London Wall Guide by

Tower Hill, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-05 16:58:00 UTC

You will see the Eastern start of the Roman Wall, and the most impressive remains located next to the Tower Hill tube station. Opposite the Tower of London, this section of the wall shows the size which the wall would have truly once stood to - over 10 metres in parts, however during the Roman period it would have stood only at 6 metres.

Aldgate Station, Aldgate High Street, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-05 17:09:00 UTC

Along your walk next is the Aldgate part of the wall. This part of the Wall is where one of the seven Old Gates would have stood. The gate here was built on the edge of the city, as a major thoroughfare for the road to Colchester – one of the most important cities of Roman Britain. This image is a drawing of how the gate would have looked in 1609. The gate though was pulled down in the 18^th century as where the rest of the gates of the city.

Vine Street Museum

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-05 21:55:41 UTC

Here you will find one of the most interesting parts of the Roman wall that is left to us! If you travel down Vine street you will be amazed to see the City Wall museum. This basement style museum holds a section of the Wall under a high story building. Whats most interesting here is you get to understand how archaeological levels actually work as well as seeing the remains of this huge project.

The museum is free, however booking is advised especially for large groups - you don't want to miss out on this!

Houndsditch, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:04:55 UTC

While no physical remains of the Roman Wall are present here, this street is extremely interesting - mainly due to its name. The Wall would have had a ditch surrounding it, during the 20th century excavations took place here finding numerous dog skeletons. It is thought that the Romans used this area to bury their pets hence its name.

Bishopsgate, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:05:28 UTC

Next on your journey, is a section of Wall which unfortunately doesn't remain. Burnt down in 1471 during the War of the Roses - the section was then rebuilt as it was a notable gate used by merchants during the ages. Gruesome fact is that this gate would have the heads of criminals posted across it, now the only thing on display is Bishop's Mitre which is built high into the stone. You can see this looking above and to the east of the Boots.

Moorgate/ All Hallows on the Wall

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:05:46 UTC

This part of your journey follows the street 'London Wall', named due to the fact it follows a similar path to the north edge of the Roman Wall. All Hallows Church provides the sign of the wall, built in 1767 (replacing a much older church), the vestry is built into the Roman wall's foundations. Within London it is interesting to know that the wall in areas has provided foundations for innumerable buildings and works of construction. The Romans and Medieval workmanship has meant that parts of the wall are so structured they can still be used today - hence why it is often said the wall is like an invisible foundation for our city today.

Roman London Wall (St Alphage Garden Section), London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:06:11 UTC

Once you arrive here, you begin to move towards the site of the Roman fort (named a Barbican) that would have been built early 2nd century. This part of your tour while not as impressive as places such as Tower Hill is still significant due to the remains of St Alphage Church. The Church incorporated a section of the Medieval Wall into its churchyard - imagine your own garden constructed from a centuries old wall! Buildings in this area are the reason for the lack of Roman remnants of the wall. Construction into cellars and foundations has meant the wall has been thoroughly destroyed - this is a major issue with history in which new projects and the need for space leads to the destruction of highly important historical archaeology.

Barbican, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:07:16 UTC

This area is rich in remains of the old wall as well as the towers and old fort which would have stood as part of the original London. Although, the wall here that remains is mostly Medieval in build the Roman wall would have also stood here. The towers here while used as defense during times of military need, they also had further uses during peace time. Guards would have been positioned here, trade and protection could also have operated. The fort encompassed 12 acres and would have had been able to provide shelter for 1,000 soldiers. Carry on further, youre nearly to the end of the walk!!!

St Giles Cripplegate, Fore Street, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:07:59 UTC

Yay! Now you have reached some of the most impressive remains of the wall. Where you currently stand would have been the northern point of the Fort. This area like that of the Barbican area houses remnants of the old towers. Bombing during World War II has allowed some of these structures to be unearthed, otherwise London's construction may have kept them hidden for another 1000 years. Situated at this point of the wall would have been Cripplegate, like the other gates it no longer remains but you may be intreged as it once again shows the trade and importance London has held through the centuries. It's numerous gates meant large volumes of traffic traveled to and from London from across the UK and globe.

Noble Street, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:08:22 UTC

Some of the final sections of your tour are highly impressive. When you reach Noble street you will see sections of the wall with stone work that dates all around the 2nd to the 19th century. Bombing of the area uncovered this gem - infact the site acts as remains for the wall but also the destruction of bombing from World War II. As part of your tour, we advise you take the time and really look at each section of the wall. Can you tell which parts of the stone work are Roman/ Medieval or even later?

Aldersgate Street, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:08:47 UTC

Not far from the Noble Street Walls you can make your way to Aldersgate. This is another gate that would have been part of the Wall, you may find it interesting to know this was a later addition to the Wall, making us wonder whether or not London substantially grew in importance during the Roman period. Read further into our website and you may find out.

Ludgate Hill, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:09:29 UTC

The penultimate part of your tour lead to Ludgate - another of the Walls various gates. This would have been a hugely imposing gate when it was built, with double roadways. Its name is thought to derive from the idea of 'flood gate' or 'fleet gate' as it led out to the River Fleet. The River Fleet however is now completely buried becoming London's largest subterranean river. When it wasn't buried it provided another source of access to London for trade, people and resources to allow for the growing population. Although, the River was built into due to the Great Stink of 1858 - Joseph Bazalgette incorporated parts of the river into sewage tunnels allowing for a cleaner and safer London. Subsequently, due to furthering construction in London the River became hidden providing areas for the Metropolitan line and Regent's Canal to be built.

Blackfriars, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:10:11 UTC

The end of your tour has come - Blackfriars area is where the Wall would have finished before its complete destruction. You may be interested to know that there was a section of wall created during the 3rd century AD that followed the Thames. Although, its timber construction and poor quality meant it had no chance of surviving - but the Thames has provided us with hugely significant artifacts, notably Hadrian's head. The surviving head would have been part of a much greater statue and may have been thrown into the Thames during times of conquest against London. Visit the British Museum as your next historical trip, there you can see the Bronze head. To help (because the museum is massive) here is it's museum number - 1103.1.

Cooper's Row, London

williamthurgoodsmith — 2025-03-06 00:13:24 UTC

Leaving Tower Hill travel to Cooper's Row, here you will see a section of the Wall that is well preserved baring in mind the ages. The Wall here has its Roman remains standing 4 meters tall, the rest being Medieval addition. You may be curious about the holes within it, these would have been used as defensive positions to shoot arrows at invading people. Originally a wooden structure would have been present so soldiers could reach, but as you can imagine timber doesn't survive centuries. Watch out for the Grange City Hotel, this section of the wall is hard to find but use this hotel as a landmark to know your near. Interesting fact the wall was rediscovered in 1864 during the construction of a warehouse!