St Olave’s Church, Hart Street

St Olave’s Church on Hart Street in London is externally unimpressive, though it is one of the few medieval survivors of the Great Fire of 1666 and the Germanic bombs of 1941, though evidence of the 1950s restoration may be observed. Despite its modest appearance, its perpendicular windows are a contrast to the modern buildings all around it.

It is a remarkable place for a number of reasons, not least the peculiar gate to its rear courtyard which shows three grinning skulls, and for which Dickens called it "St Ghastly Grim”. Accompanied by the Latin text of Philippians 1:21: "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain”, one sees that their puritan patrons had good reason for their gumless smiles.

The other remarkable feature is the church’s association with the great and the good. This is where Samuel Pepys lies buried next to his wife, and where Princess Elizabeth Tudor (later Queen) would come for a thanksgiving service after her release from the Tower. It was also the home of her spymaster, the puritan Sir Francis Walsingham, who lived in a house opposite. Furthermore, pantomime character 'Mother Goose's' burial was recorded by the parish registers on 14 September, 1586. Most movingly of all, however, is its association with King Haakon VII of Norway, who was exiled to Britain during Nazi occupation of his land. This is where he came to worship, doubtless praying to God that the evil empire across the sea would crumble, which it did in 1945. From abroad, he helped to unite the people of Norway against Quisling, Hitler's puppet. He chose exile in Britain rather than an accommodation with fascism, and his royal monogram became a symbol of the Norwegian people’s national resistance.

Well might this dauntless and principled Scandinavian have chosen St Olave’s, for it is dedicated to King Olaf II of Norway, who fought with Anglo-Saxon King Æthelred the Unready against a Danish army in the Battle of London Bridge in 1014, and on whose grave the church was built. Norwegians and English fighting together against a fearsome, continental foe, must have appeared apt in the dark days of the early forties.

Much as King Haakon longed for his native fjords and mountains, this little church in exile would have given him hope and comfort. Every Christian is currently living in a state of exile, until such time as their Lord calls them home; for them to live is Christ and to die is greater gain. So stop regarding your house as your home; it is really just a cheap hotel. You are going somewhere far better.