The Monument

Looking down from the top of The Monument

In September 1666 the City of London was devastated by The Great Fire. To commemorate the event and celebrate the rebuilding of the City The Monument was built. 

In this programme we find out more about The Monument with the help of James Clare, the Historic Buildings Architect for the City of London. We also go to the top and talk to visitors about the experience. 

Before you listen to the programme, look at these comprehension questions. You'll hear the answers during the programme. Test your understanding by trying the questions in the 'Extras' section below. You can also download the programme and the transcript. 

According to the information in the programme: 
1: When did construction of the Monument begin? 
2: How tall is The Monument? 
3: How many steps are there to reach the top? 
4: What is the significance of the Monument's height? 

a monument 
A statue or building that is put up to commemorate or remember an event or a person 

a column 
a tall, vertical post, often made of stone and with a cylindrical shape 

a viewing platform 
a place where people can stand to look at something of interest or beauty 

a breather 
a rest, a short time to get your breath back in the middle of some kind of exercise 

 You can download here

Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson.

London is famous for many of its sights and historical buildings. Buckingham

Palace, Big Ben, the Tower of London, to name but a few. Today I'm visiting one, a monument, which perhaps you may not have heard of but is also well worth a visit. A monument is a statue or building that is put up to remember and honour a person or event and this one is rather tall.

My guide today is James Clare who's the Historic Buildings Architect for the

City of London and we are at the Monument to the Great Fire of London.

James I wonder if you could tell us a little bit about this monument.

James: Yes, it's a tall stone column and there are stairs inside that you can climb and view London from the top. Just above that viewing platform there is a golden ball of fire that commemorates the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Callum: You said there that the Great Fire of London was 1666, when was the

Monument built?

James: It was started in 1671 and finished in 1677.

Callum: Who was responsible for designing it and building it?

James: There was a Commission set up jointly between the government, which was the Crown and the City of London and they had equal representation on that committee. The leader for the Crown was Sir Christopher Wren and the leader for the City was Robert Hooke.

Callum: And Christopher Wren had an important part in another one of London's most famous buildings, didn't he?

James: Yes, he designed and supervised St. Paul's Cathedral, the new cathedral in the classical form which replaced the old Gothic cathedral which had been destroyed in the Great Fire. And you can get a good view of St. Paul's from the top of the Monument.

Callum: Well I think that's a prompt, I think we should go up into the Monument, go to the top and have a look at St. Paul's from up there.

(Entering the building)

Callum: We've just come into the monument and were at the bottom and if I look up I can see there's a very tall staircase which we're going to climb. How tall is this?

James: Well it's over 200 ft tall, that's about 61 metres and there are 311 steps to the viewing steps to the viewing platform.

Callum: 311 steps! Well we better get going, 1… 2 … 3…

James, as we're going up here, how many times have you been up this monument?

James: Well over the past twenty years I must have been up here about 50 times and it's exhausting!

Callum: Well, we've just stopped for a little breather as we've got a tiny window here and from it we are lined up directly with the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. And

James you don't think that's an accident, do you?

James: No, the building doesn't seem to be aligned on a North, South, East, West axis.

It seems to be slightly twisted, almost as if it was intended it should be possible to view St. Paul's from it.

Callum: So do you think Christopher Wren was maybe just pointing out some of his other work?

James: I think it was jointly Hooke and Wren were keen experimenters and they were both working on St. Paul's, it was just them being playful probably.

Callum: Ok, well let's continue our journey up to the top……308, 309, 310, 311. And we finally made it up to the top and what a spectacular view.

Well we're out now on the viewing platform. We're looking towards one of

London's more famous landmarks which is Tower Bridge. Really is a fantastic view from up here. James, I wonder if you could tell us a little bit more about the Monument.

James: Yes, it was at the time probably the tallest free-standing building in Western

Europe. Another interesting piece of trivia is the fact that the height of the building is considered to represent the distance from the building to the site where the fire started in Pudding Lane.

Callum: So we're at the top of the Monument and I'm going to find some people to speak to, I've got some people here, hello, what's your name:

(introductions)

Callum: We're up over sixty metres, what do you think of it?

Man: It's a really amazing view, it's really nice, we have a perfect view over the whole city and I really enjoy it.

Woman: It's really cool, I can't say any more. You must be here and see it, all the city

Callum: Did you find it very tiring coming up the 311 steps?

Man: It's the perfect sport and so I don't need to go the gym later.

Callum: So it's good exercise and a good view at the end?

Man: Yes, of course!

Callum: OK, thank you very much.

Man: Thank you.

Callum: Well some good advice there from some visitors to the monument, good exercise and it's a good view. James, thank you very much for joining us today and telling us all about the Monument.

James: It's been a pleasure, thank you.

Callum: Well that's all from this programme 61 metres above the streets of London.

Now, time to go back down those 311 stairs!