Lombard street

Lombard Street in the City of London taken in April 1972. The street has been the centre of banking in London since the Lombards (merchants from Northern Italy) settled here in the 12th Century. The various banking firms medieval street signs can also be seen hanging outside their premises'. The famous 'Gresham Grasshopper' sign outside number 68, is to the left of the picture. Thomas Gresham was financial agent and adviser to Kind Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I and the grasshopper from the family coast of arms was used in a sign to identify the premises. The church at the end of the street is that of St Edmund, King and Martyr. The original church building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London but it was rebuilt in the 1670s to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren.