St. Mary Axe

City, 116, Leadenhall Street (EC3) This street derived its particular designation of St. Mary Axe from a holy relic possessed by the church at the corner, St. Andrew's Undershaft: "An axe, oon of the uuj that the xjmj Virgyns were be hedyd wt."

The old church, "Santa Maria de Hacqs," was given in 1562 to the Spanish Protestant refugees for divine service (Wheatley's London Past and Present, vol. II, p. 493) In the Church of St. Andrew's Undershaft is the statue of John Stow, the famous historian of London.

The fine building known as the Baltic in this street is the successor to the Baltic Coffee-house, which was situated in Threadneedle Street, City, and used formerly to be the rendezvous of merchants and brokers connected with the shipping trade.