St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, London:

According to tradition, a true Cockney must be born within earshot of the sound of the church’s bells…

Archaeological evidence indicates that a church existed on this site in Saxon period England. A medieval version of the church had been destroyed in the late 11th century by one of the earliest recorded (and one of the most violent) tornadoes in Britain, the London Tornado of 1091. During the Norman period, a church known as “St Mary de Arcubus” was built and was famed for its two arches (“bows”) of stone. From at least the 13th century, the church was a peculier of the Diocese of Canterbury and the seat of the Court of Arches, to which it gave the name. The church with its steeple had been a landmark of London and the “Bow bells”, which could be heard as far away as Hackney Marshes, were once used to signal a curfew in the City of London. This building burned in the Great Fire of London of 1666.

The current building was built to the designs of Christopher Wren, 1671–1673, with the 223-foot steeple completed 1680. It was considered the second most important church in the City of London after St Paul’s Cathedral, and was one of the first churches to be rebuilt by Wren and his office for this reason. The mason-contractor was Thomas Cartwright, one of the leading London mason-contractors and carvers of his generation.