Cloth Fair was, as its name suggests, the site where medieval merchants gathered to buy and sell material. Situated in the EC1 postal district, it is a short residential street within the Smithfields district in the northern part of Farringdon Within, a ward of the City of London, a self governing enclave of the United Kingdom’s capital city . It runs south-west to north-east from Little Britain, the very start of the A1, the country’s longest named road, parallel to Long Lane to the north and St Bartholomew-the-Great Anglican church to the south, until it merges with Middle Street some 150 yards (137.14 m) later. An area with a rich history, a colourful past and proud literary tradition it contains within its short boundaries the oldest residential dwelling in London, a pair of properties administered by the Landmark Trust, a peaceful local and the former home of John Betjeman, now a restaurant.

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