St Stephen Walbrook and the Tree

This is the church that I found on 21 February but didn't include in the blip.

It is a Sir Christopher Wren church, but most of them are that are rebuildt after the Great Fire.

According to Wikipedia the interior is special because of the dome:

"The 63 feet high dome is based on Wren's original design for St Paul's, and this is centred over a square of twelve columns. The circular base of the dome is not carried, in the conventional way, by pendentives formed above the arches of the square, but on a circle formed by eight arches that spring from eight of the twelve columns, cutting across each corner in the manner of the Byzantine squinch.This all contributes to create what many consider to be one of Wren's finest church interiors. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner lists it as one of the ten most important buildings in England."

Like most old buildings, it is surrounded by modern ones.

You might notice that I have photographed it through a London Plane tree (plus some tape)

The trees were first planted here in about 1550, but most will be a little less than 300 years old.

The planting of suburban London's Plane Trees would have taken place during the times of urban development, so most larger trees in London are likely to be from the 19th Century.

Their bark is unusual, and the longevity of the trees is down to the nature of their composition.

The bark flakes off, and in doing so, sheds pollutants that may interfere with air reaching the trunk.

This is one the reasons why the tree has thrived in London during the periods of serious air pollution and one of the main reasons why they are doing their bit for the environment. - Good to know that something is.

There are so many of them in London that I seem to have photographed quite a few of them before:

7 December 2011
15 December 2011
30 January 2012

PS I did photograph a pub dating from 1663 ie that survived the fire but that needs retaking before I introduce you to it