St Stephen, Coleman Street
church in City of London, UK
St. Stephen's Church, Coleman Street, also called "St Stephen's in the Jewry", was a church in the City of London, at the corner of Coleman Street and what is now Gresham Street (and in Coleman Street Ward), first mentioned in the 12th century. In the middle ages it is variously described as a parish church, and as a chapel of ease to the church of St Olave Old Jewry; its parochial status was defined (or re-established) permanently in 1456.
The body of the medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, and was replaced with a new structure by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. This second church was destroyed by bombing in 1940 and was not rebuilt after the War. Substantial records survive for the church and parish, including churchwardens' accounts (from 1486), parish registers (from 1538), tithe rate and poor rate assessments (from 1592) and vestry minutes (from 1622). There is also the "Vellum Book", a book of record mainly of church property, dated 1466.
St. Stephen's was one of two City churches dedicated to the Christian protomartyr St. Stephen who, by tradition, suffered lapidation (death by stoning) in Jerusalem in about 35 AD. Coleman Street is named after the charcoal burners who used to live there.
The public source identifies “St Stephen, Coleman Street” as church in City of London, UK. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Stephen, Coleman and Street.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “St Stephen, Coleman Street”, the useful work is to connect “church in City of London, UK” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7595488. The first chronological checks are 1456, 1666, 1940 and 1486.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “St Stephen, Coleman Street” 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.