London Stone, London

London Stone is the battered limestone block enclosed behind the glass panel at 111 Cannon Street. It is only the surviving upper part of a much larger stone, once buried deeply beside the medieval street; John Stow wrote that iron bars held it in place. By 1742, growing traffic had made it an obstruction, so it was moved to the doorway of St Swithin’s Church.

Bombing destroyed the church in 1940, but the stone remained in its niche, later becoming part of an office block before returning here in October 2018. As later legend has it, London would prosper while the stone remained secure, yet historians have found no evidence for that promise or for any magical role. In 1450, the rebel Jack Cade struck the stone with his sword and claimed authority over the city.