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City of London west

City of London west

Distance: 2.80 miles ( 4.51 km )  Duration: 2 hours   Last Updated: 01 Oct 2021
A really good walk added by John Daniels it's in City of London, Greater London, England.
This walk is best done during daylight hours and any day of the week but at weekends the streets are much quieter. In this walk we discover the hidden streets and courtyards to the west of St Paul’s Cathedral including the site of the first playhouse indoors, Roman remains and a moving tribute to unknown heroes plus much more.
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Trail Highlights



Blackfriars Station

Blackfriars Station was proposed by the London Chatham and Dover Railway, who had been given Parliamentary power to build a line into the City of London. The line was complete as far as the river Tham…
This is a taster. Actual text is 209 words.






The Black Friar Pub

The pub is a Grade II listed building, it was built in about 1875 on the site of a former Dominican Priory and remodelled in 1905. The pub was nearly demolished in the 1960’s, until it was saved by …
This is a taster. Actual text is 312 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.13 miles ( 0.20 km ) ( 0:02:54 )

Apothecaries Hall

Apothecaries Hall

This is a scheduled monument and headquarters of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies and rank…
This is a taster. Actual text is 550 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.06 miles ( 0.09 km ) ( 0:01:13 )



Playhouse Yard

The area of Blackfriars is named after the large monastery that once occupied most of the area and formed by Dominican monks in 1278. The monks became very rich and powerful under King Edward I who, l…
This is a taster. Actual text is 786 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.03 miles ( 0.05 km ) ( 0:00:44 )

Ireland Yard

Ireland Yard

Walk down Church Entry to find St Ann’s Vestry, a Grade II listed hall built in 1905 and has a unique Edwardian Baroque style facade. An interesting feature is the plaque to the left of the door “…
This is a taster. Actual text is 985 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.04 miles ( 0.06 km ) ( 0:00:46 )

The Kings Wardrobe

The Kings Wardrobe

The Kings Wardrobe was not a building, but a department of the Royal Household in medieval and early modern England. The building in Blackfriars was a 14th century house and was sold to King Edward I…
This is a taster. Actual text is 1222 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.13 miles ( 0.21 km ) ( 0:02:35 )



The Old Deanery

The Old Deanery was built in 1672-73, as the residence of the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, it is now Grade 1listed. William Sancroft became Dean in 1664 and was the first occupant, he greatly assist…
This is a taster. Actual text is 1287 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.05 miles ( 0.08 km ) ( 0:01:08 )



St Paul’s Cathedral

This is the masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren, the only Renaissance cathedral in England. This is the fifth cathedral to stand on top of Ludgate Hill but earlier still the Romans are said to have bu…
This is a taster. Actual text is 1500 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.11 miles ( 0.17 km ) ( 0:02:19 )

Temple Bar and Paternoster Squ

Temple Bar and Paternoster Squ

Temple Bar is the only surviving City Gate and until 1878 it stood outside the Temple at the western City boundary, where Fleet Street meets the Strand. By then it was causing bad congestion making th…
This is a taster. Actual text is 1796 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.16 miles ( 0.25 km ) ( 0:03:07 )

Stationers Hall

Stationers Hall

The Stationers Company is one of the livery companies in the City of London, was formed in 1403 and received a royal charter in 1557. It was responsible for the publishing industry and all members ass…
This is a taster. Actual text is 1978 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.12 miles ( 0.19 km ) ( 0:02:15 )

Amen Corner/Court

Amen Corner/Court

On Corpus Christi Day there is a ritual of a procession of monks that finishes at St Paul’s and on the way they recite the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ in Latin, when they arrive at the corner of the short…
This is a taster. Actual text is 2253 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.04 miles ( 0.07 km ) ( 0:00:47 )

Cutlers Hall

Cutlers Hall

The Worshipful Company of Cutlers is one of the ancient Livery Companies of the City of London and is ranked 18th in the table of precedence. The trade of knife making and repairing was formed in the …
This is a taster. Actual text is 2405 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.09 miles ( 0.15 km ) ( 0:01:53 )

The Central Criminal Court

The Central Criminal Court

Very often it is referred to as “The Old Bailey” it stands on the site of the horrific Newgate Prison and Session House, it opened in 1188 and finally closed in 1902. In 1783 the site of London’…
This is a taster. Actual text is 2655 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.14 miles ( 0.23 km ) ( 0:02:56 )



Church of St Sepulchre-without

This church is also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre because when built in 1137 it was built at exactly the same distance from Newgate, the north west gate of the City of London as the Church…
This is a taster. Actual text is 2867 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.12 miles ( 0.19 km ) ( 0:02:36 )

The Golden Boy of Pye Corner

The Golden Boy of Pye Corner

This monument, set in the corner of a Grade II listed building, is made of wood covered with gold and marks the northern limit where in 1666 the Great Fire of London was stopped. The fire was ascribed…
This is a taster. Actual text is 3110 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.12 miles ( 0.20 km ) ( 0:02:31 )

King Henry VIII Gatehouse

King Henry VIII Gatehouse

This magnificent gatehouse was built in 1702 and is still the main entrance to St Bart’s Hospital” and above the archway is the only public statue of Henry VIII in London. The governors of the hos…
This is a taster. Actual text is 3275 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.15 miles ( 0.23 km ) ( 0:02:50 )



West Smithfield

Smithfield is a corruption of the medieval ‘smooth field’ and West Smithfield was home to a sprawling live cattle market from the 10th to mid 19th century and remains home to an early morning meat…
This is a taster. Actual text is 3453 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.08 miles ( 0.13 km ) ( 0:01:34 )

St Bartholomew’s Gatehouse

St Bartholomew’s Gatehouse

This entrance to one of London’s oldest churches in the City is a rare survivor of Tudor London and originally the doorway to the nave when it was a much larger building. In 1955 a local resident bu…
This is a taster. Actual text is 3571 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.08 miles ( 0.13 km ) ( 0:01:34 )

St Bartholomew-the-Great

St Bartholomew-the-Great

The Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great was founded as an Augustinian priory in 1123 and adjoins the hospital. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries about half of the church was ransacked…
This is a taster. Actual text is 3749 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.08 miles ( 0.13 km ) ( 0:01:33 )

Postman’s Park

Postman’s Park

This is a public garden and one of the largest open spaces in the City of London, opened in 1880 on the site of the former churchyard and burial ground of St Botolphs Aldersgate Church and expanded to…
This is a taster. Actual text is 3931 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.22 miles ( 0.35 km ) ( 0:04:25 )

Noble Street Gardens

Noble Street Gardens

The gardens are sunken gardens made post-war adjacent to the Plaisterers Hall, built in 1970-73, rebuilt 2002. Noble Street is named after a 14th century landowner Thomas Noble. Properties here suffer…
This is a taster. Actual text is 4148 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.12 miles ( 0.20 km ) ( 0:02:30 )

The Guildhall

The Guildhall

The Anglo-Saxon name derives from Gilde Hall and was the place where citizens paid their taxes in gilders. It has been the hub of City life since the Middle Ages and here the ruling merchant classes h…
This is a taster. Actual text is 4347 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.32 miles ( 0.51 km ) ( 0:06:22 )



Old Jewry

William the Conqueror encouraged Jews to come to England soon after the Norman Conquest and many settled in London. Old Jewry and the surrounding area was a ‘ghetto’, areas of a city mainly or exc…
This is a taster. Actual text is 4566 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.22 miles ( 0.36 km ) ( 0:04:25 )



Bank Station

This is where this walk ends and I hope that you have found it interesting. I am available to give guided walks for private groups and have several other walks not on line including a ghost walk and a…
This is a taster. Actual text is 4627 words.


Distance from previous hotspot: 0.20 miles ( 0.32 km ) ( 0:04:41 )











Furnishing