Description
Temple Church is the round church the Knights Templar built as their English headquarters, between Fleet Street and the Thames in the City of London: a medieval island among the lawyers' courtyards of the Inner and Middle Temple, which still own it.
The oldest part is the Round, consecrated in 1185 and modeled, like other Templar churches, on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. On its floor lie the 13th-century stone effigies of knights, among them William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke.
To the east opens the larger chancel, rebuilt around 1240 with a central aisle and two side aisles. A German bombing raid in 1941 set the roof on fire, and the cracked Purbeck marble columns were replaced in identical form, slight outward lean included.
In January 1215 King John met the rebel barons here, a step toward Magna Carta that June. Fans of The Da Vinci Code will know the church too: a key scene of the novel and the film is set inside.
The oldest part is the Round, consecrated in 1185 and modeled, like other Templar churches, on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. On its floor lie the 13th-century stone effigies of knights, among them William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke.
To the east opens the larger chancel, rebuilt around 1240 with a central aisle and two side aisles. A German bombing raid in 1941 set the roof on fire, and the cracked Purbeck marble columns were replaced in identical form, slight outward lean included.
In January 1215 King John met the rebel barons here, a step toward Magna Carta that June. Fans of The Da Vinci Code will know the church too: a key scene of the novel and the film is set inside.