Thank you to all who joined us for Choral Evensong on 28th April, which was followed by a St Olave Lecture. This month we welcomed Adrian Waddingham to speak about his latest book ‘First Kings’ charting the lives of the first Kings of England and Norway.

We were joined by members of the Ward of Cheap Club (of which Adrian is Past President, amongst many other distinguished City of London appointments), as well as members of the Anglo Norse Society including its Chairman Paul Gobey and many of the congregation of the Norwegian Seaman’s Church in Rotherhithe.

After excellent music by the choir we were treated to Adrian’s engaging talk, charting history from a period which was often not written down. Thanks to his engaging delivery and painstaking research we were immersed into an amazing ‘prequel’ to the story of the foundation of our own church; the rivalry, bloodshed and ambition of the ninth and tenth century in Norway and England – and from which the two nations we know today emerged.

First Kings : Forged by Vikings in England and Norway by R.A.J. Waddingham is published by The History Press and available in all good bookshops.

This year we revived our “St Olave Lectures” – fascinating insights and conversation on diverse topics from engaging speakers. Details of forthcoming lectures are at this link.