What did Black plaque № 30275 do at St Paul's Churchyard Gardens?

St Paul's Churchyard GardensBlue Plaque

The Story

# Black Plaque № 30275 Standing in St Paul's Churchyard Gardens where the plaque marks the ground beneath your feet, you're standing on the very bones of Old Change, a thoroughfare that has shaped the City of London's commercial heart for over seven centuries. This narrow medieval street, documented as early as 1293, once bustled with the daily transactions of money changers, merchants, and traders who gave the lane its evocative name—a place where coins were exchanged and fortunes were made in the shadow of the old St Paul's Cathedral. For centuries, Old Change pulsed with the energy of commerce and community, its buildings rising and falling through fires, plagues, and the relentless march of urban progress, until it was finally obliterated during the post-war reconstruction of the City. The plaque you see today is a ghostly marker of disappeared London, reminding us that beneath the modern gardens lies a street that once mattered enough to generations of Londoners that its very name survives in our collective memory—a medieval artery now transformed into green space and remembrance.

Location

St Paul's Churchyard Gardens, Cannon Street

Discover more stories across London

Download on the App Store