St Magnus-the-Martyr

St Magnus-the-Martyr

St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge is a Church of England church and parish in the City of London, located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument and the modern London Bridge. It is a part of the Diocese of London and under the pastoral care of the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Fulham. The Patron of the living is the Diocesan Board of Patronage. The church is a Grade I listed building. St Magnus is twinned with the Church of the Resurrection in New York City.

Many authors have referred to St Magnus's prominent location and beauty. In Oliver Twist, as Nancy heads for her secret meeting with Mr. Brownlow and Rose Maylie on London Bridge, Charles Dickens notes how "the tower of old Saint Saviour's Church, and the spire of Saint Magnus, so long the giant-warders of the ancient bridge, were visible in the gloom". The church's spiritual importance is celebrated in the poem The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, who adds in a footnote that "the interior of St. Magnus Martyr is to my mind one of the finest among Wren's interiors". One biographer of Eliot notes that at first he enjoyed St Magnus aesthetically for its "splendour"; later he appreciated its "utility" when he came there as a sinner.

The ancient parish was united with that of St Margaret, New Fish Street, in 1670 and with that of St Michael, Crooked Lane, in 1831. The three united parishes retained separate vestries and churchwardens. Parish clerks continue to be appointed for each of the three parishes.

St Magnus is the guild church of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers and the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and the ward church of the Ward of Bridge and Bridge Without.