Trail 2 Postman's Park and surrounding gardens - the City of London ...

Trail 2 Postman’s Park and surrounding gardens
leads onto another area of raised beds
containing shrubs and bedding plants with
benches shaded under the canopy of
London Plane trees.
At the far end of Noble
Street is the Noble Street
wild flower garden 8 with
remains of a Roman Fort
which dates from AD100.
This area has been sown
with wild flowers to
encourage a variety of
wildlife. On the opposite
side of the road is the
churchyard of St Olave,
Silver Street 9 . The church
itself was destroyed in the
Great Fire of 1666. Robinia,
oak and other trees provide a
contrast to the straight lines
of the modern buildings that
surround it.
The ruins at
Noble Street
St Olave Silver Street
Garden
Retrace your steps South, back down
Noble Street and then turn left down Oat
Lane which will lead you to the small
garden of St Mary Staining 10 .
Continue down the steps
through St Alban’s Court, an
alleyway underneath the
building, which will
bring you to the Tower
of St Alban. Walk
down Love Lane to
the historic
churchyard of St Mary
Aldermanbury 11 .
Herbaceous borders
surround the statue of
Shakespeare. Fellow
actors John Hemynge
and Henry Condell, are St Mary Aldermanbury
Garden
also commemorated, it
is to them that we owe the printing of the
First Folio of Shakespeare’s work.
Walking down Aldermanbury past the
Guildhall Library will bring you to
St Lawrence Jewry 12 . The church was
built in 1136 over a tiered section of the
Roman Amphitheatre. It received its suffix,
‘Jewry’, from the fact that
it was sited at the edge of
the medieval City’s Jewish
area. The weathervane on
top of the spire is from
Wren’s original church,
which was mostly
destroyed during the Weather vane at
Blitz, but was re-built by St Lawrence Jewry
Cecil Brown, closely following Wren’s
original design.
St Mary Staining Garden
Continue down Milk Street
turning right onto
Cheapside. You will find
St Paul’s underground
station 13 where
the road meets
New Change and the
trail ends.
The gardens in the City are part of a network of
open spaces, parks and gardens around London,
owned and managed by the City of London as
part of its commitment to sustaining a world
class city. Each open space is a unique resource
managed for the use and enjoyment of the
public and for the conservation of wildlife and
historic landscape. A full list of sites and visitor
information can be found on our website at:
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/openspaces or
by contacting the Open Spaces Directorate on
020 7332 3505.
St Paul’s Garden
CITY GARDENS
For further information and opening
times please contact:
The City Gardens Office
P.O. Box 270, Guildhall,
London EC2P 2EJ
Tel: 020 7374 4127 Fax: 020 7710 8524
E-mail: parks.gardens@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Whilst in the City Gardens do not hesitate to
approach any of our staff, who will be
happy to assist you.
If you require this leaflet in
another format please contact
020 7332 3505
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Trail 2:
Postman’s Park and
surrounding gardens
CITY GARDENS WALKS

Trail 2
Postman’s Park
and surrounding
gardens
Start point Barbican Underground Station
End Point St Paul’s Underground Station
Distance 2.4km (1.5 miles)
Approx. time 1 hour
EST SMITHFIELD
HILL
CHARTERHOUSE STREET
Smithfield Market
West
Smithfield
Holy
Sepulchre
without
Newgate
3
4
LUDG
OLD BAILEY
2
G I LTSPUR ST
Christchurch
Greyfriars
NEWGATE STREET
Warwick
Square
Gardens
LONG LANE
LITTLE BRITAIN
St
Bartholomew’ s
Hospital
Barbican
1
St
Bartholomew
the Great
5
KING EDWARD ST
St Paul's
Postmans
Park
Noble
Street
Gardens
BEECH STREET
The Barbican
Barber Surgeons
& Baston House
LONDON WALL
St Olave
Silver Street
Aldermanbury
Gardens
Begin at Barbican underground station
S
1S
by turning right and walking down
Long Lane S towards Smithfield Market, a
Grade II Victorian listed building. In this
C
area meat has been bought and sold for
over 800 years. West Smithfield 2
garden on the left was once a meeting
place used for jousts, tournaments and
6
ALDERSGATE STREET
MONTAGUE ST
13
ST MARTIN'S LE-GRAND
Museum
of
London
NEW C
8
St Mary
Staining
St Anne &
St Agnes
7
OAT LANE
NOBLE STREET
10
9
GRESHAM STREET
WOOD STREET
CHEAPSIDE
12
MILK STREET
S
St Alphage’
Ga
11
ALDERMANBURY
SILK
Guild
GRES
M
executions. In 1855 the
field was closed as a
meeting place and it was
turned into open space for
the public in 1872.
While you are walking
around this part of London
you may see the City’s resident pair of
Peregrine Falcons who have nested and
raised their young in this area.
Walk down West Smithfield following
the road into Giltspur Street. Where
Giltspur Street meets Newgate Street is the
Church of The Holy Sepulchre without
Newgate M 3 . The church was made
famous in the old nursery rhyme ‘oranges
and lemons’ in which St Sepulchre’s bells
S
were the ‘bells of Old Bailey’.
‘Agapanthus’ in bloom at
the Old Bailey
West Smithfield in
Spring
On the opposite side P
of the road are the new
gardens of the Old
Bailey 4 . Relax with
the sound of the gentle
fountains, sheltered by
the Yew hedging and
London Plane trees
(Platanus x acerifolia).
Continue along Newgate Street, towards
King Edward Street. Cross over the road at
Newgate Street Traffic Island, once a
bare brick wall now a beautiful feature –
with Clematis, Trachelospermum
jasminoides and Actinidia kolomikta,
growing up stainless steel wires with a
winter-flowering iris planted underneath.
On the corner of these
two roads lies
Christchurch Greyfriars
5 . It is a Wren church
that was bombed in
World War II. The rose
garden beds sit where
the original pews would
have been, while the 10 Christchurch Greyfriars
tall wooden towers
represent the pillars which would have once
held the roof. Today Clematis and climbing
roses weave their way up the pillars.
The Watts Memorial,
A Postman’s Park
Exit the garden on King
Edward Street and
continue up the road.
On the right hand side
you will see a gate
under a large London
Plane tree (Platanus x
hispanica), walk through
it to Postman’s Park 6 .
Opened in 1880 it is made up of the
churchyards of St Leonards, Foster Lane,
St Botolph, Aldersgate and the graveyard
of Christchurch, Newgate Street. The park
acquired its name due to its popularity as
a lunchtime garden with workers from the
nearby old General Post Office. It is home
to the famous Watts memorial, built in
1900 by Victorian painter and philanthropist
King Edward Street
Watts
Memorial
Little Britain
Handkerchief
tree
Plan of Postman’s Park
GF Watts (1817-1904). It was made to
commemorate heroic acts by ‘everyday
men and women’ who had given their
lives attempting to save others. A sight to
behold in late spring is the Handkerchief
Tree, Davidia Involucrata, in full bloom. It
was given its name because its flowers
look like pocket handkerchiefs.
Exit Postman’s park
past the fountain and
fish pond. Turn right and
walk along Aldersgate
Street, then bear left
onto Gresham Street.
Here you will find the
garden of St Anne and St Agnes
7 . Wren constructed the
church in 1690, it suffered
some damage during
the Second World
War, but it was
restored between
1963–68. The
small grassed
garden in front
of the church
Aldersgate Street
St Anne and St Agnes Garden
Clematis at Newgate Street trafficisland