TALKS & CONVERSATION
ST OLAVE LECTURES
Insight, history and thoughtful conversation in the spectacular surroundings of our medieval church
St Olave Lectures
The St Olave Lectures are held monthly from March to June and September to November on Tuesday evenings after services of Choral Evensong or Compline. Tickets are £5 and can be purchased via Eventbrite. Join us for insight, history and thoughtful conversation on a range of topics in the spectacular surroundings of our medieval church.
The Hidden History & Legacy of Tudor Espionage
Tuesday 22nd September 2026 at 6.30pm (following Choral Evensong at 5.30pm)
Join us for Choral Evensong at 5.30pm and stay for this month’s St Olave Lecture at 6.30pm. Sally Gibbins, Principal of the Francis Bacon Society, joins us to talk about the hidden world of Tudor Spies and intrigue centred around St Olave Hart Street. With music, letters and readings from the Tudor period, we will explore the important connections among notable parishioners of St Olave’s, including Elizabeth I’s spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, poet Sir Philip Sidney, statesman Sir Francis Bacon, his brother cryptographer and spy Anthony Bacon, and court favourite the Earl of Essex. The histories associated with these people and landmarks highlight the complex relationships and activities that shaped the perilous political affairs of the Tudor era and would leave a lasting legacy to the world of espionage and national security. Tickets for the talk are £5 and available at this link.
For the Love of Tea
Tuesday 20th October 2026 at 6.30pm (following Compline by Candlelight in the Crypt Chapel from 5.30pm-6.00pm)
Lisa Honan will talk to us about the history of tea and trade and its impact here in the Square Mile, touching on our connections to the East India Company and to the Boston Tea Party! Please click here for more details and tickets.
Tuesday 10th November 2026 – 5.30pm (Choral Evensong), 6.30pm (Talk) – St Olave Lecture – Seething Lane: Bringing Samuel Pepys and Restoration London to Life
Drawing on his research for The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys and his new novel Seething Lane, writer and filmmaker Jack Jewers explores the world Pepys inhabited and shares insights from his experience bringing to life this complex character who called this place his ‘own church’. Tickets for the talk are £5 and available at this link.
Tuesday 26th January 2027 – 5.30pm (Choral Evensong), 6.30pm (Talk) – St Olave Lecture – The Extraordinary Life of Lady Ann Fanshawe
Renowned historian and author Lucy Moore explores the life of Lady Ann Fanshawe, born in this parish, whose celebrated memoir chronicles civil war, exile and diplomacy. She also left England’s earliest recorded recipe for ice cream. Tickets for the talk are £5 and available at this link.
Tuesday 23rd February 2027 – 5.30pm (Choral Evensong), 6.30pm (Talk) – St Olave Lecture – Fashion and Femininity in the Age of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys was an avid observer and collector of fashion. Drawing on her recent research, Marlo Avidon explores the world of Samuel and Elizabeth Pepys and their contemporaries, revealing how dress reflected identity, status and social ambition in seventeenth-century England. Tickets for the talk are £5 and available at this link.
Past Lectures
The Strange History of Samuel Pepys’s Diary
Tuesday 2nd June 2026
Professor Kate Loveman joined us to talk about her award-winning book exploring how Samuel Pepys’s Diary has been received through the ages, since its first publication 200 years ago. Images at this link.
William Turner: The Father of English Botany
Tuesday 26th May 2026
Professor Brycchan Carey on the life and legacy of William Turner – known as ‘the Father of English Botany’, who is buried here at St Olave Hart Street. Images at this link.
The First Kings of Norway & England
Tuesday 28th April 2026
Adrian Waddingham spoke about his latest book ‘First Kings’ charting the lives of the first Kings of England and Norway. Images at this link.
Job Lousley: Botanist & Banker
Tuesday 10th March 2026
Botanist Roy Vickery spoke to us about the life and legacy of Job Lousley ‘Botanist and Banker’ whose memorial was placed in this church fifty years ago. Among Lousley’s published works is a booklet describing the flora and fauna he found in bombed city churches like ours.
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