St Martin-in-the-Fields is the church with the steeple and the portico on the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square. Walking in costs nothing, there is a large cafe in its crypt, and you can make a brass rubbing underneath it from £6.50. The famous lunchtime concerts are no longer free: they run on Fridays at 1pm and cost £10, or £20 with lunch.
That last point is worth getting right before you plan a day around it. For years the Friday recitals ran on a retiring collection, and plenty of guidebooks still say so. As of September 2026 they are ticketed. There is still a great deal of free music here, but it happens at services rather than at concerts, and we set out the timetable below.
The church sits at the top of Trafalgar Square, between the National Gallery and Charing Cross, so most visitors pass it twice without going in. It is worth twenty minutes on its own, and a good deal longer if you eat in the crypt.
St Martin-in-the-Fields at a glance
- Address
- Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ
- Church open
- Monday to Friday usually 9am to 5pm; Sunday 10am to 5pm for services
- Entry
- Free
- Lunchtime concerts
- Fridays 1pm; £10, or £20 with lunch in the crypt (September 2026)
- Brass rubbing
- From £6.50 per person, daily, no booking under eight people
- Cafe in the Crypt
- Daily from 10am or 11am; closing time varies with the concert programme
- Crypt entrance
- Glass pavilion on Church Path, north side of the church; steps or lift
- Nearest station
- Charing Cross (Northern, Bakerloo and National Rail)
A church that was copied all over the world
James Gibbs designed the building that stands here now, and 2026 is its tercentenary: the church marks three hundred years since the consecration of Gibbs's building with a service on Sunday 18 October 2026 at 10am. The anniversary programme runs from September to November, and includes a free exhibition in the foyer called 300 Years at the Heart and on the Edge, with objects and archive film.
What makes the design important is the combination Gibbs invented: a classical temple portico at the front with a tall spire rising directly behind it. It was a breach of classical rules and it was enormously influential. Versions of it went up across Britain and Ireland and, above all, in colonial and early American towns, where the white clapboard church with a portico and a spire became the standard.
Inside, the church is bright, galleried and plainer than most visitors expect. You are welcome to walk round whenever a service, concert or rehearsal is not under way, and there is a free self-guided children's trail on the tables by the entrances. Downstairs in the lower crypt, the Dick Sheppard Chapel stays open for quiet prayer at certain times when the church above is closed.
The Friday lunchtime concerts, and what they cost
The lunchtime series runs on Fridays at 1pm in the church itself, programmed with City Music Foundation and Darbar Arts & Culture, so the range runs from a solo pianist to South Indian Carnatic music. The players introduce their own programmes, which makes the hour friendlier than a formal recital.
| Ticket | Price (September 2026) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Concert only | £10, concessions available | One-hour recital at 1pm in the church |
| Concert with lunch | £20 | The recital plus fish and chips, or soup and a sandwich or wrap, in the crypt |
The lunch must be booked in advance, online or at the box office, and you choose a slot either before the concert, from 12 to 1pm, or after it, from 2 to 3pm. For a pair of visitors that is £40 for music and a sit-down lunch in central London, which still compares well with almost anything else within five minutes of Trafalgar Square.
Buy at the counter and save the booking fee. St Martin's charges £3.95 per transaction for bookings, but not for tickets bought in person at the box office in the crypt. The counter opens from noon Tuesday to Friday and from 10am on Saturdays. If you are passing anyway, that is four pounds back.
Evening concerts are a separate programme: candlelit performances in the church, and jazz, blues, folk and swing downstairs at the Crypt Lates, where doors open at 7pm and the music starts at 8pm. Our guide to classical music in London puts the church in the context of the city's other venues.
The free music: sung services
If you want to hear the choir without paying, go to a service. Everyone is welcome and nobody is asked for money at the door. The regular pattern is:
- Sunday 10am, Sung Eucharist, led by clergy and choirs.
- Sunday 3.15pm, Choral Classics: thirty minutes of words and music sung by St Martin's Voices. This is the shortest and easiest entry point for a visitor.
- Sunday 5pm, Choral Evensong, sung by the Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
- Wednesday, the day the church calls Sanctuary in the City: Sung Eucharist at 1pm, Choral Evensong at 4pm, and an informal Eucharist at 6.30pm.
- Sunday 1.30pm, a service in Cantonese, followed by refreshments in the Ho Ming Wah Centre in the lower crypt.
- First Sunday of the month, 7pm, Sacred Space: a candlelit service built around Taizé chant.
In summer there is also free live music outdoors, in the courtyard behind the church between Church Path, Adelaide Street and Duncannon Street, played by emerging musicians as part of the Summer Stage. Our guide to free live music in London lists the rest of the city's options.
The Cafe in the Crypt
The crypt is a low, vaulted eighteenth-century space with the floor made of old gravestones, and it has been a canteen since the 1980s. It is self-service, it seats a great many people, and it is one of the few places within two minutes of Trafalgar Square where a family can sit down and eat without booking.
It opens daily from 10am or 11am. Closing times move with the concert programme, so check the current hours on the church's website if you are planning a late meal. The same level holds the shop, the box office, the gallery and the brass rubbing centre, which is why the crypt is busier than the church above it.
Our guide to the best museum and gallery cafes compares it with the National Gallery and the other places nearby.
Brass rubbing, which children actually enjoy
Brass rubbing is set up in the foyer beside the shop, reached through the same glass entrance as the crypt, and there are more than a hundred replica brasses copied from churches and cathedrals across the UK: knights in armour, dragons, and figures of St George and Shakespeare. You choose one, the shop team give you the paper and a choice of metallic waxes, show you how to start, and leave you to it.
Prices start at £6.50 per person (September 2026) and it runs daily during opening hours. No booking is needed unless your group is eight or more. Allow around half an hour for a small brass and considerably longer for a full-length knight, and expect to take the result home rolled up.
This is the best wet-afternoon activity within sight of Nelson's Column. It is indoors, it costs less than a museum shop souvenir, it produces something to take home, and it works for a wide age range. Our guide to London with children has more ideas within walking distance.
Rules that catch visitors out
There is no cloakroom, and large bags cannot be brought in for safety reasons. St Martin's points people to the left luggage facilities at Charing Cross station, a short walk away; our guide to left luggage in London covers the alternatives.
For concerts, doors usually open thirty minutes before the start. If you are late to a one-hour concert you may be let in during the applause between pieces at the duty manager's discretion, and after thirty minutes not at all. For a two-hour concert with an interval, latecomers may be admitted after the first piece and seated at the back, moving to their own seat at the interval; after the interval, nobody else is admitted. There are no refunds for the part you miss.
Children under three are not admitted to most evening concerts. At family concerts a babe-in-arms policy applies and under-threes sitting on a lap do not need a ticket.
Which door to use
For the church itself, use the doors at the front, facing Trafalgar Square, marked Door 1 on the left and Door 2 on the right. For the crypt, and therefore for the cafe, the shop, the box office and brass rubbing, use the glass pavilion to the left of the church on Church Path, and go down by the steps or the lift.
The church is fully accessible: there is a ramp on the north side into the ground floor, a lift between the church and the crypt at the left-hand front doors, and a second lift from the crypt down to the lower crypt. Our accessible London guide has the wider picture for this part of town.
Charing Cross is the nearest station, on the Northern and Bakerloo lines and the mainline network; Leicester Square and Embankment are both about 200 metres away. If you are arriving by boat, the nearest pier is Embankment. Our guide to London's main railway stations explains how Charing Cross fits into the network.
What to combine it with
The National Gallery is across the square and the National Portrait Gallery is behind it, both free. Covent Garden is a seven-minute walk north-east and Leicester Square and the theatres are five minutes north. A 1pm concert, lunch in the crypt and a matinee is a very good wet Friday, and our guide to rainy days in London has further options.
For a different kind of church music, the cathedral choir at Westminster Cathedral sings daily and costs nothing to hear, and Southwark Cathedral has choral evensong most weekday evenings. At Christmas, St Martin's carol services are among the busiest in London: see Christmas in London for what to book and when.
Frequently asked questions
Are the lunchtime concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields free?
No, not any more. Lunchtime concerts take place on Fridays at 1pm and cost £10, with concessions available, or £20 including a fish and chip or soup and sandwich lunch in the crypt (September 2026). Older guidebooks describing free recitals on a collection are out of date.
Is it free to go into St Martin-in-the-Fields?
Yes. The church is free to enter, usually Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and on Sundays from 10am to 5pm for services. All services are free to attend, including the Sunday afternoon Choral Classics at 3.15pm and Choral Evensong at 5pm.
How much does brass rubbing cost at St Martin-in-the-Fields?
From £6.50 per person (September 2026), available daily during opening hours in the crypt. There are more than a hundred replica brasses to choose from and the staff supply paper and metallic waxes. Booking is only needed for groups of eight or more, and you take your rubbing home the same day.
Where is the entrance to the Cafe in the Crypt?
Through the glass pavilion on the north side of the church, on Church Path, rather than through the church doors facing Trafalgar Square. From the pavilion you can take the steps or the lift down to the crypt, where the cafe, the shop, the box office and the brass rubbing centre all are.
Can I take a suitcase into St Martin-in-the-Fields?
No. There is no cloakroom and large bags are not admitted. The church directs visitors to the left luggage facilities at Charing Cross station, which is a few minutes' walk away, so plan to drop bags before you arrive for a concert.
Sources
- St Martin-in-the-Fields - Lunchtime Concerts (checked September 2026)
- St Martin-in-the-Fields - Visitor FAQs (checked September 2026)
- St Martin-in-the-Fields - Brass Rubbing (checked September 2026)
- St Martin-in-the-Fields - Sunday Services (checked September 2026)
- St Martin-in-the-Fields - 300th Anniversary programme (checked September 2026)