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The mercurial popularity of now-hip Clerkenwell coincides, appropriately enough, with the fluctuating role that alcohol has played in the local economy. Clerkenwell was founded as a monastic hamlet in the 12th century, but an influx of brewers and distilleries about 600 years later brought a slew of liquor-centric jobs to the area. The population boomed a bit too strongly, though, and Clerkenwell soon became the notorious slum detailed in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist. The area was heavily damaged during WWII and again by fire in the 1980s and 90s. Today, it is less chic than before but definitely more fun, with a lively population of young bars and nightclubs. Many of the neighborhood’s historic buildings are beautiful from the outside but are inaccessible to tourists; instead, walking all or part of the Clerkenwell Historic Trail (maps available at the Curved Angel) provides a wonderful history lesson as well as a great way to see the under-appreciated streets of Clerkenwell. (All sights are closest to Farringdon unless otherwise stated.)
St. Bartholomew The Great. Enter through a 13th-century arch to reach this gem of a Norman church, hidden between other buildings and houses. The peaceful elevated courtyard provides a close view of its unique and eccentric exterior as well as a lovely place to sit and relax. Inside, the current neck-stretching nave was just the chancel of the original 12th-century church, which once reached all the way to the street. William Hogarth was baptized in the 15th-century font, and at one time Benjamin Franklin worked as a printer’s apprentice in the Lady Chapel. The tomb near the central altar is the resting place of Rahere, who in 1123 founded both the church and the neighboring St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. (Little Britain, off West Smithfield. Barbican. ☎ )
St. John’S Square. Bisected by the busy Clerkenwell Rd., St. John’s Sq. occupies the site of the 12th-century Priory of St. John, former seat of the Knights Hospitallers. The Hospitallers (in full, the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem) were founded in 1113 during the First Crusade to simultaneously tend to the sick and fight the heathens. What remains of their London seat is now in the hands of the British Order of St. John. Unaffiliated with the original Vatican order—which still exists—this Protestant organization founded their Ambulance Brigade in 1887 to provide first-aid service to the public.
Built in 1504 as the main entrance to the priory, St. John’s Gate now arches grandly over the entrance to the square. The small museum on the ground floor mixes artifacts relating to the original priory and Knights Hospitallers, including everything from armor to table settings, with a “Time to Care” room detailing the order’s modern-day exploits in bringing medical aid to the masses. Join a tour to see the upstairs council chamber and the priory church, which is otherwise closed to the public. (St. John’s Ln. ☎ Call for group bookings. Free; requested donation £5.)
On the other side of Clerkenwell Rd., cobblestones in St. John’s Sq. mark the position of the original Norman church. The current building dates to the 16th century and lies at the end of a cloister garden. Two panels of the 1480 Weston Triptych stand on their original altar, but the real treasure of the church is the crypt, a remnant from the 12th-century priory and one of London’s few surviving pieces of Norman architecture. Now it serves as a convenient place to sit and eat a meal while watching the business of the city whip by. (Open only to tours of St. John’s Gate, unless by special arrangement; see above.)
Clerkenwell Green. Not very green at all—actually just a wider-than-normal street—Clerkenwell Green boasts a few venerable historical associations. Wat Tyler rallied the Peasants’ Revolt here in 1381, and Lenin published the Bolshevik newspaper Iskra from No. 37a, the Green’s oldest building, built in 1737. It now houses the Marx Memorial Library. Across from this revolutionary hotbed, the Old Sessions House, built in 1782, was formerly the courthouse for the county of Middlesex—note the Middlesex arms on the portico. Reputedly haunted, it’s now the enigmatic London Masonic Centre. (Closed to the public.) Overall, there’s not too much to see on the Green, but many small, winding streets around it offer quaint cafes and places to relax.
The Charterhouse. Originally a 14th-century Carthusian monastery, the Charterhouse and its walls were built around the communal grave of thousands of victims of the 1349 Black Death. In 1611, the corpses got some new company when Thomas Sutton bought the property and established a foundation for the education of 40 boys and the care of 80 impoverished old men. Charterhouse School rapidly established itself as one of the most prestigious (and expensive) schools in England. In 1872 the school moved to Surrey, leaving the complex to the (still penniless) pensioners. The weekly tour guides you through the grounds and into some of the buildings, including the Duke of Norfolk’s Great Hall and the chapel with Sutton’s ornate tomb. (On the north side of Charterhouse Sq. Barbican. ☎ )
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