London’s oldest house that survived the Great Fire rumoured to be built on skeletons

Down a quiet side street in Farringdon, most people walk past the oldest house in the City of London without noticing it. For years, I’d passed by without a second glance - until curiosity finally led me to stop and look closer.

Located at 41 - 42 Cloth Fair, this remarkable timber-framed home dates back over 400 years. Today, it remains in pristine condition, and there’s even a modern doorbell and camera beside the entrance - a quiet sign that it’s still very much lived in.

Built between 1597 and 1614, the house is famous for surviving the Great Fire of London in 1666. Historians say it escaped destruction because it sat safely within the thick stone walls of the former St Bartholomew’s Priory.

At one point, the building was part of a group of eleven houses arranged around a central co