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The London Stone

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City of London · Cannon Street
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An ancient block of limestone of unknown purpose, set behind glass in a Cannon Street wall, wrapped in legend and superstition.

Getting there. On Cannon Street opposite the station, set into the wall of the building.
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City of London · Cannon Street
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The lowdown

Set into a wall on Cannon Street, behind a small grille of glass, sits a lump of pale limestone that nobody can fully explain. The London Stone has been a landmark for the best part of a thousand years, mentioned in medieval records, and theories about it range from a Roman milestone to a Druid altar to the heart-stone from which all distances were once measured.

Legend says that so long as the stone is safe, so is London, and over the centuries it has been guarded, moved and quietly fussed over. Today it is free to peer at as you pass, a genuinely mysterious survivor hiding in plain sight on a busy City street.

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The insider tip

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It is easy to walk straight past, so look for the stone-coloured alcove at street level opposite Cannon Street station. There is a small plaque telling the legends if you want the full strange story.
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