More people and places in the City of London

The Wren construction following the originals destruction in the fire of 1666 was completed in 1680. It was again destroyed on May 10th 1941 by an air raid. The present building is a replica built twenty years later to the original plans. It stands in Cheapside, and houses the famous Bow Bells. Although they were out of action for 20 years up until 1961, anyone born within the sound of the bells is said to be a true Cockney.

The poet John Milton was born in Bread Street, which runs from Cheapside to Gresham Street. He was christened at All Hallows Church. Both the church, and his birthplace are no longer there due to rebuilding of the area. The plaque commemorating his birth was taken from the wall of All Hallows and now resides on the side wall of Saint Mary le Bow Church. There was also a bust of Milton in Bread Street but so far I have been unable to trace it’s whereabouts today.

As well as being home to City of London Police special units, Wood Street is also home to the surviving tower of Saint Albans Church. Named after the first English martyr, there has been a church here since 793 when Offa, King of Mercia founded the abbey. It was another one of Wren’s church constructions after the great fire, and once again like many of the City’s churches was damaged by World War Two air raids which left only part of the building including the tower standing. I believe it is a private dwelling now.

The Church of Saint Andrew Undershaft was given the name because of the tall maypole which rivaled the tower for height, and stood at the south door. In 1517 Mayday celebrations ended with a riot with apprentices causing the maypole to be taken down for good. It was stored on hooks along the wall in Shaft Alley above the doorways. Some years later the curate of the nearby Church of St. Katherine Cree pronounced that it was a pagan symbol. The residents of the houses became afraid and after hauling it down, chopped and burned it.

If you take a walk down Chiswell Street from Moorgate, where the building works are going on, you will find the “The Brewery”. Among the newly constructed buildings you will see an older brick built construction on the corner of Milton Street. This was once a busy brewery operating out of the City.
The former Whitbread's brewery was sold in September 2005. Before that it had been the site of Whitbread’s heritage since the company’s founder, Samuel Whitbread, started brewing there in 1750. Brewing ceased in 1976 although the site continued to be used as its head office until 2000.
After that, it was turned into a conference and banqueting centre, still owned by Whitbread until the sale five years later to Earls Court & Olympia Group (ECO), owner of the west London exhibition centres. It remains a popular conference and events centre.

This old pump and horse trough can be seen in Cornhill. Erected in 1799, the inscription reads “On this spot a well was first made and a house of correction built thereon by Henry Wallis Mayor of London, in the year 1282. The well was discovered much enlarged and this pump erected in the year 1799 by the contributions of the neighbouring offices, together with the bankers and traders of the ward of Cornhill.”

I don’t know how many of these are left in London, but they used to be common. There were also larger ones such as that used as the Tardis in the ‘Doctor Who’ series. They were designed and erected to enable direct telephone access to the local police station in an emergency. Although no longer working, you can see this one situated on the side wall of the Mansion House in Walbrook (Street).

The London Stone was a large block of Oolite Limestone, the remaining piece of which, is housed in a case with an iron grill and glass partition on the wall of a building in Cannon Street.
It is now generally agreed that this was once a large monolith used by the Romans as a milestone, with all the main city roads radiating out from it and the place from where all distances from Londinium were measured. A passage written in 1629 refers to it as “the remayning parte of London Stone” confirming that it was once larger. Before this, Stow’s research tells us that it was embedded so firmly in the ground that it would break the wheels of a passing cart if hit by it. It’s age has been estimated by some to be in the region of 3,000 years, and it was important enough to be mentioned in writings by the Saxons in the 10th century as well as by Shakespeare in Henry IV. The remains of a large Roman complex on the site, uncovered by excavation works over the years, give the impression that this was an important building to the Romans, possibly the home of a Governor. Since then, the stone seems to have lost some of it’s importance, and is passed by with hardly anyone knowing it is there.
In 1742 it was moved from it’s existing position and set into the wall of Saint Swithin’s Church where it stayed until the church was demolished to make way for new buildings in 1962. It was placed in the wall of a building which at the time of writing is a sportswear shop just along from Cannon Street Station, on the opposite side of the road. There is a plaque on top giving information, but unless you know that it’s there, you don’t notice it. It is also very difficult to photograph, being so low down and the protective glass that also shows the shop interior, reflects light back into the camera lens.
It is a shame that a better and more suitable home cannot be found for the stone, and I am very surprised that it has been abandoned like this.