One of the capital's best places to go walking is the City of London, and what's more they have the wherewithal to have created all sorts of self-guided walks for you to follow. 21 downloadable walks are listed on their old website (although they're increasingly hard to find because most links keep trying to divert you to their new website which is a swooshy atomised disappointment, and all it says there is 'go to the City Information Centre and pick up a printed map', and admittedly they do have six walk leaflets there which is pretty good going, but I thought I'd try one of the 15 other walks before the City's software philistines pull the plug on them altogether). I picked 10 Centuries in 1 Day because that sounded clever. [pdf]
The walk runs from Tower Hill to the Museum of London and no specified route is given so you have to navigate like it's an orienteering challenge. The walk has ten stops, which I assumed meant one stop per century although the rationale is never explained (indeed I became increasingly convinced there was no rationale at all, indeed at no point does the blurb explicitly state which century is being ticked off, indeed the Barbican and the Museum of London are both from the same century so I think they ballsed up there, indeed I had pretty low regard for the team that put this together by the time I'd finished, although I did end up going to some pretty good places along the way). Let's see how it all pans out.
A) Roman Wall at Tower Hill
Most tourists pouring out of Tower Hill station walk straight past this chunk of Roman Wall, even though it's enormous, because they're too intent on reaching stop number 2. The best place to see the remnant stonework is from halfway down the steps, turning off onto a grassy wedge by the statue of the emperor Trajan. From the information board I learned, somewhat awkwardly, that Trajan died 80 years before the wall was built so he probably wasn't the best sculptural choice. Also the Roman wall was started around 200AD so could potentially refer to the 2nd or 3rd centuries, but let's say 3rd century for '10 Centuries in 1 Day' purposes.
B) Tower of London
Well obviously this, yes. No suggestion that you actually go in, just stare from the outside and dodge all the globetrotters doing the same. 11th century for the White Tower, tick.
C) All Hallows by the Tower
I often forget what a brilliant tourist attraction this is. For no admission price you get the main church with all its decor and foibles, even the crow's nest from Shackleton's doomed Antarctic expedition, but the real joy is in the crypt. Slip down the tiny stairs to find Roman pavements, Saxon crosses, quirky chapels and the signed register from an American president's wedding, to mention but a few oddities. It's also the first church I've ever visited that's apologised for having no vicar at the moment so suggested you scan a QR code and say the Morning Prayer service by yourself. The whole '10 centuries' thing could be ticked off in this church alone, but the walk's designers plumped for the 15th century because that's when this excellent building originated.
D) Eastcheap
And now desperation. "Eastcheap was one of London's chief meat markets", it says, but Eastcheap very much no longer is and the best they can invite you to look at is a boar's head on a Victorian facade which supposedly represents the 16th century Boar's Head Tavern. Move on.
E) St Magnus The Martyr Church
But this is great. Another City church but this time a lot more catholic in taste with scattered iconography and the afterwhiff of incense. It used to be the church at the northern end of Old London Bridge and you'll find a fabulous 3D model of that bridge in a case at the back of the nave with all the crowded houses and hundreds of tiny milling figures. The church originated in the 12th century but if you check the smallprint you'll see it's actually a 17th century rebuild thanks to the next site on the list...
F) The Great Fire of London
The walk delivers you to the Monument, obviously, and if you're looking carefully you should also find a plaque marking the approximate location of the infamous bakery on Pudding Lane which accidently destroyed 80% of the City. And there's your problem with trying to devise a '10 Centuries in 1 Day' walk, because pretty much every building we see today is 17th century or later. That's a span of only five centuries, indeed on this trail only A), B) and C) weren't in the burnt bit.
G) St Stephen Walbrook
And this is utterly marvellous too. You're not expecting much as you walk up the steps behind the Mansion House and then wham, Sir Christopher Wren hits you with a pristine pillared cuboid and an intricate classical dome. They say St Stephen's was his try-out for St Paul's and it shows. In complete contrast the incumbent vicar in the 1970s got Henry Moore to design a new altar, plonked his slab of stone in the centre of the church and encircled it with a vibrant ring of kneelers so it also looks very modern. The volunteers are lovely and the church is open for five hours every weekday so if you've never been in you should definitely have a nose. As for the date it's definitely 17th century, same as the previous stop, but the walk leaflet mischievously tries to claim 18th century by including a quote from an Italian architect.
H) Wood Street
Come to Wood Street says the leaflet, it's where the Cross Keys coaching inn once stood and this is where Charles Dickens arrived in 1822 the very first time he came to London. The trouble is that the Cross Keys vanished in the 1860s, and if you try to find 25 Wood Street as the text suggests the address no longer exists. It turns out that the Cross Keys was at the southern end of Wood Street on what's now the site of stonkingly modern Dirty Martini, so even if you had known where it was there was still no point whatsoever in visiting. In a City blessed with Victorian treasures, why waste the 19th century designation on this?
I) Barbican Centre
Well obviously this, yes. Always a pleasure. 20th century, tick.
J) Museum of London
Two problems. Firstly this is another 20th century building so the walk has abjectly failed to visit buildings from ten different centuries. Secondly it's closed, although it was open when the walk was devised so that's not their problem. When it reopens it'll be called something new, the London Museum, and will be a proper 21st century building but there's nothing to see there yet.
To sum up, the 10 Centuries in 1 Day walk visits buildings from at best seven centuries, not ten. It really ought to be possible to find City buildings covering everything from the 11th to the 21st centuries, even if the Great Fire makes that difficult, but the devisers of this walk have grasped at a few over-contrived references and come up with a sadly disappointing stroll. The three churches were fabulous though, suggesting I really should have picked up the The Art of Faith leaflet instead. Even on a disappointing walk, the City is always excellent.
