Clerkenwell's Mediaeval Monasteries￼
2022-07-30 11:00 - 12:30 (Europe/London) | Farringdon Station, EC1M 6BY, United Kingdom
In medieval times Clerkenwell was an area of fields on the outskirts of the City of London, dominated by monastic institutions. The monasteries were all closed in the 1530s when Henry VIII broke with the Church of Rome but their buildings remained. Some were demolished but others were repurposed and rebuilt over the years; many of them still play a philanthropic and caring role today.

On this walk we will learn about a hospital that has provided healthcare on the same site for almost 900 years; London’s oldest parish church; a monastery that became an aristocratic Tudor mansion then an almshouse and school and remains an almshouse today; a priory with links to Jerusalem which gave its name to St John Ambulance eight hundred years later; and a nunnery which inspired the design of one of Clerkenwell’s newest buildings.

The walk will finish at the Clerk’s Well which gave the area its name; the site where parish clerks used to perform mystery plays in medieval times.

Note: the walk does not include interior visits.

The walk will last about 90 minutes and will start and finish near Farringdon Station.

£9 – 12, 90-minute rate for one of the regular rota walks offered by Islington Guided Walks, also some concessions. Pre-book only, please, here.
