Temple Church, London

Temple Church, London

Visited September 2015

The Temple Church in London is probably still best known from The Da Vinci Code, and of course it’s name does refer to the Knights Templar, although nowadays the area is best known for lawyers rather than Medieval crusading knights. The original round church dates to the mid-12th century, with the rectangular part added about 50 years later. When the Templars were abolished in the 16th century, the church was seized by the Crown and then given to the Inner and Middle Temple Inns of Court, who still own it today.

Inside the church are 13th and 14th century stone effigies of the knights buried there - given they’re over 700 years old they’re in very good condition! There are also the usual memorials to the great and the good in the main church. It’s definitely worth a visit, for the architecture, effigies, associations with the templars, and of course the wonderful ancient carving of grotesque heads around the walls in the round church.