St Martin-in-the-Fields

There has been a church 'in the fields' between Westminster and the City since the thirteenth century, but the current church was built in 1726 by James Gibbs, using a fusion of neoclassical and baroque styles. The parish church for Buckingham Palace (note the royal box to the left of the gallery), St Martin-in-the-Fields benefited from a £36 million, Lottery-funded refurbishment, completed in 2008. The bright interior has been fully restored, with Victorian furbelows removed and the addition of a controversial altar window that shows the Cross, stylised as if rippling on water. The crypt, its fine café and the London Brass Rubbing Centre have all been modernised. As befits the church's location in the heart of tourist London, the evening concert programme is packed with crowd-pleasers: expect lashings of Mozart and Vivaldi by candlelight. The thrice-weekly lunchtime recitals (Mon, Tue, Fri) offer less predictable fare.