Cornhill, London
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Cornhill is one of the principal streets of the City of London, the historic nucleus of modern London.
The standard near its junction with Leadenhall Street was the mark from which distances to and from London were measured from Anglo-Saxon times (see also the London Stone). At its other end it joins Threadneedle Street, Poultry, King William Street and Lombard Street.
The hill from which it takes its name is one of the three ancient hills of London, the others are Tower Hill, site of the Tower of London, and Ludgate Hill, crowned by St Paul's Cathedral.
Cornhill Ward was one of the traditional divisions of the City of London. The street contains two of the City churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren: St Michael's, Cornhill, on the site of the Roman forum of Londinium, and St Peter upon Cornhill (1680), reputed to occupy the oldest Christianized site in London. Sir Thomas Gresham's original Royal Exchange fronted onto Cornhill, but its successor on the site, designed by William Tite, faces towards the Bank of England across the junction with Threadneedle Street.
The street is commonly associated with opticians and makers of optical apparatus such as microscopes and telescopes.
In 1652, Pasqua Rosee, a native of Ragusa, opened the first London coffee-house, in St Michael's Alley, Cornhill.
The publishers Smith, Elder and co, based at 65 Cornhill, published the popular literary journal Cornhill Magazine (1860 - 1975) as well as the "Dictionary of National Biography". The magazine was first edited by William Makepeace Thackeray.
A statue of James Henry Greathead was erected in 1994 outside the Royal Exchange.
In 2006, Mohamed Iltaf Sheikh became Baron Sheikh of Cornhill.
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Aldersgate • Aldgate • Bassishaw • Billingsgate • Bishopsgate • Bread Street • Bridge • Broad Street • Candlewick • Castle Baynard • Cheap • Cordwainer • Cornhill • Cripplegate • Dowgate • Farringdon Within • Farringdon Without • Langbourn • Lime Street • Portsoken • Queenhithe • Tower • Vintry • Walbrook
