Statue of John Milton by Horace Montford
10. The organ. From St. Luke's, Old Street
11. Bust of Daniel Defoe, author of "Robinson Crusoe" and John Milton.
12. Busts of Oliver Cromwell and John Bunyan, author of "Pilgrim's Progress".
13. Portrait of Dr. William Nicholls, the first Rector of St. Luke's Church and Vicar of St. Giles'.
14. The West Window – shows the coats of arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, Milton, Cromwell and Frobisher.
15. The font – from St. Luke's Church.
16. The Cripplegate Window which celebrates the centenary of the charity The Cripplegate Foundation.
17. Bust of Sir William Staines, Lord Mayor of London in 1801.