88 Wood Street

St Michael's Wood Street was a church and parish of medieval origin in Cripplegate Ward in the City of London, and is first mentioned in 1225 as St. Michael de Wudestrate. It stood on the west side of Wood Street, initially with a frontage on Huggin Lane but later on Wood Street itself.

The Broderers' Hall or Embroiderers' Hall at 36 Gutter Lane was the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Broderers, the City of London livery company for embroiderers from 1515 until its destruction in 1940.The hall was originally a monastery that dated from the 10th century. The site for the hall was bought with the proceeds of a bequest from a John Throwstone in 1519. The hall was rebuilt after being damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was described in 1815 by John Wilkes in his Encyclopaedia Londinensis as a "small but very handsome building". After being little used by the Company of Broderers, it became a warehouse in the 19th century. In 1889 during excavations for a basement, human bones were found as well as pieces of poetry and glass from Londinium, the Roman settlement.The hall was destroyed in World War II in 1940, during the London blitz. The Broderers sold the site of the hall in 1957, and a plaque now marks the spot where it once stood, now Priest Court at 32 Gutter Lane. The site is now occupied by the Schroders building. The Worshipful Company of Broderers now dine in Mercers' Hall, the hall of the Worshipful Company of Mercers. The Broderers gave the Mercers an altar cloth for their chapel in 1958.

The Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers is one of the oldest livery companies of the City of London, with one of the smallest memberships (about 120).The Wax Chandlers' Company, ranked 20th in the City Livery Company order of precedence, has an association with the Church of St Vedast alias Foster in nearby Foster Lane.

The Worshipful Company of Saddlers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. A Guild of Saddlers, the Company's predecessor, is thought to have been an Anglo-Saxon Craft Guild – it certainly existed at some point in the eleventh century. The Guild became a Company when a Royal Charter of Incorporation was granted by King Edward III in 1363. The City granted the Company the right to regulate the trade of saddle-making; all saddlers in and within two miles of the City were subject to the Company's regulations. However, the powers of the Company, which has existed on the same site at Cheapside (formerly West Chepe) since 1160, were eroded over time. Nowadays the Company retains strong affiliations with the saddlery trade, sponsoring the Society of Master Saddlers and giving prizes for deserving young riders at equestrian events. The Company is an institution which is charitable rather than a charitable institution and it supports many good causes and sponsors scholarships at Alleyn's School, has strong links with the Household Cavalry and the King's Troop R.H.A. as well as with other regiments and Livery Companies traditionally involved with leather or horses. The Company ranks twenty-fifth in the order of precedence of Livery Companies (as settled in 1515 on the Companies' economic or political power at that time). Unusually, the Saddlers Company has two mottoes: Hold Fast, Sit Sure and Our Trust Is In God. The coat of arms seen on the entrance of Saddlers' Hall, showcasing a parlfrey, two horses, a bascinet and the moto, is continued to be used in the Company's communications.In addition to admitting members as Freeman and Liveryman, the Saddlers' Company has the unique privilege of granting Yeoman status. Its notable Yeomen include The Princess Royal, Peter Walwyn (Chairman of the Lambourn Trainers Association), and Richard Meade.

The Wood Street Compter (or Wood Street Counter) was a small prison within the City of London in England. It was primarily a debtors' prison, and also held people accused of such misdemeanours as public drunkenness, although some wealthier prisoners were able to obtain alcohol through bribery. The prison was built and opened in 1555, replacing the earlier Bread Street Compter, from which many prisoners were transferred. Wood Street was closed and replaced by Giltspur Street Compter in 1791.The Compter was originally one of two prisons, the other, the Poultry Compter, located on the Poultry. Both were destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666, although the Poultry Compter was rebuilt, and another compter, Giltspur Street Compter was constructed in 1791. The Wood Street Compter was still active in 1727 when The London Gazette (6 July p4) listed 13 insolvent debtors awaiting court on 25 August. During the closure of the compters, debtors were held in prisons in Southwark, including the Marshalsea and King's Bench Prisons, Borough Compter and Horsemonger Lane Gaol. Some wine cellars on Mitre Court were marketed as a party venue under the name of "The City Compter" but these appear to date from the mid 18th century; no sign of the prison was found during archaeological investigations of the site of a new office block at One Wood Street.

St Peter, Westcheap, also called "St Peter Cheap", "St Peter at the Cross in Cheap", or "Ecclesia S. Petri de Wodestreet", was a parish and parish church of medieval origins in the City of London. The church stood at the south-west corner of Wood Street where it opens onto Cheapside, directly facing the old Cheapside Cross. In its heyday it was a familiar landmark where the City waits used to stand on the roof and play as the great processions went past. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, together with most of its surroundings, and was never rebuilt. In its place three shops were built on the Cheapside frontage in 1687, and the land behind continued to be used as a burial-ground and garden, which was enclosed with railings in 1712. The ancient Cheapside plane tree grows there, and with the group of houses and garden survived the Second Great Fire of London in December 1940. The garden is still maintained for public use. Here William Wordsworth was moved to write of "Poor Susan" who, hearing the song of a thrush in the busy London thoroughfare, was transported by the vision of a stream flowing through the fields and her solitary cottage in the countryside. The small parish of St Peter Westcheap lay on the north of Cheapside, between the lower ends of Gutter Lane in the west and Wood Street in the east, and enclosed the whole of Goldsmith Street. It was mainly in the Ward of Farringdon Within, but also touched on Bread Street Ward and Cripplegate Ward. After the Fire it was united with St Matthew Friday Street (to the south of Cheapside). That church was demolished in 1885 and the parishes were united with St Vedast Foster Lane.

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company, formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London. The company's headquarters are at Goldsmiths' Hall in the City of London.The company, which originates from the twelfth century, received a Royal Charter in 1327 and ranks fifth in the order of precedence of City Livery Companies. Its motto is Justitia Virtutum Regina, Latin for Justice is Queen of Virtues.

Goldsmiths' Hall is a Grade I building at the junction of Foster Lane and Gresham Street in the City of London. It has served as an assay office and the headquarters of London's goldsmith guild, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Company has been based at this location since 1339, the present building being their third hall on the site.

The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office in London (also known as Assay Office London or the London Assay Office) is the oldest assay office in the United Kingdom. The company has provided hallmarking services since The Goldsmiths Company was founded in the 14th century. The company received its royal charter in 1327 and ranks fifth in order of precedence of the 12 great livery companies of the City of London.

St John Zachary (meaning "St John son of St Zachary", i.e. John the Baptist) was a church, first mentioned in official records in 1181, within the City of London, England, on the north side of Gresham Street, Aldersgate. Its vicar from 25 May 1424 to an unknown date was William Byngham, the founder of England's first teacher training college It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt, with its parish being reunited with that of St Anne and St Agnes by Act of Parliament in 1670- an arrangement that lasted until the 20th century. Its site is now a garden first made by the fire watchers in 1941. Partial records survive at IGI.The 2011 film adaptation of Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' directed by David Fincher used the churchyard as a filming location.

Cheap is a small ward in the City of London. It stretches west to east from King Edward Street, the border with Farringdon Within ward, to Old Jewry, which adjoins Walbrook; and north to south from Gresham Street, the border with Aldersgate and Bassishaw wards, to Cheapside, the boundary with Cordwainer and Bread Street wards. The name Cheap derives from the Old English word "chep" for "market".The following roads run north to south across the ward: St. Martin's Le Grand, Foster Lane, Gutter Lane, Wood Street, Milk Street, King Street, and Ironmonger Lane. Within its boundaries are two Anglican churches: St Vedast Foster Lane and St Lawrence Jewry; a third church, St Mildred, Poultry, was demolished in 1872. Several Livery Halls are located in Cheap, including those of the Mercers', Goldsmiths', Wax Chanders' and Saddlers' Companies. A small part of the Guildhall lies within the ward's boundaries: the main entrance and main hall itself; the remainder is in Bassishaw. Also within Cheap are the Lord Mayor's and City of London Court and the southern end of Basinghall Street.

Wood Street is a street in the City of London, the historic centre and primary financial district of London. It originates in the south at a junction with Cheapside; heading north it crosses Gresham Street and London Wall. The northernmost end runs alongside The Postern, part of the Barbican estate, stopping at Andrewes House. Today Wood Street lies within the wards of Bassishaw (north of Gresham Street) and Cheap (south of Gresham Street). The street was originally the main north–south route through the Roman Fort, which was discovered after World War II bombing. The north gate of the fort became Cripplegate, the south gate of the fort was just south of the junction with Love Lane, and the road diverts slightly to the east suggesting that the gate was blocked up or in use, and they had to knock through the Roman fort wall to allow Wood Street to continue. It has been suggested that this was an early road after the so-called Alfredian restoration of the City in around 886 AD. The road led from the main port at Queenhithe (Bread Street) to the main market street at Cheapside and then on north to Cripplegate and out of London to the north. Wood Street is the location of the headquarters of the City of London Police, at its corner with Love Lane. There is a tower on a traffic island in the middle of the street, which is all that remains of the church of St Alban, Wood Street. Other notable buildings include 88 Wood Street, and the hall of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers on nearby Oat Lane.