A Secret Garden In the Heart of London

When I found out St. Dunston’s in the East had a secret garden not far from the Tower of London, I had to check it out.

St. Dunston’s in the East, (don’t you love that name?) was built in the middle ages, 1100 AD, and expanded in 1391. It cost twenty-four hundred pounds to repair it in 1631. Murphy’s law being ironic by nature, the church burned down in the devastating fire of 1666. An unlucky run of 6’s in a bad year for a Christian church, don’t you think?

The church was repaired in a Gothic style adding flying buttresses and a spire. That became a problem. Mistakes were made.

The structure couldn’t support the nave (vaulted) roof. By the 1800’s, the weight had pushed the walls from being properly perpendicular by precisely seven inches. St. Dunston’s reconstruction started in 1817 and reopened in 1821, accommodating six to seven hundred parishioners.

Then World War II arrived, devastating London. A bomb hit St. Dunston’s during The Blitz of 1941. The damage was so severe, the Anglican Church decided not to repair it.

The ruins of the church became a garden and opened to the public in 1971.

Hence, my walk in the rain.

This is the quintessential spot for Instagrammers, wedding photos, or a getaway from the hustle and bustle of a large city.

It’s a secret garden.

Have you been to a secret garden? Have you been to London? Do you like to walk in the rain? Colorado girls love rain… and snow. Lot’s of snow.

Related posts:

Putting the Garden in Covent Garden with Fleurs de Villes

Take A Photo Tour Through Hidcote Manor Garden

A Day in London: Photo Essay