Lime Street is a minor road 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 ...

between

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...

to the south and

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...

to the north. Its name comes from the

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

burners who once sold lime from there for use in construction. It is perhaps best known as the current home of the world's largest insurance market,

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

, since its newest building was opened on the street in 1986. Opposite Lloyd's, the Willis Building is the global headquarters of insurance broker

Willis Willis may refer to: Places United States * Willis, Florida, an unincorporated community * Willis, Kansas, a city * Willis, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Willis, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Willis, Oklahoma, an unincorporat ...

. A 35-storey building,

The Scalpel The Scalpel is a commercial skyscraper in London, United Kingdom. It is located at 52 Lime Street, on its corner with 122 Leadenhall Street, in the City of London financial area. It is opposite the Lloyd's building and adjacent to the Willis B ...

, stands at 52-54 Lime Street as the European headquarters of global insurer W. R. Berkley. The northern portion of the street is

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...

. Vehicular through-access to Leadenhall Street is prevented by a firegate, forcing drivers to bear right onto Fenchurch Avenue, from which a left turn onto Billiter Street returns vehicles to Leadenhall Street. Nearby is the

Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...

-designed and gherkin-shaped skyscraper

30 St Mary Axe 30 St Mary Axe, previously known as the Swiss Re Building, is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. Its nickname, The Gherkin, is due to its resemblance to the vegetable. It was completed in Decem ...

, and the

Leadenhall Building 122 Leadenhall Street, also known as the Leadenhall Building, Leadenhall Tower or informally the Cheesegrater, is a skyscraper in central London. It opened in July 2014 and was designed by RSHP, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. The informal nam ...

Leadenhall Market Leadenhall Market is a covered market in London, England, located on Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east, and additional pedestrian access via ...

is on Lime Street's western side, adjacent to Lloyd's. According to renowned Dickens scholar, M.Morgan

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

placed the residence of

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, ''A Christmas Carol''. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, his redemption by visits from the ghost of Jacob Marley, the G ...

in a now-demolished house on the site of the current Lloyd's building at the corner of Lime and Leadenhall Streets, most likely 28 Lime Street. Current residents have witnessed ghostly apparitions and felt 'cold chills', which they have attributed to paranormal activity. Consequently, they felt the need to vacate the premises, quoting "The presence wished to be left alone'. The southern portion of the street formed part of the marathon course for the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The women's marathon took place on 5 August and the men's on 12 August 2012. The nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

stations are

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

and

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. The gate gave its name to ''Aldgate High Street'', the first stretch of the A11 road, that takes that name as it passes through the ancient, extramural Portsoken ...

and the closest mainline railway stations are Liverpool Street,

Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the north of the City. It is the site of the ancient London S ...

and

References

{{coord, 51.511834, N, 0.083876, W, display=title Streets in the City of London