30 St Mary Axe to flight paths for both London City and London Heathrow airports; the revised plan for a lower tower was accepted. The tower's topmost panoramic dome, known as the "lens", recalls the iconic glass dome that covered part of the ground floor of the Baltic Exchange and much of which is now displayed at the National Maritime Museum. "The Gherkin" nickname was applied to the current building at least as long ago as 1999, referring to that plan's highly unorthodox layout and appearance. On 23 August 2000, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott granted planning permission to construct a building much larger
Church of St Mary Axe Church of St Mary Axe St Mary Axe was a mediaeval church in the City of London. Its full name was "St Mary, St Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins", and it was also sometimes referred to as "St Mary Pellipar". Its common name (also "St Mary" [or "Marie"] "at the Axe") derives from the sign of an axe over the east end of the church. The church's patrons were the Skinners' Company. According to John Stow in "A Survey of London" (1603), the name derived from "the signe of an Axe, over against the East end thereof". However, a document