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Under The Pavements Of EC2
Locksmith EC2: What The City Buried And Forgot
A Roman amphitheatre lay hidden under Guildhall until 1988. A box of jewels sat beneath a Cheapside cellar floor until 1912. Call 020 8534 4949 for a locksmith who takes safekeeping in this postcode seriously.
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Covering EC2 from Cheapside and Guildhall across to Shoreditch. Open in Google Maps
Why EC2 Is Different
The City hid things under its floors, then forgot them
EC2 covers the heart of the Square Mile: Guildhall, the Bank end, Moorgate, Liverpool Street and the Barbican, with a slice of Shoreditch on its northern edge. It also sits on some of London's oldest ground. Twice, builders have broken through a cellar or foundation and found something nobody knew was there.
The first find came in 1988. Archaeologists were digging ahead of a new art gallery beside Guildhall when a stretch of Roman stone wall appeared. It belonged to London's amphitheatre, built around AD 70 in timber and rebuilt in stone in the early second century. Crowds came to watch gladiators, animal fights and executions. Nobody expected it here. Amphitheatres usually stood outside a city's walls, and this one lay inside London's. A ring of dark stones in Guildhall Yard now follows its outer wall.
A Box Of Jewels Under A Cellar Floor
The second find was smaller but stranger. In June 1912, workmen were demolishing old buildings at 30–32 Cheapside, near St Paul's, when a pickaxe struck a buried wooden box. Inside were hundreds of pieces of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery, including emeralds, diamonds and sapphires. Someone had hidden them around 1640. They lay undisturbed for almost 300 years. Cheapside was then the heart of London's jewellery trade.
Even then, the jewels nearly vanished. An antiques dealer known as Stony Jack paid workmen cash or beer for interesting finds. Thanks to that habit, the hoard reached a museum rather than being lost.
Hiding valuables underground was once the whole security system. Today the City relies on doors, and doors need proper locks. We look after those locks across every EC2 postcode.
Jump straight in: lockout help if you're outside, a repair booking if it can wait, or the night line if it's the small hours.
What EC2 Residents & Businesses Call About
The calls that come in from across EC2
Multi-Tenant Office Floors
Most EC2 buildings have a landlord, a managing agent and several tenants. We work out whose door it is, then deliver dependable commercial security.
Book aheadBarbican & London Wall Flats
Estate flats behind raised walkways often come with the estate's own rules for front doors. A careful lock repair usually stays within them.
Book aheadShoreditch-Edge Conversions
Warehouses and workshops along the EC2A fringe have become studios and flats. A proper lock replacement suits the change of use.
Book aheadSunday-Morning Lockouts
The Square Mile empties at weekends, so a lockout can mean a very quiet street. Prompt, discreet entry reaches you either way.
Same-day priorityBroken Or Snapped Keys
Heavy commercial cylinders and stiff old barrels both grip a snapped key. See broken keys for how we lift one out whole.
Call nowBasement & Plant-Room Doors
Doors that are rarely opened seize up. We check for damp and corrosion first, then decide whether to free, repair or swap the lock.
Book aheadTwo things sit outside what we do: copying keys, and programming a building's fobs or intercoms. Your building's managing agent, or a specialist installer, deals with those.
Locked Out In EC2
Weekday crowds, weekend silence
On a weekday, an EC2 street is packed. Getting a door open in front of hundreds of commuters calls for calm and speed.
At weekends and after dark, the same streets can feel deserted. A locked-out resident or a night-shift worker then needs somebody reliable to turn up.
Either way, opening a door without damaging it comes first. A drill only appears when nothing gentler has worked.
Key snapped, or gone missing on the way home? Our broken keys and lost keys pages explain what each involves.
EC2's Six Postcodes
Find your part of EC2
Shoreditch and the Finsbury Square edge: converted warehouses, studios and start-up offices.
Liverpool Street and Bishopsgate: station-side offices with big glazed lobbies.
Old Broad Street and Throgmorton Street: banking and insurance addresses, many tenants per landlord.
Bank and Poultry: the Bank of England's neighbourhood, where security expectations run high.
Guildhall, Gresham Street and the Cheapside edge: civic buildings and livery halls.
The Barbican and London Wall: estate flats and arts-centre doors.
What We Do
Services across every EC2 postcode
Below Street Level
Cellars, plant rooms and other forgotten doors
The City's oldest surprises lie underground, and so do some of its most awkward doors. Basement plant rooms, old cellars and back-of-house stores can go months without being opened.
Locks in those rooms seize, corrode or get lost in a change of lease. We check the frame and its surroundings for damp before deciding whether to free, repair or replace the lock.
If the history interests you, the London Museum has pages on the Roman amphitheatre under Guildhall and on the Cheapside Hoard. Both make good reading before a walk through the City.
Not sure which of your doors count as awkward? Tell us what's on the other side, and we'll plan the visit around it.
The Process
How a locksmith EC2 callout works
- Tell us the doorGive us the address, the entrance and the problem in a sentence.
- We confirm who approvesOffice and communal doors need the right authority, so we check first.
- Quoted on siteYou hear the cost once the engineer has seen the door.
- Tested before we goWe leave the lock working and the door secure.
Access & Traffic
Getting to you across the Square Mile
The City's streets are among the most restricted in London. Junctions such as Bank limit which vehicles may pass in working hours, and loading rules are tight. So we plan each arrival around the rules for that street.
Rail and Underground links are dense here. Liverpool Street, Moorgate, Bank, St Paul's and Barbican are all within reach. When a van would crawl, an engineer on foot or by Tube may reach you first.
At weekends the picture reverses. The roads clear, but some buildings have no reception desk, so we agree in advance how we'll get in.
Why People Call Us
Why City firms and residents ring us
- We ask who holds the keys. Landlord, managing agent or tenant: the answer decides who can approve the work.
- Basement doors don't faze us. Damp, dust and disuse are ordinary conditions for these locks.
- Weekday or Sunday, same care. The Square Mile's quiet hours get the same standard as its busiest.
- Flats and offices, one team. Residential and commercial work to one standard.
- Clear about our limits. We skip spare keys and fob programming.
- Reachable at any hour. The line is open when you need it.
Common Questions
The Amphitheatre Under Guildhall
Is there really a Roman amphitheatre under the City?
Yes. It was found in 1988 beneath Guildhall Yard, during work on a new art gallery. Its remains are preserved below the gallery today.
Why did its location surprise archaeologists?
Roman amphitheatres usually stood outside city walls. This one lay inside London's.
Can I see where it stood?
A curved line of dark stones in the paving of Guildhall Yard follows the arena's outer wall.
The Cheapside Hoard
What was the Cheapside Hoard?
Hundreds of pieces of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery, found in a buried wooden box in a cellar on Cheapside in 1912.
Why did nobody dig it up sooner?
The records don't say. It was hidden around 1640 and lay undisturbed for almost 300 years.
How did the jewels reach a museum?
A dealer known as Stony Jack paid workmen for interesting finds, and the hoard reached the museum through him.
Booking In EC2
How do I know which EC2 postcode I'm in?
The final letter tells you: A, M, N, R, V or Y. If you're unsure, give us the street and we'll confirm it.
Do you work on basement and plant-room doors?
Yes. They're often the stiffest doors in a building because they're seldom used. We check for damp and corrosion before deciding what to do.
Are Barbican flats different from other EC2 jobs?
Often, yes. Large estates tend to have their own rules about front doors, so we check what applies before changing one.
What if the managing agent holds the master key?
We can still deal with your own door. For shared or landlord-controlled doors, we need the managing agent's approval.
Do you cover the Shoreditch end of EC2 too?
Yes. The warehouse conversions and studios of EC2A are part of our patch, alongside the City core.
Is anyone available on a Sunday, when the City is empty?
Yes. Sundays are among the quietest times in the Square Mile, and our lines stay open as normal.
The City once buried its valuables. Today you can lock yours.
Office suite, Barbican flat or basement store — ring or message us and we'll send the right engineer.