The Monument

Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke built the Monument between 1671 and 1677 to mark the Great Fire, which began on 2 September 1666 in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane and burned for four days, destroying around thirteen thousand houses and eighty-seven churches. The column stands 61.57 metres, which is exactly its distance from the site of the bakery, and it was designed to double as a scientific instrument: a laboratory in the base and a hinged lid at the top were intended for telescope and pendulum experiments, though vibration from traffic made it useless. A spiral of 311 steps climbs to a caged viewing platform; the cage was added in 1842 after six suicides. Everyone who reaches the top is given a certificate.

What you actually see

• The 311 steps - a stone spiral to a caged platform at sixty-one metres.
• The measured height - the column exactly as tall as its distance from Pudding Lane.
• The base relief - a carved panel showing Charles II directing the rebuilding.
• The certificate - handed out at ground level to everyone who climbs it.

When to go

Year-round; it is one of the cheapest viewpoints in London and rarely queues for long. Clear days give the best view, though surrounding towers now block much of what Wren intended to be seen.

Honest expectations

The stair is a narrow spiral with no lift, 311 steps, and there is no way down except back through people coming up. Modern towers have closed in much of the view. The platform is caged, which complicates photography.

Nearby

Leadenhall Market and Sky Garden are minutes away; London Bridge crosses the river alongside.