This week I had the opportunity to visit the remains of the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knights Hospitaller, in London. It is in the area now known as Clerkenwell and once its walled enclosures covered a very large area and housed hundreds of people. All that remains today is the gatehouse to the inner courtyard and a 12th-century chapel from the original priory church.
The order had been founded in around 1080 in Jerusalem as a hospital for pilgrims visiting the city. The London Priory was founded around 1140 as the headquarters of the order in this country. It continued to be the headquarters until it was suppressed by King Henry VIII in the 16th century. The buildings were sold off, some demolished and the stone reused elsewhere. Much of the stone was purchased by Lord Somerset, who used it to build his new mansion near the river, known today as Somerset House.
The priory Church remained and, though reduced in size, was initially used as a private chapel of one of the converted houses and later as a parish church for the area. It was destroyed by a bomb in 1941 and only the 12th century crypt chapel remains from the original church. The church which now stands above it dates from the 1950s and was rebuilt by the modern Order of St John which uses it as a place for order ceremonials.
The gatehouse has had many functions since the dissolution, including a coffee shop, pub and printing house. But it was purchased at the end of the 19th century and presented to the modern order of St John, who expanded the buildings which now house a museum, covering the history of the medieval order and the modern order, the headquarters of the modern order and the headquarters of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
It was a very interesting visit
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