St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe
church in City of London, UK
St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is a Church of England church located on Queen Victoria Street, London in the City of London, near Blackfriars station. It is also the London headquarters for the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London, Archbishop Anba Angaelos, as part of a church-sharing arrangement.
History
First mentioned around 1170, St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe was almost certainly founded considerably earlier. During the 13th century the church was a part of Baynard's Castle, an ancient royal residence. In 1361, Edward III moved his Royal Wardrobe (a storehouse for Royal accoutrements, housing arms and clothing among other personal items of the Crown) from the Tower of London to just north of the church. It was from this association that the church acquired its unique name.
The Wardrobe and the church, however, were both lost in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Of the 51 churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire, St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is among the simplest of his designs; it was erected in 1695.
The church was again gutted during the London blitz by German bombing; only the tower and walls survived. It was rebuilt and rededicated in 1961.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe” as church in City of London, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as church in City of London, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7586911. Authority coordinates are 51.512, -0.101. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1170, 1361, 1666 and 1695.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe primary sources, St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe archive and Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.