Roman and later activity was recorded north of Newgate, with the Roman
defensive wall and a medieval bastion preserved in the new development.
Stream channels gave way to early Roman settlement, with the city's
defensive wall built in the late 2nd century AD. The defensive ditch was
redug in the Late Saxon period and the Roman wall repaired, with the
area becoming the site of the Greyfriars Friary in 1225. The City's
growth saw the ditch built over by the mid 16th century and the friary
was suppressed at the Dissolution. By the mid 18th century most of the
city wall had been demolished and the Giltspur Street Compter prison was
constructed in 1787-91. Later buildings included St Bartholomew's
Hospital and the General Post Office.