London Wall, London

London Wall are the remains of the ancient defensive walls built by the Romans around their settlement of Londinium. Part of the wall can still be seen today. The London Wall defined the borders of the City of London right up to the later Middle Ages.

The London Wall was constructed of Kentish ragstone. These were brought on barges from Maidstone. Archaeologists have calculated that the Romans need to make 1,300 barge trips to ferry the 85,000 tons of stone from Kent to build the wall.

London Wall
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Wall,_City_of_London_-_geograph.org.uk_-_63852.jpg
Author: John Winfield


The London Wall originally enclosed an area which was 330 acres (130 hectares) in size. They were 18 feet (5 meters) tall, and as much as 3 meters (9 feet) thick. On the outer part of the wall, a ditch was also dug. It was 6 feet (2 meters) deep, and between 9 to 15 feet (3 - 5 meters) wide. There were at least twenty bastions along the length of the wall, spaced about one every 70 yards (64 meters).

The wall is believed to have been erected around the late 2nd century, some 80 years after the construction of the fort of Londinium. Construction of the wall continued until the end of the 4th century, and was among the last major construction projects undertaken by the Romans before they left Britain in AD 410.

London Wall in Barbican Estate, London
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_Wall_in_Barbican.jpg
Author: Man vyi


While the City of London was enclosed within the London Wall during Roman times, it expanded slightly beyond its boundaries during the medieval era.

Today only remnants of the London Wall are still standing. You can find them in the grounds of the Museum of London, in the Barbican Estate and around Tower Hill. There are also some visible sections at St Alphage, and in other parts of the City of London, often forming parts of modern buildings. There is even a road called London Wall which loosely followed a section of the northern wall.

How to reach the London Wall

If you take the train to the Tower Hill Tube Station on the Circle Line and District Line, you can see parts of the wall just a few meters from the station.