St. Helen's Bishopsgate, London

Sitting just east of Bishopsgate, the late Gothic church of Saint Helen has seen its share of drama—and not just the Shakespearean kind. Blasted by IRA bombings in the 1990s, the church managed to survive with its quirky personality (rippling medieval battlements and a Baroque bell turret that looks like it wandered in from another century) fully intact. St. Helen’s incorporates the original pre-Reformation Benedictine nunnery, plus five grand tombs that miraculously predate the Great Fire of London.

Post-bombing, the church got a bit of a makeover. Crews raised the floor, shuffled around the church screens, added a snazzy new organ gallery, and reoriented the seating to spotlight the pulpit—perfect for its now-evangelical mission.

But Saint Helen’s real claim to fame lies in a different domain. It once counted William Shakespeare among its parishioners. We know this thanks to a delightfully petty entry in the Bishopsgate tax records from November 15, 1597: out of 73 residents, our dear Bard was singled out for dodging a 5-shilling tax on £5 worth of goods. Turns out even Shakespeare couldn’t escape London’s paperwork. He was living nearby, probably in one of the buildings peeking over the churchyard—right around the time he was busy penning Romeo and Juliet...