St Katharine's (or Katherine's) by the Tower

This must be one of the most forgotten churches and hospitals of London - even modern Blue Guides rarely know of it. Now the site of St Katharine's Docks by the Tower, St Katharine's was once a twelfth-century church and hospital founded by Queen Matilda and subsequent queens acted as patrons. It was founded for a Master, three brothers, Chaplains and three Sisters, and ten poor women called Bedes Women, six poor clerks, and occasionally (but somewhat intermittently according to Stow) the education of children. The inhabitants of the hospital were to dwell 'for evermore' within the 'circuits' of the hospital, freely enjoying both its roof, food, and tuition. The Master of St Katharine's was supposed to give twelve poor men 12 pence per day from the 16th of November until the Day of St Edmund (about the 20th November). On the day that Henry III died the Master apparently gave one thousand half pence to one thousand poor men.

The church and hospital; originally had a mill and a large garden attached to it, but they lost these to the building of the Tower Moat - and for which the crown had to make recompense of six shillings and nine pence to the Master of St Katharine's.

By the late 1700s St Katharine's had fallen into some decay. It was crowded about with tenements filled with immigrants - even the old choir of the church was apparently leased out for living space.

The picture above is of the interior of the church of St Katharine's before it was demolished in 1825 to make way for the docks. A new church of St Katharine's was subsequently built in Regent's Park. Stow describes the church as being 'very fair'.