Hidden London

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On 11 July 2008, I joined one of the London walks tours, i.e. Hidden London which I had found from the leaflet.

The tour guide, Shaughan, turned up at Monument Fish Hill Street on time. After collecting money from 30 tourists, he began conducting his tour.

He showed us a number of churches and monuments which were designed by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire around the City. He took us inside of a couple of Wren's churches which didn't require an admission charge.

After seeing the Column for the memory of the Great Fire, he took us to St Magnus The Martyr on Lower Thames Street. The church was built in 1671 - 6 when the majority of the people were following the Protestant, Church of England. There were several golden statues displayed at the oak altar. There was a miniature model of the medieval London Bridge with details of 138 different shops and the chapel of St Thomas, and crowds of people and animals. Tourists were encouraged to leave donations for St Magnus, as the Anglican church doesn't receive the grant from the state.

As well as St Magnus Church, we were able to enter the Church of St Michael, which was hidden away from the busy street. The building appeared to be a modern Community Church, was furnished with thick pieces of oak, and had 1960s stained glass which replaced the ones which were shattered by the air raids.

One of the strengths Shaughan possesses was he knows a lot of attractive and historical houses which are tucked away from the main roads. Before heading westwards on Cannon Street, he took us to Clement's Lane off King William Street, and pointed at St Clement Church, which can be easily missed, as the signage is only seen from the narrow lane off the main street. He sang the famous nursery song, "orange and lemon".

It is widely known that Christopher Wren was the man who designed St Paul's Cathedral. The second famous one is arguably St Bride off Fleet Street. With it's location, the church was used by journalists and press correspondents for a long time, and preserves furniture and treasures to commemorate their achievements, e.g. wall plaques. Standing on the St Bride Square, we were able to see St Bride's unique feature, St Bride's spire, which was added by Christopher Wren in 1703, based on the layers of the wedding cake.

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