The Knights Templar built the church as their English headquarters, and Heraclius, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, consecrated it on February 10, 1185. The round plan follows Templar models based on the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The infobox credits Christopher Wren, but the text says Wren only refurbished the interior in the 17th century.
The Round Church is about 55 feet (17 m) in diameter, with a ring of Purbeck marble columns that the article calls the earliest known surviving free-standing set of its kind. The rectangular chancel, consecrated in 1240, has three aisles of equal width and a vault 36 feet 3 inches (11.05 m) high. Thirteenth-century effigies include William Marshal.
The church survived the Great Fire of 1666. Incendiary bombs set the roof alight on May 10, 1941, destroying the organ and wooden fittings. Walter Godfrey supervised the restoration, and it was rededicated in November 1958.
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