Oranges & Lemons. Say the bells of St Clements

St Clement Danes stands on the Strand opposite the Royal Courts of Justice. The current church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1687 with the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666. It is said that the church was built by Danes that had been expelled from the City of London by Alfred the Great. The line in the poem refers to the traders unloading their wares on the nearby wharves along the Thames and so this is where all the exotic fruits would have entered the city.

Interestingly, the bells of St Clements ring to the tune of Oranges & Lemons and on the 3rd Thursday of March, Oranges and Lemons Day, the children of the attached primary school attend a service at the church after which they are given an orange and a lemon.

If you look up the strand towards Trafalgar Square you will see, on the left, the abandoned Strand (Aldwych) tube station. The tube station was used during the Second World War to store treasures from the British Museum (including the Elgin Marbles) during the Blitz.

Also, almost directly opposite the tube station is one of the last remaining Sand Bins. These were used during the Victorian period to muffle the sound of the horses' hooves and to help remove the smell of horse urine!