Botolph is an obscure English saint from the 7th century, and patron saint of travellers. Hence his churches can often be found near old city gates, such as Aldgate, once London’s eastern gateway.
This church has origins in a 7th century nunnery and was rebuilt as a church in the 12th century. Its Harvard Memorial Chapel is named after the Southwark-born (b.1607) founder of the US university.
Lombard Street is the banking centre of the city, it is named after the goldsmiths of Lombardy who settled here after being granted the land by King Edward I in the 12th century.
The bricks of the buildings on Downing Street were originally yellow brick which over two centuries became blackened from pollution. After restoration in the 1960s they were painted black.
In 200AD the London Wall was one of the largest construction projects carried out in Roman Britain. It would have required 1,300 barge journeys to transport the 85,000 tons of stone from Kent.
Standing at 310m high, the Shard will own the title of the EU's tallest building when completed in 2012. In 1098 the White Tower was named Britain's tallest building standing at a mere 27m tall.
