City of London Walk – Sky Scrapers, Monuments, Tower of London, Tower Bridge and River Thames

As you step out of Monument Tube Station onto Fish Street Hill, the monument for the great fire of London stands on the junction with Monument Street.

It was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City.

Sir Christopher Wren best known for the design of many London churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral, prepared several designs for the Monument.

www.themonument.info

20 Fenchurch Street, otherwise known as the ‘Walkie Talkie’ because of it’s distinctive shape, is 525 feet tall, and was completed in 2014, and then the three floor Sky Garden was completed in 2015.

The Sky Garden is London’s highest public garden – a open space with 360-degree views of the city’s iconic skyline. Here, you can experience lush greenery, exquisitely landscaped gardens, observation decks, and an open-air terrace. Access to the Sky Garden is free of charge, but spaces are limited. Visits must be booked in advance, and can be made up to three weeks in advance.

Sky Garden – London’s highest public garden

Lloyds of London is home to a global insurance market bringing together brokers from every insurance and reinsurance sector. From its beginnings in a city coffeehouse in 1686, it evolved and expanded many times, moving to its current site on Lime Street in 1928. Redeveloped in 1958, just 20 years later it had outgrown that space too.

Lloyds had the confidence to embrace Richard Roger’s avant garde design that would make the new building a City landmark, which it certainly is.

Spend a little time here taking in the whole design, we sat on the wall opposite, had a rest and it was in the shade also.

Lloyd’s of London

The Gherkin, formally 30 St Mary Axe and previously known as the Swiss Re Building, is a commercial skyscraper in London’s primary financial district, the City of London.

It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. It is 591 ft tall and stands on the sites of the former Baltic Exchange and Chamber of Shipping, which were extensively damaged in 1992 in the Baltic Exchange bombing by a device placed by the Provisional IRA in St Mary Axe.

The building has become a recognisable landmark all over the World, and it is one of the city’s most widely recognised examples of contemporary architecture.

The parish church was built by 1140, or possibly earlier, and had been granted to the deans and canons of St Paul’s.

The parish church was dedicated to St Helena, Roman Emperor Constantine’s mother, who had supposedly uncovered the remnants of the cross, or the True Cross, upon which Jesus was crucified.

This is a beautiful bit of history in this part of London, and it is beautifully restored and kept, a real opposite to the luxury and modern architecture that surrounds it.

122 Leadenhall Street, which is also known as the Leadenhall Building, is a 738 ft skyscraper in central London. It opened in July 2014 and was designed by the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; it is known informally as The Cheese Grater because of its distinctive wedge shape.

You can walk right through the middle of it, and on the other side is a great sitting area in the shade and a really good coffee shop, so this was our first proper coffee break. It was nice to sit and just people watch, and then it wasn’t far to our next stop at Leadenhall Market.

Leadenhall Market is a buzzy, beautiful and airy market in the heart of the City of London, that boasts a unique selection of boutiques, shops, restaurants and bars. It is a hidden gem – both outdoors and covered – with rich heritage and stunning architecture dating back to the 14th century.

This is an iconic London landmark, an ideal spot for shopping, drinking and dining safely in the heart of the Square Mile.

We spent some time in here, looking around, and then decided to go to the Swan Tavern as it was quieter and a beautiful pub down one of the alleyways.

The building is located on Fenchurch Street near the place where the East India Company had its headquarters. The East India Arms was built in 1829 as part of an entire block of then typical London buildings: the houses at 67 to 70 Fenchurch Street were all four-storey buildings in red brick.

Within the City of London, it is the only place which still has links to the East India Company, and on the outside of the pub is a plaque to the East India Company and its history.

We didn’t stop here, just thought we’d pass by on our way to the Tower of London!!!

The Tower Hill tube station Sundial, as well as telling the time, it tells the history of London and London transport. It runs from the Roman city of Londinium in AD 43 through to the building of the Thames Barrier between 1975 and 1982. The illustrations on the dial help to tell the story.

It’s I think the most informative Sundial in London, and to top it off, the view from there looking at the Tower of London is awesome, also you will have the Shard in the background on the other side of the river.

Pic by https://www.aladyinlondon.com/

Just downstream from the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, is St Katherines Dock, and hear you can wonder around and visit the cafe’s or just sit and watch as the boats come and go in the dock.

The highlights are the huge yachts that are moored up, and the beautiful ‘The Dickens Inn’ a reconstructed, 18th-century timber-framed warehouse with balcony and indoor dining and large garden, situated at the far end of the docks.

We did stop here and sit inside and have an ice-cold beer, we deserved by this time.

Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge, built between 1886 and 1894. It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London. The bridge was constructed to give better access to the East End of London, which had expanded its commercial potential in the 19th century. The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales in 1894.

Just to stand on it is amazing, the busy traffic going over it, the tourists, the river flowing beneath it, and the skyline views, has to be one of the best attractions in London!

The Crown Jewels have been stored and displayed at the Tower of London since 1661, continuing a long tradition of storing precious objects here.

The history of the castle began by the Normans to control the native population of the City of London, it has served as a royal residence, a military stronghold, a menagerie, a royal mint, and a prison.

We stayed on the Northern Bank all the way to ‘London Bridge’, and then it’s a hard right following the road back to ‘Monument Tube Station’.

Other Tube Options – There are other tube stations, including ‘Tower Hill’, ‘Cannon Street’, ‘Mansion House’ and ‘Bank Station’ a little further up.