Clerkenwell tour

Today I have been on a fascinating tour of Clerkenwell taking in St James Clerkenwell, the Clerk's Well, the Priory Church of St John, St John's Gate, Museum of the Order of St John, and the grave of a possible relative of John Wilkes Booth (who assassinated Abraham Lincoln).

The Museum of the Order of St John is one of the great hidden treasures of London, tracing the continuous history of a charity that dates back over 900 years. The Order of St John, an international charity, has a remit to provide humanitarian aid and medical support worldwide. The Museum tells the story of the Order of St John, from its origins in the 11th century to its role today with St John Ambulance and the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem. The Hospitaller brothers both fought, and
nursed the sick, in the Holy Land and on their island fortresses of Rhodes and Malta.

St John’s Gate was the entrance to the former Priory of St John and the Museum buildings
also have a unique history. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, the Priory
housed the office of the Master of the Revels, where Shakespeare came to licence his plays. It was also the childhood home of the artist, William Hogarth, and the writer Dr. Samuel Johnson worked in the building when it was a printing press. By the 19th century the building had become the Old Jerusalem Tavern, where Charles Dickens came to drink.
In the Cloister Garden of the Priory Church of St John there is currently a sculpture exhibition by Mystery In Stone, a collective of premiere Zimbabwean artists from the first, second, and third generation of stone sculptors. Mystery In Stone was established in 1995 as the artist's creative vision of themselves, their work and of those who treasure their accomplishment. The foundation of Mystery In Stone is honour and respect for the history, culture, traditions, beliefs, faith, and lives of the artists and the community and families that have conceived and nurtured them. They write that, "In the same way that our artwork is the realization of the spirit that lives within the uncut stone, Mystery In Stone is the creative realization of the spirit and vision that lives within our artists."

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Lisa Gungor - Jesus And John.