Guildhall Art Gallery and London's Roman Amphitheatre

For years, I worked in the city, close to the Guildhall and yet did not even realise it was there.

Then, one day, I went on a photoshoot and the Guildhall was the meeting point.  I couldn't believe I'd never even walked through it.  The square is big and peaceful and there is some beautiful architecture surrounding it.

The buildings around the square also house a free art gallery.  Since I like free, I dragged my friend along to pay it a visit.

The gallery houses a number of interesting artworks, many of them taking up whole walls of space, and painted with interesting scenes.  There is plenty of seating provided, which is good because you have to sit there for a while to take in everything in each piece.

Queen Victoria seated on the throne
in the House of Lords
Sir George Hayter (1792-1871)

There were also some really beautiful commissioned pieces of stained glass.

Both pieces created by Stella Timmins to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of HM the Queen.

After starting at the top of the gallery, you work your way down through portraits and further down to some sculpture pieces.  The exhibitions change every few months and some are ticketed so it's worth checking the website before you visit.

Main piece by Edward John Poynter (1836-1919)
Israel in Egypt

Finally, at the very bottom, you walk into a Roman Amphitheatre, including some of the original walls which were discovered.  It is quite a strange feeling to imagine what must have gone on in there, and I wish I'd managed to get a decent photo on my camera but sadly not.

Very much worth a visit if you are in the area and have some free time.  I'd say it probably took around an 1hr-1.5hr to walk through the whole gallery.