Tour of St. Ethelburga's Church

Come along on Tuesday 14th May for a tour around St. Ethelburga's church on Bishopsgate!

About the church
St. Ethelburga-the-Virgin within Bishopsgate is located in Bishopsgate in the City of London. A tiny church, dwarfed by the huge modern office blocks around it. It is one of the few surviving medieval City churches in London, it was first recorded in 1250 and survived the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The church's tiny interior comprises a nave and aisle divided by an arcade.

It was badly damaged by an IRA bomb in 1993, with the bomb exploding only 7 metres from the church. After restoration, it resurrected as a centre for reconciliation and peace in 2002, St. Ethelburga's is a symbol of hope from the ashes.

Who was St. Ethelburga
St. Ethelburga (? - 675AD) was the first leader of a monastic order for women in England.

Having refused an arranged marriage to a pagan prince, she was banished to a nunnery by her brother. She proved to be a natural leader and became the first Abbess of the great Benedictine Abbey at Barking in Essex, one of the first religious houses for women in the country.

She is especially noted for her heroic conduct in caring for the sick during an outbreak of the plague in 664AD which eventually killed her and most of her community. During this time she is said to have had a vision of a light “brighter than the sun at noonday” which inspired her and her community to carry out works of great compassion in caring for others.

We will be having a guided tour of the church when we arrive, before we can look around on our own.

The visit should last about 1 hour.

Cost
Cost of the tour is £5 per person (payable by cash, Bank Transfer or PayPal on the day).

Become a Full Member
To become a Full Member (£14 a year), either go to PayPal and send a payment to general@cultureseekers.org, send via Bank Transfer (email me for details) or pay cash on the day.

Afterwards
After we will head to the 'Hamilton Hall pub', next to Liverpool Street Station at 1pm for a chat over a drink.

If you can make it, please come to the pub afterwards, as it’s a great way to meet and get to know others after the visit.

Please note, we only wait outside the station for 10 minutes after the advertised meeting time, so please be early or on time.

If you can't see us outside the station, please text.

Look out for the red and blue 'London Cultureseekers' group sign.

Hope to see you there!

Robert
07905 901 834 (prefer text) or email: general@cultureseekers.org

On the day, if you can’t make the trip, just change your RSVP to No or text me to say you can’t make it.
Please don’t post any messages in the comments that you can’t make it, as this generates spam for everyone else.

Please make sure you are aware of the group rules here before RSVPing - https://www.meetup.com/london_cultureseekers/photos/22974682/523578875/Group_Rules/