United Kingdom Tower of St Elsyng Spital

This is the tower of Elsyng Spital, all that remains of what was once the church for, in turn, a nunnery, a hospital, an Augustinian priory, a grand house, a college and the parish church of St Alphage’s. Its stones have been witness to the shocks and tumults of London’s history, including the Black Death, the Reformation, the Great Fire and the Blitz. The Elsyng Spital was more of an alms house, a residence for the blind poor of London.
It was founded in 1331 by a City merchant called William Elsing on the site (and with the church) of a pre-Conquest nunnery called St Mary at Cripplegate, and in 1340 the ‘management’ of the hospital was taken over by a priory of the Augustinian order.

A wide-angle lens works well here, and there are some interesting views of the surrounding buildings.