The Monument

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Facts and information

Address:: Monument, Monument Street, The City,
London EC3R 8AH
England
Website:: www.themonument.info
Opening times:: 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM; Last admission 5 PM
Cost:: Adults £3.00; Children £1.50; Note: Opening times and ticket costs can change at short notice. Opening times may not apply on public holidays.
Telephone:: Work +44 (0) 207 626 2717
Buses:: 11 15 17 212325 35 40 43 47 48 133 141 149 343 344 381 521RV1
Trains:: Bank CN DLR NR WC, Cannon Street CR DS, London Bridge JB NR, Mansion House CR DS, Monument CR DS, Tower Hill CR DSNote: The nearest station to Monument is Monument. We can help plan your journey from Waterloo, King’s Cross and many other stations
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^{Monument to the Great Fire}

^{The Monument, near Pudding Lane}

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The Monument is a memorial to the damage caused by the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, and built between 1671 and 1677.

It measures 203-feet from top to bottom – the exact distance from its base to Pudding Lane, where the fire broke out. A flaming copper urn sits upon the top, to symbolise the flames.

Great Fire of London, 1666

There are four inscriptions chiselled around the sides… The one on the north describes how the Great Fire of London started, and the one on the south shows King Charles II taking action after the event. The words on the east side describe how the Monument was built.

There is also a section detailing the destruction in the City, a small sample of which is shown below:

The ruins of the city were 436 acres (1.8 km²), viz. 333 acres (1.3 km²) within the walls, and 63 acres (255,000 m²) in the liberties of the city; that, of the six-and-twenty wards, it utterly destroyed fifteen, and left eight others shattered and half burnt; and that it consumed 400 streets, 13,200 dwelling-houses, 89 churches [besides chapels]; 4 of the city gates, Guildhall, many public structures, hospitals, schools, libraries, and a vast number of stately edifices.

An extra message was chiselled on in 1681 – But Popish frenzy, which wrought such horrors, is not yet quenched. This was a reference to the anti-Catholic feeling of the times, and was scrubbed out in 1831 when Catholics were given civil rights.

Pudding Lane today

Pudding Lane today is nothing much to look at – it is filled with modern office blocks. But if you want to take a look then walk up Fish Street Hill. Turn right into Eastcheap, and then right again into the famous lane.

You can also get a good view from above, by climbing the 311 steps to the Monument’s viewing platform.

Discuss Monument in the forum

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Write your own review…
JerrySmith – “I've done Tower Bridge for the views, so this was the obvious next place to go Unfortunately the views aren't all that good, because it's too short Apparently there was a time when The Monument was the tallest structure in London,…”
Guest – “I'd have to agree with the previous reviewer, I was disappointed to find a thick wire mesh obscuring the view I was hoping to get some nice photos over London but It wasn't possible…”

Drummerboy’s blog – The Monument

Drummerboy – “If you’ve three quid in your pocket and a spare half hour, and don’t mind giving yourself a heart attack then give the Monument a go. The little leaflet says there’s only 311 steps but I think they must have miscounted because it seemed like more to me. The little stone steps wind tightly up the column for a million miles and it just goes on forever and ever. When I got to the top I had a pair of jelly legs. I guess I must be pretty unfit. Apparently suicidal people used to come up here and hurl themselves off the top, but I reckon a few of them must have died on the way up… continued.”