Signs of Old Lombard Street
the city's last hanging shop signs
Ornate hanging signs that still swing above the City's historic banking street, survivors of a time before street numbers.
Free to visit · City of London · Bank · EC3V 9AA
Opening: Viewable any time
Before houses had numbers, businesses hung painted signs above their doors so customers could find them, and Lombard Street, the historic heart of London banking since medieval Italian merchants settled here, kept the tradition alive. A handful of colourful hanging signs still swing over the street, a grasshopper, a cat and fiddle, an anchor, each once marking a bank or counting house.
Most were restored for a royal visit in the early 1900s, and they give the street a touch of old-world charm amid the modern finance. It is free to spot them, a reason to walk this famous old street looking up rather than down at your phone.
Getting there: Along Lombard Street in the City, a couple of minutes from Bank station.
Best time to go: A quiet weekend, looking up as you walk the old banking street.
Insider tip: Look up above the doorways for the grasshopper sign, emblem of the Gresham family who founded the Royal Exchange nearby. There are several signs along the street, so walk its full length to find them all.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide