Each parish had to raise money for the rebuilding of its church/churches, and St Mary Somerset was dirt poor.  It had been poor for centuries, populated mainly by Flemings in the late medieval and Elizabethan City.  They were so poor that the Flemish burial ground had become the Pauper's Cemetery by the Restoration period.  Funds for rebuilding were scant, and Wren even allocated St Mary's parish some money from the Coal Tax.  However, he clearly didn't raise enough.  

To call St Mary Somerset a bit of a dog is a kindness.  It originally had no aisle and just a flat roof.  The tower is perhaps the worst example of Wren's work.  It did not prosper.  By 1800, it was being used by the Methodists, and was in a dirty and unkempt state.  In the winter of 1870/1871, the roof fell in, although no one was hurt.  The decision was made to pull the nave down and leave the tower.  The little privet garden visible here conforms to the body of the church.  It was clearly a tiny place. In the Edwardian period the tower was converted into a ladies 'rest-room' for tourists visiting the City and it remained so until after WWII.  It has been disused since, but was awarded Grade I status in the listings, presumably because Wren spent all of one tea-break designing it.  A lady has recently purchased it, and her son is turning it into a house.  I am glad.  It will be clean, and loved and brought back into use.  I like to think Christopher Wren would be pleased.  If nothing else, he would be mighty fascinated by the lift she is going to install.