The Winston Churchill Memorial in Missouri: amazingly reconstructed and is on the National Register

Winston Churchill Memorial and Library, National Churchill Museum, Fulton, Missouri.Photo byYasirQazi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Winston Churchill Memorial at 7th Street and Westminster Avenue in Fulton, Missouri was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1972. It's also known as the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury.

The Board of Trustees of Westminster College were listed as owners of the memorial when it was nominated for the National Register.

Saint Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury is a single-story church building. The architectural style is English Baroque. It was originally designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1667 to rebuild a 12th-century church that had the same name and that which was destroyed in 1666 by the Great Fire of London. It was built on the corner of Aldermanbury Street and Love Lane in London, England.

Photo byAmerica's National Churchill Museum via Facebook.

Fast forward to 1941, the church was struck by a German incendiary bomb and gutted. All that was left were exterior walls, a tower, and 12 interior columns.

In 1962, those remains were given to the Board of Trustees of Westminster College. The Board had the remains dismantled and shipped to the U.S. They were used to reconstruct the original church designed by Wren and to be used as a memorial to honor Sir Winston Churchill.

The church is the core of the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library in the United States in the Churchill Quadrangle of Westminster College.

This historic building is important because it's the only example of an original 17th-century church designed by prominent English architect, Sir Christopher Wren, that was reconstructed in the United States.

The reconstruction was performed with the help of Wren's original plans. This is interesting and amazing. It's also important because this historic building was reconstructed as a memorial to Churchill who was one of two to become an honorary American citizen during their lifetimes. The other was Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Six were named posthumously.

Sir Winston Churchill.Photo byYousuf Karsh, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The original church

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury was built in the late 12th century in London. Until the fire in 1666, it was maintained.

From 1667 to 1677, the medieval church was redesigned and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren who was tasked with rebuilding London since the fire.

In 1965, the remains were cleaned, taken apart, and shipped to the U.S. and reconstructed using Wren's original plans.

Amazingly, the church remains were moved to Fulton, Missouri to commemorate Winston Churchill's speech delivered in 1946 at the Westminster College gymnasium which was also listed on the National Register on May 23, 1968, and before that, named a National Historic Landmark on May 10, 1968.

This historic structure will continue to be a tribute to Sir Winston Churchill. In the undercroft (cellar or storage room), is the museum containing a collection of Churchill memorabilia.

The church sanctuary has been temporarily closed to the public due to conservation and construction. The rest of the museum and gallery associated with Aldermanbury's history and reconstruction is open.

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