We have looked at ruins of the past. “London Wall,” sometimes called the “Roman Wall,” is almost 2000 years old. All we see now are fragments. St. Dunstan’s in the East, a church first built around 1100, is similarly a relic. The Temple Church, also first built in the 12th century, has weathered much better.

What was the purpose of these structures when they were originally constructed? What did they symbolize in the past? What do they symbolize now? Why does London preserve the relics rather than destroy them and build more modern buildings?