The Capponi Memorial Stone, an important part of our history, is now preserved.

In August 2025 we successfully completed a project to restore and re-install a unique 16th century stone memorial slab which survived both the Great Fire of London and the Blitz.

It tells a fascinating story of the life and times of St Olave’s church and of one man who lived and died in the City over four centuries ago.

The stone commemorates Piero Capponi, a Florentine merchant and banker, who worked for Elizabeth I’s spymaster, Francis Walsingham. Capponi was buried in St Olave’s after dying of the plague in 1582.

The stone, bearing the simple shield of his family, was originally laid in the church near an effigy of Capponi commissioned by one of his friends, Peter Landi.

Carved in Flanders, it is thought that the stonemason re-cycled an existing memorial from a local church.

It featured an elaborate Flemish inscription and merchant’s mark which is shown on the replica cast displayed alongside the stone.

It originally commemorated Augustine van Thielt, a merchant and his family who were thought to live in Bruges.

The stone was inscribed after his death in 1515, with inscriptions added later for two daughters in 1522 and 1531, and his wife in 1548.

The stone was shipped to London and was laid over Capponi’s burial place. It remained there for nearly four centuries until the church was badly damaged by enemy bombing in 1941. During the subsequent salvage and restoration work the stone was moved to the churchyard and its link to Capponi was lost.

In 2012 the stone was recovered from the churchyard. It was in several fragments, either caused by wartime damage or decades of weathering.

In 2025 it was cleaned and
reassembled by specialist conservators Cliveden Conservation and installed back in the church, close to its original location. The marble inlay on the shield is a modern
reproduction.

The restoration of this important historic artefact was made possible by the St Olave Hart Street Fabric Trust and generous grants and donations from:
The C F Lunoe Trust Fund via the Friends of the City Churches
Francis Coales Charitable Foundation
Benefact Trust

Monumental Brass Society
Mrs Baillie
Oliver D Harris