Mary Magdalen's was the Reverend Richard Harris Barham, author of The Ingoldsby Legends. He was buried in the church in 1845. On the morning of Thursday, 2 December 1886, a fire broke out in a warehouse in what by this time was called Knightrider Street and spread to the church's roof, causing substantial damage. Although the church was insured and repairable, the event took place during a period in which several undamaged churches in the City of London were being demolished under the Union of Benefices Act 1860. The opportunity was taken to pull down St. Mary Magdalen's and combine the parish with that of St Martin, Ludgate, which received some of the furnishings from the demolished church. The site previously occupied by St. Mary Magdalen's was built over after the Second World War, and is now covered by Old Change Square. The parish still retains a clerkship, which is now in the gift of St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe. The church is the subject of a poem by John Betjeman, where the narrator is the Rector's warden. He refers to Wren's design as "a box with a fanciful plaster ceiling". Architecture The plan for St. Mary Magdalen's was roughly rectangular, with the north wall tapering slightly towards the east. The two street frontages – to the east on Old Fish Street and to the south on Old Change – were faced with Portland stone. Underneath, the material was stone rubble. There were four large round-headed windows on the south, and three similar windows on the east, each window flanked by pilasters capped by volutes. Entry to the church was through a door under the western window on the south front. The roof was balustraded. The tower was erected next to the north-western wall of the church and stood 86 ft. high. This had a stone spire, consisting of an octagonal pyramid of five steps, on which sat an open octagonal lantern from which emerged a concave steeple. The finial was in the form of an urn, in allusion to St Mary Magdalen's pot of balm. The inspiration for the spire's design was the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, in modern-day Turkey. Organ The organ by Samuel Green was installed in 1786. It was rebuilt in 1857 by Gray and Davison. Organists Mary Hudson 1785–1801 successor unknown. William Adams (between 1801 and 1815) – June 1834 Frederick Michelmore (temporary) June – September 1834 Carolina Townsend