A Thursday Roman wall walk!
Thursday started wet and carried on pretty much like that all day - it reached 18C/64F.
Today was another walk in London - this time we met at Tower Hill tube station - right near to the Tower of London, so I caught the train to London Bridge and walked across the bridge to get there.
It tells you that you are on London Bridge and you can see the City of London dragon holding the shield on the top showing that I'm entering the inner part of London.
There was a misty view down to Tower Bridge. In the distance on the left bank, you can see the four towers of the Tower of London. This is where I was heading to start the walk around the old Roman city walls. More under the cut.
The view of the Tower from across the very busy road:
Right next to Tower Hill Station, you can see the Medieval remains of a Postern (essentially a gate) that led into the City of London from the East. This is the only one which still exists and it would have been set into the old Roman wall. There are arrow slits and you can just see where a portcullis would have slotted in so that they could be ready for unwelcome visitors!
Nearby is a very useful plaque showing the London Wall walk and where you can see the remains of the wall. The pictures around the outside show how the Roman wall was often incorporated into buildings as time went on. In the 1700s much of the wall was dismantled to ensure that the carriages could move more easily around the London streets. However, during the refurbishment of the area there have been parts found in the basements of buildings and sometimes after a building has been demolished more is found!
The wall had gates and the names of these continue to be in use: Moorgate, Bishopsgate, Aldgate, Ludgate, Newgate, Cripplegate.
The wall was made from stone brought up from Kent by the Roman soldiers and you can see in this section how they strengthened the wall by putting clay tiles between the stone. Towards the top, you can see that the stone changes colour and this is where the Medieval builders added further height:
We walked further along the line of the wall and found even more which still exists. It's pretty amazing that the wall is so old and still standing - you can see how thick it is:
This is from the front and you can see additions and changes have been made to the structure over time.
The original wall was built around AD200 (nearly 1825 years ago) by the Romans when Londinium (the Roman name for London which was founded in AD47) was part of the Roman Empire and it stood 4.4m high (around 14'4").
From 1066-1500 (the Medieval period) it was repaired and raised by a further 2m (6') and defence arches were added. There are square holes which would have supported beams to make walkways around the inside.
I loved that the nearby hotel was built around the wall, leaving it exposed and one of the original arched doorways is still used by people moving around the area.
I love going on these walks as you go past things that are familiar - on this one, we went past Fenchurch Street Station, and into Vine Street (I felt like I was on a London Monopoly board) where there is a small museum in the basement of one of the buildings.
This section of the London wall was completed between AD190-230. Over the years the wall has been repaired, and incorporated into other buildings. Beneath this section steel props were inserted under the wall to give it some additional strength.
To the left of the original wall, you can see a house constructed in 1905 which was joined to the Roman wall.
Much of the items found during different excavations were considered rubbish by the people who lived in the area and had been thrown over the wall into the ditch on the other side (there's a part of London called Houndsditch which was outside of the walls). Here is a tile and if you look carefully you can see a cat print where a kitty walked on it before it was dry LOL!
The Romans raided the local cemeteries for gravestones to add to the wall
in later years there are lots of clay pipes, glass bottles and other interesting items which have been dumped or lost over time:
Many of the places are named with reference to the London Wall such as St Botolph's Without Aldgate which was outside of the Eastern section of the wall near to the Aldgate. St Botolph is the patron Saint of Boundaries and of transport and travel.
Inside it's been added to in the Victorian era with lots of fancy stuff...
Stained glass based on Ruben's descent of the Cross and installed in 1888
This is Robert Dow who was a local benefactor and made provision for the poor of the parish in his will (you can read the inscription underneath which gives some detail if you click the photo).
It always surprises me what you find in the back streets of London - this used to be a Turkish bath house and more recently was a restaurant. It's currently empty by rather a delightful building:
Further along was another example of a building being built very close to the existing Roman wall. On the right is the All Hallows on the Wall Church and on the left you can see the wall disappearing around the back of the building. The vestry of the church follows the curve of the wall at this point:
This is the ruins of St Alphage's Church which was built into the Roman wall. It was destroyed in The London Blitz:
Nearby you can see more of the original Roman wall with additions made in the Tudor period (where there are the black and red bricks)
There are still large sections of wall that you can still follow and I found it rather astounding that after all the demolition, bombing and remodelling the city has had over the years you can still see the remains of Roman occupation. These sections of wall are now valued, and are still being uncovered:
It was a very interesting two-hour walk - next week we have a break as it's half term, and then we have two more walks to look forward to. I've walked over six miles today (12,200 steps) and we have our Pilates session shortly! I shall sleep well tonight!
Today was another walk in London - this time we met at Tower Hill tube station - right near to the Tower of London, so I caught the train to London Bridge and walked across the bridge to get there.
It tells you that you are on London Bridge and you can see the City of London dragon holding the shield on the top showing that I'm entering the inner part of London.
There was a misty view down to Tower Bridge. In the distance on the left bank, you can see the four towers of the Tower of London. This is where I was heading to start the walk around the old Roman city walls. More under the cut.
The view of the Tower from across the very busy road:
Right next to Tower Hill Station, you can see the Medieval remains of a Postern (essentially a gate) that led into the City of London from the East. This is the only one which still exists and it would have been set into the old Roman wall. There are arrow slits and you can just see where a portcullis would have slotted in so that they could be ready for unwelcome visitors!
Nearby is a very useful plaque showing the London Wall walk and where you can see the remains of the wall. The pictures around the outside show how the Roman wall was often incorporated into buildings as time went on. In the 1700s much of the wall was dismantled to ensure that the carriages could move more easily around the London streets. However, during the refurbishment of the area there have been parts found in the basements of buildings and sometimes after a building has been demolished more is found!
The wall had gates and the names of these continue to be in use: Moorgate, Bishopsgate, Aldgate, Ludgate, Newgate, Cripplegate.
The wall was made from stone brought up from Kent by the Roman soldiers and you can see in this section how they strengthened the wall by putting clay tiles between the stone. Towards the top, you can see that the stone changes colour and this is where the Medieval builders added further height:
We walked further along the line of the wall and found even more which still exists. It's pretty amazing that the wall is so old and still standing - you can see how thick it is:
This is from the front and you can see additions and changes have been made to the structure over time.
The original wall was built around AD200 (nearly 1825 years ago) by the Romans when Londinium (the Roman name for London which was founded in AD47) was part of the Roman Empire and it stood 4.4m high (around 14'4").
From 1066-1500 (the Medieval period) it was repaired and raised by a further 2m (6') and defence arches were added. There are square holes which would have supported beams to make walkways around the inside.
I loved that the nearby hotel was built around the wall, leaving it exposed and one of the original arched doorways is still used by people moving around the area.
I love going on these walks as you go past things that are familiar - on this one, we went past Fenchurch Street Station, and into Vine Street (I felt like I was on a London Monopoly board) where there is a small museum in the basement of one of the buildings.
This section of the London wall was completed between AD190-230. Over the years the wall has been repaired, and incorporated into other buildings. Beneath this section steel props were inserted under the wall to give it some additional strength.
To the left of the original wall, you can see a house constructed in 1905 which was joined to the Roman wall.
Much of the items found during different excavations were considered rubbish by the people who lived in the area and had been thrown over the wall into the ditch on the other side (there's a part of London called Houndsditch which was outside of the walls). Here is a tile and if you look carefully you can see a cat print where a kitty walked on it before it was dry LOL!
The Romans raided the local cemeteries for gravestones to add to the wall
in later years there are lots of clay pipes, glass bottles and other interesting items which have been dumped or lost over time:
Many of the places are named with reference to the London Wall such as St Botolph's Without Aldgate which was outside of the Eastern section of the wall near to the Aldgate. St Botolph is the patron Saint of Boundaries and of transport and travel.
Inside it's been added to in the Victorian era with lots of fancy stuff...
Stained glass based on Ruben's descent of the Cross and installed in 1888
This is Robert Dow who was a local benefactor and made provision for the poor of the parish in his will (you can read the inscription underneath which gives some detail if you click the photo).
It always surprises me what you find in the back streets of London - this used to be a Turkish bath house and more recently was a restaurant. It's currently empty by rather a delightful building:
Further along was another example of a building being built very close to the existing Roman wall. On the right is the All Hallows on the Wall Church and on the left you can see the wall disappearing around the back of the building. The vestry of the church follows the curve of the wall at this point:
This is the ruins of St Alphage's Church which was built into the Roman wall. It was destroyed in The London Blitz:
Nearby you can see more of the original Roman wall with additions made in the Tudor period (where there are the black and red bricks)
There are still large sections of wall that you can still follow and I found it rather astounding that after all the demolition, bombing and remodelling the city has had over the years you can still see the remains of Roman occupation. These sections of wall are now valued, and are still being uncovered:
It was a very interesting two-hour walk - next week we have a break as it's half term, and then we have two more walks to look forward to. I've walked over six miles today (12,200 steps) and we have our Pilates session shortly! I shall sleep well tonight!