Bow Church, Cheapside, 1940

This drawing of St Mary-le-Bow was made in January 1941 and shows the apparently miraculous survival of the church amidst the bombed out ruins of the City. Four months later this church was also destroyed.

Founded in 1080 as the London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the church had been previously destroyed in the Great Fire and rebuilt by Christopher Wren. The eleventh-century crypt of the church was reconstructed after World War II and reconsecrated in 1964. Today the Church is best known as the Church of ‘Bowbells’, as the story has grown up that only those born within earshot of the bells are entitled to call themselves Cockneys.

The artist Paul Ayshford 4th Baron Methuen (1886-1974) studied painting under Sir Charles Holmes and Walter Sickert and held various positions in the art establishment such as Trustee of the National Gallery and Tate. His experience as an active soldier in the First World War and as Monuments and Fine Arts Officer between 1944-1945 influenced his art shown in the careful draughtsmanship.