Said to be among the oldest still living trees in the City of London, the Cheapside Plane stands in what was once the churchyard of St Peter Cheap.
The church itself was destroyed in the Great Fire of London but how long this leafy tree, which stands more than 70 feet high, has occupied the site remains a matter of some conjecture.
A City of London tree trail puts the age of the tree – which stands at the corner of Wood Street and Cheapside – at 250 years (records held by the City say the tree was originally purchased for sixpence).
Over the years, this landmark tree – which has stood silent witness to everything from the 1854 cholera outbreak to the bombs of the Blitz – has garnered considerable attention appearing in various media, such as the Illustrated London News, and even, so say some, a 1797 poem by William Wordsworth (although some say the poem doesn’t refer to the tree at all).
The tree, which stands behind protective black iron railing, is the only one in the City of London listed among the “Great Trees of London” and planning laws protect it from over-development of the surrounding buildings.
• The remarkable life and legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), the founder of the Sikh Empire, is the subject of a new exhibition which opened at the Wallace Collection this week.Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King features historic objects from Ranjit Singh’s court, courtiers and family members, including those personally owned by the Maharaja and the most famous of his wives, Maharani Jind Kaur, as well as their son, Maharaja Duleep Singh. Highlights include a fine miniature painting of Ranjit Singh and his favourite, a Golden Throne made by Hafez Muhammad Multani, and a sword richly mounted in gold and gemstones which was thought to belong to the Maharajah. Runs until 20th October at the Manchester Square institution. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.wallacecollection.org/whats-on/events/ranjit-singh-sikh-warrior-king/.
• A “fresh perspective” on London can be seen in a new exhibition by multi-award-winning wood engraver Anne Desmet at the Guildhall Art Gallery. Inspired by looking at a fragmented view of the world through a toy kaleidoscope, Anne Desmet: Kaleidoscope/London features works created by the artist slicing into prints focused on London from her earlier wood-engravings, linocuts and hand-drawn lithographs to make a new series of digital collages. The display features 150 works including 41 London-themed kaleidoscopic prints created exclusively for this exhibition. Among highlights is a complex collage, Fires of London, created using 18 razor-clam shells to present a theme of the many historic fires of London over the last 1,500 years. Admission is ‘pay what you can’. There are an accompanying series of artist-led tours. Runs until 8th September. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/anne-desmet-kaleidoscopelondon-exhibition.
• Photographs depicting women and children forced to leave their Ukrainian homes following Russia’s invasion is on at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury.Polly Braden: Leaving Ukraine features the work of photographer Polly Braden and includes first-hand photographs, personal films and recorded conversations. It focuses on four central stories – that of three school friends trying to forge new lives and continue their education; that of a young graduate making a fresh start as a lawyer in London; that of a mother whose baby was born shortly after a perilous escape from Kherson to Warsaw; and that of two friends and their children who fled to Moldova with help from a kickboxing club, now struggling to find work in Italy. Admission charges apply. Can be seen until 1st September. For more, see https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/polly-braden-leaving-ukraine/.
Once located at the southern end of London Bridge, Nonsuch House is the earliest documented prefabricated building.
Nonsuch House as seen in ‘Old and New London, Illustrated’ (1873). PICTURE: Via Wikipedia
Originally constructed in what is now The Netherlands, it was shipped to London in pieces – each individually marked – in 1578 with the reassembly completed the following year.
The four storey building, which was said to have been constructed using wooden pegs and no nails, featured an arched tunnel through the middle through which bridge traffic would pass.
The main facade faced toward Southwark and there were towers at each of the four corners, topped with onion domes. The east and west sides of the building, which protruded beyond the bridge out over the Thames were elaborately carved.
The northern facade of the building abutted other properties while the southern side had a clear space in front over which a drawbridge is believed to have been located (it could be raised to allow larger ships through).
The name may have referenced King Henry VIII’s Nonsuch Palace, located near Ewell in Surrey, and was said to refer to the fact there was no such building as splendid.
The property was demolished along with the other buildings on the bridge in about 1757.
PICTURE: Esther Dyson (licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)
But there are several other stretches of the stone and brick wall left which evoke a sense of the structure it once was and the defensive role it played in protecting Londoners – among them is a substantial section of the wall located in Noble Street on the city’s western side.
The 80 metre long section of Roman and later medieval remains includes two internal turrets on what was the west side of the Roman Cripplegate fort (built between 120 and 150 AD) as well as a substantial bastion located at the southern end of the site.
The highest fragment of the Roman wall can be seen opposite Oat Lane, near the southern end of the site, while the highest section of the wall – which stands some 4.5 metres high and is mostly medieval – can be seen at the northern end of the site.
As well as reflecting the City’s Roman and medieval history, this section of wall also evokes a sense of the horrors of the Blitz.
Projecting eastward on the inside of the wall are party walls from World War II bomb-damaged and later demolished homes which once fronted onto Noble Street.
WHERE: Noble Street, London (nearest Tube stations are Barbican and Bank; WHEN: Anytime; COST: Free.
Murphy and her husband Hugh had both been convicted of “coining” (producing counterfeit coins, then seen as a matter of high treason) at the Old Bailey and sentenced to death on 18th September, 1788.
The following year – on 18th March, 1789 – they and seven other men were executed at Newgate Prison.
All eight of the men were executed by hanging but Murphy was, as the law then stipulated, made to stand on a foot high platform in front of a stake to which she was fastened.
It is believed Murphy, who was reportedly dressed in a striped gown with a black ribbon around her cap, was strangled to death before she was burned. A noose had been placed around her neck and the platform on which she was standing removed a half-an-hour before the faggots were lit about her, leaving her to hang (this had become a somewhat standard practice since the 1650s).
Execution by burning – which was increasingly attracting public opprobrium, not because of its barbarity but because of its impact on local residents offended by the smell and smoke which accompanied such a method of execution – was officially abolished the following year when the Treason Act was passed.
This was apparently on the initiative of Sir Benjamin Hammett, a former sheriff of London and now MP.
• A new photographic exhibition exploring how Underground stations and metro systems provide shelter to citizens during periods of war, both now and in the past, opened at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden last week.Echoes of the Blitz: Underground shelters in Ukraine and London features 70 images, including historical pictures from the museum’s collection as well as 38 contemporary photographs shot by six renowned, mainly Ukrainian, documentary photographers. The latter include photography showing ordinary Ukrainian citizens sleeping, waiting, cooking, washing clothes, caring for their pets and creating temporary make-shift homes in metro stations of Kyiv and and Kharkiv show alongside black and white archive images of Londoners taking refuge in Tube stations during World War II. The exhibition, which is being run in partnership with Berlin-based journalistic network n-ost, can be seen until spring next year. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.ltmuseum.co.uk.
A raven at the Tower of London. PICTURE: Kasturi Roy/Unsplash
• A new Ravenmaster has been appointed at the Tower of London. Yeoman Warder Michael ‘Barney’ Chandler took up the role at the start of this month, 15 years after he first became a Yeoman Warder at the Tower. The Ravenmaster oversees a team of four responsible for the care of the Tower’s seven ravens which legend says must remain at the Tower to ensure its protection. The legend apparently goes back to at least the reign of King Charles II – when the King’s astronomer John Flamsteed complained that the resident ravens were impeding his work at the Tower and requested their removal, the King was told that if the ravens left the Tower then the Kingdom would fall (and so they remained). While the Yeoman Warders have longed cared for the ravens, the post of Ravenmaster was only created in the past 50 years and was first held by Yeoman Warder Jack Wilmington. Yeoman Warder Chandler, who became the 387th Yeoman Warder at the Tower when he was appointed in March, 2009, is only the sixth person to hold the office. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/.
• One of the most popular paintings at the Guildhall Art Gallery is being reinstalled to mark International Women’s Day on Friday. Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s La Ghirlandata has been on loan – first to the Tate Britain and then to the Delaware Art Museum in the US – but is now being returned. The painting dates from 1873 and depicts a ‘garlanded woman’ playing an arpanetta and looking directly at the viewer. The muse for the woman is said to have been the actor and model, Alexa Wilding, while the two ‘angels’ in the top corners were posed by William and Jane Morris’ youngest daughter, May Morris. The City of London Corporation acquired the oil on canvas work in 1927. On Saturday, free family activities will be held at the gallery to mark the work’s return. For more, see www.thecityofldn.com/la-ghirlandata.
Located in at the junction of Mark Lane and Dunster Court in the City of London, All Hallows Staining was a medieval church which was mostly demolished in the late 19th century.
All Hallows Staining church tower as seen in July, 2022. PICTURE: Courtesy of Google Maps
These days only the lonely tower remains (above ground at least) as testament to building that once stood there and the lives that were impacted by it.
All Hallows Staining was originally built in the late 12th century and while the origins of its name are somewhat shrouded in mystery, there are a couple of theories.
One says it takes its name from the fact it was built in stone when other churches at the time were wooden (“staining” meaning “stone”) while another says it takes it names from the fact it was built on land belonging to the Manor of Staines.
Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) is said to have presented the church with new bell ropes after she was released after two months in the Tower of London in 1554 during the reign of her half-sister Queen Mary I (paying tribute to the sound they provided while she was in the Tower).
The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but collapsed just five years later, its foundations apparently weakened by too many graves in the adjoining churchyard.
It was rebuilt in 1674-75 but largely demolished in 1870 when the parish was combined with St Olave Hart Street (and the proceeds were used to fund construction of All Hallows, Bow, in the East End).
Just the tower, parts of which date from the 12th century, remained. The property was bought by the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers. Underneath the adjacent yard they installed the remains of the 12th century crypt of the hermitage chapel of St James in the Wall (later known as Lambe’s Chapel) following the demolition of the chapel in the 1870s.
During World War II, when St Olave Hart Street was badly damaged in the Blitz, a temporary prefabricated church was erected on the site of All Hallows Staining which used the tower as its chancel. It was known as St Olave Mark Lane.
The church was Grade I listed in 1950. In 1957, Clothworkers had a hall for St Olave Hart Street constructed on part of the site of the former church.
The tower is usually able to be seen across a small yard from Mark Lane.
One of three ceremonial officers appointed by the City of London’s Court of Aldermen, the office of Common Cryer and Sergeant-at-Arms, commonly known as the “Macebearer”, is believed to the oldest of them, established well before 1338.
The Macebearer (right) with the Swordbearer emerging from the Royal Courts of Justice in 2011. PICTURE: Rodolph at English Wikipedia (licensed under CC BY SA 3.0)
The Common Cryer and Sergeant-at-Arms has the role of carrying the Great Mace of Government ahead of the Lord Mayor of London.
The post was originally held by one of the King’s Sergeant-at-Arms. In 1419, the title held by the mace bearer was referred to as the “Common Serjeant-at-Arms of the City”, otherwise known as the “Common Cryer”.
Records show he had a salary of 60 shillings a year, robes, fees from the alderman and sheriffs and a “sufficient horse” for the honour of the City.
By 1559 the current title was in use.
As well as bearing the ceremonial mace before the Lord Mayor, the Macebearer also opens proceedings at Common Hall, the electoral assembly at Guildhall, with the cry “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez”. The Macebearer also proclaims the orders at the monarch and Privy Council at appointed places within the City.
Along with the City Marshall and the Sword-Bearer, the Common Cryer and Sergeant-at-Arms is one of three Esquires based at Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London.
They run the Lord Mayor’s official residence and office, and accompany him on official occasions. They are usually senior military officers with diplomatic experience.
Major Peter Oweh was appointed to the post of Common Cryer and Sergeant-at-Arms in December, 2022.
Looking north up Basinghall Street from Gresham Street. The buildings on the left are part of the Guildhall complex. PICTURE: Google Maps
This City of London street, which sits on the eastern side of the Guildhall complex, is named for the wealthy Basing (or Bassing) family who had a hall here in the 13th century.
The street, which links Gresham Street in the south to Basinghall Avenue in the north, has been the site of numerous prominent buildings including the medieval hall of the Weaver’s Company (demolished in 1856, having replaced an earlier hall which burnt down in the Great Fire of London in 1666, the hall is now located in Gutter Lane), the Cooper’s Company (demolished in 1867, the hall is now located in Devonshire Square) and the Girdler’s Company (destroyed in the Blitz in 1940; the hall is now located in Basinghall Avenue).
It was also the location of the Sir Christopher Wren-designed Church of St Michael Bassishaw until 1899 after it was seriously damaged when the crypt was being cleared of human remains in line with the orders of City authorities. The parish with united with St Lawrence Jewry.
Famous denizens included the goldsmith, banker and civil engineer Sir Hugh Myddelton, most renowned for his design of the New River scheme to bring clean water to the City, who, according to The London Encyclopaedia, would sit in the doorway of his office and smoke his pipe while chatting with the likes of Sir Walter Raleigh.
The family also gave their name to the City of London’s Bassishaw Ward.
• The history of Billingsgate Market in the City of London is being explored in am exhibition at the City of London Heritage Gallery.Billingsgate Market at the Heritage Gallery features items including the Liber Horn, a compilation of charters, statutes, and customs made by Andrew Horn, chamberlain of the City of London from 1320-1328, in 1311 which is illustrated by small images of fish showing their importance to Londoners, a late 17th century petition by the fishermen protesting the landing of vessels loaded with salt and oranges, 19th century volumes recording the collection of tolls and detailing the licensing of porters, and 20th century photographs of the market at work. Free to view, the display, located in the Guildhall Art Gallery, can be seen until 16th May. For more, see www.thecityofldn.com/billingsgateexhibition
• A major new exhibition featuring new interpretations of landscape art has opened at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Soulscapes features more than 30 contemporary works spanning painting, photography, film, tapestry and collage by artists such as Hurvin Anderson, Phoebe Boswell, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kimathi Donkor, Isaac Julien, Marcia Michael, Mónica de Miranda and Alberta Whittle. Highlights include Anderson’s Limestone Wall (2020), Akunyili’s Cassava Garden (2015) and Donkor’s Idyl series (2016-2020). Runs until 2nd June. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.
Blacas cameo depicting Augustus – Roman, AD 14–20 1867
• A selection of gems recovered after news that around 2,000 objects from the British Museum’s collections were missing, stolen or damaged go on show at the museum from today.Rediscovering gems explores the significance of classical gems – used as seals, worn as jewellery or collected as objects of beauty in the ancient world – and the impression they have left throughout history. The gems are displayed in a typical 18th century gem cabinet, along with a collector’s equipment, in reflection of the huge interest in classical gems during the period. The display can be seen in Room 3 until 15th June. Admission is free. For more, see britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/rediscovering-gems.
Ruins of St Alphege London Wall. PICTURE: The wub (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
The ruins of this church – which now sit in a public garden – are actually the remains of the second church in the vicinity.
Dedicated to the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury (there’s a similarly named church in Greenwich), the first St Alphege (also known as St Alphege London Wall and St Alphege Cripplegate) dated from at least the 11th century but was closed and demolished during the Dissolution (the other part of its name comes from its location abutting London Wall).
The second church started life as the priory church of the nunnery of St Mary-within-Cripplegate which later became a hospital before it too was closed in the Dissolution.
The church, however, became the parish church and, subsequently repaired, it survived the Great Fire of 1666. Further repairs followed and a more comprehensive rebuilding in the 18th century (with the medieval tower retained).
But by 1900, parts of the church were in a poor state and after the church was damaged during an air raid in World War I, the parish was amalgamated with St Mary Aldermanbury (the combined parish was later united with St Giles Cripplegate) and it was eventually mostly demolished in the early 1920s.
The medieval tower remained but was gutted by fire in 1940. Its ruins were subsequently surrounded by a small public garden. Further restoration work was done as part of works to install a raised walkway in 2018-19.
The remains of the church – which include the tower and arches on three sides – are Grade II-listed and while it’s surrounded these days by modern office buildings, it remains a small piece of a bygone era.
This pub’s location on the street level concourse of Liverpool Street Station is a clue to the origins of its name.
The Hamilton refers to Lord Claud Hamilton, the chairman of the Great Eastern Railway Company, which originally built Liverpool Street Station (itself named after early 19th century Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool).
The pub itself is actually located in what was the ballroom of the Great Eastern Hotel which originally dates from the 1880s. The now II*-listed hotel – minus its ballroom – still exists in the same location, these days as Andaz London Liverpool Street, part of the Hyatt Group.
The pub features many of the ballroom’s original features and is partly decorated in the 18th century French style.
Sixteenth century historian John Stow wrote numerous chronicles of English history but is mostly remembered for his landmark survey of London, a monumental work which has lead to him being informally given the title “founding father of London history”.
The monument depicting John Stow. PICTURE: John Salmon / St Andrew Undershaft, St Mary Axe, EC2 – Wall monument of John Stow / CC BY-SA 2.0
Stow (sometimes written as Stowe) was born a Londoner in about 1525 in the parish of St Michael, Cornhill. He was the eldest of seven children of Thomas Stow, a tallow chandler, and his wife Elizabeth.
Nothing is known about Stow’s early education - whether he attended a grammar school or was self-taught – but he is known to have developed a deep knowledge of English history, culture and customs as well as of Latin.
He didn’t follow his father’s trade but instead became an apprentice tailor and in 1547 was named a freeman of the Merchant Taylors’ Company. He is said to have worked as a tailor in London for almost 30 years.
In 1560, he started on his best known work, A Survey of London, a detailed topographical survey of the City of London and its suburbs – it was eventually published in 1598 (a second, longer edition followed in 1603). But his first book, on the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, was published in 1561, and he went on to publish numerous editions of English chronicles.
Stow was in contact with many of the era’s leading antiquarians, including the likes of John Dee and William Camden, and he was an active member of the first Society of Antiquaries, established in about 1586.
He also attracted the patronage of some significant figures including the Archbishops of Canterbury Matthew Parker and John Whitgift and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and was well-known for his collection of manuscripts, the largest group of which is now within the Harley collection at the British Library.
Stow, whose work never made him a wealthy man and who, at times, was the subject of his acquaintances’ charity (although Barrett L Beer in an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes his pleas of poverty as “exaggerated”), married his wife Elizabeth sometime after 1549. They lived initially in Aldgate where his business was also based (and later moved to the Lime Street ward). The couple had three daughters, two of whom – Joan and Julyan – survived him.
Stow died on 5th April, 1605. He was buried in the church of St Andrew Undershaft and his wife commissioned a marble monument to commemorate him which depicts Stow seated at his desk. A commemorative service, organised by the Merchant Taylors Company, is still held in the church every three years during which the quill he writes with is regularly replaced in a sign of respect.
For the final entry in our Wednesday special series, we go to see Sir Christopher Wren’s greatest work – and also his resting place, St Paul’s Cathedral.
Following his death on 25th February, 1723, Wren was buried in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral on 5th March.
His burial location was in the south-east corner of the crypt and a simple memorial was placed there near that of his daughter Jane and his sister Susan Holder and her husband William.
The plaque which marks the location was written by his eldest son Christopher. Inscribed in Latin, it reads: “Here in its foundations lies the architect of this church and city, Christopher Wren, who lived beyond ninety years, not for his own profit but for the public good. Reader, if you seek his monument – look around you. Died 25 Feb. 1723, age 91.”
It’s a fitting tribute to one responsible for some of London’s most famous landmarks.
Interestingly, a fragment of Wren’s coffin can be seen at the RIBA Library. It was taken from his tomb in 1851 when it was last opened to allow for his last surviving direct descendent to be placed within.
WHERE: St Paul’s Cathedral (nearest Tube stations are St Paul’s, Mansion House and Blackfriars); WHEN: 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Saturday; COST: £23 adults/£20.50 concessions/£10 children/£56 family (these are walk-up rates – online advanced and group rates are discounted); WEBSITE: www.stpauls.co.uk.
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