London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [50]
St. Bartholomew the Great.
Reached via a perfect half-timber gatehouse atop a 13th-century stone archway, this is one of London’s oldest churches. Construction on the church and the hospital nearby was begun in 1123 by Henry I’s favorite courtier, Rahere, who caught malaria and, surviving, vowed to dedicate his life to serving the saint who had visited him in his fevered dreams. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII had most of it torn down; the Romanesque choir loft is all that survives from the 12th century. The ancient church has appeared in The Other Boleyn Girl, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Shakespeare in Love. | Cloth Fair, West Smithfield, The City | EC1A 7JQ | 020/7606–5171 | www.greatstbarts.com | Church £4, museum free | Church weekdays 8:30–5 (Nov.–Feb. 8:30–4), Sat. 10:30–4, Sun 8:30–8. Museum Tues.–Fri. 10–4 | Barbican, Farringdon.
St. Bride’s.
According to legend, the distinctively tiered steeple of this Christopher Wren–designed church gave rise to the shape of the traditional wedding cake. One early couple inspired to marry here were the parents of Virginia Dare, the first European child born in colonial America in 1587. As St. Paul’s (in Covent Garden) is the actors’ church, so St. Bride’s belongs to journalists, many of whom have been buried or memorialized here. Samuel Richardson, one of the “Fathers of the English Novel,” is buried here and by 1664 the crypts were so crowded that diarist Samuel Pepys, who was baptized here, had to bribe the gravedigger to “justle together” some bodies to make room for his deceased brother. Now the crypts house a museum of the church’s rich history, and a bit of Roman sidewalk. | Fleet St., The City | EC4Y 8AU | 020/7427–0133 | www.stbrides.com | Free | Weekdays 8–6, Sat. 11–3, Sun. for services only 10–1 and 5–7:30 | St. Paul’s, Blackfriars.
St. Mary-le-Bow.
This church is another classic City survivor; various versions have stood on the site since the 11th century. In 1284 a local goldsmith took refuge here after committing a murder, only to be killed inside the church by enraged relatives of his victim. The church was abandoned for a time afterward, but started up again, and was rebuilt in its current form after the Great Fire. Wren’s 1673 incarnation has a tall steeple for a City church (only St. Bride’s is taller) and one of the most famous sets of bells around—a Londoner must be born within the sound of the “Bow Bells” to be a true Cockney. The origin of that idea may have been the curfew rung on the bells during the 14th century, even though “Cockney” only came to mean “Londoner” centuries later, and then it was an insult. The Bow takes its name from the bow-shaped arches in the Norman crypt. The garden contains a statue of local boy Captain John Smith, who founded Virginia in 1606 and was later captured by Native Americans. | Cheapside, The City | EC2V 6AU | 020/7248–5139 | www.stmarylebow.co.uk | Mon.–Wed. 7–6, Thurs. 7–6:30, Fri. 7–4; closed weekends | Mansion House, St. Paul’s.
QUICK BITES: The Café Below (020/7329–0789 | www.cafebelow.co.uk), in St. Mary-le-Bow’s Norman crypt, is packed with City workers weekdays from 7:30 am until 9 pm for a menu covering breakfasts, scrumptious light