Visited May 2025
| Location | London |
| Entrance Fee | No |
| Railway Station Nearby | Barbican Tube Station |
| Parking | City Centre |
| Facilities | City Centre |
With all the modern high rise buildings in London today, it is easy to forget that London is actually an ancient city which was founded by the Romans after they first arrived in Britain in 43AD. Londinium, as the settlement was called, was built on the side of the river to facilitate trade and act as a defence for the city. Despite this the Iceni tribe, led by Queen Boudicca, burnt it down during the rebellion of 60AD.
In the aftermath of the sacking, the city was rebuilt with improved defences- city walls and forts enclosing the settlement. Despite the total redevelopment of London many times over the years since then, there are still some Roman ruins in London to this day, which can easily be visited if you know where to look.
Review
We concentrated on the area around the Barbican Centre, which was built near to the site of a Roman fort. The remains of a gateway to the fort are still in existence next to the Barbican Centre, which was named after the Roman gateway. In the private gardens of the residents of the Barbican there is a large section of Roman wall, and the remains of a tower which was built into the walls.
Just around the corner from this location is another piece of the wall which has now been incorparated into a park called St Alphage Garden. The bottom half of the wall is the Roman part, with Medieval additions on top. The park was very busy with lunchtime picnicers, mostly from the surrounding offices. Slightly further down the road from here is the remains of St Alphage's church tower. This is a medieval abbey which was built right into the remains of the wall in the 1100s, and remained until it was dissolved in the 1500s. Today only the remains of the tower survive, and they make a striking contrast to all the new high rise buildings surrounding them.
There is a self-guided wlak around the remaining parts of the wall, including the parts of it which are incorparated into the Tower of London. We unfortunately did not have time to do the entire walk, but hope to in the future, and we will then update our progress on here. In the meantime, there are so many other attractions in London we are sure you don't need us to suggest any for a day out with the kids, although we will take this opportunity to promote The Postal Museum as it is very good!
More info: London Wall Walk
