Right in the heart of Clerkenwell, north of the City of London, is a remarkable structure – St John’s Gate.
Built in 1504 the gate is not, as you might think, part of the ancient walls of the City – it was initially constructed as the main entrance to the Priory of the Order of St John. Today the building to one side of the gate comprises the Museum Of The Order Of St John, which is dedicated to the history of this fascinating monastic order.
The Order of St John was founded in Jerusalem in the 12th century to care for pilgrims arriving in the Holy Land. Over the following six centuries the Order moved its headquarters across the Mediterranean, landing in Rhodes, Cyprus and Malta which it finally lost to Napoleon in 1798. The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, to give it its proper title, is now based in Rome. In contrast, the complex in London survived unscathed until the 1530s when it suffered the same fate as its contemporaries and was shut down as part of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Much of the Museum of the Order of St John’s exhibits are dedicated to its history as a working religious institution up until the 16th century, but that’s not where this particular organisation’s story ends. The order was reformed in 1831 and set about reoccupying some of the buildings within the old priory complex, including St John’s Gate which in the intervening years had been turned into a pub, the Old Jerusalem Tavern.
In 1861 a charismatic new leader emerged – William Montagu, Duke of Manchester, and he set about returning the role of the organisation to its original medieval purpose – that of caring for the sick. By 1882 the order had opened an eye hospital in its founding city of Jerusalem and, in 1887, after operating informally for several years the St John Ambulance Brigade was formally created.
In addition to the Museum of the Order of St John, visitors can also go just up the street to the Priory Church which houses more exhibits. This fine church has an attractive walled garden and its peaceful crypt contains tributes to the 19th and 20th century officers and patrons who helped to build it into the global charitable organisation it is today. St John Ambulances are a familiar sight at many large public events across the UK, but they now work in over 40 countries across the world providing health care, first aid and support to the sick with a team of over 250,000 clinicians and volunteers.