Walking the City of London Churches ep.10 

Starting in Old Broad Street we go looking for the Dutch Church in Austin Friars where Vincent Van Gogh Worshipped. We then go along Throgmorton Street and admire the exterior of Drapers’ Hall and Throgmorton Avenue. We emerge behind the Bank of England and get drawn into Tokenhouse Yard, Telegraph Street, Whalebone Yard and King’s Arms Yard. Then we go inside the magnificent St. Margaret Lothbury with its fascinating relics from other City of London Churches and its association with five City Livery Companies.

Filmed July 2024

Walking the City of London Churches ep.7 

A walk through the City of London visiting some of the city’s most historic churches. Including All Hallow on the Wall, St Botolph Aldgate, St Katherine Cree, All Hallows Staining, St Olave’s Hart Street, and All Hallows by the Tower. We explore the rich history and beguiling architecture of these sacred spaces. Along the way, we’ll learn some of the fascinating stories behind these churches and discover hidden gems. Continuing the series of walking tours around the churches and ancient historic sites of the City of London we start at Bishopsgate outside Liverpool Street Station. Our route takes to All Hallows on London Wall and then we walk down Houndsditch which was once a deep ditch outside the Roman Wall. This leads us to St Botolph Aldgate where the City meets the East End. From here we walk along Aldgate High Street to Leadenhall Street and the church of St Katherine Cree with its stone Tudor tower. Crossing to Mark Lane we visit the tower of All Hallows Staining and then on to St Olave Hart street where I was fortunate to catch the end of the Sunday service. The final church on our walking tour is All Hallows by the Tower with its magnificent crypt containing a section of Roman tesserae and Anglo-Saxon stone work from a previous church on the site beside the Tower of London.

Filmed December 2022

Walking the City of London Churches ep.6 

A London walk through some of the most historic locations in the City of London

We’re back to unpick more of the City of London’s stories and discover some of its treasures. This classic London history walk includes some of the City’s most important locations as well as its centres of power. We start by going in search of a plaque marking the site of Shakespeare’s lodgings in London and this leads us to the site of St Mary Aldermanbury and the garden that marks the location of this church that was destroyed in the blitz. We next visit St Alban, Wood Street, the lonely tower all that remains of the Wren Church built after the great fire on a site that has had a church since at least the 10th Century. We cross London Wall, visit the location of St Olaf Silver Street, the Roman Wall in Noble Street, and the site of St Mary Staining. Our walking tour then takes us to the magnificent Guildhall, home of the Corporation of London, and ‘an enduring symbol of London’s past and present’. In the basement of the Guildhall Gallery I visit the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre that once occupied the site and was said to have a capacity of 6000. Moving on to Lothbury we visit the Bank of England, the first privately owned Central Bank and also the Royal Exchange and the Mansion House all situated around Bank Tube Station.

Filmed August 2022

Walking the City of London Churches ep.5  

A walk linking together a series of churches and sacred sites in the City of London

This is episode five in the City of London churches walks. Churches on this walk: St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, St. James Garlickhithe, St. Mary Aldermary, Site of St. Mildred’s, St Peter’s Churchyard, St Mary-le-Bow, St. Mary Woolnoth. We also visit the birthplace of St Thomas Becket.

Streets: Bow Lane and Watling Street, Queen Victoria Street, Cheapside, Lombard Street, Groveland Court

Pubs: Ye Olde Watling Pub, The Pavilion End, Williamson’s Tavern

Filmed June 2022

Walking the City of London Churches ep.4  

Our walking tour starts at St Andrew Holborn before we follow Shoe Lane to Farringdon Road and Ludgate Hill where we visit St Martin Ludgate. Our next church is St Andrew by-the-Wardrobe. Crossing Queen Victoria Street we find St Benet Church. Our walk ends with what I believe to be one of the most special places in the City of London – St Swithun’s Church Garden which contains the Catrin Glyndwr memorial.

Filmed March 2022

Part of my ongoing series of walks around the Churches of the City of London

Friends of the City Churches

Walking the City of London Churches ep.3 – Fleet Street 

The incredible stories of Fleet Street

Fleet Street walking tour – one of the most famous streets in London. This continues the series on the Churches of the City of London.

Our walk starts in Clement’s Lane passing through the grounds of the London School of Economics and behind the Royal Courts of Justice. We then visit St Clement Danes Church and look for the medieval holy well. After looking at the statue of Samuel Johnson we go to Temple Bar the ancient western gate of the City of London. From here we visit St Dunstan-in-the-West with its statues of Gog and Magog and recount of the story of Brutus of Troy, Albina founding Britain and Corineus defeating the giant Gogmagog in Battle leading to Brutus becoming the first king of Britain and founding London. We also talk about the 14th Century statues of King Lud and his sons in the porch of the church. We continue along Fleet Street and go into Inner Temple and visit Temple Church, Middle Temple Hall and Fountain Court before going along Whitefriars Street to St Bride’s Church with its fantastic spire designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Our walk ends by looking for the site of Bridewell Palace first built by Henry III.

Filmed December 2021

Walking the City of London Churches ep.2

Our walking tour of the churches of the City of London starts at St Vedast Foster Lane then takes in: St Leonard’s (lost church), St John Zachary (lost church), The Goldsmiths’ Garden, St Anne and St Agnes, French Protestant Church (lost church), St Botolph Aldersgate, Postmans Park, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Smithfield, St Bartholomew the Great, and finally St Sepulchre-without-Newgate. We also find a beautiful section of Roman pavement in a hidden courtyard, explore some of the beguiling alleyways of the City of London, hear the story of William Wallace’s end at Smithfield and also John Rogers the Martyr and the vision of Rahere, Jester to Henry I that led to the foundation of the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great. Credits: Image of St Martin’s Le-Grand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mar…

Filmed October 2021