Kevin Nosferatu: December 2023

Travelling down to Kent, I found I had an unexpected day out and overnight stay in central London due to a train strike. So, what to do? Well, I did what I always do and went for a walk. After a foray around the banks of the Thames I cut up past Saint Paul’s and towards the Barbican. There, amongst an array of buildings from Brutalist concrete to glass and steel I spotted a ruin, sitting in a little oasis of green, just by the entrance to an underground carpark.

A photo showing a ruined red brick building (Bastion 14) with a road running down past it. A huge office block (Bastion House) towers over the building. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

The ruins of Bastion 14 sitting by the 1970s Bastion House

A view down a road to a grey concrete underground carpark. On the left hand side is a concrete bridge and in the distance an office block of glass and steel. On the right hand side in a fenced off area with the ruins of the red brick walls of Bastion 14 sitting in it. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

Bastion 14 with concrete and glass buildings towering above it

Making my way down to it, I found that it was the remains of a fort that formed part of the old City Wall of London. This Medieval wall was built on the foundations of the old Roman wall around the city, and the fort, or Bastion 14 to give it its official title, was one of the 21 bastions built along it.

Bastion 14

The original city wall was built by the Romans around 200AD as a defensive wall around Londinium. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, it fell into decay. In medieval times the need for a defensive wall was once again called for, and large sections of the wall were repaired and rebuilt. Then, in the 17^th century London expanded rapidly and the wall was seen as no longer necessary, so much of it was demolished.

Tourist Info Map at site, showing the course of the City Wall

When the city wall fell out of use, many of the bastions were incorporated into other buildings, with Bastion 14 at one time being used as part of a warehouse.

During the Second World War the area around Bastion 14 was flattened by bombing and the buildings encasing it were destroyed. The Bastion was then identified as a historic structure and was saved from demolition. However, the 1970s office block towering above it, Bastion House, doesn’t appear to be so lucky, as it is now earmarked for demolition. Shame, as it’s so ugly that I quite like it.

A photo looking up with the ruined wall of Bastion 14 at the bottom which then seems to be joined by the towering building of Bastion House above. This is a dark grey building with row after row of dark windows in it. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

The walls of Bastion 14 with Bastion House towering above

Bastion House

I had the whole garden area to myself as I wandered the old wall and Bastion 14. As the sun warmed my old bones, insects buzzed around me, and two crows kept an eye on me as they skipped and hopped around the grass lawn looking for insects.

A photo showing an old wall leading down to the ruin of a fort like tower. They sit in a grassy area with modern office blocks sitting in the distance. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

The old City Wall and Bastion 14

A view of some dried seed heads of plants in the garden that sits in front of Bastion 14. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

Dried husks and seed heads

A view of Bastion 14 with the old wall leading up to it on the left side of the photo. On the right is a garden of dried seed heads and husks. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

Bastion 14 with glass and concrete buildings all around

Bastion 14

While walking along a path through a small garden area of dried husks and seed heads, I saw a gap in the old brickwork by the wall beside the Bastion. There I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me.