Leaning for 552 years!

This church wasn't as fortunate as the one I blipped yesterday. Compare the angle of the tower with the modern building behind.

The Temple Church was founded by Robert of Gloucester (natural son of Henry 1) shortly before 1147 when he made a grant of land to the Knights Templar, a religious military order. The original building, which was circular in plan, was replaced during the course of the 14th and 15th centuries by the present structure, when the church was given to the Knights of St John and a parish for the citizens was instituted.

The leaning tower was completed c 1460; it has been out of true since the time of its construction and is now 1.4 m out of the vertical on its west face.

The church was heavily restored during the 19th and 20th centuries, but was gutted by incendiary bombs in 1942 during the 2nd World War