Temple Church

The Knights Templar round church was built on a magnificent scale to match the growing importance and wealth of the order in England. Linked to the church as a range of grand buildings, complete with great hall, to accommodate the Master and his knights, their chaplains and retainers, while kitchens, fishponds and stables met their other needs. Spacious grounds stretched down to the Thames, providing areas for training and recreation.

The original church was consecrated in 1185 by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Heraclius, who was in England to generate support for the crusaders in the Holy Land. While in England, he also consecrated the Hospitaller’s church of St. John, at their headquarters half a mile to the north, in Clerkenwell.

The London Temple was one of the three administrative centres of the Order, along with the Paris Temple and their headquarters in Jerusalem. Temple Church was the centre of the Templar’s London preceptory, which in turn was the headquarters of the Templar estates in Britain. All their wealth was held here, in a treasury so renowned for security that kings would confidently deposit their own riches there – - even their crown jewels. The original exchequer was probably sited in chambers beneath the church precinct, where a wall was found decorated with the black and white squares used as a visual key to the movement of finances.

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On May 10, 1941, during the height of the Battle of Britain in World War II, a German air raid of incendiary bombs severely damaged the Temple Church. The roof of the Round Church caught fire, which quickly spread to the nave and chancel. All the wooden parts of the church, including the Victorian renovations, were destroyed. After the war, the Temple Church was fully restored; it was rededicated on November 1958.