Pre-Fire London had 14 churches named after the
Virgin Mary, six of which were rebuilt after the Fire. The derivation of
Somerset is uncertain. It has been linked to Ralph de Somery, who is mentioned in records at the same time. It is also linked to Summer's Hithe, a small haven on the
Thames, the banks of which would in medieval times have been closer to the church's site. The church is first mentioned in a deed during the reign of
Richard I. According to
John Stow, in 1370, the
Brabant weaver community was ordered by the Mayor to meet in the churchyard of St Mary Somerset for the purpose of hiring serving men, following disputes with the
Flemish weavers. The latter were ordered to meet a safe distance away in the churchyard of
St Laurence Pountney. After the Fire, the parish was combined with that of
St Mary Mounthaw, which was not rebuilt. Building of the new church began in 1686 (one of the last five of the 51 to commence) and stopped in 1688 owing to the financial uncertainty associated with the
Glorious Revolution. Rebuilding recommenced the next year and the church was finished in 1694, at a cost of £6579. The parish was very poor, and it was one of only two churches (the other being
St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe) for which Wren provided funds for the furnishings from the Coal Tax. The rebuilt church was smaller than its predecessor, for a strip of land was taken by the city to widen what was then Thames Street.
Bishop Gilbert Ironside, Chancellor of
Oxford University, who defied James II in upholding the rights of Fellows, was buried here in 1701. His remains and his black marble tombstone were removed to
Hereford Cathedral in 1867. Late in the eighteenth century, the church had a reputation as Low Church.
James Malcolm states in
London Redivivum (1803): "When I mention that the late well-known Methodist
Mr Gunn was a preacher in it on certain days, the trampled and dirty state of the church will not be wondered at." In 1805, the communion plate was stolen and never recovered. The
Bishop of Hereford was patron of the Rectory of St Mary Somerset until the mid-nineteenth century, when this was transferred to the
Bishop of London. The second half of the 19th century saw a movement of population from the City of London to suburbs in
Middlesex,
Kent,
Essex and
Surrey. This left many of the city churches with tiny congregations, while many of the newly built suburbs had no churches. The
Union of Benefices Act 1860 was passed by Parliament, permitting the demolition of City churches and the sale of land to build churches in the suburbs. The last service at St Mary Somerset was held on 1 February 1867, with about 70 people attending. The parish was then combined with that of
St Nicholas Cole Abbey, and the church was demolished in 1871. At the instigation of the architect,
Ewan Christian, the church tower was preserved. The proceeds of the sale were used to build
St Mary Hoxton, which also received the church furnishings and the bell. Before the
Second World War, the church tower was used as a woman's rest room. The tower now stands on a traffic island surrounded by a small landscaped garden. ==The building==