This neighbourhood stretches from St. Paul’s to Bank along Cheapside, which is the road that dominates this postcode. St. Martin’s-le-Grand and New Change run north-to-south along the locality’s western boundary, while Cheapside cuts through the centre in an east-west fashion. St. Paul’s Cathedral lies just outside the area and can be seen majestically towering over buildings throughout the neighbourhood. Cheapside is home to several stores – from eateries to bank branches and other retail outlets. Above street level, most buildings serve office functions. One New Change dominates the southern side of Cheapside; a multi-storied shopping centre, it also has a free viewing deck on the roof, which provides astounding views of St. Paul’s Cathedral as well as the rest of London. Other than that the area consists primarily of post-war office buildings, having been badly damaged during the Blitz.

Cheapside was the City of London’s main shopping street for most of its history. The old trades which dominated in its heyday are evident from the names of its side streets: Wood Street, Bread Street, Honey Lane, Milk Street and so on. Cheapside derives its name, not from the word cheap, but rather ‘chepe’, the Saxon word for market. An extremely old street dating back to Roman times, its alignment followed an easy bridging point for the River Walbrook, which today flows underground. The street in the late-12th century was more like an elongated marketplace – up to 62 feet wide but with narrow exits at either end. It was only after the Great Fire of 1666 that the bottlenecks were removed and a continuous link with Bank via a stretch of road called Poultry.

Bread Street was the birthplace to two poets, both named John – John Donne and John Milton, born in 1572 and 1608 respectively.

John Donne was amongst the ‘leading metaphysical poets of the Renaissance’, with works from sermons to sonnets. He was born to a Catholic family at a time when Catholicism was illegal, and could not graduate from Oxford or Cambridge (though he studied at both) due to his faith. He had a bumpy start to his career – first becoming a soldier on the continent and later a civil servant before his uncle had him arrested for marrying his employer’s teenage niece. Towards the end of his life, however, he converted to the Church of England and rose to become the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral of London, not far from where he was born. He wrote the Holy Sonnet X towards the end of his life, which was never published while he was alive.

John Milton, on the other hand, was born into a middle-class family and went to Christ’s Church College, Cambridge, where he prepared to enter the clergy. In the interim, he wrote poetry in Latin, Italian and English. He decided not to pursue priesthood, however, and instead pursued a career as a poet. While studying privately, he wrote a number of poems, such as On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity and On Shakespeare, and toured France and Italy for 13 months, meeting many famous intellectuals such as Galileo (who appears in his work on censorship). He served as a secretary for foreign languages for Cromwell’s government after the Civil War, writing many pamphlets on radical topics. He was arrested after Charles II was restored to the throne, though later released – it was then he wrote his famous masterpiece Paradise Lost, in 1667.

St. Mary-le-Bow church lies halfway between Bank and St Paul’s, and its bells are interwoven into the culture and history of London. Dick Whittington allegedly heard the bells call him back to London to become Lord Mayor, and the supposed qualification to be a Cockney is to be born within earshot of the Bow bells (it’s this Bow, not Bow Church). The bells used to dominate city life, with the 9 pm bell signalling curfew and the end of the day for apprentices. The original tower and bells were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666; though it was rebuilt, the bells were often not rung due to a shortage of ringers. The bells went through several versions, replacements and interesting stories; the last time the bells were restored was after they were destroyed in 1941 by the Luftwaffe.

Cheapside is one of the busiest streets in the city, and while that brings amenities and a certain buzz, it also brings congestion. Fortunately, multiple bus routes traverse the area and both St. Paul’s, Mansion House and Bank Stations are only minutes away. London Cannon Street and City Thameslink mainline stations are also not much further, adding to the connectivity of the area.

There is little in the way of planned future development on Cheapside, already being densely populated by luxury stores and offices. However work is completing on renovation work at Bank station. New step free access will be provided to the DLR as well as an expanded Northern Line platform, while passengers can gain access via a new entrance on Cannon Street which will take up the ground floor of a new office development.