The Museum Of The Order Of St John

Standing at the edge of the City of London, the Museum of the Order of St John offers eight stunning rooms dating from the twelfth to the twenty-first centuries, and a secluded garden. It is steeped in History; From the 1140s until 1540, the Gate was the entrance to a vast priory, the English seat of the Knights Hospitaller. After the Reformation, it passed to the crown, and 30 of Shakespeare's plays were licensed in the Gate when it was the office of Elizabeth I's Master of Revels. In the 18th century, painter William Hogarth's father opened a coffee house here, and Dr Samuel Johnson later frequented it when the Gentleman's Magazine operated from its offices in the rooms above St John's Lane. Charles Dickens was a regular was the gate housed the Old Jerusalem Tavern in the latter part of the 19th Century. Two of the rooms are available for Civil Ceremonies - the Council Chamber, an intimate, ancient room, and the grand Chapter Hall. All spaces are available for hire as part of a reception,* and an impressive array of the finest caterers ready to help plan your perfect wedding breakfast. *With the exception of the Crypt of the Priory Church.