Beech Street is a street in the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, England. It was formerly known as Beech Lane and was named after Nicholas de la Beche, a lieutenant of the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
in the reign of
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
in the 14th century.
It runs west–east, from its junction with
Aldersgate Street and
Long Lane in the west, to the junction with
Whitecross Street
Whitecross Street is a short street in London Borough of Islington, Islington, in Inner London. It features an eponymous street market and a large housing estate.
Since 2010, there has been an annual Whitecross Street Party one weekend in the ...
,
Silk Street and
Chiswell Street
Chiswell Street is in the London Borough of Islington. It includes several buildings listed by Historic England.
Location
The street, in St Luke's, Islington, runs east-west and forms part of the B100 road. At the west end it becomes Beech St ...
in the east. The eastern junction marks the boundary of the city with
Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
: Whitecross and Chiswell (north and east) are in Islington, while Beech and Silk (west and south) are in the city.
The majority of the street is in a pseudo-tunnel under the
Barbican estate
The Barbican Estate, or Barbican, is a residential complex of around 2,000 flats, Apartment#Maisonette, maisonettes and houses in central London, England, within the City of London. It is in an area once devastated by World War II bombings an ...
.
On 18 March 2020 the street became the UK's first "zero emission street", only allowing access to pedestrians, cyclists, and
zero emission vehicles.
This remained in effect until September 2021, and in December that year members of the City of London corporation voted for a public consultation into making the scheme permanent.
Access to several of the Barbican car parks is from Beech Street.
References
{{Coord, 51, 31, 14.21, N, 0, 5, 40.35, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title
Streets in the City of London