Man-made marvels in London – the Monument

London has a wealth of sights to keep its visitors occupied. But the British capital can also boast of some amazing wonders of engineering and construction, not all of which are so well known.

Such as the underground (love the Lego version) and Tower Bridge you mean?

Yes, unlike those. Next time you’re in London, why not add these Grown-up Travel favourites to your itinerary and marvel at the ingenuity needed in their creation, so many years ago…

The Monument

dsc_1428-389x640

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now you’ve probably seen this, perhaps from a sightseeing tour, but did you know you can climb up it?

Er, I’m guessing there’s a lift too, though, right?

Hardly. There’s barely space for the spiral staircase, and the thin handrail is all that you get to hold onto. Health and safety standards were a little different back then. But everyone who endures climbing up the 311 steps (and back down again) gets a certificate for their accomplishment.

dsc_1447-640x417

So how old are we talking here?

Amazingly enough the Monument (a single Doric column of Portland stone)…

I knew it. I can always tell Portland…

…was built in 1677, and at that time the view from the top (at 61 metres) would have been even more spectacular than it is now.

dsc_1431-640x424

It’s not half bad now though, if you ask me.

Absolutely – the development of the surrounding area since the Monument was constructed offers a rather different vista, but nevertheless this is still an unforgettable experience. Watch the panoramic video here to see what I mean. The structure is the tallest freestanding stone column in the world and the viewing platform (which was fenced in to prevent suicides) is topped by a flaming copper urn; the Monument was designed by Christopher Wren and Dr. Robert Hooke to commemorate the Great Fire of London.

There’s some significance in the height and location, if I’m not mistaken?

Indeed – its height is supposed be the same as the distance between the column and the house in Pudding Lane where the fire allegedly started.

Okay, let’s have the details then.

You will find the Monument at Monument Street (duh!), London EC3. Take the tube to Monument station (duh!) or Bank.

Admission prices:

Adults £3, children £1.50 (children under 13 years must be accompanied by an adult)

Open 0930-1700 daily

More information at www.themonument.info

dsc_1418-451x6401

Andy Higgs
Andy Higgs

I know what it's like to go from being a crazy backpacker without a care in the world, via being a vaguely sensible parent to being an adventurer once more. In other words, evolving into a Grown-up Traveller.

Like everyone else, I love to travel, have visited a lot of countries and all that but my big thing is Africa.

I also own and run The Grown-up Travel Company as a travel designer creating personalised African itineraries for experienced adventurers

Articles: 1199

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.