Contrast is a word which flits in and out of my mind when walking the streets of London. Like wine it improves over sustained periods, where sections of a city grow, prosper, wither and much later are revived to follow a new formula. One area is directly north of the City of London. Ancient, but curiously resistant to change in the last century. Infamous during the lead up to WW2 as a place where life was tough and the saltiest London characters lurked, turning any manner of coin to survive.

North and east of Cripplegate, was also an area levelled by bombs during the Second World War and successfully regenerated with the introduction of The Barbican Centre arts complex. The area to the east of the Barbican (so named for the Roman fort that stood here) and bounded by City Road is Bunhill Fields. If you head north from the City of London, passing Finsbury Circus, it feels like a city running out. Fading as you move from its commercial centre, but this is exactly the contrast I'm alluding to. Dip into the history and you'll find an area in flux. Armoury House, a castle-like building and home to the oldest regiment of the British Army, stands immovably beside the entrance to Bunhill Fields.

History of Bunhill/Bonehill Fields

First mentioned in 1104 as part of the Manor of Finsbury, it's believed to be the site of an older Saxon burial ground. The name Bunhill is a mutation of "Bone Hill". The 'fields' element implied that it was not to be used for growing crops and was a full 23 acres in size - much larger than its present dimensions. Grazing, cloth-tenting (newly woven linen was sun-bleached on tenterhooks) and archery practice were popular activities that required just this kind of space. In 1498, 11 acres of the allotment were set aside for members of the Honorable Artillery Company to practise their archery and later, for somewhere to wield their experimental muskets. The land still belongs to the Honorable Artillery Company and a number of significant events occurred here, including the establishment of the first cricket club. It also bore witness to the first person to float above the rooftops of London. Lunardi's balloon flight - which a quarter of London's entire population (200,000 people) came to watch. His balloon edged into the atmosphere, accompanied by both gasps of astonishment and mutterings of "witchcraft".

The Hunterian Museum is on the south side of Lincoln's Inn Fields, in an area which is host to many of London's hidden treasures (Sir John Soane's Museum is across the fields, Lincoln's Inn is a few doors down and Temple Church and the Royal Courts of Justice are a short walk away). It's housed within the headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which can trace its lineage back to the mid-fourteenth century. As many paintings, etchings and cartoons attest to, there was considerable friction between barbers and surgeons in earlier times. They were eventually split into separate guilds, of surgeons and barber-surgeons, overseen by Henry VIII; though it would take several more centuries before surgeons became an independent body in their own right.

The Company of Surgeons moved to their current address in 1797, though in a less impressive building. There is a tradition that surgeons are not referred to as "Dr" but as "Mr", a nod to their historical origins. Physicians were originally required to hold a medical degree, but barber-surgeons were not. Due to prickly relations between the two guilds, surgeons reverted back to "Mr" even after they later became degree-qualified and earned the right to the title of "Dr". The original building suffered from early structural defects and was replaced by another in 1841, designed by Sir Charles Barry. Barry was the chief architect of the Palace of Westminster and many other significant buildings including: the Reform Club in Pall Mall, Cliveden and the remodelling of Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey, to its fans). Unfortunately, as you'll discover from numerous photographs if you visit, the building was destroyed by a Luftwaffe bomb in 1941, though the library and portico still remain.