Where: 111
Cannon Street, EC4
What:
The
London Stone, a rough-hewn chunk of clipsham limestone, is one
of the London's oldest but least known landmarks. The
stone is believed to have been brought to London by the
Roman's and used by them as their 'millarium' (or central point
of the city),
from
which
they
measured the distances out of the City.
The unremarkable-looking
stone has no marks except for two grooves on the top, yet by
1198
the stone was already a london landmark and referred
to as 'Lonenstane'. It
originally stood in the ground on the opposite side of the road,
but was
moved to the north side of the
street in 1742. Then, in 1798,
the stone was moved to its present position, when it was embedded
in the wall of St Swithin's church (now demolished)
which stood on this site.
Today the
stone, set in the wall of an office building opposite Cannon
Street Station, is just visible behind an iron grille and glass,
but
there are
plans
to move it once more. Plans have been approved to rebuild the
office block in who's wall it sits. The stone will be relocated
to the "retail frontage" of the new building
Over the years
much has been written about the stone, perhaps the most famous
by Shakespeare
in Henry VI, Part 2 (Act IV, Scene vi): London,
Cannon
Street.
Enter Cade and the rest, and strikes his staff on London stone.
Cade: "Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting upon
London-stone, I charge and command that, of the city's cost,
the pissing-conduit run nothing but claret wine this first
year of
our reign. And now henceforward it shall be treason for any
that calls me other than Lord Mortimer."
The size of
the stone has changed over hundreds of years. If it was a milliaria,
it could have been as big as 2.5 metres high. It was still described
as 'very tall' in 1598, but by 1671 the 'remayning parte'
(being used by the Guild to smash shoddy spectacles with a hammer!)
was nearer a tables height. Today it shows clear evidence of
damage and is about the size of a television.
Nearest
underground station: Cannon
Street
London
Hotels (these links are to another website)