Sculpture in the City Short Walk

Walk around an annual summer exhibition of contemporary sculpture in the confines of the City of London (financial district).

Start	Liverpool Street Mainline Station, Liverpool Street Exit, Street Level, Kindertransport Memorial
Finish	Leadenhall Market
Length	2.7 km.
Time	1 hour.
Travel	Liverpool Street, Bank/Monument, Aldgate/Aldgate East, Tower Hill and London Bridge tube stations are just a short walk away from Leadenhall Market, as are Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street and London Bridge mainline stations. All are in Zone 1
Walk Notes	The critically acclaimed Sculpture in the City is an annual exhibition showcasing contemporary works by internationally renowned artists in the confines of the City of London, on streets, in squares or on buildings. The exhibition usually opens around mid year, and most sculptures are displayed until the following May or June. 2024/25 sees the thirteenth incarnation of this popular attraction, displaying 19 artworks by 15 artists ranging considerably in scale – from large steel- or neon-works to small bronze plaques, thoughtfully placed between iconic architectural landmarks such as the Gherkin (30 St. Mary Axe), the Walkie-Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street), the Lloyd’s-Building (aka the Inside-Out Building, at 12 Leadenhall Street), the Scalpel (Lime Street) and the Cheesegrater (the Leadenhall Building). Wander the City's public spaces and stumble upon world-class public art, on an urban canvas recognised across the globe. [Note that four of the sculptures are only planned to be put on display sometime in September.] For more information on the exhibition, individual artworks and a map click here. A printed booklet with a map, photos of – and information on – the art works can be picked up from early July at the City Information Centre, located between St Paul's Cathedral and Millennium Bridge. For a recommended route, as shown on the map on the ‘OS map’-tab above and on the gpx file, please follow below directions. The route finishes at Leadenhall Market in the heart of the City, with its multitude of refreshment options. From there, Liverpool Street, Bank/Monument, Aldgate/Aldgate East, Tower Hill and London Bridge tube stations are just a short walk away, as are Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street mainline stations.
Eat	Leadenhall Market features more than 20 pubs, cafés, delis, bars, brasseries and restaurants. For more details click here.

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Help	🚧 🌤 🌧 UK SE Start walking Using GPS data Large print National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234
Version	Nov-24 Thomas G
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Walk Directions

The directions for this walk are also in a PDF (link above) which you can download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone. OpenStreetMap (not OS) mapping is used in the PDF for licence reasons.

[Numbers in brackets] indicate the sites of the artworks, with the numbers matching those on the website linked above and in the printed booklet.
Meet outside Liverpool Street Mainline Station, in Liverpool Street by the Kindertransport Memorial at street level (i.e.: not by the one on the concourse level).
With the station in your back, turn left along Liverpool Street. In 100m turn right at a T-junction with Bishopsgate.
In 50m at the far corner of St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate church turn right along a broad paved path into its former churchyard to an overview panel of the Sculpture in the City route 40m away and artwork [01] to the right on a grassy area.
Turn back to Bishopsgate and turn right along its pavement. In 30m cross Wormwood Street at a set of lights and on the opposite corner of the four-way junction, you find [02].
Continue along Bishopsgate and in 60m find [03] up in a tree in a corner. Continue along the pavement and in 50m turn left to cross the road at a set of lights.
[!] Turn left along the road, and in 90m turn right along a paved passage to the left of St. Ethelburga's Church and to the right of a new office tower.
In 20m you pass a blue plaque on the right ("On this site until the mid-16th century stood the first hall of the Parish Clerks' Company") and in another 50m you reach a courtyard with [04] in its middle.
Turn left along another passageway between office buildings and in 50m cross Camomile Street a little to the right at a set of lights.
Continue a little to the left along Outwich Street and in 40m, where the road turns right and continues as Houndsditch, you turn right along its pavement
In 80m turn right along a pedestrianised alleyway between high office buildings (St. Mary Axe).
In 25m you pass [17] and in another 20m - at the corner of number 70 St. Mary Axe (the 'Can of Ham' building) and by the junction with Bevis Marks (street), you turn left along the road to find [16] further along the pavement.
Cross the road and continue along Bevis Marks and in 60m you pass the London Wall Walk's plaque #7 on the right. In another 60m turn right along the pedestrianised Creechurch Lane.
In 30m you have [15] up on the wall on the right. Turn left between Creechurch House on the right and One Creechurch Place on the left.
In 60m you emerge into a green courtyard, where away to the right you find [5e].
Continue in the same direction towards [14] 20m ahead in front of a wall. Note a blue plaque a little to the right ('Site of the Priory of the Holy Trinity founded 1108') and a corresponding info panel, to turn left along St. James's Passage past the former Sir John Cass's Foundation CoE Primary School, now The Aldgate School (the only school in the City of London).
In 30m you emerge on Duke's Place, on the corner of Aldgate Square, the now traffic-freed former Aldgate roundabout, with a fountain and the Portsoken Pavilion 30m ahead (with the Aldgate Tap inside). Bear right to the right of the pavilion, passing [05d] on a bench en route.
Head diagonally across the square to its far right end by St. Botolph-without-Aldgate Church, where you find [13], a rather familiar sight from any number of outdoor walks.
Turn right back on yourself along Aldgate (street) for 30m towards a set of lights across the street. There you find the London Wall Walk's plaque #5 on the right, and an interesting upright London Wall info panel with an illustration of the historic Aldgate.
Notice the blue plaque for the Algate ('...demolished 1760') on the far side of the road and continue along Aldgate. In 100m cross Creechurch Lane and fork right along Leadenhall Street. In 40m turn right along a narrow pedestrian passage, Cunard Place.
In 40m you reach [12], with Holland House ahead on Bury Street. [This interesting looking house is clad in tiles from Delft and has a ship-shaped prow.]
Turn back the way you came to Leadenhall Street, cross the road and turn right along it. In 20m you pass the entrance to 40 Leadenhall. You'll find [11] 10m further along.
Continue along the road for a few metres and turn left along Billiter Street. In 130m, at the far end of the street at a T-junction with Fenchurch Street, you find [10] 15m to the left.
For an out-and-back to see [05c] (a plaque on a bench), cross the road at a set of lights and continue a little to the left down the London Street alleyway towards Fenchurch Street station’s forecourt.
Turn right along Fenchurch Street. In 40m turn right into the undercroft of One Fen Court (a public passageway called Hogarth Court) and in 25m walk under a giant video screen showing [09] during July-September 2024 and during February, March and May 2025, and a permanent artwork not part of SITC (The Call of Things - Vong Phaophanit & Claire Oboussier, 2018) during the other months.
You pass the entrance to the much-lauded 'The Garden at 120' (free entry, but booking required) on the right and in 25m turn left along Fenchurch Avenue. [Looking back from here, you get good partial views of 120 Fenchurch Street (or One Fen Court). The building has an acclaimed design, with the top floors clad in dichroic glass (glass which causes visible light to be split up into distinct beams of different wavelengths/colours or - in architect-speak - is '...activated by daylight and the weather conditions...", making for "...a building of iridescence..."). This effect is best appreciated from further away and in daylight.]
In 30m pass Fen Court, a pedestrianised lane which contains both a permanent artwork ('The Guilt of Cain - Michael Visocchi and Lemn Sissay', see the info panel on the left) about the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade (an earlier St Mary Woolnoth church was close by, where the reverend John Newton delivered many anti-slavery sermons), and [05b] on one of the benches on the right.
Continue along Fenchurch Avenue towards the Lloyd's Building and in 50m turn right along Lime Street. In 90m cross Leadenhall Street at a set of lights and bear right to continue to the right of a landscaped area (St. Helen's Piazza) along St. Mary Axe (road) to the left of St. Andrew Undershaft Church.
In 100m, by the 'Gherkin' on the right, you turn left along Undershaft (road), with a fine facade on the right made of glazed red bricks. In 70m you find [05a] on a bench on the right.
Turn left along the Hiscox Building and find [06] 40m away on the pavement. Turn left in the direction of the 'Cheesegrater' (i.e.: the Leadenhall Building).
In 30m go through an archway under the ‘Cheesegrater’ and continue until you are standing beneath its escalators, [08] is a work on the underside of the escalators.
Turn right towards the far end of the undercroft to find [07], a neon work up in the steel girders.
Turn left towards Leadenhall Street 40m away, opposite the Lloyd's Building, with the 'Scalpel' building away to the left. Turn right along the road.
The coloured ventilation shafts ('Trumpets') are a permanent artwork. The maypole away on the right is a replica of one that stood next to the original St. Andrew's church away on the left, and is what gave the church and subsequently the street its name, as it overtopped the church: (St. Andrew) Undershaft.
In 50m turn left along a path between buildings towards the central crosspaths in Leadenhall Market 60m away.

Sculpture in the City Short Walk

Leadenhall Market

Ugo Rondinone - Summer Moon

Jesse Pollock - The Granary

Damien Hirst - Temple

Thomas J Price - Numen (Shifting Votive Three), and a Sponsor's building...

Walk Directions