Walk of the Week: London's Secret Village

Every Sunday we’ll pluck just one walk from the vast London Walks repertoire and put it centre stage.

You can check out the full schedule at www.walks.com.

But if you only take one walking tour this week, why not make it…

LONDON'S SECRET VILLAGE

2.30 pm on Mondays  from St. Paul'sTube, exit 2

There's no need to book. A London Walk takes about two hours and costs £10 or £8 for concs. (kids under 15 accompanied by their parent[s] go free)

The ancient, hidden village of Clerkenwell clings to a hillside barely a stone's throw away from St. Paul's Cathedral. Its very name - the clerks", or students", spring - is redolent of antiquity; and indeed this tiny hamlet serves up brimming draughts from the deep well of its history. Mystery plays and plague pits; riots and rookeries; bodysnatching and bombing; jousting and jesters; bloodshed and burnings; monks, murder, and medicine: Clerkenwell has a tale or two to tell. Tracing its narrow alleyways and ancient squares, we take in here a Norman church; there a magnificent Tudor gateway; round that corner venerable Charterhouse, London's only surviving mediaeval monastic complex; let alone Hercule Poirot's London flat and the trendiest house in town.

The "London's Secret Village" Walk takes place every Monday afternoon at 2.30 pm.

Meet just outside exit 2 of St. Paul's Tube.

St. Paul'sTube is on the Central Line

Guided by Kim, Steve or Andy R.

A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.