I can’t recall anything using it, Neil.
City gates…. A Wander
- Thread starter Wapping
- Start date
I can’t recall anything using it, Neil.
I recall seeing post office vans parked up down the slope to the entrance in the mid eighties .. @theoneandonly might have seen them at the time, as like me, he also spent a year riding around on our bikes in the city of London from our office in Russel street just around the corner
Back on track, as it were.
Leaving the Guildhall, I wandered past something that I had never seen before, or even knew existed.
Shakespeare is most associated with Stratford upon Avon and, I guess, with the excellent recreation of the Globe theatre, over the river in Southwark. But, of course, he also lived in the City of London, too. There is a former churchyard of St Mary Aldermanbury, just off Love Lane. The church is long gone but the graveyard has been adopted as a small garden, another ‘green lung’.
Outside of the graveyard, there is a former drinking fountain and a reminder that a conduit used to supply drinking water, through to thec1700’s.
Inside the gravyard, there is a small monument, evidencing the love that two actor contemporaries of Shakespeare, held for the great bard:
Who knows, maybe without the efforts of these two, Shakespeare’s works might have been lost forever.
What was striking is the number of children the two fathered. I guess it was a reflection (or an insurance against) the high infant mortality rate of tge time.
As to the church that once stood there, it has a strange onward story:
I also happened to spot this Ordnance Survey Benchmark, carved into what is now part of a low stone wall:
Leaving the Guildhall, I wandered past something that I had never seen before, or even knew existed.
Shakespeare is most associated with Stratford upon Avon and, I guess, with the excellent recreation of the Globe theatre, over the river in Southwark. But, of course, he also lived in the City of London, too. There is a former churchyard of St Mary Aldermanbury, just off Love Lane. The church is long gone but the graveyard has been adopted as a small garden, another ‘green lung’.
Outside of the graveyard, there is a former drinking fountain and a reminder that a conduit used to supply drinking water, through to thec1700’s.
Inside the gravyard, there is a small monument, evidencing the love that two actor contemporaries of Shakespeare, held for the great bard:
Who knows, maybe without the efforts of these two, Shakespeare’s works might have been lost forever.
What was striking is the number of children the two fathered. I guess it was a reflection (or an insurance against) the high infant mortality rate of tge time.
As to the church that once stood there, it has a strange onward story:
I also happened to spot this Ordnance Survey Benchmark, carved into what is now part of a low stone wall:
Last edited:
I recall seeing post office vans parked up down the slope to the entrance in the mid eighties .. @theoneandonly might have seen them at the time, as like me, he also spent a year riding around on our bikes in the city of London from our office in Russel street just around the corner
That’s a real possibility.
On we go, past all that remains of the church of St Alban’s. The tower is all that is left:
Oddly, there is no sign or notice board telling anyone what the church was called or anything of its history. A pity, as most of the other City churches, live and / or ruined, enjoy some kind of ‘history’ board. I had to Google it up. Somewhat remarkably, Wiki says it’s now a private residence. Great, if true,
en.wikipedia.org
To be continued…. Quiz night in the Town of Ramsgate and I need beer to make me clever!
Oddly, there is no sign or notice board telling anyone what the church was called or anything of its history. A pity, as most of the other City churches, live and / or ruined, enjoy some kind of ‘history’ board. I had to Google it up. Somewhat remarkably, Wiki says it’s now a private residence. Great, if true,
St Alban, Wood Street - Wikipedia
To be continued…. Quiz night in the Town of Ramsgate and I need beer to make me clever!
Last edited:
Or another more likely possibility at the time ..
Posties parked up skiving while on overtime
Thank you.
The amazing thing, is that all this is within two miles or so of my front door and accessible all on foot. It’s free, other than the pubs I might visit or if I stop to buy a sandwich.
I have worked in the City for well over half my life, but there are still parts or things that I have never seen before, like the little garden in post #43. On this Wander I went out specifically to see the sites of the gates, but just wandering about in London, turns up something new each time. My regret? Chiefly that I didn’t take some pictures, when they ripped down some buildings during redevelopment, changing (for a while) the view available. Around St Paul’s is a real example. I can remember thinking, I should take a picture of this, but never did. Hey ho, in 50 years or less, they’ll rip down the new buildings….. maybe I’ll do it then!
Last edited:
Source:
St Lawrence Jewry war memorial
{Inscribed on the main stone plaque:} 1914 - 1918 In memory of the officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the First London Brigade Royal Field Artillery who laid down their lives in the Great War. Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory {inscribed on a small...
www.londonremembers.com
I think there are at least a dozen oldest pubs in London ??
Interesting tour as always. Many of the street names mentioned are mirrored in Belfast Street names........though many a lot less glamorous.
One thing that surprised me about Dublin and its (understandable) rejection of things British, that ‘British’ street names remained.
The pub in question is certainly old, or at least the site is. Whether it’s the oldest in London is a matter of some debate, as these things often are.
The George, over the river in Southwark is old for sure, as is the Town of Ramsgate (where I am sat now) on the river Thames in Wapping.
All that matters is that the beer is good.
I suppose most of Dublin's development was under British rule. It's no small thing to re-name places I suppose, but they all have the Irish equivalent now.
Hence “reputedly”
I think there are reputedly at least a dozen oldest pubs in London ? (Now corrected)
Let’s move on, before I start a wander around them all.
10 of the Oldest Pubs in London
- Prospect of Whitby
- Est. Date: 1520
- Location: 57 Wapping Wall, London E1W 3SH
- Details: Widely regarded as the oldest riverside pub in London. Former smugglers' haunt and once known as the "Devil's Tavern."
- The George Inn
- Est. Date: 1542
- Location: 75 Borough High Street, London SE1 1NH
- Details: The only remaining galleried coaching inn in London. Owned by the National Trust, it was frequently visited by Charles Dickens.
- Ye Olde Mitre
- Est. Date: 1546
- Location: 1 Ely Court, Ely Place, London EC1N 6SJ
- Details: Tucked down a secret alleyway, it originally served as a drinking den for the servants of the Bishop of Ely.
- The Mayflower
- Est. Date: 1550
- Location: 117 Rotherhithe Street, London SE16 4NF
- Details: Located right on the Thames, it commemorates the exact spot where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America in 1620.
- The Grapes
- Est. Date: 1583
- Location: 76 Narrow Street, London E14 8BP
- Details: A historic East End stalwart frequented by Charles Dickens and co-owned by actor Sir Ian McKellen.
- The Spaniards Inn
- Est. Date: 1585
- Location: Spaniards Road, Hampstead, London NW3 7JJ
- Details: Perched on the edge of Hampstead Heath, it features a massive historic beer garden and literary connections to John Keats.
- The Seven Stars
- Est. Date: 1602
- Location: 53 Carey Street, London WC2A 2JB
- Details: Situated directly opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, it is popular with legal professionals and features an iconic resident pub cat.
- Hoop & Grapes
- Est. Date: 1660s (Built), 1920 (Licensed as Pub)
- Location: 47 Aldgate High Street, London EC3N 1AL
- Details: One of the rare timber-framed buildings that survived the Great Fire of London
- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
- Est. Date: 1667
- Location: 145 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2BU
- Details: A sprawling, maze-like 17th-century pub that was the local for writers including Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and W.B. Yeats.
- The Old Bell Tavern
- Est. Date: 1670s
- Location: 95 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH
- Details: Rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren’s stonemasons during the reconstruction of St Paul's Cathedral.
- Prospect of Whitby
Your pretty good with survivors; The Hoop & grapes also missed the fire;
Who lives in a house like this; must be an eccentric of some type;On we go, past all that remains of the church of St Alban’s. The tower is all that is left:
View attachment 522582
Oddly, there is no sign or notice board telling anyone what the church was called or anything of its history. A pity, as most of the other City churches, live and / or ruined, enjoy some kind of ‘history’ board. I had to Google it up. Somewhat remarkably, Wiki says it’s now a private residence. Great, if true,
St Alban, Wood Street - Wikipedia
To be continued…. Quiz night in the Town of Ramsgate and I need beer to make me clever!
Indeed it did.
The wind changed direction, just before they were going to blow up some houses, to create a firebreak.
Pepy’s house / office in Seething Lane survived, a little to the west.
Is there a prize ? I've been to 9/10 of those...
Old or not so old pubs aside, let’s wander on.
We we’ll go back up to London Wall road, past the large City of London police station on Vine Street:
And out close to the post war development of the Barbican estate, whose name reminds us that a barbican is a part of a defensive wall:
We are now at Cripplegate, on what was the northwest corner of the wall, before it bends south again to thevThsmes.
We we’ll go back up to London Wall road, past the large City of London police station on Vine Street:
And out close to the post war development of the Barbican estate, whose name reminds us that a barbican is a part of a defensive wall:
We are now at Cripplegate, on what was the northwest corner of the wall, before it bends south again to thevThsmes.
Similar threads
