London Stone
The London Stone is one of the city's most mysterious and maligned ancient treasures. Not only is its provenance largely a mystery and entwined in myth and uncertainty, but its current predicament sees it visible only through a small grill on one of London's busiest commercial streets. What is known, however, is that it is of Roman origin - and was possibly used as a milestone to mark out distances between all the cities of newly-conquered Britannia. Yet rumours abound that it was brought to the city by Brutus the Trojan, the legendary founder of London. 'So long as the Stone of Brutus is safe, so London will flourish," says a centuries-old proverb. Thus the London Stone's removal, like the Tower of London's ravens, is said to forebode the city's destruction. Its supposed power was at its zenith during the middle ages, when it was believed that anyone who touched the stone would ritually take control of London. The fable was cemented in folklore when Jack Cade, the leader of a peasants' revolt against King Henry VI's monarchy in 1450, struck the Stone with his sword, claiming himself to be the Lord of London.
The Stone enjoyed a renaissance during the Victorian age, when it was set into an ornate stone casing on the side of St. Swithin's Church in Cannon Street. Yet the church was badly damaged during the Second World War, and the stone had to be moved to a new building on the same site. There it has stayed, through many changes of ownership of the building - even having been swamped by advertising hordings until recently while its home became a sports shop - and today rests inside a metal grating at knee height, sometimes backlit at night.
Heritage Key's first video in a series about the ancient world in London features the London Stone. Watch the video, and find out why was selected to introduce the series, here.
