The age of the original structure, which was dedicated to the above saint, is unknown: but it must have been of very considerable antiquity, since it appears to have

been of old in the gift of the Deans of St. Martin-le-Grand, in London, and probably was given, at least confirmed, to that collegiate church by William the Conqueror (among several others, in and without the city); for, by his charter to that church, bearing date

1068

, he grants to it in these words, viz.

Concedo etiam in omnes ecclesias, et omnes decimas, terras quoque, et domos, quas fideles Christi infra London, vel extra, jam dedere vel in futurum donabunt. Hæc igitur omnia, &c.

It continued in the presentation of the above Deans till the year , when John Kemp, Bishop of London, presented to the rectory, by lapse. It then reverted to the Dean, till Henry VII. having taken the whole into his possession, presented to this living in . In it was under the patronage of the Abbot and Convent of , then under the patronage of the Bishop of ; and, perhaps during the period of Bishop Thirlby's dilapidations, it was presented by Sir Rowland Hill, Lord Mayor of London, for that turn. However, Edward VI. in , granted the patronage to the Bishops of London, who have ever since continued patrons.

From the testimonies of the various historians of London, Stow, Newcourt, and Mr. Reading, in his Account of Sion College, subjoined to his Catalogue of that Library, we are induced to believe that the antient structure of St. Alphage occupied the ground now covered by a part of Cripplegate Buildings; and that the churchyard, situated at the east end, is the original place of sepulture belonging to the church, opposite Sion College. That was certainly its situation when the dissolution of monasteries took place, in the reign of Henry VIII.; when it was desecrated, and converted to be a carpenter's yard, though some respect was paid to the ashes of the dead; and the ground for burials not having been profaned, has continued to be appropriated for the sacred purposes for which it was originally intended, to the present period. It is inclosed on the south side by a brick wall, in the centre of which is a gate: the north side is bounded by the venerable city wall.