[2] The remains of the king, martyred in 870, had been translated to London from Bury St Edmunds by Alwyn, later Bishop of Elmham in Norfolk, for safe-keeping during a period of Danish raids, and were returned there three years later.

[1][3] The patronage of the church originally belonged to the crown, but during the reign of Henry VI it was transferred to the minor canons of St Paul's.

At first he thought that he could accommodate St Gregory's in his plans, writing in a report, dated 11 June 1631, that "the church is in no way hurtful to the foundations or walls of St. Paul's, nor will it take away the beauty of the aspect when it shall be repaired.

[5] By 1641, however, Jones had changed his mind, and decided that his renovation of the cathedral necessitated the removal of St Gregory's.

[6] In June 1658, a minister of the church, Dr John Hewitt, a royalist, was executed for high treason.