SITE DETAILS

Fuller information:

The garden is the former churchyard on the site of the medieval church of St Peter Cheap, also called West Cheap, which burnt down in 1666 in the Great Fire and not rebuilt, the parish uniting with that of St Matthew Friday Street. One of Edward I's Eleanor Crosses was erected here, which became a shrine and was later removed by the Puritans. The area was from early times a market, 'cheap' being the Anglo-Saxon word for market and Wood Street like other street names in the locality recalls what was sold here. The churchyard is now laid out as a garden and is largely hard-surfaced, with seats and a large plane tree, which appears in the poem by William Wordsworth, 'The Reverie of Poor Susan'. In 1850 the plane tree contained 4 rook's nests. The planting of a tree fern is a recent addition to the garden. There are three gravestones surviving including a stone tablet of 1687 set into remnants of the wall, originally C17th but since refaced. The railings of 1712 survive and within these on the boundary with Wood Street is a plaque of St Peter with his keys set into the railings above, which was erected at a cost of £107 11s 0d.

Sources consulted:

Simon Bradley & Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England, London 1: The City of London', 1997 (1999 ed.); Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993); London Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches data; Gerald Cobb 'The Old Churches of London', Batsford, 1942.

Grid ref:	TQ322812
Size in hectares:	0.0155
On EH National Register :	No
EH grade :
Site on EH Heritage at Risk list:
Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:	No
Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:	No
The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.
On Local List:
In Conservation Area:	No
Conservation Area name:
Tree Preservation Order:	Yes
Nature Conservation Area:	No
Green Belt:	No
Metropolitan Open Land:	No
Special Policy Area:	No
Other LA designation:	Strategic View - Consultation Area