Great Fire Anniversary Sermon-Stirring Up Old Coals

The Great Fire of London, depicted by an unknown painter (1675), as it would have appeared from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September 1666.

A sermon given at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 6th September 2026 during a service of Holy Communion on Great Fire Anniversary Weekend. The service took place the day after our Faith & Fire Discovery Day, exploring the Great Fire through the lens of science and faith. The sermon is based on readings from Romans 13.8–end, Matthew 18.15–20 and the words of an Great Fire Anniversary Sermon preached at St Olave Hart Street on 2nd September 1682 by Reverend William Wray, the text of which can be read at this link. 

BOOK REVIEW-The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys. A Novel

There must have been more than a few novels inspired by St Olave Hart Street and the area around it - and if not, there are plenty to be written! Jack Jewers opens his imaginary “post diary” life of Pepys with a veiled reference to one of the many legends associated with this place - the burial of Mother Goose here (who he calls Mother Quick in the novel) - said by some to have been the Madam of the Winchester Geese - streetworkers licensed by the Bishop of Winchester - who we glimpse in the novel, in a flash. 

Sermon on the 75th Anniversary of the start of the restoration of St Olave Hart Street

A sermon given at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 21st June 2026 during a service marking the seventy fifth anniversary of the start of the restoration of the church after World War II, based on readings from Ephesians 2:19-22 and John 2.19-22 and the words given by Bishop Arne Fjelbu and King Haakon VII at St Olave Hart Street in June 1951. More information and pictures of the service are at this link.