Description
The garden is on the site of the medieval church of St Peter Cheap, also called West Cheap, which burnt down in the Great Fire in 1666 and was not rebuilt, the parish joining that of St Matthew Friday Street. There was a market in this area from early times, 'cheap' being the Anglo-Saxon word for market. Three gravestones survive set into remnants of the wall, including a stone tablet of 1687, and the railings on the boundary with Wood Street date from 1712, with an inset plaque of St Peter. The churchyard was laid out as a public garden in the C19th and has a large plane tree that William Wordsworth referred to in his poem, 'The Reverie of Poor Susan'. Overlooked on three sides, the sheltered garden is largely paved, and has seats and a number of low raised beds, each now planted with a tree fern in recent years.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | St Peter West Cheap |
|---|---|
| Site location | junction of Wood Street/Cheapside |
| Postcode | EC2V 6BT |
| What3Words | ///leave.whips.minute |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | City of London |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Tube: Mansion House (District, Circle), St Paul's (Central) |
| Research Updated | 1 June 2010 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The garden is the former churchyard on the site of the medieval church of St Peter Cheap, also called West Cheap, which burnt down in 1666 in the Great Fire and not rebuilt, the parish uniting with that of St Matthew Friday Street. One of Edward I's Eleanor Crosses was erected here, which became a shrine and was later removed by the Puritans. The area was from early times a market, 'cheap' being the Anglo-Saxon word for market and Wood Street like other street names in the locality recalls what was sold here. The churchyard is now laid out as a garden and is largely hard-surfaced, with seats and a large plane tree, which appears in the poem by William Wordsworth, 'The Reverie of Poor Susan'. In 1850 the plane tree contained 4 rook's nests. The planting of a tree fern is a recent addition to the garden. There are three gravestones surviving including a stone tablet of 1687 set into remnants of the wall, originally C17th but since refaced. The railings of 1712 survive and within these on the boundary with Wood Street is a plaque of St Peter with his keys set into the railings above, which was erected at a cost of £107 11s 0d.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ322812 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.0155 |
| Site Ownership | Diocese of London |
| Site Management | City of London Corporation Open Spaces Dept. (small portion of site maintained by church) |
| Dates | medieval, C19th |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | City of London |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Yes |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Strategic View - Consultation Area |
Gallery
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Saddlers' Company Royal Charter dates from 1395, by which time the first Saddlers' Hall was built on this site, rebuilt after the Great Fire in 1672. A third building of 1822-33 was destroyed in 1940 and rebuilt by 1958 in Neo-Georgian style. Saddlers' Hall courtyard garden was re-landscaped in 1989 and consists of cobbled roadway with a raised bed planted with shrubs, a number of urns, and a sculpted horse's head. On the south wall is a carved pediment originally from the third Hall and formerly on the Foster Lane entrance.
New Change Buildings, demolished in 2007, were built in 1953-60 for the Bank of England with a formal sunken garden facing Bread Street with C18th style fountains and lawns, crossed by a causeway leading to an internal central courtyard with a fountain, planting and C18th style lead cisterns. Bread Street was part of the City's market area, and was the site of the first C15th Hall of the Worshipful Company of Salters. The building was demolished in 2007 and the new scheme by Jean Nouvel was completed in 2010, with new pedestrian routes and public access to a rooftop plaza.
Possibly so-called for being built on arches or for having arches on top of its steeple, St Mary-le-Bow was recorded here by the C11th. Destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, the church was rebuilt by Wren between 1671-80, his designs based on the Temple of Peace in Rome. When the foundations were excavated they were thought to be those of a Roman temple but later deemed to be the crypt of the Norman church. After WWII the churchyard area was extended west and south and laid out as a garden around the statue of Captain John Smith, a member of the Cordwainers' Company, who founded the colony of Virginia. The churchyard was re-landscaped in 2008/09 and is now largely paved, with a mature plane tree and the statue of Smith remaining.
