When the Earl of Bedford commissioned Inigo Jones to design Covent Garden Piazza, he asked for a simple church 'not much better than a barn'; the architect responded by producing ‘the handsomest barn in England’. Completed in 1633, St Paul's Church has long been known as the Actors' Church for its associations with all the nearby theatres.
Inside are memorials to the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Noël Coward, Peter O'Toole, Vivien Leigh and even Boris Karloff, who was born William Henry Pratt in Lewisham in 1887. The first Punch and Judy show took place in front of St Paul's in 1662; note the pub of that name with the balcony opposite.
