The title “Martin Benet and the Black Friar” might sound like an Agatha Christie novel from the 30’s, but it is actually a walk of 5.4 km around the lost churches of St Benet and St Martin in the City of London. It starts and ends at a gorgeous pub called the Black Friar. So […]
Category: Walks
Taking The Michael
The Archangel Michael, in the Catholic Church, is the leader of the Army of God in their triumph over the forces of Evil. He is also an important figure for Jews and Muslims. But in cockney rhyming slang – the native patois of the City – Michael has other associations. I apologise in advance if […]
All the Marys
In 1500 there were 15 churches in the City of London dedicated to a St Mary. St Mary was by far the most popular dedication with the next most poplar being All Hallows (8 churches) and St Michael (7 churches). This, of course, was helped by the fact that there are two St Marys – […]
Cheapside Treasures
One of the best places to explore old parish boundary markers in the City is Cheapside. In medieval times, Cheapside was a bustling marketplace; it’s wide street filled with hawkers, pedlars and shops of all kinds. It is still one of the main shopping centres of the City with the huge New Change mall at […]
Nine Gates to the City
“When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates, neither working nor causing work to be done” Bhagavad-gita 5.13 In Vedic literature, the “city of nine gates” is a metaphor for the human body. There are nine entrances, or gates, to our […]
Lenny & John? Long Gone…
So which saint’s names were unlucky enough not to have survived at all? This walk is dedicated to two of them – St Leonard and St John.
The Eight (Deadly) Hallows Walk
Before the Great Fire of 1666 there were eight churches in the City dedicated to “All Hallows”, meaning “all the saints” rather than one saint in particular. It seems the bankers and traders of the City 400 years ago already knew something about hedging their bets. It’s a circular walk of just over 4.5 kilometres […]
The Four Botolphs Walk
This circular walk of 4 km takes you around the four churches dedicated to St Botolph. As you may know, St Botolph is the patron saint of trade and travel so his churches were next to city gates. That meant travellers could say a prayer and ask for a blessing before setting off on a […]
The 13 Dragon Walk
The 13 dragon walk of 12km takes you around the boundaries of the City of London past all of the cast iron, dragon headed columns that mark the edges of the City like the one on the right here. The arrow symbols on the map mark the dragons. Although the boundary line actually runs down […]