Lost London: Walking the River Walbrook Part 2: Via Liverpool Street and Livery Companies
As the route of the Walbrook crosses into the City of London, one is immediately reminded that they are now in the district of high finance, as many of the buildings suddenly sport shiny metal and glass exteriors, the seemingly standard modern way of showing the wealth of the companies that occupy them.
Nowhere does this seem more apparent than the Broadgate Centre, a 1980s development next to Liverpool Street station, bisected underground by the route of the Walbrook. This area was once the site of the burial ground for Bethlem Royal Hospital (and an occasional plague pit), so the river must have been culverted away to dry the ground.Â
Later, the burial ground would be built over during the construction of Broad Street Station, a rare example of a completely demolished (in 1984) central London railway terminus. Its replacement, the current Broadgate Centre, is undergoing significant redevelopment, which seems to involve much of the aforementioned metal-cladding, and installation of large artworks.Â
On the other side of the Broadgate Centre, construction works and a purple roundel outside of Liverpool Street Station remind the walker of one of the latest additions to subterranean London â the ongoing Crossrail/Elizabeth Line project, completion date still TBC.
A short walk down Blomfield Street brings the walker to London Wall; not much of the Roman or Medieval fortifications remain here, at what would have once been the original boundary of the City of London, and where the Walbrook would have entered. The glass and steel of Broadgate is now replaced by stone facades, and the closest walking route to the Walbrook continues along the private road of Throgmorton Avenue, reached via wrought-iron gates.
This street is home to two livery companies; the northern end is taken by the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, the southern end by the Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Drapers. Not content with already having a very long names, the drapers also have a completely private, gated stretch of road, so to keep up with a Walbrook, a diversion through a narrow alleyway and archway is needed.
This brings the walker to Tokenhouse Yard, once home to medieval tannery pits that would have drawn water from the nearby Walbrook. At the southern end of this street is the imposing curtain wall of the Bank of England â the river flows right under the bank, which means another diversion, this time via Tivoli corner.
Tivoli Corner is a miniature version of the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum; two of its decorations â an eagle on the prow of a ship, and a bearded head of Neptune â are a fitting, if perhaps not deliberate, reminder of the presence of the Walbrook. The CCTV cameras peering in through the oculus are a fitting reminder of the security measures the Bank of England has in place to deter any would-be bank robbers.
Ideally, to be following the Walbrook as closely as possible, the next part of the route would be past Grocersâ Hall â home to the Worshipful Company of Drapers â but this is another private road and is often locked up, so instead a (further) significant diversion along Princes Street before turning onto Poultry to find the entrance to the Grocersâ Hall yard is required.
Having now reached the Ward of Walbrook, this marks an appropriate point to once again pause this account, before following the Walbrook down to the Thames next time.
