Explore a different destination St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London
St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, London
by Kevin Danks (cc-by-sa 2.0)


Nave of St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London
by ChrisO (GFDL)


Painting of the interior of St Martin-in-the-Fields
(public domain) St Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours.

A burial dating back to Roman times was discovered here during an excavation in 2006. It led to a reappraisal of the importance of Westminster during Roman times. The reason is, although the Romans usually bury their dead outside city limits, the site of St Martin was way outside the Roman city limits.

The earliest documentation of St Martin-in-the-Fields was found in 1222, where a dispute between the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of London over who had control over St Martin was recorded. King Henry VIII rebuilt the church in 1542, so that plague victims do not have to pass by his residence at the Palace of Whitehall. At that time, the church was literally "in the fields", isolated and away from the cities of Westminster and London.

Although the old St Martin-in-the-Fields building was not destroyed by the Great London Fire of 1666, it was nevertheless replaced with a new building, by James Gibbs, in 1726. Though the new design was greeted with much criticism, it eventually found favour and became famous, leading to many similar copies built in the United States.

Due to its strategic location, St Martin-in-the-Fields is one of the most famous non-cathedral churches in London. It is famous for the social work done for the homeless. It is also a regular venue for lunchtime and evening concerts. A 36 million pound renewal project began in January 2006 is scheduled to be fully completed by early 2008.

Brass Rubbing
In the crypt of the church is a gallery and collection of 90 replica church brasses portraying royals, medieval and Tudor personalities and Celtic designs. Tuition and materials are provided as part of entrance fees.

Visitor Information

Location: Trafalgar Square WC2N 4JJ
Tel: 020 7766 1100
Opening Time: Mon-Sat, 8:00am-6:30pm, Sun 8:00am-7:30pm
Brass rubbingL Mon-Sat 10:00am-6:00pm, Sun 12:00noon-6:00pm
Tube Station: Charing Cross, Leicester Square
Buses: 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 24
External Link: official website



Local Tours of London

A practical and often cost effective way to see London is to join a local tour. Check out the Local Tours of London that you can book online.

Return to London Budget Travel Guide or to UK Budget Travel Guide


Find lowest price for your Hotel Room

Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?

The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!



Great Travel Deals Wego.com

Flight Checker

Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.

Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.





Return to EarthDocumentary World Budget Travel Guide

My message introducing God to all the world: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TIM


Bookmark and Share   Follow EarthDocumentary on Twitter

EarthDocumentary and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye.

EarthDocumentary logo © copyright Timothy Tye 2007-2010. Content and articles in EarthDocumentary are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, EarthDocumentary disclaims responsibility for its use. Text in EarthDocumentary is available under Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike License meaning you are free to copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make derivative works, as long as you attribute your resulting work and apply it under the same, similar or a compatible license. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Wikipedia and Wikitravel are cited as among the sources of references. Photographs appearing in EarthDocumentary are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs supplied by Panoramio are governed by the Panoramio API terms & condition, are for display only, and may not be downloaded for use. Photographs belonging to the author are the copyright of Timothy Tye and may not be reused without prior written permission from the author. Contact the author for permission and licensing of the photos.