Old Curiosity Shop
13 - 14 Portsmouth Street, London WC2

The Old Curiosity Shop, standing just off Lincoln Inn's Fields, is claimed to be the inspiration behind Charles Dickens' famous novel of the same name. 

Although this may, or may not be, true, the building, which dates from around 1567, is almost certainly the oldest shop in central London.  Now protected by a preservation order, the building, with its overhanging upper storey, gives visitors an idea of how a London street would have appeared before the Great Fire of 1666.