My plan to update my annual Top 10 of Free Carol Concerts has been thwarted by the amount of studying I’m doing for the Clerkenwell & Islington Guiding course. However rather than waste the research I have done so far, here it is!

1. Trafalgar Square

The world famous tree will be lit on Thursday 4th December at 6pm and then from Monday 8th to Tuesday 23rd December there will be carol singing around the tree by a different group each night – 4pm-8pm on weekdays and 2pm-6pm on weekends. More details can be found here.

2. St Bartholomew the Great

This year I finally made it into St Bartholomew The Great – in fact I went inside twice. My first visit was to see Murder in the Cathedral by the amazing Little Spaniel Theatre Company and I see they are returning with that production in October 2015. 

My second visit was as part of a London Historians tour which started with an early morning tour of Smithfield Market followed by breakfast and then followed by tours at St Bartholomew the Less, the Hogarth mural at Barts Hospital and then a tour of St Bartholomew the Great. I then had a third visit although this time was only outside in the churchyard where I had to speak for 4 minutes about the history of the church as part of my training to become a Clerkenwell and Islington Guide.

On my first visit I was absolutely taken aback by the interior of the church and will say that it is worth every penny of the £4 entrance fee. The Cloister Cafe is worth visiting too.

There are a number of carol services listed here including those for nearby solicitors and livery companies. The one that jumps out at me is a service of 9 lessons and carols including German music on Tuesday 23rd December at 6pm – scroll down on this link for details. I am hoping to get along to this one.
  
My previous years’ lists can be found by clicking on these links – 2013, 2012 and 2011 which could be of use as no doubt these venues will be offering something similar this year.