Some have been abandoned or pulled down because they were deemed too
near to the squire's house, and a new church erected at a more
respectful distance. "Restoration" has doomed many to destruction. Not
long ago the new scheme for supplying Liverpool with water
necessitated the converting of a Welsh valley into a huge reservoir
and the consequent destruction of churches and villages. A new scheme
for supplying London with water has been mooted, and would entail the
damming up of a river at the end of a valley and the overwhelming of
several prosperous old villages and churches which have stood there
for centuries. The destruction of churches in London on account of the
value of their site and the migration of the population, westward and
eastward, has been frequently deplored. With the exception of All
Hallows, Barking; St. Andrew's Undershaft; St. Catherine Cree; St.
Dunstan's, Stepney; St. Giles', Cripplegate; All Hallows, Staining;
St. James's, Aldgate; St. Sepulchre's; St. Mary Woolnoth; all the old
City churches were destroyed by the Great Fire, and some of the above
were damaged and repaired. "Destroyed by the Great Fire, rebuilt by
Wren," is the story of most of the City churches of London. To him
fell the task of rebuilding the fallen edifices. Well did he
accomplish his task.
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