St Augustine Watling Street, Anglican church in City of London, England
St Augustine Watling Street is an Anglican church in the City of London whose surviving tower has been incorporated into St Paul's Cathedral Choir School. The building stands immediately next to St Paul's Cathedral and is a Grade I listed building.
The church was first recorded in 1148 and stood until the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed it. Christopher Wren rebuilt it afterwards, but bombing in World War II damaged the building severely, leaving only the tower standing.
Watling Street was one of the oldest Roman roads in Britain, and travelers coming from Canterbury would pass this very spot as they entered London. The name of the church still carries that sense of arrival and passage.
The church sits right beside St Paul's Cathedral and is easy to reach on foot from anywhere in the City of London. Visitors walking around the cathedral area will spot the tower without difficulty and can include it in a short stroll.
During World War II, a church cat named Faith sheltered her kitten in the ruins when the building was bombed and was later awarded a silver medal for her devotion. Her story was widely known at the time but has largely faded from public memory since then.
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