Eastcheap is a street in the City of London. Its name derives from cheap, market, with the prefix "East" distinguishing it from the other former City of London market of Westcheap (now known as Cheapside). In medieval times Eastcheap was the City's main meat market, with butchers' stalls lining both sides of the street. It is also notable as the former location of Falstaff's Boar's Head Inn, featured in William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.
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At its western end, the modern Eastcheap begins at a junction between Gracechurch Street, Cannon Street, and King William Street near Monument tube station, and continues into Great Tower Street at its eastern end.
The street formerly extended further to the west, but this section was eliminated when King William Street was built to provide a new access to London Bridge in the early 19th century. Falstaff's famed tavern, which stood in the western section of the road, was demolished at this time.
The erased western portion of Eastcheap is recalled in the name of the church of St. Clement Eastcheap which, despite its name, is to the north of King William Street and to the west of present day Eastcheap.
The marathon route of the 2012 Summer Olympics is planned to pass along Eastcheap.[1]
On Eastcheap's north side is St. Margaret Pattens Church at the corner with Rood Lane. All Hallows-by-the-Tower is visibile looking east down Great Tower Street.
On the south side, in the side-road Lovat Lane, is St. Mary-at-Hill. Also on the south side is Botolph Lane, where a Wren church, St. George Botolph Lane, stood until it was demolished in 1904. West of Botolph Lane is Pudding Lane, where the Great Fire of London began.
At 16 Eastcheap is the Monument branch of Citibank; this was the site of St. Andrew Hubbard Church, where economist Thomas Mun was baptised, but the structure was later destroyed by the Great Fire. It was replaced by the King's Weigh House where foreign merchants were required to weigh their goods, although the law was not strictly enforced. In 1695 it became a chapel for dissenters. In 1834 they moved to larger premises in Fish Street Hill, at the western end of Eastcheap, now occupied by an exit of the modern Monument tube station. In 1891, Alfred Waterhouse built another Weigh House church, on Duke Street. The building was deemed so magnificent that nearby Robert Street was renamed Weighhouse Street in its honour. During excavation of the site the foundations had stones that had the character of Roman workmanship, and Samian pottery was discovered.
The building at 33-35 Eastcheap is a notable example of Victorian Gothic architecture.
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