This was effectively the first university in the City of London. Funded by a bequest from financier Thomas Gresham it was built in Bishopsgate in 1571. It stood near where Tower 42 aka the Natwest Building now stands.

It was a place, of course, of education but also of research. The Royal Society first met here in 1660 with Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke in attendance.

The college still operates today. It does not accept students nor issue degrees but offers around 140 free lectures each year.

Today it is located in the west of the City on Holborn at Barnard’s Inn Hall.