There is one dominating feature of this neighbourhood, as well as most of the surrounding areas, and that is St. Paul’s Cathedral. Taking up most of the area, the cathedral has carved its way throughout the city via its protected views. To the north, Paternoster Row and Temple Bar offer many stores and pedestrian passages, leading on to the new Paternoster Square development. Eastwards is the cathedral’s Festival Gardens. To the south is St. Paul’s Churchyard, which leads on to Ludgate Hill to the west and Cannon Street to the east. The buildings around the cathedral are largely modern, with the exception of Fleet Street, owing to the large damage caused by the Blitz, as well as the sacrifices made by Britain herself in protecting the cathedral from fire damage. The Firefighter’s Memorial stands, the lead firefighter pointing towards St. Paul’s, calling for support – his hands pointing to a phoenix being reborn on St. Paul’s, with the words ‘resurgam’, ‘I shall rise again’, referring to the Great Fire, but equally appropriate for the Blitz.

St. Paul’s Cathedral has been through many iterations, with the first church being built in 604, dedicated to the apostle Paul. Made of wood, it was established by King Ethelbert of Kent but was quickly destroyed by fire (this would be a theme). A second cathedral would fall to the Vikings in 962, being rebuilt in the same year and burning down in the same year. The fourth St. Paul’s Cathedral (which is what we generally think of when we think of the ‘old’ St. Paul’s) was built in 1087, and the architectural style changed from Romanesque to Gothic; it took 150 years to complete, only having its final touches completed in 1240. When the spire was completed in 1314, it was the tallest cathedral in Europe.

St. Paul’s Cathedral had already been falling into disrepair by the 1500s, as lightning destroyed the spire, and the Civil War saw it being ignored, with the final blow coming in the form of the Great Fire of London. Famously, Sir Christopher Wren would plan a new cathedral in the aftermath, the one we see today. Spending nine years to design, it would only be declared completed in 1711, some 45 years later. It would be the tallest building in London for 251 years, until 1962, when the BT Tower was completed.

Many famous people have been buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral, including its designer, Sir Christopher Wren, his epitaph reading in Latin, ‘Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you’. Admiral Horatio Nelson, famous for his naval victories against the French during the Napoleonic Wars, as well as his final battle at Trafalgar, being buried in a coffin made from the timber of a French ship he defeated in battle. Former Prime Minister Arthur Wellesley, the First Duke of Wellington is buried in an imposing casket made of Cornish granite; another famous person is Sir Alexander Fleming, inventor of penicillin.

A statue of Queen Anne stands in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, erected to commemorate the completion of the building. The four female figures around the base represent Britannia, France (England did not relinquish claims to the French throne until later), America and Ireland. The statue today actually dates back to 1886, as the old statue had deteriorated, and is an exact copy of the old statue.

A sculpture emerges in Paternoster Square, known as Angel Wings or the Paternoster Vents – they are actually ventilation for an underground electrical substation.

The area is one giant tourist site, which makes it great for the businesses around the monument. Traffic can be very congested at times, with Fleet Street being a key thoroughfare, but the transport links (as well as very good pedestrian connections) make the area ideal for any centrally-minded business or person.

The area is mostly governed by the St. Paul’s Cathedral Conservation Area, which attempts to preserve the character of the area as well as expand the public spaces and green space available. In terms of development, The Paternoster Square development was the result of a long bureaucratic saga. Plans were originally conceived after the war, changing numerous times following alterations to the neighbourhood such as the construction of the Millennium Bridge. Given the pace these developments took, it is unlikely that any new project would rapidly alter the area soon. There are nonetheless plans for a new mixed-use development slightly north of this postcode. 81 Newgate Street is set for completion in 2025 and will provide 67,500m2 of flexible office space, retail and leisure spaces, publicly and privately accessible roof terraces and a rooftop restaurant.