In the
Middle Ages the vast majority of European cities bad walls around them. This was
partly for defensive {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}but another
factor was the need to keep out anyone regarded as undesirable, like people with
contagious {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}. The Old City of London
gates were all {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}by the end of the 18th
century. The last of London's gates was removed a century ago, but by a
{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}of luck, it was never
destroyed. This gate is, in {{U}} {{U}} 5
{{/U}} {{/U}}fact, not called a gate at all; its name is Temple Bar, and it
marked the {{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}between the Old City of
London and Westminster. In 1878 the Council of London took the Bar down,
numbered the stones and put the gate in {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}}
{{/U}}because its design was {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}it was
expensive to {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}and it was blocking the
traffic. The Temple Bar Trust was {{U}} {{U}} 10
{{/U}} {{/U}}in the 1970's with the intention of returning the gate home. The
aim of the trust is the {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}of the
nation's architectural heritage. Transporting the gate will
mean physically pulling it {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}, stone
by stone, removing and rebuilding it near St Paul's Cathedral. Most of the
facade of the gate will probably be {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}}
{{/U}}, though there is a good {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}that
the basic structure will be sound. The hardest {{U}} {{U}} 15
{{/U}} {{/U}}of all, however, will be to recreate the statues of the monarchs
that once stood on top of the gate.