A short walk in the City (of London)

Architecture has its political Use; publick Buildings being the Ornament of a Country; it establishes a Nation, draws People and Commerce; makes the People love their native Country …. Architecture aims at Eternity.

Sir Christopher Wren

Today London is a huge metropolis, but it wasn’t always so, of course. It started as a small Roman settlement on the north bank of the River Thames, Londinium. In 200 AD a wall was built, surrounding and protecting the city. Over the centuries it grew and grew, but that Roman town remained at its heart, the original City of London.

Even in 1665, much of London was still held inside those ancient walls, making the spread of the Great Plague all the faster. A year later many of its buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of London, including an earlier St Paul’s Cathedral. The architect Christopher Wren was responsible for rebuilding it, along with a large number of other churches, many of which still stand today.

The Square Mile

As London expanded through the following centuries, way beyond those original walls, the original city they contained remained at its heart. When government and royalty migrated west to Westminster, commerce continued to be centred here. The ‘Square Mile’, as it is known, is even today home to the Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange and other great financial institutions. It is also home to 112 active craft guilds, the first of which, the Weavers’ Company, received its Royal Charter as long ago as 1155. These guilds have a proud history and, in many cases too, a rich one.

The City also retains its own Mayor, an institution dating back to the 12^th century whose most famous incumbent perhaps was Dick Whittington. Its government is known as the Corporation and is based at the Guildhall, built on the site of the Romans’ amphitheatre. Today it is one of the 33 local government authorities of Greater London, but only it and Westminster are allowed to be known as the City of … (‘City of London’, ‘City of Westminster’) while the remainder are merely London Boroughs. And when a Londoner talks of ‘The City’, it is this historic Square Mile that they mean.

Recently I was able to join a U3A (University of the Third Age) group visit to one of its most venerable institutions, the Goldsmiths’ Hall, home to one of the oldest guilds, the Goldsmiths’ Company. This is only open to the public on a few occasions each year, so this was a special opportunity. But before our timed entry some of us decided to meet up earlier for a short walk around some of the other sights in the vicinity. It should make for an interesting Monday Walk, I hope.

The Guildhall

We travelled together to Liverpool Street station and made our way to our first stop, the Guildhall. This was, as I mentioned above, built on the site originally occupied by the Roman amphitheatre.

The Guildhall

The main building serves as the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London. It isn’t open to the public, but the attached art gallery is, and is free to visit.

On arrival there we split up to spend half an hour or so pursuing our own interests. Most went to look at some of the art on display. Collections focus on the Victorian period and on paintings of London in general and the City in particular. There are also regular special exhibitions.

However I decided to visit the remains of the amphitheatre in the basement. It has to be said that these aren’t extensive, but they are interesting. The amphitheatre was only discovered in 1988 during an archaeological dig ahead of a new building project. You can see the base of part of a stone entrance tunnel, the east gate, and arena walls. But you need to read the information signs and use your imagination to understand how these fitted into the whole structure.

St Lawrence Jewry

It was a lovely day so rather than spend more time inside I popped out to soak up some sun in the Guildhall Yard. I then decided to check out the adjacent church. Its full name is St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall, and it is the official church of the Lord Mayor of London. It is one of the many City churches destroyed in the Great Fire that were rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren.

A stained glass window in the entrance area commemorates Wren. This was installed after WWII when the church underwent extensive restoration to repair bomb damage. Alongside Wren it depicts Grinling Gibbons, the woodcarver responsible for much of the woodwork in Wren’s churches, and Edward Strong, a master stone mason who worked with Wren on many of the City churches.

St Lawrence Jewry

I only had time for a couple of quick photos so will return for a better look around some time. I was particularly taken with the ceiling, its recessed panels elegantly ornamented with gold carvings.

St Mary Aldermary

Meeting up with the rest of the group I joined them for the short walk to another Wren church, St Mary Aldermary. We spent much longer here as there is a pleasant café near the entrance and tables set up at the back of the church where you can enjoy any refreshments purchased. I had an excellent sandwich which I omitted to photograph!

Having eaten we explored the church. The unusual name is thought to relate to its age; there has been a church here for over 900 years. ‘Aldermary’ means ‘Older Mary’, indicating that this was the older St Mary’s in relation to nearby St Mary Le Bow.

Again, the current structure is the work of Sir Christopher Wren. The beautiful ceiling is decorated with elaborate plaster fan vaulting and the church makes understandable claims to being ‘the most important late 17^th century Gothic church in England’.

In St Mary Aldermary

Another striking feature is the skewed angle of the east wall, behind the altar, which is apparent iin my photo above right. It was built to follow the line of an old alleyway that pre-dates its 1678 rebuilding. It’s a reminder that many of the City’s streets and passageways still follow the Medieval layout.

The church’s windows were all blown out in the Blitz but have since been replaced. The main east window depicts the Crucifixion above and Annunciation below. The large west window commemorates the defence of London from air attack in World War Two. In my shot of part of it you can see St Michael defeating the dragon, with below him the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.

St Vedast-Alias-Foster

On our way to our main destination we popped into another unusually named Wren church, St Vedast-Alias-Foster. It is dedicated to a French saint, little known in Britain, who was Bishop of Arras in northern Gaul around the turn of the 6th century. Originally named Vaast in Norman, Vedastus in Latin, his name has evolved in English, while the ‘Alias Foster’ part relates to the narrow lane on which the church sits. Foster is also thought to be another English corruption of the name of Vaast.

St Vedast-Alias-Foster

The layout differs from that of most English churches, with the congregation seated sideways rather than facing the altar. This dates only from the post-WWII reconstruction, reflecting smaller 20th century congregations. The beautiful ceiling, however, was designed to a pattern close that of the Wren original. It is ornamented gold leaf and aluminium, donated by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

Goldsmiths Hall

Talking of the Goldsmiths, it was by now nearly time for our group’s appointment at the hall, just up the road from this church. We were welcomed by one of the librarians who gave us a very informative and comprehensive tour, covering both the history and the architecture of this stunning building that relatively few get to see.

This is the third Goldsmiths Hall to stand on this site, which has been home to the Goldsmiths Company since 1339. It was completed in July 1835, when it was opened with a grand banquet with guests that included the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel. It has been hosting similarly grand occasions ever since.

But it is also a practical place of work, housing the assay office where the full traditional UK hallmark is applied to items made of gold, silver, platinum or palladium. The process of hallmarking began here 700 years ago. Indeed the name comes from the fact that it was carried out in the Goldsmiths Hall. The five marks tell you when and where an item was tested and marked, which metals it is made from and their purity or fineness, and who submitted it for hallmarking. You can read in detail about this process and the meaning of each mark on the Goldsmiths Company website.

Touring the Goldsmiths Hall

Of course we didn’t get to see the assay office, but tours do include all the grand rooms. We were welcomed at the foot of the staircase, its balustrades ornamented with carvings of cherubs symbolising the four seasons. My photos are of spring, appropriately.

Goldsmiths Hall staircase

Ascending the stairs we entered the grandest room of all, the Livery Hall. This is where all the Company’s big occasions take place, including that opening banquet in 1835. The chandeliers are the originals used at that banquet. Although now electrified they were designed to hold forty-eight candles and still do so for major receptions. At one end of the room an alcove is designed to show off items from the Goldsmiths Company’s vast collection. The piece that caught my eye was a modern one commissioned to celebrate the millennium, with engravings of many of the City’s buildings around the perimeter, the Goldsmiths Hall taking pride of place at the top.

The Livery Hall

Other rooms we saw included the Court Room, where the wardens who lead the company meet, a large Exhibition Room and an elegant Drawing Room. The latter two were designed after the building sustained damage during the WWII Blitz.

Exhibition Room top left, and Drawing Room

You can see a lot of representations of leopards in all the rooms, including on marble fireplaces, woodcarvings and more. As it says on the website, ‘To walk around Goldsmiths’ Hall is to be stalked by leopards.’ This symbol of the Worshipful Company was derived from the lions found in royal heraldry. It has been used as a stamp to guarantee the purity of gold and silverware since King Edward I passed the first hallmarking law in 1300.

This U3A visit was a great opportunity to see inside a London building I had never visited. I hope to do more (and share) such visits in the future.

All these photos were taken in May 2025 apart from two in St Vedast-Alias-Foster which were taken in 2018