St. John's of Jerusalem was founded in 1100 by Jordan Briset and his wife Muriel in Clerkenwell. In 1324 the Knights Templar were dissolved and their lands and wealth given to the Order of Hospitalers, vastly increasing the size of the property. Most of the buildings were burned in the rebellions of Essex and Kent in 1381. The rebuilding process took considerable time. The Priory gatehouse, being the last addition, was built in 1504 under the supervision of Prior Thomas Docwrey and stands to this day. When the Order was dissolved in 1538 it was valued at £3385 19s. 8d. It was used to house the Office of the Tents during the reign of Henry VIII. During the reign of Edward VI, the church was severely damaged by an explosion of gunpowder. It was repaired and given a Prior during the reign of Mary I but suppressed again when Elizabeth came to the throne (Stow 387). In 1560 it became occupied by the Office of the Revels. It was used as a storage area for the inventory, until its reduction under Tilney's mastership in 1597. The players came here to perform their works before Tilney (see Master of the Revels) (Astington 13). In 1608, James I gave the site to his cousin Esmé Stuart to use as his official residence (Dutton 150). The majority of the buildings were burned in the great fire of 1666, the aforementioned gate being one of the few structures that remained.

-- Michael Davis, 2000