If you’ve been to the Barbican centre you would have spotted this ancient church standing out against the brutalist architecture.

St Giles’ Cripplegate is an interesting survivor of the Great Fire of London of 1666 and the Blitz of 1940, which for history fans also has a couple of (albeit tenous) links to Carshalton.

The first thing to mention is that William Shakespeare is thought to have attended the baptism of his nephew here. Oliver Cromwell was married here in 1620.

Despite the contrasting appearance of the brickwork at the top of the tower, it’s not a modern addition. It survived WW2 and is actually of 1682 origin.

Take a closer look at the seating by the church and you’ll see that well-worn gravestones have been used as seating.

A couple of people of interest connected to Carshalton.

Author Daniel Defoe
Defoe was the author of the book Robinson Crusoe, and his death was registered here. He lived nearby to the church and wrote about and visited Carshalton in 1727.

Bishop Andrewes church
Lancelot Andrewes was the man responsible for the King James bible. He was vicar at St Giles between 1588 and 1605. What’s unusual for a Bishop (rather than a saint for example) is that he has a church named after him: Bishop Andrewes church on the St Helier estate.

Finally, to note – Cripplegate is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning tunnel, and one ran from the original Barbican (the name for a nearby fortified watchtower).

Thanks to the printed booklet provided by St Giles’s Cripplegate for supplementing the information in this post.