58-680: The St Botolph Building is a commercial office in Houndsditch , central London, opened in 2011 and designed by Grimshaw Architects . It is one of a number of landmark buildings recently delivered or in development to the East of the Gherkin in the City of London ward of Aldgate , which together with the wards of Langbourn, Cornhill and Lime Street forms the centre of the UK insurance industry. Two of
116-505: A ThyssenKrupp "TWIN" lift system runs 16 lifts on eight tracks, a rare solution in the UK. The building's creative use of structural steel has been recognised by the British Constructional Steelwork Association's Structural Steel Design Awards. Grimshaw Architects report that the brief was to create "a landmark building of significant architectural merit on a site that forms a key gateway to
174-579: A 64-metre section of the wall was uncovered during works on the London Wall road; the section was then destroyed to accommodate the road changes and to make way for a new car park. An 11-metre section has been preserved. In 1984, the Museum of London set up a Wall Walk from the Tower of London to the museum, using 23 tiled panels. A number of these have been destroyed in subsequent years. At Noble Street,
232-513: A part of it near the dock of Queenhithe , in two charters of 889 and 898. There is currently no evidence of post-Roman restoration, so surviving sections are not likely to have been part, or an important part, of defences much after the Roman period. The end of Roman rule in Britain in c. 410 resulted in the wall slowly falling into disrepair, though the survival of Romano-British culture in
290-680: A revival of life and trade within the old Roman walls. This was part Alfred's policy of building an in-depth defence of the Kingdom of Wessex against the Vikings as well as creating an offensive strategy against the Vikings who controlled Mercia . The burh of Southwark was also created on the south bank of the River Thames during this time. The city walls of London were repaired as the city slowly grew until about 950 when urban activity increased dramatically. A large Viking army that attacked
348-540: Is estimated at £30m per annum. The developer sold the leasehold for £460m in 2013. 51°30′53″N 0°04′38″W / 51.514822°N 0.077116°W / 51.514822; -0.077116 Houndsditch Houndsditch is a street running through parts of the Portsoken and Bishopsgate Without wards of the City of London ; areas which are also a part of the East End of London . The road follows
406-476: Is likely to have improved the defensibility of Ludgate. In the medieval period the developed area of the city was largely confined to the City Wall, but there was extramural development, especially in the large western ward of Farringdon Without . The wall provided security but was a constraint to accessibility and growth. The extent of the city's jurisdiction has changed little from 1000 to the modern day; but
464-452: Is now St Alphage Garden. The eastern section of the wall starts in what is now the Tower of London . Within the grounds of the Tower remains of the eastern most wall can still be seen along with a line in the paths heading North within the Tower grounds to outline where it used to run before most of it was demolished to expand the fortification of the Tower. This followed on with a junction at
522-511: Is the location of a number of restaurants, bars and offices, and a short pedestrianised section of it runs along the north side of the Heron Tower , the tallest building in the City of London. The nearest London Underground station is Aldgate and the closest mainline railway station is Liverpool Street . The street is served by London Buses routes 42, 78, 100, 135, and 205. Houndsditch
580-464: Is the location of the 1945 film Kitty , set in 1783. The street is described as a slum. 51°30′55″N 0°04′43″W / 51.5153°N 0.0787°W / 51.5153; -0.0787 London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in c. AD 200, as well as the name of a modern street in
638-759: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was written many centuries after the Battle of Crayford took place, if it took place at all. From c. 500, an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed in the same area slightly to the west of the abandoned Roman city, in the vicinity of the Strand . In 886 the King of Wessex , Alfred the Great , formally agreed to the terms of the Danish warlord , Guthrum , concerning
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#1732794147693696-516: The City of London , England. Roman London was, from around 120–150, protected by a large fort, with a large garrison, that stood to its north-western side. The fort, now referred to as the Cripplegate Fort , was later incorporated into a comprehensive city-wide defence, with its strengthened northern and western sides becoming part of the Wall which was built around 200. The incorporation of
754-423: The City – and usually applied to the wards – fell outside or within the London Wall, though only Farringdon and (formerly) Bridge were split into separate wards this way (Bridge Without falling beyond the gates on London Bridge ). Some wards – Aldersgate , Bishopsgate and Cripplegate – cover an area that was both within and outside the wall; although not split into separate wards, often
812-469: The City of London". The configuration of the central atrium and lift system affords the freeholder greater flexibility, permitting the later installation of bridges and access ways internally to meet changing tenancy needs. The building's design and management processes include waste management and 'biomatics' to deliver a "zero to landfill" policy. Lighting throughout uses techniques including proximity detection to minimise unnecessary energy use. According to
870-480: The City's first million+ square foot skyscraper, also designed by Grimshaw Architects. This tower was rejected, and the original permissions revived in 2006, with some revisions. Designed by Grimshaw Architects and developed by Minerva plc with Skanska as main contractor, the Building is notable for the blue glass spandrels , pre-fabricated escape cores and a central atrium dominated by a steel structure on which
928-602: The Lanthorne and Wakefield Towers, to the south of the White Tower , was originally the eastern part of the Roman riverside wall that was built or rebuilt in the late 4th century. The riverside wall may have limited access to the Thames, both commercial and otherwise, so it may have reflected a diminished level of activity within the city. It is not clear how long the riverside wall survived, but there are references to
986-678: The London burgh was defeated in 994. By the 11th century, London was beyond all comparison the largest town in England. Old St Paul's Cathedral , rebuilt in the Romanesque style by King William the Conqueror and his successors, was on its completion one of the longest churches in Europe . Winchester had previously been the capital of Anglo-Saxon England, but from this time on, London was
1044-539: The Roman road network toward Essex and East Anglia via Stratford and Colchester . In present times the roads Leadenhall Street and Fenchurch Street lead into Aldgate High Street, where the gate's foundations are buried roughly where the Jewry Street intersects. Following the wall north, it runs between what is now The Aldgate School and Aldgate Square. From Aldgate, the wall then ran North-West toward Gate 3, Bishopsgate. The road through this would have led onto
1102-451: The Roman road network toward leading to Lincoln and York . The current road, the A10 going north, now goes over the foundations of this gate. From Bishopsgate going along the northern section of wall leads to Gate 4; Moorgate. Until 1415 this was a small postern leading into the marshy Moorfields area of Finsbury . The wet conditions were probably caused by the wall partially obstructing
1160-550: The Tower of London's moat to the Tower Hill Postern , Gate 1, a medieval fortified entrance. The foundation to this entrance can still be seen today within the Tower Hill pedestrian subway. Other large sections of the wall can also be seen further ahead within the Tower Hill gardens. The wall from Tower Hill then runs east of Walbrook toward the second historic gate, Aldgate – Gate 2. These would have led onto
1218-618: The area is indicated by the settlement in the nearby St Martin-in-the-Fields area of Westminster , which persisted until around 450. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle notes that the Romano-British retreated back to London after their bloody defeat at the Battle of Crecganford ( Crayford , Kent) at the hands of Hengist and Horsa , leaders of the Saxon invaders, in 457. This suggests that London's walls retained some military value, although
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#17327941476931276-496: The area of political and geographical control that had been acquired by the incursion of the Vikings. Within the eastern and northern part of England, with its boundary roughly stretching from London to Chester , the Scandinavians would establish Danelaw . In the same year, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that London was "refounded" by Alfred. Archaeological research shows that this involved abandonment of Lundenwic and
1334-535: The basement of the One America Square building. There are further remains in the basement of the Old Bailey . The layout of the Roman and medieval walls have had a profound effect on the development of London, even down to the present day. The walls constrained the growth of the city, and the location of the limited number of gates and the route of the roads through them shaped development within
1392-482: The boundaries of the City of London until the later Middle Ages , when population rises and the development of towns around the city blurred the perimeter. From the 18th century onward, the expansion of the City of London saw large parts of the wall demolished, including its city gates, to improve traffic flow. Since the Second World War , conservation efforts have helped to preserve surviving sections of
1450-584: The city gateways, such as St Audoen within Newgate and St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate . Edward I gave the Dominican Friars (or Black Friars) permission to demolish and re-route the section of City wall between Ludgate and the Thames. They did this in stages between 1284 and 1320, extending the walled area as far as the River Fleet so that it enclosed their precinct. The westward extension
1508-406: The city wall as scheduled monuments . The long presence of the walls has had a profound and continuing effect on the character of the City of London, and surrounding areas. The walls constrained the growth of the city, and the location of the limited number of gates and the route of the roads through them shaped development within the walls, and more fundamentally, beyond them. With few exceptions,
1566-457: The city, and the wall itself does appear to have acted like a dam, partially obstructing the Walbrook and leading to the marshy conditions at the open space of Moorfields , just north of the wall. As London continued to grow throughout the medieval period, urban development grew beyond the city walls. This expansion led to the suffix words "Without" and "Within" which denote whether an area of
1624-525: The eastern section of the wall. Excavation work has traced a significant development of 980 feet (300 m) of timber-framed waterfronts to the east and west of the modern site of London Bridge, with a piece of wooden bridge found at the end of Fish Street Hill. The constructions advancing around 115 feet (35 m) into the River Thames took place between the late 1st and mid-3rd centuries, highlighting that between these periods no wall stood against
1682-466: The extramural parts were long home to only a few people. A notable late change to the boundary appears to be that Stow's Survey of London suggests that the part of Moorfields next to the wall was still, in 1603, outside the city's jurisdiction. The boundary of the city's jurisdiction was marked by "city bars", toll gates which were situated just beyond the old walled area; Holborn Bar , Temple Bar , West Smithfield Bar , and Whitechapel Bar. These were
1740-607: The flow of the Walbrook . Moorgate remained ill-connected with no direct approach road from the south until 1846, some time after the wall had been demolished. London Wall, the modern road following this section of the wall, now crosses this gate's foundations. Leading north from here are routes into Finsbury. Route to the London Charterhouse , Clerkenwell and Islington . With direct access to more local routes. High Holborn and Oxford Street , with access via
1798-403: The fort's walls gave the walled area its distinctive shape in the north-west part of the city. The end of Roman rule in Britain , around 410, led to the wall falling into disrepair. It was restored in the late Anglo-Saxon period, a process generally thought to have begun under Alfred the Great after 886. Repairs and enhancements continued throughout the medieval period. The wall largely defined
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1856-650: The gang were cornered and killed in the Siege of Sidney Street . Approaching Bishopsgate , the modern office blocks do not occupy the full building plots, leaving some small areas empty. These were historically the sites of Plague pits . The road forms part of the A1211 route from Barbican to Whitechapel . Traffic flows one-way south-eastward from Outwich Street down the modern Houndsditch, which continues onto St. Botolph Street, connecting to either Aldgate High Street (west) or Whitechapel High Street (east). The street
1914-575: The important entrances to the city and their control was vital in maintaining the city's special privileges over certain trades. During the Great Fire of London in September 1666, almost all of the medieval City of London inside the wall was destroyed, but the wall and gates survived. The seven gates to the City of London, with many repairs and rebuilding over the years, stood until they were all demolished between 1760 and 1767. Work to demolish
1972-537: The last major building projects undertaken by the Romans before the Roman departure from Britain in 410. Reasons for its construction may have been connected to the invasion of northern Britain by Picts who overran Hadrian's Wall in the 180s. This may be linked to the political crisis that emerged in the late 2nd century when the governor of Britain Clodius Albinus was consolidating his power after claiming
2030-424: The late 2nd or early 3rd century AD, though the reason for such a large and expensive fortification is unknown. The fort's north and west walls were thickened and doubled in height to form part of the new city wall. The incorporation of the fort's walls gave the walled area its distinctive shape in the north-west part of the city. It continued to be developed until at least the end of the 4th century, making it among
2088-474: The line of the outside edge of the ditch which once ran outside the London Wall . The road took its name from the section of ditch between Bishopsgate and Aldgate . The name may derive from the widespread dumping of rubbish in this stretch of ditch; relating to the dumping of dead dogs, or the scavenging of the waste by feral dogs. A ditch was dug outside Londinium 's defensive wall by the Romans but
2146-476: The main forum for foreign traders and the base for defence in time of war. In the view of Frank Stenton : "It had the resources, and it was rapidly developing the dignity and the political self-consciousness appropriate to a national capital." The size and importance of London led to the redevelopment of the city's defences. During the early medieval period – following the Norman Conquest of England –
2204-403: The modern roads heading into the former walled area are the same as those which passed through the former medieval gates. It has origins as an initial mound wall and ditch from c. AD 100 and a fort, now called Cripplegate fort after the city gate ( Cripplegate ) that was subsequently built on its northern wall later on, in 120–150 The fort was later incorporated into a city-wide defence in
2262-464: The panels were replaced by etched glass panels. These were intended as a prototype for new panels along the entire walk, but no further replacements have been made. One of the largest and most readily accessed fragments of the wall stands just outside Tower Hill tube station , with a replica statue of the Emperor Trajan standing in front of it. There is a further surviving section preserved in
2320-401: The part (or " division ") within the Wall is denoted (on maps, in documents, etc.) as being "within" and the part outside the Wall as being "without". Archaically infra (within) and extra (without) were also used and the terms "intramural" and "extramural" are also used to describe being within or outside the walled part of the city. The suffix is applied to some churches and parishes near
2378-538: The property's managing agents CBRE , the Building has "achieved a BREEAM Very Good rating through its many sustainable design features". The City of London's Clean City Awards programme granted the building Gold Award status in January 2015. The developer faced some controversy for its strategy of releasing 100,000+ square foot properties onto a depressed market following the Credit Crunch , but full occupancy
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2436-586: The right of succession as Roman emperor . After a struggle with his rival Septimius Severus , Albinus was defeated in 197 at the Battle of Lugdunum (near Lyon , France). The economic stimulus provided by the wall and Septimius's subsequent campaigns in Scotland improved Londinium's financial prosperity in the early 3rd century. The wall's gateways coincided with their alignment to the British network of Roman roads . The original gates, clockwise from Ludgate in
2494-406: The river. After Londinium was raided on several occasions by Saxon pirates in the late 3rd century, construction of an additional riverside wall, built in phases, began in 280 and was repaired c. 390. The existence of this riverside section was long doubted due to a lack of evidence, but excavations at the Tower of London in 1977 showed that the section of the inner curtain wall between
2552-478: The three main tenants, Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Lockton , are businesses with a substantial insurance broking component, which are therefore reliant on close proximity to the Lloyd's building and the globally-significant London market in insurance contracts that focuses on Lloyd's of London . The third main tenant, Clyde & Co , also has insurance ties as one of the largest insurance and reinsurance law firms in
2610-554: The turn of the 20th century, the street had become a thriving market in clothing and novelties, giving rise to one of London's leading department stores, the Houndsditch Warehouse, dubbed the " Selfridges of the Jewish Quarter". In December 1910, anarchists killed three police officers who had interrupted them during an attempted burglary at a jeweller's shop at No. 119, Houndsditch. In January 1911, two of
2668-539: The wall were destroyed between Fore Street and St. Alphage's churchyard gardens around Cripplegate . This revealed parts of the wall unseen for over 300 years as the rubble of buildings destroyed around it were removed. On 29 December 1940, heavy bombing led to conditions known as the Second Great Fire of London . Bomb damage revealed a section of wall at Noble Street, near the Museum of London . In 1957,
2726-425: The wall, and into the ditch where hungry dogs were known to scavenge. It is also said that even the feral dogs refused to eat what was left of Edric. The ditch was redug in 1211 as a part of the defences, and was about 75 feet (23 m) in width. The city authorities found it a continual problem to scour and clean as many adjacent houses found it a convenient place to dispose of filth and refuse. In 1595, levelling
2784-523: The walls continued into the 19th century; however, large sections of the wall were incorporated into other structures. The Blitz during the Second World War, through the sheer scale of bombing and destruction of buildings and the surrounding landscape, revealed numerous parts of the London Wall. At 00:15 on 28 August 1940, during the pre-wave of bombing before the Blitz, buildings and parts of
2842-434: The walls underwent substantial work that included crenellations , additional gates and further towers and bastions. Aside from the seven City Wall gates and the four bars, there are the 13 water-gates on the Thames where goods were unloaded from ships. These include Billingsgate and Bridge Gate. Additionally there were pedestrian-only gates such as the Tower Hill Postern at Tower Hill . A further medieval defensive feature
2900-400: The walls, and in a much more fundamental way, beyond them. With a few exceptions, the parts of the modern road network heading into the former walled area are the same as those which passed through the former medieval gates. Part of the route originally taken by the northern wall is commemorated, although now only loosely followed, by the road also named London Wall. The modern road starts in
2958-498: The west to Aldgate in the east, were: Ludgate , Newgate , Cripplegate , Bishopsgate and Aldgate . Aldersgate , between Newgate and Cripplegate, was added around 350. Moorgate , initially just a postern i.e. a secondary gate, was built later still, in the medieval period. The length and size of the wall made it one of the biggest construction projects in Roman Britain. It had gateways, towers and defensive ditches, and
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#17327941476933016-512: The west with the Rotunda junction at Aldersgate, then runs east past Moorgate , from which point it runs parallel to the line of the City Wall, and eventually becomes Wormwood Street before it reaches Bishopsgate . This alignment, however, is the result of rebuilding between 1957 and 1976. Before this, London Wall was narrower, and ran behind the line of the City Wall for its entire length, from Wormwood Street to Wood Street. The western section
3074-477: The world. The previous building occupying the majority of the site was a modern municipal-style office block owned by the Post Office / British Telecom with some mixed-use street level retail units including banks, a betting shop and a Thai Restaurant. Planning permission was initially granted in 1999. Developers Minerva went on to submit two further plans for the site, including one for what would have been
3132-469: Was built from Kentish ragstone , which was brought by barge from quarries near Maidstone . It was 2 miles (3.2 km) long, enclosing an area of about 330 acres (130 ha). It was 8 to 10 ft (2.5 to 3 m) wide and up to 20 ft (6 m) high. The ditch or fossa in front of the outer wall was 6 ft 7 in (2 m) deep and up to 16 ft (5 m) wide. There were at least 22 towers spaced about 210 ft (64 m) apart on
3190-403: Was confirmed by 2012. The top four floors are let to law firm Clyde & Co and floors 1-3 to insurance brokers Lockton . As of April 2024, floors 4-9 are unoccupied. Additionally, the street level houses mixed units including a coffee bar, a gym club and a metro supermarket space, all three let and with tenants trading with both building inhabitants and the general public. Total rental yield
3248-455: Was first considered, although the street running alongside the ditch had first been paved in 1503. The name Houndsditche appears in the 13th century, and seems to relate to the quantity of rubbish and dead dogs thrown into it; previously it seems to have been referred to only by the appellation "the Ditch". Several dogs' skeletons were unearthed at Houndsditch in 1989. {{{annotations}}} By
3306-418: Was subsequently filled in and obliterated. The Danes under Cnut the Great constructed a town ditch to control access to the city. The ditch was reputedly known as a dumping ground for dead dogs, and a legend also recalls that Cnut had the body of infamous English traitor Eadric Streona dragged through the city by his heels, burnt with torches and then decapitated. His body was then ignominiously dumped over
3364-420: Was the restoration of the defensive ditch immediately adjacent to the outside of the wall. The street name Houndsditch recalls a part of this former feature. This seems to have been re-cut in 1213, with the restored ditch being V-cut to a depth of 6 feet and a width of between 9 and 15 feet. The re-cut of the ditch may have diverted some of the waters of the Walbrook which would otherwise have flowed through
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