Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SAINTS & THE
city:
A WALK
For somewhere so unashamedly dedi-
cated to Mammon, the financial center
of London also offers plenty of spiritual
comfort (which no doubt comes in
handy when stocks start tumbling). Our
favorite historic churches can be com-
fortably toured in a day—or an after-
noon, if you're quick.
Beginning at Temple Tube, turn left
out of the station, and head north up
Arundel Place. Turn right onto the
Strand, and stroll east along Fleet Street
till you reach
Prince Henry's Room,
17
Fleet St. (
&
020/7332-1097
), one of
London's only surviving houses to pre-
date the Great Fire of 1666. Turn right
through the stone arch by the house,
down Inner Temple Lane to
Temple
Church
, King's Bench Walk, EC4
(
&
020/7353-3470;
www.temple
church.com), a round church founded
in the late 12th century by the
Knights
Templar,
one of the most powerful reli-
gious military orders during the Cru-
sades. Much restored and rebuilt in
subsequent centuries, it has enjoyed a
resurgence of interest since being fea-
tured in
The Da Vinci Code.
Admission is
free. Opening hours are Monday, Tues-
day, and Friday 11am to 12:30pm and
1-4pm, Wednesday 2 to 4pm, Thursday
11am to 12:30pm and 2 to 3:30pm, Sat-
urday 11am to 12:30pm and 1 to 3pm,
and Sunday 1 to 3:30pm.
Back on Fleet Street continue east.
Take a right down Salisbury Court, then
a left onto St. Bride's Passage for
St.
Bride's,
Fleet Street, EC4 (
&
020/7427-
0133;
www.stbrides.com), perhaps the
city's oldest church, founded back in the
6th century. Rebuilt by Sir Christopher
Wren after the Great Fire, its distinctive
multistep spire was said to have inspired
the design of modern wedding cakes. It's
known as the “Journalists' Church,” owing
to its proximity to Fleet Street, the old
home of the British press. It's free to
enter. Hours are Monday through Friday
8am to 6pm, Saturday 11am to 3pm, and
Sunday 10am to 1pm and 5 to 7:30pm.
Return to Fleet Street and head east
along Ludgate Hill. A diversion north up
Old Bailey will take you past the Central
Criminal Court (also more commonly
known as the
Old Bailey
). If you crane
your neck you should just about be able
to make out the statue of Lady Liberty
holding a sword and a set of scales
perched upon its roof. Carry on north,
along Giltspur Street and West Smithfield,
4
Outside the chronological theme is continued with a series of four period gardens
dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The Geffrye is especially charming
around Christmas, when each room is dressed in authentic festive style.
136 Kingsland Rd., E2.
&
020/7739-9893.
www.geffrye-museum.org.uk. Free admission to period
rooms; £2 to Almshouses (free for children 15 and under). Tues-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun and bank holidays
noon-5pm. Gardens Apr-Oct only. Tube: Liverpool St., then bus 149 or 242; or Old St., then bus 243/
Train: Hoxton.
Museum of London Docklands
MUSEUM This East London outpost of
the Museum of London looks at the history of the capital's river, and in particular the
growth and demise of the trading industry that once flourished upon it. Housed in a
relic of that industry, a Georgian sugar warehouse, the museum tells the story of the
docks from the beginnings of river commerce under the Romans through the glory
days of Empire, when London was the world's busiest port, to the closure of the
central London docks in the 1970s. It also takes a look at the subsequent regenera-
tion of the area, of which this museum forms a part. The displays focus on both local
