From mystery plays and "blood tubs" to Shakespeare and Sadley's Wells - EC1 has always been a key player in London's theatrical scene. Local guide John Morgan revisits the area's most historic and pioneering venues.

Just a few feet from the urban cacophony that is Goswell Road lies a small oasis of green and calm, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. With its mature trees and park benches, it's a favourite lunchtime spot for Clerkenwell's office workers, but few of them probably realise just how significant their place of brief escape really is.

Nicholas Cahill explores the life of the fortunate Alice Owen, whose philanthropic acts 400 years ago still impact on Clerkenwell today