St Michael Cornhill
City of London, Greater London
The church lies over the remains of the Basilica, the northern most part of the great Roman Forum built in the first century AD.
The Hospital of St Cross is said to be England's oldest charitable institution. It was founded by Henry of Blois between 1132 and 1136 after he was appointed Bishop of Winchester at the age of 28. It was created in order to house and support 13 poor men, known as Brothers, and to feed a further 100 men at its gates each day, with food and drink from the hospital's own land, mills and farms. In 1445 another Order of Brothers was created by Cardinal Henry Beaufort, the Order of Noble Poverty. Today the Hospital is home to 25 'Brothers'.
Built with stone from as far afield as Caen, the church consists of stunning honey coloured Norman stonework both inside and out. On a column on the north aisle is carved the cross of St Cross. In the window nearest to the eastern side of the north transept, the stone surround is strangely angled. This device means that sunlight from the window falls on the cross only on 3rd May (the day in the church calendar of the Invention of the Cross) and 14th September (Holy Cross Day).
It was recently featured in the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall!.