Lunchtime tourism: Visit the amazing Postman’s Park
In our new regular feature Lunchtime Tourism we will bring you a guide to the best hidden spots you can visit in your lunch break
Nestled between King William Street and St Martin’s le Grand in the Square Mile is the serene oasis of Postman’s Park. Once global in significance, it is now simply a magical retreat from the bustle of the City. The commuter hordes of pre-War London used to swarm onto Cheapside from a Central Line station named ‘Post Office.’ Its post-War name, St Paul’s, now hides its story of once being the centre of an enormous communication system.
Letters were sent from the General Post Office that surrounded Postman’s Park to an Empire so vast that the sun was always in the sky in one of its colonies. That sun has now set but its legacy remains in the form of 2,500 green spaces managed by the City Corporation. This is one of its most fascinating.
There were tens of thousands of posties back then and they took their lunch in the green space enclosed by the GPO’s towering Edwardian architecture – hence the name.
Sheltered from the City wind, a microclimate allows exotic plants like bamboo and banana to flourish. It’s also home to a davidia involucrata, or Chinese Handkerchief tree. The name derives from a 13th century legend: a princess was taken hostage from Beijing by its Mongolian overlords as a warning to its inhabitants. She communicated her love for her people, and her willingness to sacrifice her liberty for their safety, by sending messages via the tree’s May flowers; heavenly doves plucked the white square buds from the branches, and, with her missives attached, flew hope back to the Chinese capital.
This icon of selfless love was planted in memory of the Victorian painter and philanthropist GF Watts (1817-1904). He had noticed that London was full of statues that honoured the rich, the famous, and the royal. So, in 1900 he built a wooden pavilion with magnificently crafted tiles entitled A Memorial To Heroic Self-Sacrifice.
Reading of the bravery of people diving into water, running into fire, often to save perfect strangers, is heart rending. The process, sadly, stopped upon his death, although there is a 2007 memorial to Leigh Pitt, who saved a boy from a canal but was tragically unable to save himself. Hollywood too has been touched by our Park. Jude Law and Julia Roberts, in the 2004 film Closer, have a climactic scene in front of one notable martyr, Alice Ayres.
The Park also has a rich history. It began as the churchyard of three City churches: St Botolph’s Without still flourishes while Christ Church and St Luke’s are lost. So too is the old General Post Office. The last vestiges of that great industry left the City when BT, a scion of the once great Post Office, left its City offices for the West End.
The Park is open from dawn to dusk. And, as a place for reflection, peace and beauty, it always delivers.
• For more information and to book a tour with Guide Concierge go to guideconcierge.com or email [email protected]