St Peter Westcheap Churchyard

St Peter Westcheap was built in the 12th century and was rebuilt in the 16th century, when it was known as 'St Peter's at the Crosse in Cheape', because of the memorial cross erected there by King Edward I, in 1291. The cross was to honour Queen Eleanor and marked one of the twelve places where her body rested on the journey from Nottinghamshire to Westminster Abbey.

It became a holy shrine, adorned with religious carvings, and was consequently removed by the Puritans. Musicians often performed on the leads of the church during processions; and it was here that Queen Elizabeth I, on her procession through the City of London, was presented with a copy of the English translation of the Bible. 

Three Lord Mayors are buried in the churchyard.

The church was not rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666.

The shop on the corner, backing on to the churchyard, L & R Wooderson, was built just 21 years after the Great Fire.

Today, the churchyard is a pocket park, offering a place of quiet respite, just a stone's throw from St Paul's Cathedral. It is also home to a London Plane tree, said to be "the oldest tree" in the City of London.

Cheapside Plane: Possibly the Oldest Tree in the City of London

Walking through the Square Mile there are plenty of green spaces, filled with plants, shrubs and trees, which bring nature to this hub of London life. One tree in particular, though, stands out. 

On Wood Street, Cheapside, stands a 70 foot London Plane (Platanus × acerifolia), on a small plot of land surrounded on three sides by buildings. So how old is it and how has it survived fire, redevelopment and war?

Research shows that this tree has stood for over 275 years, although it could be much older. Regardless, this still makes it, quite possibly, the oldest tree in the City of London.

The tree stands on a small plot that was once part of St Peter Cheap, one of the churches that did not survive the Great Fire of 1666.