Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
by the Corporation, of the Fire Judges who assessed property claims in the wake of the
Great Fire.
Roman amphitheatre
During the gallery's construction in the 1990s, a Roman amphitheatre , dating from
around 120 AD, was discovered in the Guildhall courtyard. The foundations of the
eastern entrance are all that remain, displayed in the basement, but they give you a hint
of the vast size of the original arena, which would have held up to six thousand. (The
outline of the amphitheatre is marked out on the pavement in the courtyard.)
Clockmakers' Museum
Aldermanbury • Mon-Sat 9.30am-4.45pm • Free • T 020 7332 1868, W clockmakers.org • ! Bank
Access to the Clockmakers' Museum , run by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers,
is from Aldermanbury, on the west side of Guildhall. Here, you'll find everything from
Tudor pocket watches to grandfather clocks, which ring out in unison on the hour.
Highlights include an orrery clock, a rolling ball clock (of the kind invented by William
Congreve), a water clock, the ghoulish skull watch, once believed to have been given by
Mary Queen of Scots to her maid-of-honour, and the watch used by Edmund Hillary
on Everest. Of particular interest is the collection of marine chronometers including the
earliest known clock made by John Harrison (1693-1776), along with his brother, when
he was only 20. Pride of place, though, goes to H5, which looks like an oversized pocket
watch, was tested by George III himself at Richmond observatory, and won Harrison
the Longitude Prize (see p.320).
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St Lawrence Jewry
Mon-Fri 8am-4pm • Recitals Mon & Tues 1pm • T 020 7600 9478, W stlawrencejewry.org.uk • ! Bank
Across the courtyard from the Guildhall stands Wren's church of St Lawrence Jewry ,
whose smart interior reflects its role as the of cial City of London Corporation church.
Opened in 1677 in the presence of Charles II, but gutted during the Blitz, the church's
handsome, wide, open-plan interior is well worth a peek for its richly gilded plasterwork
ceiling. he church's gilded gridiron weathervane recalls St Lawrence's martyrdom - he
was slow-roasted, but still managed to crack jokes, hence why he's the patron saint of
comedians. The name “Jewry” recalls the site of London's Jewish ghetto . Old Jewry, the
street two blocks east, was the nucleus of the community, who suffered a bloody
expulsion on the orders of Edward I.
Bank and around
Bank lies at the heart of the City's financial district and is the busy meeting point of
eight streets. It's an impressive architectural ensemble, overlooked by a handsome
collection of Neoclassical buildings - among them the Bank of England, the Royal
Exchange and Mansion House - each one faced in Portland stone.
Royal Exchange
Mon-Fri: shops 10am-6pm; cafés, bars and restaurants 8am-11pm • W theroyalexchange.co. uk • ! Bank
By far the most graceful of Bank's buildings is the Royal Exchange , first built in 1570 at
the personal expense of the fabulously wealthy businessman, Thomas Gresham (his gilded
grasshopper flies from the roof ), as a meeting place for City merchants. The current
building, fronted by a massive eight-column portico and a very convenient set of steps for
lunching o ce workers, is the third on the site and was built in the 1840s. Nowadays,
the building is filled with expense account shops, but it's still worth exploring the inner
courtyard, with its beautifully tiled floor, glazed roof and half-columns in three classical
orders. The swish Grand Café occupies both the courtyard and the mezzanine floor, from
which you can view a series of frescoes illustrating the history of the City.
 
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