Boundaries: the City of London

Wartime bombing almost completely depopulated the Barbican area. The City of London decided to build flats on the site partly so it could keep its Member of Parliament.

The idea for an arts complex like the Barbican Centre came later. You can see the outline of the site here.

This map shows where the boundary of the City of London runs. The Borough of Islington is to the north.

You can see Beech Street at the top here. The site below it would later become the Barbican complex. Scroll down to explore Beech Street today using Streetview.

Further south is St Giles’s Church, which survived not only the Blitz, but the Fire of London; there has been a church on the site since the Eleventh Century. It is a Grade I Listed building.

The Church’s full name is St Giles’ Without Cripplegate. This name is also about boundaries: the Church was just outside Cripplegate, which was one of the entrances through the old walls of the City.

Here is an artist impression of where St Giles church sits in relation to the Barbican. 

You can see here how the architects were imagining building a bridge from the church over the lake, which wasn't part of the final Barbican design.

You can see here how the architects were imagining building a bridge from the church over the lake, which wasn't part of the final Barbican design. Use Streetview below to see what St Giles looks like today.