Gresham Street, in the City of London, is named after Thomas Gresham and runs from St. Martin's Le Grand near St Paul's Cathedral in the west, past Guildhall, to Lothbury in the east. It was created in 1845 by widening and amalgamating Cateaton Street, Maiden Lane, St Anne's Lane and Lad Lane.[1]
A famous coaching inn, called the Swan with Two Necks, once stood on the former Lad Lane, at the junction of Gresham Street with Milk Street - one of the historic side streets which leads off to the south towards Cheapside.[2] Other ancient side streets leading south to Cheapside are Foster Lane, Gutter Lane, Ironmonger Lane, and Old Jewry. Leading north are Noble Street, Staining Lane, Aldermanbury, Basinghall Street and Coleman Street. Wood Street crosses Gresham Street, and leads both north and south.
There is a memorial garden on the site of St Mary Aldermanbury, a Wren church that, following damage in the Blitz, was dismantled and rebuilt in Fulton, Missouri. Near Guildhall is the church of St Lawrence Jewry, also by Wren. The nearest London Underground stations are St Paul’s, which can be reached via St. Martin's Le Grand, a short way to the south from its western end, and Bank, which can be reached via Princes Street, a short way to the south from its eastern end. It is home to the Lloyds Banking Group Headquarters and also to Schroders, Investec and Rensburg Sheppards.