Name: Pepys Choral Evensong in his "own church"
Start: 2026-07-14T17:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-07-14T19:00:00+01:00
Location: St Olave's Church, Hart Street

Pepys Choral Evensong in his "own church"

Our final Evensong before the summer with music from the time of our most famous parishioner Samuel Pepys & his own Prayer Book on display
About this Event

Tuesday 14th July 2026 – 5.30pm-6.15pm – Pepys Choral Evensong with reception for members of The Prayer Book Society

Members of The Prayer Book Society are especially welcome to join us for our final Choral Evensong before our summer break. Music will include compositions from the time of one of our most famous parishioners, Samuel Pepys, who is buried under the altar at St Olave Hart Street.
As a result of a bequest from Mrs Pepys-Cockerell, the church came into possession of Samuel Pepys Prayer Book, which includes a metrical version of the Psalms dated 1680. The book was enriched with engravings and sacred pictures and rulings of red lines. The title page, illustrated by hand, is thought to be the work of Pepys’s friend Edward Cocker, the Writing Master. The embellished prayer book follows the example of Charles II. The book survived the near total destruction of the church during WW2 after being stored, along with other valuable documents, in the crypt of St Petroch’s Church, Exeter. It will be on display before and after Choral Evensong.