St Dunstan in the East – Weekend Travel Flash
New blog, new post! It’s time for another Weekend Travel Flash! This time, I’d like to take you on a journey to historic London in a concrete world. Confusing isn’t it? That might be the influence that the City of London has on us. The London borough is a perfect mixture of old and new, of history and future. Tall skyscrapers are put in their place by historic icons such as the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Roman walls that can still be found here and there.
Whenever I walk around in the City, I feel like walking around in a history book. There’s no other place in London that has that influence on me to such an extent as this area. New skyscrapers are build from the ground up at all times of the year, but the City has always shown respect to the historical buildings that define this borough and tell London’s story.
A great example of this is a church that isn’t a church anymore. A structure that suffered like no other. St Dunstan in the East was a church that was built back in 1100. Like many of you know, a large area of London was heavily damaged during the Great Fire of London in 1666, and once again during the Blitz in 1941. During this latter battle, only the steeple of St Dunstan in the East survived the impact of the bombing, as well as the north and south walls. No wonder its nickname is Blitz Church.
Instead of taking down that what was left of St Dunstan, it was decided to turn the ruins of the church into a public garden, which is still open to public today.
The garden of St Dunstan in the East is a peaceful one. The walls of the former church are now overgrown with branches and leaves, and it’s a bit of a magical place. When I visited the site this January, I felt the history’s presence dripping from the walls.
When I looked up, I saw the tall skyscrapers that are trying to win grounds, but won’t ever accomplish that goal. London’s history is too much embedded in the City of London, and St Dunstan in the East is only one page of the history book that cannot be removed.
What is your favorite place to visit in The City?
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I feel exactly the same when I walk around London! Love the history but love the skyscrapers too 🙂
Yes exactly, it’s the blend of the two that makes it perfect 🙂
What a beautiful little place I had never heard of! It’s so nice that they took something in ruins and made it so appealing again.
I used to go running by St. Dunstan all the time, and had NO idea it was so beautiful! Thanks for sharing it 🙂
My favorite place in the City is St. Paul’s! 😀
Such a pity that you didn’t stop to make a visit. It’s lovely 🙂 St Paul’s definitely is a London highlight for a reason!
I agree, I’m all for saving these old buildings one way or another 🙂
Maaike, This, and your other London posts, have me in a tizzy! We’re heading to London in about three weeks! Yay!
That is lovely! Wishing you the best of times in London. I’m already looking forward to your posts about it on your blog!
Hi Maaike – fab post! So gutted we didn’t manage to catch the poppies outside the Tower of London – what an incredible sight. Love your photos & as I said in my tweet – your blog is looking great. You can count on us to be regular visitors :).
Gabby
Hi Gabby, thank you so much for dropping by and for your patience with all the technical issues on the website. Thank you so much as well for your kind words, you just made my day! I’m very much looking up to you and James and the way you’re managing your blog. It’s a beautiful website which I love to visit regularly 🙂
You made my day! Thank you so much for dropping by Gabby, and for your patience during the technical problems I had with the website! It really means a lot that you say that! I really look up to your blog, it’s beautiful!