Church · England · Restored

Temple Church, London

Temple Church is the medieval church of the Knights Templar in the Temple precinct of London, comprising a circular Romanesque nave (the Round Church) attached to a later rectangular chancel. Built and consecrated in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, it served as the Templars' English headquarters and later as the shared chapel of the Inner and Middle Temple Inns of Court.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

First raised

1185

Its prime

1240

Today

Restored

As it stood in 1240

What Temple Church, London looked like in its prime.

A compact medieval complex: a circular stone nave 17 m across joined to a long rectangular chancel. Warm, ashlar limestone exterior with shallow buttresses and tall pointed-arch lancet windows beneath a steeply pitched roof. Interior stonework includes a ring of dark Purbeck marble free-standing columns in the round nave and a rib-vaulted chancel rising to about 36 feet; stone floors, carved corbels with grotesque heads, and rows of recumbent stone effigies in the choir.

Step inside

7 places to explore in 1240.

The record describes 7 distinct spots at Temple Church, London, including 5 interiors: round church (circular nave) — central space, junction of round church and chancel — axial view, chancel — central aisle and side aisles and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

South exterior approach (Inner Temple courtyard)Western doorway into the Round ChurchRound Church (circular nave) — central spaceJunction of Round Church and chancel — axial viewChancel — central aisle and side aislesRow of stone effigies and tombs in the chancelDetail of Purbeck marble columns in the chancel arcade

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