 Mansion
House Tube Area
At the junction of Queen Victoria St. and Cannon Street is Manson House
Tube Station .
Running south from the junction is Garlick Hill with the church of St.
James Garlickhythe. It was built by Wren in 1676.
This leads on to Queenhithe Dock which is the site of the earliest fish
market, it is first mentioned in 899.
Eastwards along Queen Victoria St stands St. Mary Aldermary. The names
means the older Mary, this probably refers to the fact that this church
is older than St. Mary-Le-Bow close by. The original church was built
in the 11 century, it was rebuilt in 1510.
In 1681 it was rebuilt by Wren.
Further along the south side of Queen Victoria St. between Queen St.
and Bank are the remains of the Temple of Mithras, which was built by
the Romans between 90 and 350 AD.
 From
the junction running north is Bow Lane a pretty little street that leads
to Cheapside. At the junction of Cheapside and Bow Lane is St. Mary Le
Bow. It was rebuilt by Wren in 1683.
The original church on this sites dates from 1080.
To be a true cockney you must have been born within the sound of it's
bell. The bell is also, by legend, the one that called Dick Whittington
to return to the City.
Bank
At the junction of Princes St. and Threadneedle Street is the Bank of
England. The building dates from the 18 century.
 On
the south side of Bank is Mansion House, the official residence of the
Lord Mayor of London. It was built in 1739
by George Dance the Elder
To the north of the Bank on Lothbury stands St. Margaret Lothbury. This
church was rebuilt by Wren in 1686.
The original church dates from 1197.
The inside is filled with woodwork that comes from other now demolished
Wren churches.
To the south stands St. Stephen Walbrook. There has been a church here
since 1100. The current church
was rebuilt by Wren in 1672,
it is one of his masterpieces.
Between Threadneedle St. and Cornhill is the Royal Exchange, the present
building dates from 1842.
 At
the junction of Threadneedle St. and Old Broad St. is the Stock Exchange.
To the west from Bank runs Poultry, with Old Jewry leading off to the
north. This area used to be the Jewish quarter until 1262,
when it was ramshackle and 500 people where killed. Along the street there
are some restored houses from 1776.
On Gresham St. is the church of St. Lawrence Jewry. The church was founded
in the 12 century and dedicated to St. Lawrence who was roasted to death
on a gridiron. The church was rebuilt by Wren in 1671.
The weathervane is in the form of a gridiron.
To the north of the church is the Guildhall, the "town hall" for the
City. The building was first erected in 1411.
The porch, gatehouse, part of the Great Hall and the crypt still survive.
The building was damaged by the Great Fire and rebuilt by Wren, further
changes were made by George Dance the younger in 1789. The building was
very badly damaged during the war, and rebuilt.
 At
the junction of Gresham St. and Aldersgate St. is the church of St. Anne
and St. Agnes, rebuilt by Wren in 1676.
On Cornhill stand St. Michael's Cornhill, the church was rebuilt by Wren
in 1670, but the tower itself
is much older, it was built in 1421.
In the Alley by the church London first coffee house was established.
 Further
along Cornhill is St. Peter's upon Cornhill. This is supposed to be the
oldest church in London, having been originally been built in 179. The
church was rebuilt by Wren in 1677.
Cannon Street
Opposite Cannon St. Station, embedded into the wall is the London Stone.
Tradition has it that this stone used to mark the centre of the Roman
province of Britain. It used to stand in the grounds of the Governors
palace. Recently remains of a palace have been found beneath the station
on the other side of the road.
 On
the north side of the street runs Abchurch Lane with the church of St.
Mary Abchurch. The current church is another one of Wren's, rebuilt in
1686, many believe it is one
of his best. The original dated from the 12 century.
On the south side is Laurence Pountney Hill. Numbers 1 and 2 date from
1703.
On College Hill stands the church of St. Michael Paternoster Royal. It
was founded before 1219. The
current church was rebuilt by Wren in 1686.
Sir Richard (Dick) Whittington was buried here in 1423
 At
the corner of Lombard and King William Streets in the church of St. Mary
Woolnoth. The church is on the site of a Roman place of worship. The church
was rebuilt in 1716.
Monument
The Monument commemorates the Great Fire, which started on the 2 September
1666, 202 feet to the east of
the column at Farryner's bakery in Pudding Lane. The fire raged for 5
days and destroyed 460 streets, 89 churches and 13,000 homes. The Monument
is the worlds tallest isolated stone column, it is 202 feet high. It was
designed by Wren and built in 1671.
On Lower Thames St. is St. Magnus the Martyr. As with almost all churches
in this area it was rebuilt by Wren. It dates from 1671
and is renowned for its steeple. The church was founded in 1067
and stood at the foot of London Bridge.
Next to the church is the former Billingsgate fish market. This is the
site of one of the oldest wharfs in London- The first fish market was
established here in 1699. The
current building dates from 1874.
The market closed in 1982 and the building was turned into offices.
 On
Lombard St. is the church of St. Edmund the King and Martyr, the church
was rebuilt by Wren in 1670.
On St. Clements Lane stands the church of St. Clements, rebuilt in 1683
by Wren.
Lloyds
Just off Bishopsgate is St. Helen's, one of the largest churches in the
City. Legend has it that this church was built by Emperor Constantine
on the site of a pagan temple in the 4 century. The church is dedicated
to his mother. In 1204 a Benedictine
nunnery was founded here. The current church stems mostly from the 17
century.
 Close
by is St. Ethelburga-the-Virgin within Bishopsgate. The Great Fire did
not reach the church, so the original from the 15 century still remains.
It is one of the smallest churches in the City.
On the south side of Leadenhall St. is Lloyds. The current building dates
from 1986 and was designed by
Richard Rogers.
To the south is Leadenhall market.
At the junction of St. Mary Axe is the church of St. Andrew Undershaft.
It was built in 1520. The name comes from the May pole that was set up
here each May day. It is believed that Hans Holbein died here of the plague
in 1543.
 Further
up from St. Mary Axe is the Baltic Exchange, this is where merchant vessels
find cargos. The exchange was founded in 1744
in a coffee house on Threadneedle St. In 1992 the building was almost
destroyed by an IRA bomb.
St. Katharine Cree church or Christchurch, was part of an Augustinian
priory from 1108.
London Bridge
If anything can be seen as being the reason why a city grew in this location
it is due to the river Thames. If you look at the geography of Britain
it can be clearly seen that the Thames forms a massive barrier between
the south east and the rest of the country. The lower reaches of the river
are tidal, they reached what is nowadays London Bridge or there about.
It also seems that in this area the river was shallow. Therefore this
was the the point closest to the sea at where it was reasonably safe and
easy to cross the river. It therefore became a natural focus for all routes
from the Southeast to and from the north.
 When
the Roman invaded Britain in 43 AD they landed in Kent, the most direct
route to the northern parts of the country were of course via London.
Fairly early on in the campaign they built the first bridge over the river
and a settlement on Cornhill. Recently the remains of a foundation pier
of this first bridge have been found very close to the current London
Bridge, the line of the road to the bridge followed what is now Fish Street
Hill.
 In
1014 it was burned down by King Ethelred to split up the Viking armies.
In 1091 the rebuilt bridge was
swept away in a gale. It burned down again in 1136.
 The
first stone bridge was built in 1176,
and the first houses appeared in 1201.
This bridge was made up if 12 spans, the piers blocked the flow of the
river and passing the bridge was similar to running rapids. Upstream a
pool formed which would freeze over in winter, and would the the site
of the "Frost Fairs". A fund was started to pay for the maintenance
of the bridge, it was run from a house on the south side, known as Bridge
house, hence Bridge House Estates.
In 1212 fire broke out at both
ends and 3,000 people died. In 1758
the houses were removed. In 1823
a new bridge with 5 spans was built. This bridge was sold to the Americans
in 1972 and now stands in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. They believed they
were buying Tower Bridge. The bridge used to act as a display ground for
the heads of traitors. The view from the bridge is worth seeing.
 The
Tower and environs
As a result of a great deal of confusion at the coronation of William 1
in 1066, when troops set fire to nearby houses, a wooden keep was built
on a mount on the east side of the city, to overawe the population. In 1078
work was begun on the White Tower. Most of the rest was built by Henry 3
and Edward 1
Tower Hill
In the gardens by the tube station a large section of the medieval wall
can be seen, a further section can be found in Cooper's Row.
|
