Local London Attractions and History


Your London Apartment is located in the ancient heart of London just outside the original Roman walled city to the east. The exit from the walled city to “Clerkenwell Without” was Aldersgate the remains of which are adjacent to The Museum of London five minutes walk away.  
10 minutes walk in opposite directions from Sekforde Street, lie Smithfield and Exmouth Markets which date from the 10th century. Smithfield Market is the last surviving historical wholesale meat market in central London and has a bloody history of executions of heretics and political opponents. It was the place of the execution of William Wallace of “Braveheart“ fame.
Smithfield Market is also the home of the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. The Church dates from 1123 AD and is the oldest remaining Church building in London.  More recently it has provide the setting for a number of cinematic triumphs including Four Weddings & A Funeral (the Duck slapping incident) Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Shakespeare in Love, and Elizabeth, the Golden Age. The Hospital is the oldest in London and remains a fully working teaching hospital with a minor injury emergency clinic.
Exmouth Market has transformed from an ancient outdoor market and is now home to a number of very good restaurants and is a haven for foodies from all over London offering cuisines from North Africa, Thailand, India, Italy, and Caribbean. Traditional English cooking can also be found at Metcalf a converted butcher’s premise. 
St. John’s Gate was the home of the Knights Templars and remains the Home of the St. Johns Ambulance and Museum which is well worth a visit.
Charterhouse Square was a religious centre and priory until the 16th century reformation and some of the ancient Cluniac priory buildings remain. Agatha Christie’s Poirot is the Square’s most famous resident, living in “Whitehaven Mansions” (actually Florin Court).
Clerkenwell Green, at the southern end of Sekforde Street, lies at the centre of the old village, near the church in Clerkenwell Close which dates from the 13th century. The Green is dominated by an imposing former courthouse (built in 1782, extended by the Victorians, and now used as a Masonic Hall). Oliver Cromwell had a home in Clerkenwell Close just off the Green.
Clerkenwell Green has had no grass for over 300 years. However, it gives the appearance of one of the better-preserved village centres in what is now central London. In Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Clerkenwell Green is where Fagin and the Artful Dodger induct Oliver into pickpocketing amongst shoppers in the busy market once held there. Indeed Dickens knew the area well and was a customer of the Finsbury Savings Bank on Sekforde Street.
Postman’s Park is a few minutes walk from Smithfield Market and is within the ancient city walls. It opened in 1880 on the site of the former churchyard and burial ground of St Botolph's without Aldersgate church which still stands in its north eastern corner and has been the site of a religious building for over 1000 years. The park is now named for the postal workers for whom it was an oasis during a busy day’s work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In 1900, the park became the location for George Frederic Watts's Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, a memorial to ordinary people who died saving the lives of others and might otherwise have been forgotten, in the form of a loggia and long wall housing about 110 ceramic memorial tablets celebrating heroic deeds. Should you take the time to visit this charming memorial you will leave with indeliable memories of the goodness of your fellow man.

DUE SOUTH
St. Paul’s Cathedral (10 mins walk).............read more
The Museum of London (15 mins).............read more
Tate Modern Art Gallery (15 mins).............read more
Shakespear’s Globe Theatre (15 mins)............read more
The River Thames – providing river boat excursions from the Tate Modern pier(10 mins)......................read more
The Old Bailey (15 mins).............read more
Smithfield Market and Restaurants (10 mins) ............read more
DUE NORTH
Sadlers Wells Theatre (10 mins)............read more
The Angel Islington Antiques and Curios Market (10 mins)............read more
Regents Canal – including beautiful canal side walks to Regents Park and Zoo to the west and Victoria Park to the east (10 mins to Canal)............read more
Camden Market and Restaurants (via Regents Canal about 45 mins).....read more
DUE WEST
The London Eye (25 mins)............read more
Westminster Palace and Big Ben (30 mins walk or take the river boat from Tate Modern Pier)............read more
The British Museum (20 mins)............read more
Covent Garden, Oxford Street Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the Theatres of the West End (30mins or take the No.s 19 or 38 bus from Rosebery Avenue)
Lincoln’s Inn and other Inns of Court (15 mins)............read more
The Royal Courts of Justice (25 mins)............read more
DUE EAST
The Tower of London (30 mins)............read more
The London Dungeon (30 mins)............read more
The London Town Hall (30 mins)............read more
St Catherine’s Dock and the Dickens Inn (30 mins)............read more
Spitalfields Market and Restaurants (25 mins)............read more
Bricklane – the Indian/Asian cultural and cuisine centre of London (30 mins)
Guildhall and the City of London (including all of its historical and architectural feature buildings) (15 mins)............read more
Hoxton Square – an area which comes alive at night with bars, restaurants and nightclubs for the art crowd ............read more
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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