Churches and Cathedrals in Goffs Oak

"Towering over diminutive Ludgate Hill in a superb position that's been a place of Christian worship for over 1400 years (and pagan before that), St Paul’s is one of London’s most magnificent buildings. For Londoners, the vast dome is a symbol of resilience and pride, standing tall for more than 300 years. Viewing Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece from the inside and climbing to the top for sweeping views of the capital is a celestial experience."

"Day 1: Arrive in London, Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour, the London EyeDay 2: Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Whitehall, Covent GardenDay 3: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Borough Market, Tate Modern, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Sky GardenDay 4: National Gallery, Greenwich, Prime Meridian, Up at the O2Day 5: British Museum, Portobello Road Market, Victoria and Albert Museum, Harrod’s"

"From the Tower of London, walk 20 minutes west, up Ludgate Hill, and find yourself at the City of London’s highest point – right in the shadow of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Whether it’s the Cathedral’s iconic dome, colonnade-adorned West Front, or glistening interior, there’s plenty to leave you speechless during a stroll through St. Paul’s."

"Year Built: 675 CE Location: Byward Street, City of London Purpose:  Church (Current Denomination – Church of England) Still Standing:  Yes. photo source: Wikimedia Commons. Although St. Bride’s Church is considered older, All Hallows by the Tower often cites itself as the oldest church in the City of London – unlike other early churches, All Hallows has a definitive founding date backed up by well-kept records."

"The Church of England church All Hallows by the Tower is so-called as the land it stands on was granted to Barking Abbey in 675 by Erkenwald, Bishop of London. Nearly a thousand years later, Samuel Pepys climbed the church tower to watch the progress of the Great Fire of London. ” … and there saw the saddest sight of desolation that I ever saw."

"Temple Church in Central London is the physical embodiment of the Knights Templar, a religious order that also trained as warrior monks. This is history that is strong on narrative and bursting with battles and blood-lust. Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar, the order of crusading monks who sought to protect pilgrims on their journeys to Jerusalem in the 12th century."

"This historic site was first built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters back in the late 20th century. These days the church prides itself on its musical output and together the choir and the Harrison & Harrison organ produce some of the most sonorous gospel music in the city. It's one of the very oldest churches in the city, sure to fascinate history buffs."

"The name, Temple, derives from the Order of the Knights Templar, an order established in 1118 for protecting pilgrims. (You may know of them as the knights who wore white tunics with red crosses on them.). In 1162, the group built their first church and houses on the banks of the Thames."

"Another of Sir Christopher Wren’s designs from the ashes of the 1666 Great Fire, St Bride’s is the tallest of Wren’s churches after St Paul’s, standing at 69m tall. Located in Fleet Street, it has a long association with newspapers and journalists. It was largely gutted by fire during the Blitz in 1940."

"He is thought to have been inspired by illustrations of the Tower of the Winds in Vitruvius. However, it is best known for its lasting influence on weddings. This originated when a Mr Rich, an 18th-century pastrycook of Fleet Street, modelled his famous wedding cakes on the spire."

"It is a little square box of a church, by Wren, tucked away in a little courtyard which was once the graveyard, but now a place to sit and eat your sandwiches. It is not only one of Wren’s prettiest churches but also the least altered since it was built in 1686. It is renowned for its splendid carved wood interior, especially the reredos, or altarpiece, by the master Grinling Gibbons, with its lively swags of flowers."

"St Stephen Walbrook has the most beautiful interior of all Wren’s churches reputedly. He was experimenting with his plans for St Paul’s Cathedral. St Stephen is a variation on the same theme – an un-English central dome married to a traditional English church plan of nave with aisles, chancel and crossing transepts."

"Sir Christopher Wren is best known for the design and construction of St Paul’s Cathedral. He also built many other churches around London after the Great Fire. He probably did more to shape the appearance of London than any other single person, all the way through to the 19th century."

"Wildly regarded as Wren’s best City church, this was damaged during the Blitz so they commissioned Henry Moore to design a new altar"

"A post shared by Cesar Silvestre (@cjcaspt.83) on Sep 30, 2018 at 6:18am PDT. Named after one of early England’s foremost saints, St Dunstan narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London when the Dean of Westminster roused 40 scholars from their sleep and had them extinguish its flames. Rebuilt in 1831 after years of wear and tear, the church is most famous nowadays for its clock, which dates to 1671."

"St Dunstan in the West has been nestled in among the pubs and old printing and publishing offices of Fleet Street for over 180 years. One of the finest examples of London’s gothic revival architecture, the church is something of a hidden gem in the heart of the city. Like so many landmarks, the church was severely damaged during the blitz."

"Not only is St Helen’s one of the oldest surviving churches in the City of London, but it is also the largest, and contains more monuments than any other church in London (except Westminster Abbey of course). The church was designed with two parallel naves, which is why is it is so much wider than a usual church, and it was actually divided in two at one point, with half serving the nuns and the other half serving the parishioners (it is also the only nunnery still standing in the City of London). Among the more famous parishioners of this church was William Shakespeare who lived nearby in the 1590s."

"St Helen Bishopsgate was formed originally of two medieval churches joined together. On the left is the nave of a Benedictine Nunnery, which, in the early 13th century was built onto the existing parish church. The two congregations were then separated by a solid screen (now columns)."

"St Helen’s Church in Bishopsgate is another survivor of the Great Fire, and indeed the Blitz. However, an IRA bomb blew its roof off. It originally belonged to a nunnery which was dissolved in 1538."

"From St Michael's it is a very short stroll to the Verulamium Museum, a modern museum showcasing finds from the Roman city. One highlight is a 2nd-century bronze figure of a goddess known as the Verulamium Venus, and another is 'Postumus', a skeleton discovered buried in a beautifully crafted lead coffin. A short walk across Verulamium Park from the museum brings you to a 3rd-century mosaic and hypocaust, protected by a low modern building."

"This really is one of the most unusual things to do in Hertfordshire. A completely unique sight, this Roman Theatre is a theatre with a stage, rather than the usual Amphitheatre which we may be used to seeing from Roman times. It was built in 140AD and is the only one of its type in the whole of the UK."

"The Roman Theatre of Verulamium is an ancient excavated theatre built around 140 AD. It’s unique in that it’s not an amphitheatre, as was commonly built during Roman times. But rather, it resembles a design similar to a modern theatre, with a raised stage."

"Restaurants Chinese Shepherd’s Bush. Food-wise at this Chinese restaurant in Shepherd’s Bush’s Dorsett Hotel, top marks go to the exquisitely crafted dim sum – from the signature xiao long bao to sophisticated open parcels of scallop siu mai topped with tobiko – while the dining room reflects the classy comfort of its hotel setting."

"Chinese , Dim Sum"

"Restaurants Chinese Shepherd’s Bush. There’s no shortage of budget chop suey joints in She Bu, but this is a proper Chinese restaurant serving more than the usual takeaway scoff. Sichuan cuisine (including a tongue-numbing mala hotpot ‘buffet’) is the draw, backed by gentler items such as Hunan-style red-braised pork belly."

"From fully-qualified doctors to avid viewers of Holby City, this museum will remind you of how surgery used to be a whole lot more gruesome back in the day. Europe’s oldest surviving operating theatre is in Southwark, dating back more than 300 years. Nowadays you can tour the theatre, which has been kept exactly as it was when it was used during a time of no anaesthetic (ow), no antiseptic (ew) and certainly no antibiotics (crikey)."

"The V&A's Theatre Collections hold the UK's national collection of material about live performance in the UK since Shakespeare's day, covering drama, dance, musical theatre, circus, music hall, rock and pop, and other forms of live entertainment. Theatre and Performance galleries dedicated to the performing arts, display works of art, costumes, ephemera, video recordings, puppets, posters and photographs."

"Alternatives (or additional spots) in the area to the above attractions: Southwark Cathedral, Borough Market (one of London’s most famous food markets), The Old Operating Theatre Museum (fee*), The Monument (fee*), and The View from the Shard (fee*)."