10 Centuries In 1 Day may not have been a very good walk.
But can we do it properly and pick one London building from each of 10 centuries?
In fact, given London's a Roman city, can we do 20 centuries?
Let's give it a try...
16th-21st century
This is the easy bit.
Far too many buildings to choose from.
So I've just chosen one big one.
21st century
Tons of London buildings are from this century. To be representative and iconic I want to pick something tall, so whereas I'd have preferred the Gherkin (2004) I'm going to pick The Shard (2013). It's still the tallest building in western Europe.
20th century
Again ridiculously spoiled for choice. We had the Barbican yesterday so let's go elsewhere. I was tempted by Battersea Power Station (1933), the Post Office Tower (1965) and the Lloyd's Building (1986), but let's go with the South Bank (1951) because you get more concrete bang for your buck there.
19th century
Two world-class icons here - the Houses of Parliament (1860) and Tower Bridge (1894), but I'm plumping for the former because of the additional frisson of Big Ben.
18th century
The Hawksmoor churches are tempting and Chiswick House (1729) is splendid but Buckingham Palace (1705) is the strongest contender, not necessarily for its architecture but for its global pre-eminence.
17th century Kensington Palace is early 17th century as is Ham House in Richmond, with the UNESCO cluster at Greenwich and 10 Downing Street appearing a little later. But I think it has to be St Paul's Cathedral, Wren's masterpiece, where building started in 1675 and the first service was held in 1697 (even if tools-down wasn't until 1710).
13th century
Will you let me pick Westminster Abbey? The current abbey was consecrated in 1269, although it does contain elements of the 11th century Norman church, for example the Pyx Chapel. If not then it might have to be Southwark Cathedral (1220), St Etheldreda's (1290) in Holborn or St Martin's (1245) in Ruislip.
11th century
London has an embarrassment of Norman riches, which is why I kicked Westminster Abbey into the 13th century. Westminster Hall (1097) is unequivocally 11th but it has to be the Tower of London, specifically the White Tower (1078).
6th-10th century
It's much harder pre-1066.
I'm looking for any structure you can still see today.
10th century
A bit ropey this. The Coronation Stone in Kingston is reputed to have seen the consecration of three kings - Æthelstan (925), Eadred (946) and Æthelred the Unready (979). But there's no guarantee the stone block recovered from the ruins of St Mary's church in 1730 is really the one, or was even there.
9th century
There's a plaque to King Alfred at Queenhithe commemorating his resettlement of the Roman city in 886, but it's not a proper leftover and this is my first Dark Ages blank.
8th century
Erm.
7th century
The remains of Barking Abbey belong to a monastery founded in 666. All-Hallows-by-the-Tower dates back to 675 and retains a Saxon arch, date unknown. Meanwhile some archaeologists found some 7th century remnants of the town of Lundenwic earlier this year. Take your pick.
6th century St Brides is on the site of one of England's oldest churches which was supposedly founded by St Bridget (or Irish missionaries) in the 6th century, but the current church is at least the seventh on the site and is over a millennium younger so doesn't count here.
1st-5th century
The Romans were around for this bit.
So we may have more luck.
5th century
Unfortunately at this stage Londinium was in decline and the Romans were skedaddling, so nothing to see here.
4th century
London's Roman wall is s 2nd/3rd century construction, but additional towers were built on the eastern side in the 4th. It's also thought a large church was built on Tower Hill at this time but nothing remains.
3rd century
We could pick the walls again, but the amazing Temple of Mithras (rediscovered in 1954) is probably a better choice.
2nd century
We could pick the walls again, or alternatively there's Crofton Roman Villa in Orpington, but a true survivor is the Roman House and Baths at Billingsgate.
1st century
London's Roman amphitheatre was built in AD70, which is really really early, but that was made of wood and the stone version you can see in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery is from the early 2nd century instead (so yes, we could pick that for the 2nd century, and we don't actually need a 1st century building to tick off 20 centuries so let's do that).
21st century The Shard
20th century South Bank
19th century Houses of Parliament
18th century Buckingham Palace
17th century St Paul's Cathedral
16th century Hampton Court
15th century Guildhall
14th century Jewel Tower
13th century Westminster Abbey
12th century Temple Church
11th century Tower of London
10th century Coronation Stone?
9th century
8th century
7th century Barking Abbey
6th century
5th century
4th century City Wall towers?
3rd century Temple of Mithras
2nd century Roman amphitheatre
