Stage
2 - Bank to St Paul's
We left stage 1 of our walk arriving at the Bank along Cornhill. Bank
is a major intersection of roads with an underground station, Bank.
On the corner by the eastern side of Cornhill is the most imposing
building on this junction, the Royal Exchange, pictured right. The
current Royal Exchange building with its 8 imposing columns was built
in 1842. It is no longer used for its original purpose, trading, instead
it is a luxury shopping centre.
Mansion House
Opposite the Royal Exchange on the other side of the junction is Mansion
House, with a similar grand entrance of columns.
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Royal
Exchange |
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The
Mansion House is the home of the Lord Mayor of the City of London,
(note as distinct from the Mayor of London), providing not only
living and working space for the Lord Mayor and his household but
also room for large ceremonial entertainment's and banquets.
The audience are the grandees of the City around you, mostly financial.
The City of London has always been very powerful, financing trade
on which England prospered and today is one of the main financial
centres of the world. The Finance Minister of the UK will often
use use the banquets of the City of London to make political statements
on the economy. The building like much else around was built soon
after the Fire of London, with the Mayor moving in in 1752. Unfortunately
you cannot walk in off the street to look around.
Bank of England
The most important building at Bank is the Bank of England, the
building itself is unremarkable compared with some of its neighbours.
The function of the bank today is to design and issue banknotes,
store gold and act as the governments banker. The Bank of England
has an interesting museum, which has free entrance but is only open
Monday to Friday.
So go down Threadneedle Street, the street to the left of the Royal
Exchange and take the first turning left, Bartholemew Lane. The
museum entrance is on the left hand side down Bartholemew Lane.
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Guildhall
After visiting the Bank of England Museum, continue down to the end
of Bartholemew Lane, then turn left into Lothbury. Follow Lothbury,
which quickly becomes Gresham Street.
The fifth turning on your right is Guildhall Yard, the one after Basinghall
Street. Guildhall Yard leads you into an open square.
Guildhall is at the eastern end of the square, pictured right. This
is the administrative headquarters of the City of London, the City's
local authority for over 800 years. |
Guildhall |
| Guildhall
is also used for the presentation of the Booker Prize, the best known
literary prize in the UK. Guildhall is open free of charge to the
public when it is not being used for events. Adjacent to Guildhall
is its art gallery, for which there is an admission charge. |
Lord
Mayors Coach
London Museum |
Museum
of London
Exit the square at its western end, opposite the Guildhall itself
into Aldermanbury, turning right. Then turn left into Love Lane, then
immediately right into Wood Lane, then left again along a major road,
(London Wall). Continue to the roundabout about 200m down the road.
The London Museum is one of the most well hidden museums in London.
You are now surrounded by tall modern buildings. The London Museum
is physically in an elevated position up above the north eastern corner
of the roundabout. |
Best
strategy is just to follow the signs to the museum along the maze
of walkways.
The museum itself is open 7 days a week and has free entrance. It
has over a million exhibits telling the story of London and is very
professionally done. There is also a section of the original London
Wall. |
St
Paul's Cathedral
On leaving
the London Museum you want to descend to the southern exit
of the roundabout below, the road is called St Martin's Le Grand.
Follow this road for about 300m until you come to a major intersection
with St Paul's Underground Station.
Cross over to the south western corner of the intersection and then
make your way around to St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is the UK's major cathedral and setting for many
state occasions including royal weddings. The dome is the masterpiece
of the building, erected after the Fire of London. We have a dedicated
St Paul's Cathedral page. |
St
Paul's Cathedral |
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On
leaving St Paul's make your way to the south side of the cathedral,
Cannon Street. There is a tourist office here and close by a wide
pedestrian thoroughfare descending down to the River Thames. Follow
this wide pedestrian way which leads onto the Millenium Footbridge
across the River Thames. The bridge is a pedestrian only suspension
bridge built for the year 2000 celebrations. It become famous due
to the fact that the walkway swayed so much it was deemed unsafe
and shut down. The bridge has now reopened and offers a rigid platform
to cross the River Thames without the noise of traffic.
On the other side of the bridge is the Tate Modern Art Gallery and
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
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