Area Description: 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 ... [Read More]

Area Description: 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.