Skulferatu #110 - Bastion 14, London City Wall, Barbican, London

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

The old City Wall and Bastion 14

 

Dried husks and seed heads

 

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.

 

Skulferatu #110

 

Old wall beside Bastion 14

 

Skulferatu #110 in a gap in the wall beside Bastion 14

 

Skulferatu #110 in a gap in the wall beside Bastion 14

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #110

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 51.517828

Longitude -0.095148

 

what3words: bars.wider.teach

 

I used the following sources for information on Bastion 14 –

 

Tourist Information boards at the site

 

Museum of London Archaeology

A standing building survey of Bastion 14, City of London | MOLA