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Abstract

Historic links between two landmark churches will be celebrated with an afternoon of music.

It is 50 years since the formal creation of the united parish of St Luke’s of Old Street and St Giles’ Cripplegate. Seven years earlier, the community of the Church of England parish church in Old Street had moved to St Giles’, the iconic medieval church in the heart of the Barbican, because St Luke’s had to be closed due to subsidence.

St Giles’, although damaged, was one of the few buildings in the area to survive the Blitz. It was restored over several years.

Furnishings from St Luke’s, including the organ, font, altar and pews, were moved to St Giles’ to replace those destroyed during the war.

After St Luke’s closure, the 18th-century grade I-listed Hawksmoor church lay boarded up for almost 40 years until the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) moved in. It is now used as a rehearsal and concert venue.

On Monday, an afternoon of events put together by the Rev Katharine Rumens, rector of St Giles’ Cripplegate, LSO staff, St Luke’s Parochial Trust and Steven Berryman, head of music at City of London School for Girls, will celebrate the united parish.

“St Giles is the community church and LSO St Luke’s is a centre of music but it is about recognising that there were formerly two places of worship.

“There’s a shared communality and a shared history,” Ms Rumens said.

“Back then [1959] this part of London was not as international as it is today. It was local London, and that’s why you still get people who say: ‘My aunty so-and-so was married at St Luke’s.’”

Visitors will be able to tour St Luke’s from 4.30pm before a musical performance and community singing by pupils from the City of London Girls School and members of the LSO Community Choir.

There will then be a procession to St Giles’ Cripplegate, led by Ms Rumens, followed by a short celebratory church service featuring the City of London Brass.

The only surviving parish member who made the transition to St Giles is Mollie Munn, 95, who lives in Peabody flats in Whitecross Street.