Christ Church Spitalfields
hawksmoor's white baroque giant
Hawksmoor's towering white Baroque masterpiece on the edge of the City, free to enter, a soaring spire and luminous interior looming over the markets and curry houses of Spitalfields.
Free to visit · Spitalfields · Liverpool Street · E1 6LY
Opening: Daily · roughly 10am to 4pm · services aside
Rising over Spitalfields Market is one of the great churches of London, and it is free to walk into. Christ Church was built in the 1720s by Nicholas Hawksmoor, Wren's brilliant and idiosyncratic pupil, and its huge white spire and bold portico are pure dramatic Baroque, dominating the skyline of the old Huguenot quarter.
Inside, the interior was restored to its original luminous splendour after years of decline, all soaring columns and clear light. It is renowned for its acoustics and hosts concerts and the Spitalfields Music festival, but simply standing inside the bright, lofty space costs nothing.
It anchors one of London's best free wandering districts, the covered market opposite, the Georgian silk-weavers' houses of Fournier Street, Brick Lane round the corner, so it makes a natural free centrepiece to a day on foot in the East End.
Getting there: On Commercial Street facing Old Spitalfields Market, a few minutes from Liverpool Street.
Best time to go: A weekday to pair it with Spitalfields Market and the Georgian streets, or an evening concert in its famous acoustic.
Insider tip: Stand across Commercial Street by the market for the full force of Hawksmoor's spire and portico, then go inside for the light. Wrap it into a free East End loop with Spitalfields Market, Fournier Street and Brick Lane.
Official site: https://www.ccspitalfields.org
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide