Somehow tucked away in plain sight in the middle of central London, Postman’s Park is a pocket patch of greenery that promises a moment of serenity in the middle of the city.
And it absolutely delivers.
It sits among the backstreets just north of St. Paul’s Cathedral, on the site of three former church burial grounds (grim fact: it’s raised up from street level because they eventually just had to pile bodies on top and cover them with earth). In 1880 it was paved over and replanted with flowers, and the gravestones reused to make an unusual, if somewhat macabre, border around the park.
It’s been a popular lunch spot with local workers ever since – particularly the posties who used to work at the General Post Office round the corner. But Postman’s Park is probably best known for another reason: the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice.
This monument was the passion project of the late Victorian artist George Frederic Watts, who wanted to “collect a complete record of the stories of heroism in every-day life”. He funded the entire project himself (which costed about £100k in today’s money), and after his pitch to build the monument in Hyde Park was rejected, it opened here in a humble corner of Postman’s Park in 1900.

Morgaine/Flickr
Under a modest wooden awning, the memorial – also known as the Wall of Heroes – records in brief, but poignant inscriptions, the tales of Londoners who sacrificed their lives to save others. It’s stirring stuff. Among the 54 tiles lining the wall, you’ll see the stories of a doctor who knowingly contracted diphtheria in trying to save a suffocating child; 10 year old Harry Sisley, who drowned while trying to save his brother; and Alice Ayres, a servant who wrestled a mattress out of the window of a burning house to throw three children to safety.
Sure, it might not be the cheeriest lunchtime reading – but it’s a rare monument to the efforts of ordinary folk in a city filled with grand statues and memorials.
NOTE: Postman’s Park is open daily, 8am till dusk (or 7pm, whichever’s earlier). You can find out more HERE.
Postman’s Park | King Edward Street, London, EC1A 7BT
Like exploring the city’s hidden bits? See more of London’s secret gardens