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!A City of London WalkMichael Strachan
Copyright © heritagewalks.london 2019 75 West Street, Harrow on the Hill, London HA1 3EL info@walkingthepast.co.uk First published in the UK in 2012 Text and images copyright © Michael Strachan Michael Strachan has asserted his rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. (The cover illustration shows St. Paul’s Cathedral).
!A City of London walkMichael Strachan
INTRODUCTION Walk from the Thames through the area around the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court, then join the hustle and bustle of Fleet Street, long associated with printing, journalism and the Press. Stop at St. Bride’s Church, one of Wren’s finest buildings, before walking up Ludgate Hill through the winding streets to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Sometimes known as the ‘Square Mile’, the City is where England’s capital was founded and its importance in the history and development of trade and commerce is im-mense. The Romans first established a trading port by the River Thames around AD 47 and by the end of the 1st cen-tury CE Londinium was the most prosperous settlement in Roman Britain with a population of more than 50,000. The original boundaries are similar to those of today, still reaching no farther west than the banks of the River Fleet. The Thames was much wider then and a bridge was built near the modern London Bridge. The Roman legacy can still be seen throughout the City. William the Conqueror granted a charter to its citizens in 1075 but built the Tower of London to keep them sub-dued. The City continued to grow and was the location of many guilds and business enterprises. However, it suf-fered setbacks including the Plague of 1665-1666 when 1Thames Embankment 19th centuryThe Royal Courts of JusticeSt Paul’s Cathedral