Monthly tour of St Mary Islington church and tower climb

St Mary the Virgin in Islington is running its monthly tour again on Saturday 7 November, from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. It's a guided walk through the church, and it finishes with a climb up the tower for a panoramic view across London.

Most people know the church as St Mary's Islington, the parish church at the heart of the area, sitting on Upper Street between Angel and Highbury. It's a Grade II listed building with roots going back to the 12th century, though the medieval church was demolished in 1751-54 and rebuilt in a classical style by Lancelot Dowbiggin. Reginald Blomfield added the Portland stone portico in 1903-04. On 9 September 1940, during the Blitz, the nave was destroyed, leaving only the tower and spire; it was rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1956.

The tour works its way through that history, and the building has a long list of notable names attached to it. Robert Browne lectured here in the late 1500s, and the Jacobean dramatist John Webster married here in 1606. Charles Wesley served as curate in 1738-39. More recently, F. Donald Coggan, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, and David Sheppard, who became Bishop of Liverpool, both held ministry roles here. The tour takes in those connections before the climb.

That climb is the final act: 120 steps up the tower to a view over the city. It's a monthly thing, so if you can't make this one, there are more dates coming up: Saturday 12 December, Saturday 16 January 2027, Saturday 13 February, and Saturday 13 March. Tickets are £16.96, and the tour runs from 2:00pm to 3:30pm.