'Early in 1187 Ralph lost his old friend and patron, Bishop Foliot, and the See of London was not filled up for nearly three years. Within a few weeks after Foliot's death he had to receive the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin, who visited the church on mid-Lent Sunday, and he took advantage of the opportunity to obtain from him an injunction forbidding the persons who were in charge of the temporalities of the See to interfere with the spiritual officers in the discharge of their duties.' [Illustration: DOORWAY, ST. HELEN'S, BISHOPSGATE.] How important a body the Chapter of St. Paul's really was may be inferred from the remarkable fact stated by Serjeant Pulling in his work on _The Order of the Coif_ that among the canons in the reign of Henry III. were as many as ten of the Judges at Westminster Hall. The early history of the parishes of London is one of great difficulty and complexity. Although some of the parishes must be of great antiquity, we have little authentic information respecting them before the Conquest. The dedications of many of the churches indicate their great age, but the constant fires in London not only destroyed the buildings but also the records within the buildings. The original churches appear to have been very small, as may be judged from their number. It is not easy, however, to understand how it was that when the parishes were first formed so small an area was attached to each. Mr. Loftie is of opinion that there is no proof that London was divided into more than three or four parishes until the time of Alfred, or, indeed, till much later.[370] [Illustration: ST. HELEN'S, BISHOPSGATE.] He has written a very instructive chapter on 'the Church in London' in his _London_ (Historic Towns, 1887), but he is not able to give any very definite information. Moreover, he doubts whether it is wise to take for granted the early dedications of, for instance, such churches as are named in honour of Sts. Alphage, Magnus and Olave, or of Sts. Ethelburga and Osyth. The parish church of which we have the most authentic notice before the Conquest is St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, in existence many years before the Priory of the Nuns of St. Helen's was founded. In 1010 the remains of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, were removed from Edmundsbury in order that they might not fall into the hands of the Danes, and deposited in the Church of St. Helen, where they remained three years. Many of the London churches were small, but some were of considerable size. When the religious houses were dissolved the churches of some of these became the most important of the parish churches. The Church of St. Mary le Bow in Cheapside (better known as Bow Church) is named from having been the first in London built on arches of stone, and the Norman Crypt is of great interest. When Wren built his church he used these arches of the old churches to support his own superstructure. This crypt also gives its name to the Court of Arches which was held here.