Londoners of note
£50: Christopher Wren(1632-1723) In the spring of 1666 a young architect named Christopher Wren returned from Europe with plans for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral. And then, only a few months later, the entire medieval cathedral burnt to the ground in the Great Fire of London. But this was no suspicious coincidence, it was just precisely the right man in precisely the right place at precisely the right time. The wholesale destruction of two-thirds of the City by fire gave Wren his big chance, and earned him an everlasting reputation. Wren's initial plans for regeneration were grand and geometric, based on the ordered elegance of Renaissance European cities. But landowners were reluctant to sell up their blaze-gutted plots, so the roads of post-Fire London retained the original medieval street pattern. In 1669 Wren was appointed the King's Surveyor of Works and took control of the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral. Several designs were proposed, and refused, and it was nearly 40 years before the great building we see today was complete. When Wren died he was buried in a vault in the cathedral's crypt, inscribed with the epitaph (in Latin) "Reader, if you seek his monument,look around you". The crypt's cafe, gift shop and toilets are, today, thankfully tucked just out of sight.
Wren'sdome is truly one of the iconic sights of London. Stump up nine quid to enter the cathedral and you too can climb up inside to admire the views both within and without. It's 259 steps up to the WhisperingGallery, although the legendary acoustics didn't work for me when I visited. Another 119 steps are needed to reach the Stone Gallery, this time on the exterior of the building immediately beneath the dome. And then, good grief, the last 152 steps ascend a succession of spiralmetal staircases inside the hollow void between inner and outer domes. If that doesn't give you vertigo, the view from the Golden Gallery probably will. You're on the tip of St Paul's nipple here, with just enough space to shuffle precariously round a narrow parapet and look down across the city. It used to be possible to ascend even further, right up inside the golden ball (holds 10), but health and safety rules put paid to this particular treat several years ago.
St Paul's is only one of Wren's great London buildings. The eastern wing of Hampton Court Palace, that's one of his, and the Monument, and Temple Bar, and the Royal Naval Hospital and Royal Observatory at Greenwich. He was also the architect responsible for the rebuilding of more than 50 ofthe City's churches. Few of these have survived intact to the modern day, although both St Clement Dane's in the Strand and St Clement's (of Oranges & Lemons fame) are welcome exceptions. Several of today's other 'Wren' churches are really post-WW2 rebuilds, damaged by a second City firestorm, including St Bride's in Fleet Street and St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside. But several more of Wren's mini masterpieces have been wiped away by later redevelopment. The church at St Christopher-le-Stocks in Threadneedle Street, for example, was sacrificed in 1781 to make way for an expanding financial institution. Courtesy of the other fifty quid bloke...
Londoners of note
£50: John Houblon(1632-1712) John who? He's a nobody in comparison to the other 11 notables on my list, but the Bank of England thought him important enough to slap on the back of their highest value banknote. And that's because JohnHoublon was their very first governor, back in 1694, and because the Bank cared about him 300 years later even if we didn't. John was a rich merchant from a rich family of merchants, although they'd started out a century earlier as a bunch of persecuted Belgian immigrants. He was one of a group of City gentlemen whose ready cash helped to establish London's first public bank in temporary accommodation in Lincoln's Inn Fields. John got to be Lord Mayor, and he was MP for Bodmin, and he was a friend of Samuel Pepys, and sorry, he really wasn't a terribly interesting chap. But he had a nice house in Threadneedle Street which the Bank bought after his death to use as their new permanent headquarters. As the Bank grew in importance they also grew in size, gradually buying up all the surrounding land. In 1791 they knocked down the church nextdoor, this being St Christopher-le-Stocks, in whose grounds Sir John had been buried. Today a seven storey economic fortress covers the entire block, and the first Governor's remains lay somewhere beneath the world-renowned financial institution he helped to create.
If you've ever wanted to see inside the Bank of England for yourself, they organise free public tours twice a year. I can highly recommend the experience, especially if you fancy standing in Merv the Governor's office or the octagonal room where the Monetary Policy Committee met yesterday to raise interest rates to 5%. Your next opportunity is in July as part of the City of London Festival, or else you can wait for Open House in September. But the bank also contains a permanent museum, open every weekday (and specially tomorrow for the Lord Mayor's Show), and entrance is free. The exhibits will tell you a bit more about Sir John Houblon and a lot more about the history of the nation's banknotes. Assuming you're still interested, that is.
Londoners of note
In the spring of 1666 a young architect named Christopher Wren returned from Europe with plans for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral. And then, only a few months later, the entire medieval cathedral burnt to the ground in the Great Fire of London. But this was no suspicious coincidence, it was just precisely the right man in precisely the right place at precisely the right time. The wholesale destruction of two-thirds of the City by fire gave Wren his big chance, and earned him an everlasting reputation. Wren's initial plans for regeneration were grand and geometric, based on the ordered elegance of Renaissance European cities. But landowners were reluctant to sell up their blaze-gutted plots, so the roads of post-Fire London retained the original medieval street pattern. In 1669 Wren was appointed the King's Surveyor of Works and took control of the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral. Several designs were proposed, and refused, and it was nearly 40 years before the great building we see today was complete. When Wren died he was buried in a vault in the cathedral's crypt, inscribed with the epitaph (in Latin) "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you". The crypt's cafe, gift shop and toilets are, today, thankfully tucked just out of sight.
Wren's dome is truly one of the iconic sights of London. Stump up nine quid to enter the cathedral and you too can climb up inside to admire the views both within and without. It's 259 steps up to the Whispering Gallery, although the legendary acoustics didn't work for me when I visited. Another 119 steps are needed to reach the Stone Gallery, this time on the exterior of the building immediately beneath the dome. And then, good grief, the last 152 steps ascend a succession of spiral metal staircases inside the hollow void between inner and outer domes. If that doesn't give you vertigo, the view from the Golden Gallery probably will. You're on the tip of St Paul's nipple here, with just enough space to shuffle precariously round a narrow parapet and look down across the city. It used to be possible to ascend even further, right up inside the golden ball (holds 10), but health and safety rules put paid to this particular treat several years ago.
John who? He's a nobody in comparison to the other 11 notables on my list, but the Bank of England thought him important enough to slap on the back of their highest value banknote. And that's because John Houblon was their very first governor, back in 1694, and because the Bank cared about him 300 years later even if we didn't. John was a rich merchant from a rich family of merchants, although they'd started out a century earlier as a bunch of persecuted Belgian immigrants. He was one of a group of City gentlemen whose ready cash helped to establish London's first public bank in temporary accommodation in Lincoln's Inn Fields. John got to be Lord Mayor, and he was MP for Bodmin, and he was a friend of Samuel Pepys, and sorry, he really wasn't a terribly interesting chap. But he had a nice house in Threadneedle Street which the Bank bought after his death to use as their new permanent headquarters. As the Bank grew in importance they also grew in size, gradually buying up all the surrounding land. In 1791 they knocked down the church nextdoor, this being St Christopher-le-Stocks, in whose grounds Sir John had been buried. Today a seven storey economic fortress covers the entire block, and the first Governor's remains lay somewhere beneath the world-renowned financial institution he helped to create.
In the spring of 1666 a young architect named 
John who? He's a nobody in comparison to the other 11 notables on my list, but the Bank of England thought him important enough to slap on the back of their highest value banknote. And that's because 