Clerkenwell was the first of the city’s suburbs its narrow streets and alleys are full of ghosts from its fascinating history.

Highlights

• ST BARTHOLEMEW THE GREAT: Norman church with its beautiful interior previously part of a Priory. Founded in 1123 and is the oldest parish church in London. The ancient gateway above is 13th century with a 15th century building above it. Catholic Queen Mary dined on chicken and fine wines in this gatehouse while watching the the burning of Protestant martyrs outside.

• ST. JOHN’S GATE: Ancient gatehouse now a museum dedicated to the interesting ancient order of St John. FREE
• CHARTERHOUSE SQUARE: Leafy Charterhouse Square was the site of London’s biggest plague pit. On the north side lies Charterhouse, originally a 14th century priory whose gatehouse still stands. Monks were martyred here by Henry VIII, the arm of one nailed as example to the gates. Subsequently a palace and later freeschool attended by John Wesley and William Thakeray. During Clerkenwell’s most dangerous era pupils use tunnels to reach their accommodation across the square. Charterhouse contains a small museum detailing this history, and church. FREE

• HISTORIC PUBS: Home to some of London’s oldest pubs, including the Jerusalem Taern dating from 14th century and the Fox and Anchor known for its Victorian decor.
• SMITHFIELD former MEAT MARKET: With its colourful and ornate ironwork, the new site for the London Museum. A flourishing wholesale meat market which until 1855 also sold livesock, regularly herded from the counties to market, crossing the river Fleet at nearby Cowcross Street. The market square witnessed much bloody history, including the hanging of Scottish nationalist William Wallace, and the beheading of Wat Tyler. Tyler led the Peasant’s Revolt in 1381. He was tricked into meeting here with Richard II, but was famously murdered by the king’s men.

• EXMOUTH AND LEATHER LANE MARKETS: Exmouth Market is a small but a charming street. Leather Lane market has an ancient history but is now mainly a bustling food market.
• Hatton Garden is worth a look as the centre of Britains diamond trade and location of the famous robbery perpetrated by the notorious pensioner “Basil” and his gang. Nearby is Bleeding Heart’s Yard where Lady Elizabeth Hatton danced all night with the devil, her body found dead next morning with her heart still pumping blood.

Visitor Information

Served by Farringdon and Barbican tube stations .

For children, there’s a playground in the lower section of Spa Fields and mine enjoyed the Museum of the Order of St John. It’s a quiet area mostly away from traffic with plenty to look at. There are WCs on Platform 4 of Farringdon Station, and in the museums.

Connections

Clerkenwell is walkable from legal London and St Paul’s to the south, Bloomsbury including King’s Cross Station to the West, and the Barbican to the East. Farringdon Station lies at its heart.

History

MEDIEVAL ORIGINS

• Named for Clerk’s Well where religious mystery plays were performed in the 12th century (see the well at 16 Farringdon Road) and used for outdoor sports such as archery.
• By 14th century, home to great Priories of the Knights of St John (1140), and the Charterhouse Priory. and the Augustian nunnery of St Mary (1140), all largely destroyed by Henry VIII in the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

TUDOR AND STUART ERAS

• During 16th and 17th centuries, Clerkenwell was first London suburb to be developed north of the city for fashionable and wealthy londoners, and was home to the first London theatre established by famed actor John Burbage in 1576.
• After the Great Fire the area became home to great numbers of the homeless and living conditions deteriorated greatly.

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH

• By the 18th and 19th centuries became an industrial hub famous for fine clock and watchmaking, printing and publishing.
• Became known as Little Italy for large number of Italians working in the printing industry.
• The River Fleet which ran down the course of the current Farringdon Road gradually became an open sewer.
• Smelly leather trades banned from the City flourished here.
• It was a violent and dangerous place and later the haunt of Dicken’s Fagin and the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist.

VICTORIAN TRANSFORMATION

• In 1863, The world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan Line was sunk into the ground between Clerkenwell and Paddington (demolishing some of London’s worst slums and displacing countless families in the process).
• Known for vibrant markets including Smithfield.
• Clerkenwell Green became a focal point early on for radical political thinking demonstrations. and dissent. The Marx Memorial Library on Clerkenwell Green was a publishing site frequented by Marx and Lenin. Feminist Spare Rib, the New Statesman, the Guardian, and the spectator are publications that are or were located here.

MODERN CLERKENWELL

An area steeped in history now a hub for creative industries retaining its meieval street pattern and historical charm.

Clerkenwell Walk

DIRECTIONS

TO START AT THE BARBICAN

1. Turn right out of the station then right into Long Lane.
2. Cross the road and enter the medieval Cloth Street, turning right into Middle Street which becomes Cloth Fair. On your left is the wonderful St Bartholemew the Great.
3. Turn left into the little churchyard and then right and walk out under the historic gatehouse.
4. Go right then straight on through old Smithfield Market. Cross over and enter Cowcross Street.
5. The route then turns tight and explores alleyways behind the street, and St John’s Gardens, before returning to Cowcross Street, but the street itself is worth a look.
6. At the bottom of the Cowcross Street, continue down to the left on the pedestrianised street past Farringdon Street Station.
7. FARRINGDON STATION – (IF STARTING HERE, EXIT AND WALK DOWN THE PEDESTRIANISED HILL.
8. Cross busy Farringdon Road and continue straight to the end, turning right into Leather Lane market. On the way you will pass dingy Bleeding Heart’s Yard and cross Hatton Garden. You are close to a rare surviving example of a medieval church in the city. St Ethelreda’s dates bach to the 13th century and is a gothic masterpiece with its high vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows and intricate stonework.
9. Take a small detour first left into Brooke’s Market to see the pretty churchyard of St Alban the Martyr church then continue along Leather Lane to Clerkenwell Road.
10. At the end of Leather Lane turn right into busy Clerkenwell Road. We will be taking the first turning to the left into Back Lane, but just beyond it is St Peter’s Italian church.
11. At the bottom of Back Lane, turn right then left up narrow Crawford Passage then first left, crossing the Farringdon Road into Bowling Green Lane.
12. Take the first left then right into Northampton Road, then enter Spa fields park through the gate on the left.
13. Walk straight through past the church on the left and out into the convivial atmosphere of Exmouth Market, hosting food stalls on weekdays between 12-3pm. Turn into the little alley back into Spa Fields park and keep left, passing through a small playground and on to meet Corporation Row where you will turn right.
14. Take the first left into the pretty, historic lanes around St James’s church
15. . Follow Clerkenwell Close round to the right, then left, around the churchyard on your left past the Three Kings Clerkenwell and out onto Clerkenwell Square.
16. Turn left then left around the church into St James’s Walk, Sans Street, Woodbridge Street and Aylesbury Street before cutting left through the opening into old St John’s Square.
17. Cross Clerkenwell Road and walk down through St John’s Gate and down St John’s Lane to meet Charterhouse Street.
18. Take a left, then first left into Charterhouse Square.
19. Leave the Square continuing along Charterhouse Street to the end. Barbican tube station is on your right.

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