Show city of london financial Huh of british isles great commercial center selected as target by bombers released by western newspaper union washington the compact downtown financial district of london known as the city which is the special target for german raiders incendiary bombs and the scene of En glands greatest fire in three centuries has been acclaimed one of the most important commercial areas of its size in the world the irregular semicircle of ancient streets beside the thames known as the city is only one square mile in area but for centuries it has set the financial pace of the world according to the national geographic sd society clety the tha bank bani of 0 england known as the exclusive old lady of thread read needle street sits in the midst of it ft a private institution which since 1694 has had the exclusive right to issue En glands paper money and an d to hold the reserve funds of all other banks in the country A coins throw to the east on ton street stands the stock edcha exchange which deals in the government bonds of its own and foreign countries counti ies and in the stocks of most important corporations of the world londona Lon dons wall street street becomes the curb market for trading in american securities during the d daily aily interval between the closing of the london exchange and the closing tive five hours later of new yorks york a stock market lombard street noted for its banks adjoins Thread needle and streets to form the wall street district of london lloyds of london a short walk east of Leaden hall street in years has grown to be the worlds largest insurance institution it is an association of underwriters within the area also are the famous old financial house of rothschild and the even older childs bank which dickens described in his tale of two cities as Tell sons bank within vast metropolitan london whose people have spread their buildings over square miles the city is a tight little center packed inside ancient boundaries like an english walnut in its shell bell it reaches from the inns of court and fleet street to in the west to the tower of london in the east from london bridge north to clerk enwell road this Is the oldest part of london through 20 centuries it has preserved its identity and practically its original limits thanks to the thick wall 35 feet high built around it by roman conquerors remnants of this frequently rebuilt wall and its nine gates are responsible tor for the names of such streets as london wall newgate New gate aldgate Ald gate and CrIpp legate as well as billingsgate market the wall enabled city dwellers to hold off william the conqueror who prudently built his tower of london just out side the city since then no sovereign has lived within the city the king today first receives permission from the lord mayor of london before passing the spots such as the temple bar where modem streets cross the antique boundaries botin daries city deserted at night historic and literary landmarks some dating from roman times fill the city barely a yard apart by night the district Is usually deserted since almost the only permanent residents are the custodians or watchmen ot of buildings which are treasured by the empire for their past or present significance by day however a million people dally daily crowd in and out of this small area on business the volume of news dispatched from the newspaper offices of fleet street in normal times makes this a world center tor for journalism as well as finance this same square mile of lon dons inner core was the birthplace of john milton sir thomas more charles lamb and william penn it was the residence of chaucer and was visited by countless notables who were wire involved in the literary activities a c tivi ties of grub street or paternoster row there at 17 gough square dr johnson wrote his epo epochal chal dictionary of the english language A few blocks south within the high paneled walls of middle temple hall on february 2 1602 a troupe of actors presented a comedy by one of their company a newcomer named shakespeare it was twelfth night destined for broadway in 1941 famous men lived in area A physician at old st bartholo mews hospital which had been founded by a kings jester dis discovered cov the circulation of the blood william harvey meanwhile in the fifteenth century guildhall successive lord mayors were elected and banqueted under the traditional but mysterious figures of gog and magog another landmark of the region was the cheshire Che shird cheese the inn made famous by dr johnson and boswell the old bailey site of londona Lon dons modern criminal courts has associations with the old debtors prison and the execution place where malefactors were hanged 0 or r burned at the stake the last burning took place in 1789 john bunyan william blake and daniel defoe wandered through the city to a cornmon common burial place on its northern fringes other tombs in the district include those of john wesley the methodist founding father and george fox first quaker both traffic and tradition center of the city Is st pauls cathedral the empires parish church charch names of jot the knotted streets of the city are almost unbelievably quaint stew lane friday street budge row KnIgh street red bed lion court and fetter lane |