A historic church with a tall clock tower, surrounded by bare trees and residential buildings on a cloudy day.

Clerkenwell

There has been a church on the site since the 1100s, although the current one dates back to 1792. It’s still in use as a church, and the crypt is sometimes used for filming and exhibitions. It’s also not too far to walk (or run) to St Pancras, where Lucy decides there’s only one place she’ll be safe – home.

This site, the street where the Fittes Furnaces would have stood, and one of the two locations for the catacombs in the show are all close together in this area and easily visited at the same time.

Lucy says the Fittes Furnaces take up two city blocks in the “eastern industrial district of Clerkenwell”, with a pedestrian entrance on Farringdon Road. In real life, Clerkenwell hasn’t been an industrial area for some time – it’s mainly mixed office and residential now – but there are some very big commercial buildings on Farringdon Road and the junction with Farringdon Lane, so it’s easy to imagine that one of those might be the site. Thankfully there’s no “Clerkenwell snow” – ash from the incineration – falling in the area.

The climactic sequence in the catacombs in episode 8 actually takes place in two locations. The denouement in the large underground chamber, where Joplin tries to force Lucy to look into the Bone Glass, happens in the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square. But the early catacomb scenes, including George saving Kipps from a Limbless, happen here in Clerkenwell Old Prison.

The underground catacombs are all that remain of the prison, which was also known as the House of Detention because it held prisoners awaiting trial. There is a small door in the wall of a narrow alley, Sans Walk, which leads down to them. Other than that, above ground, the prison was completely demolished in 1890 and replaced with a school, which is the building you can see today. (The school in turn has now been converted into flats).

The catacombs are sometimes open to the public for exhibitions, but on an ad hoc basis. They are often used during the annual Clerkenwell Design Week.

The church where Lucy arranges to meet Harold Mailer in the terrifying scene in TCS is real and very accurately described! St James’s churchyard is in a city square and does open on to Sekforde Street; it’s also undulating and irregular (although the walls aren’t quite as high in real life). It’s even true that the graves have been moved, although this was done in order to make the churchyard a public space, rather than by order of DEPRAC. And Clerkenwell Green, where Lucy has a pre-meeting tea, is indeed just around the corner. Walking up the street at dusk feels uncannily like being in the book!

Map

A map of the Clerkenwell area in London, viewed through a magnifying glass, highlighting various locations and streets.

Address

A vintage-style note displaying the address 'St James Clerkenwell, Clerkenwell Close, London EC1R 0EA', a W3W location code, and grid reference coordinates.

Fittes Furnaces

An empty basement space featuring exposed brick walls, stone pillars, and a smooth concrete floor, illuminated by overhead lighting.
Interior view of an old brick building with arched doorways and empty spaces, showcasing exposed brick walls and concrete flooring.
Interior view of a spacious, brick-walled basement with multiple arches and plain flooring.
An underground archway structure featuring stone walls, arched ceilings, and stone columns, illuminated by overhead lights.
A historic church with a tall clock tower, viewed from the street. The building features a grey stone façade, arched windows, and a green entrance door, surrounded by trees and a cobbled road.
A view of a grassy area next to a brick building with large windows, surrounded by bare trees and residential buildings in the background under a cloudy sky.
A historic church with a tall steeple, surrounded by bare trees and a grassy area, under a cloudy sky.
A tall church steeple with a clock and weather vane, against a cloudy sky, featuring large windows and a stone wall in the foreground.
A historic building with a clock tower, framed by bare trees along a stone pathway leading to a blue bin.
A low-angle view of a large stone church facade with a blue double door, flanked by potted plants and featuring a clock tower at the top.
Historic building with large windows surrounded by trees, viewed from the street behind a brick wall.
View of a historic brick building behind a stone wall and bare trees, with a cloudy sky above.
A historical building with large windows, partially obscured by bare tree branches against a bright blue sky.
A historic red-brick building behind a brick wall, framed by bare trees against a blue sky with scattered clouds.
View of a historic brick building surrounded by trees and a clear blue sky, with a road and street signs in the foreground.
An old stone doorway with a wooden door, featuring a sign that reads 'SCHOOLKEEPER', set into a brick wall.
A wooden door set in a stone archway within a brick wall, with buildings visible in the background under a cloudy sky.
A figure stands in a dimly lit underground room, reacting to a bright flash, possibly from a gunshot, with cobwebs visible on shelves.
A shadowy figure running in a dimly lit room, with an ethereal red flame-like entity hovering in the air.
A dramatic scene depicting a person swinging a sword at a fiery, winged creature in a dark, arched underground setting illuminated by blue light.

The Catacombs

Information about catacombs, including Kensal Green Cemetery and related sites in Bloomsbury, London.
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