Christopher Wren Ceremony at the Temple Bar Gates

Temple Bar has only been in its current location since 2004: the gorgeous gate between St Paul's Cathedral and Paternoster Square. It usually stands open and you can stroll on through whenever you wish. The Temple Bar Trust invented a new-ish tradition around closing and opening the gates of Temple Bar. I absolutely love that! I totally get why they would - who could resist a bit of pomp and circumstance! Not I. These ceremonies take place a few times a year, always at 11am (if present, the pikemen march up sooner). The biggest of these will be in May 2027 whereas the others are smaller. We thoroughly enjoyed the September ceremony dedicated to Samual Pepys, I want to see another one! We need to stand on the side of the cathedral to see what's going on. I can't be sure if this one will, but some of the ceremonies involve the Company of Pikemen. Please join me in finding out! I would like a £2 attendance fee but please note that the ceremony itself is relatively short. For afterwards, I will show you a very interesting café nearby where you can sit in church pews, normal seats or if available a sofa for food and hot drinks. I won't be able to stay long for that because I'll need to go back to work but hope you'll bear each other company. If you came to the London Model lunch time talk with me some months ago, you'll know the Host Café. The aim of the Temple Bar Trust is to promote architecture in the City of London to a wider public audience through a regular programme of talks and tours. The room above the gate was only reopened in 2024, and the location (the gate, and charter house) serves as a Livery Hall for the Architects Company. They decided to create a bit of that lovely pomp & ceremony, so in 2024 the large wooden gates were formally closed and reopened to admit the Duke and Mayor. Perhaps what inspired this was a historic royal ritual: when a reigning British monarch wished to cross the boundary from Westminster into the City of London, their procession halted at Temple Bar. That was back when temple bar was located where Fleet Street meets the Strand as demarkation between the two cities. Let's meet outside the Paul sandwich shop (right of the gate, see photo), in time for getting into the right spot around 10.30am. Let me know if you have any question! Looking forward to seeing you there.