The former Harbour office beside the Guildhall looks out across the river. Designed in 1882, it is a fine stone building in the Italianate Style. Along with the former Customs House (1876) on one side and the Guildhall (1887) on the other, they present a formal civic façade purposely designed to reflect the power and prosperity of the mercantile city to river traffic.
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Looking a bit closer at one of the arches. You can see the damage caused to the stonework by a bomb in the 1980’s. This mark is a reminder of the troubled times the city experienced between 1969 and 1998.
As you pass the Guildhall look back to the row of buildings along the end of Foyle Street. in the centre of a Victorian terrace is the stone faced Commercial Buildings. This is a good example of the sort of merchant commissioned premises built near to the docks during this period. Keystones over the arches represent figures from each of the five continents and are reflective of the reach of the city’s commerce during the period
Now, go from the Walls, with its canon that are older than the monument, along the side of the Guildhall towards the Peace Bridge
Beside the gate is possibly one of the most elegant features of the city wall. It is a cantilevered stone staircase, with elegant balusters leading down to the road. It is thought that this predates the gate and was constructed in the early nineteenth century.
Back through Castle Gate, Magazine Street curves down, past some good Georgian buildings and the entrance to the craft village, to the bottom of the City Walls. Here stands Magazine Gate, the last of the gates to be opened in the Walls. Constructed in in 1866, it has a very Victorian parabolic arch, a structure very much of its own time, but designed with care to fit into its historic surroundings.
Through Castle Gate is Waterloo Street which follows the curving profile of the Walls at this point. The Street’s nineteenth century buildings are generally well preserved and give a strong consistent character. It is also full of interesting shops and pubs and well worth a detour
Further along the City Walls is Castle Gate. This opening was made in 1803 and aligns with Castle Street within the grid layout of the Plantation city. The inner face of the gate is decorated with sandstone voussoirs and piers with brick infill. However, the outside is constructed in plain whinstone like the rest of the monument.
Beyond Butcher's Gate the City Walls twist and turn following the irregular contours along this side of the city. The archaeologist Brian Lacey has suggested (Medieval and Monastic Derry, Four Courts Press, 2013, p 132) that the reason for the irregular nature of this road may be that it is a survival of an older medieval street 'which was probably the route of a pilgrimage dating back to at least the early sixteenth century' between the tower house near the river's edge and the Tempull Mor, near where the Long Tower Church is located today, via the Augustinian monastery. Whether true or not, the twists and turns impart great character to this part of the city.
Carry on along the City Walls and go over Butchers Gate. This map shows some of the buildings we have looked at so far and shows how the ideal plan of the Plantation city, within its protective Walls, has largely survived into the modern era.
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