Saint Dunstan in the East
A garden grown inside a bombed church
In the heart of London, in the midst of concrete and skyscrapers, between London Bridge and the Tower of London stands a small happy corner, a garden inside a destroyed church, which with creepers trying to make space in the midst of all that gray seems to have ended up in Burnett's book "The Secret Garden".
The Church of St Dunstan in the East dates back to the 1100s with additions and alterations in the following centuries and was later restructured with the addition of the Gothic style bell tower by Cristopher Wren between 1695 and 1701, after the great London fire of 1666 damage to its main structure. Subsequently, the Church was again restructured in 1817 by David Laing to then still be largely destroyed during the bombings of the Second World War; today we can admire only the bell tower and the Tower, a seat of the Wren Clinic, with some remnants of the arches and side walls that border gardens.
Given the conditions in which he was living, it was decided to demolish it and only the firm will of the inhabitants of the area saved those ruins, transforming the gardens into one of the most fascinating places in London.
The Church of St Dunstan in The East is not to be confused with the nearby St Dunstan in The West, in Fleet Street and dedicated to the scientist Dunstan. This is known in particular for the clock from 1671 which is located outside and which represents Gog and Magog, the legendary guardian giants of the City. In the cemetery at the back of St Dunstan in The West, then there is the only open statue of Queen Elizabeth I, sculpted in 1586 when Elizabeth was still alive.
Returning to the secret gardens of St Dunstan in The East, we advise you to visit them both in the morning and in the late afternoon to experience the wonderful plays of light that filter through the arches among the lush vegetation. You can only imagine what it can be in spring with the bright green of new leaves or in autumn when everything becomes bronze and gold.
They are those corners of London that are often hidden from the most but that deserve to be discovered and lived with someone with whom to share the great emotions that they always manage to give.
Claudia Costabile