While you are in London, don’t miss visiting the Temple Church located between Fleet Street and the River Thames. It is one of the last Norman churches in England and it features in the film “The Da Vinci Code”.

The church was built in 1185 by the Knights Templar as part of a monastic complex that included living areas, military training facilities and exercise and leisure areas for the Brothers and the novices.

The nave is circular and called “The Round”. It has five free-standing columns of Purbeck marble and stone effigies of knights on the floor. Once these were thought to be tombs, but they aren’t, they are memorials. The Knights used the nave for worship and for their secret initiation rites. The oblong cancel was added in 1240. The church was also used as a sort of bank, where noblemen deposited money in the care of the Knights to keep it safe from the Crown.

By the 14th century the Knights had become unpopular because they were rich and corrupt, so they were imprisoned in the Tower of London, accused of blasphemy, heresy and unsavoury sexual practices.

The Crown confiscated the church and later gave it to the Knights Hospitaller, who in turn rented a part of it out to two colleges of law students. In 1540 King Henry VIII abolished the Knights and took control of the church, installing a priest of his choosing. In 1608 King James II gave the building back to the Inner and Middle Temple law colleges, to whom it belongs today.

Don’t miss the Norman door and the gargoyles on the five columns in the nave. As they are inside the building, it’s easier to admire them close-up. The beautiful wooden alter was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

It would be a real shame if you left London without seeing St Bride’s Church, which is closely related to the printing presses of the daily nationals in Fleet Street.

The original church dates back to the 6th or 7th century and was built just after the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity. Dedicated to St Bridget of Ireland, it’s possible that the first building was erected by Celtic monks. Only the foundations remain of this early church, which was replaced by a Norman place of worship in the 11th century and enlarged in the 15th century.

When most of London was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, St Bride’s wasn’t spared and Sir Christopher Wren designed the new building, which became the 2nd tallest church he designed after St Paul’s Cathedral. Of particular note is the tiered steeple; archetypical wedding cakes are based on a copy of this spire.

The church first became connected with the newspaper world in 1501, when the first printing press in London was installed in a building on the church grounds. This was an auspicious move on the part of Wynkyn de Worde, the press’s owner, because at that time only the clergy and the nobles were able to read. A few years later, playwrights and authors started asking him to print their works and other printers set up in business around the church – Fleet Street was born.

When the church was partially destroyed during the Blitz of 1941, newspaper owners and journalists paid for the church to be rebuilt. During excavations in the crypt, the foundations of the original 6th century church were uncovered. Today, the crypt is a museum, full of ancient relics and a history of the printed word.

St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is a Church of England church located on Queen Victoria Street near Blackfriars station. St. Andrew's is situated on a terrace overlooking the street, its plain red-brick exterior contrasting with the stone buildings on either side. The interior is aisled, with arcaded bays supported by piers rather than the usual columns. The original interior fittings were mostly destroyed during the Second World War, and many of the church's features were procured from other destroyed London churches. One of the parishioners of St. Andrew's was William Shakespeare. Shakespeare was a member of this parish for about fifteen years while he was working at the Blackfriars Theatre nearby; later he bought a house within the parish, in Ireland Yard. In his honour, a memorial was erected in the church.

St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building dates from the 17th century and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It is generally reckoned to be London's fifth St Paul's Cathedral, all having been built on the same site since 604 A.D. The cathedral is one of London's most famous and most recognisable sights. At 365 feet (111m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world, only St Peter's Basilica in Rome being higher. The Monument to the Great Fire of London, also designed by Wren and the tallest doric column in the world, would fit inside the cathedral's interior.

After the Great Fire of London in 1666, Sir Christopher Wren spent the rest of his life designing churches to replace those that had been destroyed in the disaster. In all, he rebuilt over 50 churches and one of these was St James Garlickhythe which you will find in the Vintry Ward, near Mansion House tube station.

The church comes by its strange name due to its proximity to the unloading area of French ships bringing wine and garlic to the city. “Hythe” is a Saxon word for dock or landing place, and the merchants sold their wares on “Garlick Hill”, where the church now stands.

The first church was built in the 12th century and then enlarged in 1326. In the 15th century it became a collegiate and was served by seven chantry priests. After the Great Fire and rebuilding the church was re-consecrated to St James and the local parishioners voted to keep the entire name, even though “hythe” was no longer in use.

During the Blitz in 1941 a bomb crashed through the roof of the church, but was removed before it could explode. At the end of the war, during rebuilding, the church was found to be infested with Death Watch Beetle and it was closed until 1963.

Today you can admire the nave with its two narrow aisles and five bays, its double rows of Ionic columns, its barrel vault ceiling, its gallery added in 1714 and a particularly fine painting: “Ascension” executed by Andrew Geddes in 1815.

Tradition dictates that a Londoner isn’t a true Cockney unless he is born within earshot of the bells of St Mary le Bow.

This historical church features in the famous nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons”, as the “Great bell of Bow”. According to legend, it was the sound of the bells of this church that persuaded Dick Wittington to “Turn again Wittington, Lord Mayor of London”, when he was leaving the city after being mistreated by the head butler in his master’s house.

The original Saxon church was replaced by a Norman one, which was destroyed by the London Tornado in 1091. A new church was built with two arches (bows) from which it took its name. The bells were heard from miles around and were used to signal the curfew.

St Mary le Bow was another church destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666 and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1673, with the steeple added on in 1680. The mileage from London to the Sussex town of Lewes was calculated from the door of the church and milestones bearing a bow and a string of bells can still be seen between the capital and the country town.

The church was destroyed during the Blitz in 1941 and rebuilt in 1956. The famous 12 bells were put back in place in 1961. The interior of the building is beautiful, painted in blue and white with gold beading. In the churchyard you will find a statue of Captain John Smith, the founder of the State of Virginia in the United States.

You really should take time to visit St Stephen Walbrook Church situated next to the Mansion House (the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London).

The Walbrook is a small river running from the City Wall into the River Thames – hence its name. In the 7th century a Saxon church stood on the west side of the brook. It was demolished and rebuilt in 1439 on the east side. This church was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666 and Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to build the new one.

The new church was built over the brook which now flows through a concrete tunnel underneath the building. The church is considered one of Wren’s finest churches, with its 63ft dome centred over a square of 8 columns. The circular base of the dome is supported in its turn by 8 arches that cross each other in the style of a Byzantine squinch. The building was a bit damaged during the Blitz of 1941, but was soon restored.

You can’t miss the beautiful white stone altar by Henry Moore in the centre of the church, but you might be surprised to see a telephone in a glass box on display. This telephone is the first one ever used by the Samaritans, a confidential emotional support service who have a “hot-line” 24 hours a day and give help and advice by telephone, letter and e-mail. The Samaritans were founded in 1953 by Dr Chad Varan, the rector of St Stephen Walbrook. On the left wall of the church, you can admire the painting “Burial of St Stephen” by Benjamin West.

On the corner of Lombard Street and King William Street you will find the church of St Mary Woolnoth, one of the few churches in London that has no crypt; instead, under the building is the Bank Tube Station.

The site on which today’s church stands is a very ancient Roman and pagan place of worship. The Christian church was built in the 12th century. The full name was St Mary Woolnoth of the Nativity; it is supposed that Woolnoth was the name of a 12th century merchant benefactor. The Norman church was rebuilt in 1445, with the spire added on in 1485.

The church was damaged during the 1666 Great Fire of London; but Sir Christopher Wren was able to repair it, keeping much of the 15th century structure. Two new bells (tenor and treble) were hung in 1670 and a third bell was cast in 1672. In 1711 the building was considered unsafe and demolished.

Today’s church was rebuilt by the 1711 Commission for Building Fifty New Churches and was financed by the Coal Tax. Designing the church fell to Nicolas Hawksmoor and it is one of his more imposing structures, with its two turrets supported on Corinthian columns in the English Baroque style.

The interior is lovely, but rather geometrical in design, with an interior square enclosed by three rows of four columns, which in its turn is surrounded by a larger square dominated by the Baroque baldaquin.

If you would like to see a fine example of a 12th century church, then you shouldn’t miss visiting St Mary-at-Hill in the Billingsgate Ward.

This church was built in the 12th century and called “St Mary de Hull”, later changed to the name it bears today after the Norman influence on the language waned. It isn’t a very large church, being 96ft long and 60ft wide, but it represents one of the oldest buildings in the capital.

The church was damaged during the Great Fire of London in 1666, but Sir Christopher Wren was able to rebuild it, replacing only the east end and the interior. The three other walls and the west tower were undamaged. The interior has four free-standing Corinthian columns that support the barrel-vaulted ceiling which has a Greek cross pattern and a coffered dome in the centre.

In 1787 the west wall was rebuilt and the tower was replaced rebuilt in brick. In 1826 arched iron-framed windows were installed in the north wall. A cupola was added to the dome and windows were set into the chancel vault in 1848.

Sadly a fire in 1988 caused a great deal of damage, and although the roof and ceiling were rebuilt, the woodwork which included the ancient pews and the pulpit were not replaced. Every year the October Festival of the Sea is held in the church – a Harvest Festival with fish and sea food instead of fruit and vegetables – and in June music recitals are given on St Botolph’s Day.

All Hallows-by-the-Tower, also previously dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, is an ancient Anglican church located in Byward Street in the City of London, overlooking the Tower of London. All Hallows-by-the-Tower was first established in 675 AD by the Saxon Abbey at Barking and was for many years named after the abbey, as All Hallows Barking. The church has a museum called the Undercroft Museum, containing portions of a Roman pavement together with many artifacts discovered many feet below the church in 1926. The altar in the Undercroft is of plain stone from the castle of King Richard I at Athlit in Palestine. All Hallows-by-the-Tower is celebrated and remembered throughout the world in the use of its name including Dublin, Ireland (All Hallows College) and Brisbane, Australia (All Hallows' School). It has been the Guild church of Toc-H since 1922. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.