LONDON WALL WALK , EASTERN SECTION OF WALL

It can be seen from this map section, ( taken from the London Wall Walk Guide - which should be available from the Museum of London ) , the wall's direction north and west from the Tower. Although in Shakespeare's time London was becoming a rampant city with a burgeoning population there was still enough undeveloped land outside the city wall for it to be countryside and if exercise was desired a walk in the country was never far away. The first major Roman gate built on the eastern side of the wall can be seen which is Aldgate. To the north can be seen Bishopsgate. The wall travels north past Crosswall, between Jewry St and Vine St, left at Aldgate toward's Duke's Place, onto Bevis Marks then towards Camomile St and Wormwood Street and finally onto London Wall.

The derivation of the name Bevis Marks can be seen via : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevis_Marks

Camomile Street was so named, it seems, from the herb that grew adjacent to the wall which must have been a welcome nasal relief from the otherwise punjent aromas of human waste and detritus that occupied the local environment. Legend has it that a traveller could smell London from many miles away. Although the Great Fire in 1666 decimated the city the main thorougfares remain today as they were then. In part this is because of the huge amount of legalities involved in redefining a new shape and look to the city. Then as now traders and businessmen were less interested in aesthetics. They were pragmatic moneymen and merchants for whom the speed of enterprise held sway over a classically remodelled world. Christopher Wren's attempt at a revisioning of the old world was blocked by financial expedience.