St John's Abbey Church, above, and St John's Gate, below, Clerkenwell, London. Engraving by G. Vertue after J. Deane after a manuscript.

This is the only surviving portion of the English Priory of St John of Jerusalem, the order of Knights Hospitallers founded in the twelfth century. During the eighteenth century Edward Cave printed the Gentleman's Magazine here and Samuel Johnson later composed part of his Dictionary. Since 1874 the building has been used by the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem. The St John's Ambulance service started here in 1877