London City Walk Part Two
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On this walk we started from our temporary Landmark Home at Cloth Fair by Smithfields Market.
The first walk can be found here
We travelled through the Barbican for which we have a linked page.
Follow our trail through some fascinating streets and marvel at the churches we entered on our way around.
Sheila sorts the route notes and maps ready for our walk.
Our walk started at The Barbican just by the City Wall and we visited the Church of St Giles, featured in our webpage on the Barbican
We walked past the Offices of the Institute of Chartered Accountants because it is architecturally distinctive
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Our route took us down the alleyway to the right of the picture below into Lothbury. The building shown is a special design in pink and white Venetian style and is unique.
The building shown above is also in the picture below where our next port of call was the adjacent church of St Margaret.
The inside of the church is calm and beautiful and having been destroyed in the great fire it was rebuilt by Wren in 1690
Looking towards the altar.
Looking back from the altar
Our walk then took us to the crossroads at the end of Lothbury and the church from which we have just emerged is tucked in on the left side of the road, opposite the rear of the Bank of England
Here we turned into Princes Street where we found this sign
Here is the Jubilee Walkway at the Royal Exchange - a grand building with its fine Roman portico.
The picture is interesting because of the skyscrapers in the background and if you look carefully at the intermedaite horizon above the red bus you will see the spires of St Michael, Cornhill.
On we went to the Jubilee Walkway to see the statue of the Duke of Wellington on his horse which we think was called Copenhagen.
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The church we identified from a distance is really locked in by other established buildings. This is the church of St Michael Cornhill. Once again it has a magnificent interior as can be seen below once again with Wren influence
Back down the road we went to the Royal Exchange and admired the Bank of England Museum with its impressive frontage.
Then a spot of lunch near The Monument built to commenerate the great fire of 1666. It remains one of the most perfect and exciting structures in the city
Back again to the RE to find an alleyway to take us to St Mary Woolnoth.
St Mary Woolnoth
has a busy location with bustling traffic and pedestrians.
We learnt that the cript became Bank Tube station.
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There is a coffee pop-up in the foyer of the church and tables and chairs in the front courtyard.
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As mentioned above, I thought I would add this note which we found interesting:
Between 1897 and 1900 the City & South London Railway (C&SLR) built Bank tube station beneath the church. The C&SLR were given permission to demolish the building, but public outcry forced them to reconsider: the company undertook to use only the subsoil instead.
The crypt was sold to the railway and the bones were removed for reburial at Ilford. The walls and internal columns of the church were then supported on steel girders while the lift shafts and staircase shaft for Bank station were built directly beneath the church floor.
Just by the entrance to the City Magistrates Court and by Bank Underground Station, we had our first view of The Church of St Stephen Walbrook.
Notice the domed roof of the building next door.
This is another Wren designed church and yet you wouldn't immediately know that. because it looks uninspiring from the outside, for example there are no windows at low level because in Wren's time, the exterior was obscured by houses and narrow alleys. Notice the domed church roof in green and what looks like an addon addition to the building behind.
JUST LOOK AT THE INSIDE
A choir were in rehearsal around the stone centrepiece (wrought by Sir Thomas Moore} and many other people were involved with additional activities. - A vibrant atmosphere.
Opposite Lovat Lane our route sheet told us to look out for 33 and 35 Eastcheap which are examples of remarkable and dramatic Gothic style architecture, built on 1868 as a wine and vinegar warehouse and offices.
We then sought out another church - and the last of this walk - which was found down a narrow pedestrianised lane. It is named St Mary at Hill
Inside it had been cleared of furniture to create a grand space of great elegance. This church, St Mary-at-Hill was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1677 and it had strong connections with the Guild of Fishmongers as Fishmongers Hall and the Thames are close
by. Please spare a moment to enjoy this linked site to understand how seriously the connection is retained.
This picture was taken looking back to the entrance doors and if you look closely you can see two lovely meet and greet staff ready to welcome visitors and answer questions.
Finally, a view from the balcony at Kings Cross station on Remembrance Day.
That's all from me and covers Walk Two. If you haven't seen Walk One then click on that name. That walk has a nickname of the gherkin because we kept finding it. This walk has become The Wren walk because of the wonderful structures.
Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed looking through the images.
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