Days of London Past

London was abandoned in AD and under the Saxons isolated farmsteads were built in the surrounding countryside. Some of these — such as Enfield, Hampton and Chelsea — grew to form the heart of villages which still act as centres in modern London. From the 9th century, London grew again within its original Roman boundary, and during the Norman period it was connected by the Strand to a new political centre at Westminster.

By this time most of Roman London had been lost, with its many timber buildings decayed and its stone buildings reused. Today, virtually nothing from the Roman period exists above ground, though beneath street level many important archaeological remains survive. Hampton Court and Eltham Palace survive. The Great Fire of destroyed four-fifths of the city and more than 13, medieval, Tudor and earlyth century buildings were lost.

As a result only a tiny proportion of pre London buildings and structures exist today; all those that survive largely intact are protected and their location is shown in the animation. A significant proportion of Georgian structures survive today, even though commercial development in the first half of the 20th century destroyed many. The Victorian period found London expanding once more, as the population grew from around 2 million to 6. The opening of the London Underground in effectively cut distances and enabled residents to leave the crowded centre for more spacious suburban developments.

Despite a culling of Victorian buildings between the s and 70s, the sheer scale of development has led a much higher survival rate. The population peaked in at around 8. These images of world cities from 'space' are not what they seem. London Mapping technologies Maps History Geography. Order by newest oldest recommendations. Edward's death at Westminster in without a clear heir led to a succession dispute and the Norman conquest of England.

Earl Harold Godwinson was elected king by the witangemot and crowned in Westminster Abbey but was defeated and killed by William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. The Normans advanced to the south bank of the Thames opposite London, where they defeated an English attack and burned Southwark but were unable to storm the bridge. They moved upstream and crossed the river at Wallingford before advancing on London from the north-west. The resolve of the English leadership to resist collapsed and the chief citizens of London went out together with the leading members of the Church and aristocracy to submit to William at Berkhamstead , although according to some accounts there was a subsequent violent clash when the Normans reached the city.

Having occupied London, William was crowned king in Westminster Abbey. The new Norman regime established new fortresses within the city to dominate the native population. By far the most important of these was the Tower of London at the eastern end of the city, where the initial timber fortification was rapidly replaced by the construction of the first stone castle in England.

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The smaller forts of Baynard's Castle and Montfichet's Castle were also established along the waterfront. King William also granted a charter in confirming the city's existing rights, privileges and laws. London was a centre of England's nascent Jewish population , the first of whom arrived in about In , William Rufus , the son of William the Conqueror began the construction of 'Westminster Hall', which became the focus of the Palace of Westminster. In , construction began of the most famous incarnation of London Bridge completed in which was built on the site of several earlier timber bridges.

This bridge would last for years, and remained the only bridge across the River Thames until Violence against Jews took place in , after it was rumoured that the new King had ordered their massacre after they had presented themselves at his coronation. However, following John's death in Louis's supporters reverted to their Plantagenet allegiance, rallying round John's son Henry III , and Louis was forced to withdraw from England.

In , after an accusation of ritual murder , the Jewish community was subjected to a steep punitive levy. Then in , Henry III confiscated the principal synagogue of the London Jewish community because he claimed their chanting was audible in a neighboring church. London's Jewish community was forced to leave England by the expulsion by Edward I in They left for France, Holland and further afield; their property was seized, and many suffered robbery and murder as they departed.

Over the following centuries, London would shake off the heavy French cultural and linguistic influence which had been there since the times of the Norman conquest. The city would figure heavily in the development of Early Modern English. The peasants looted the city and set fire to numerous buildings. Tyler was stabbed to death by the Lord Mayor William Walworth in a confrontation at Smithfield and the revolt collapsed. Trade increased steadily during the Middle Ages, and London grew rapidly as a result.

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In , London's population was somewhat more than 15, By , it had grown to roughly 80, London lost at least half of its population during the Black Death in the midth century, but its economic and political importance stimulated a rapid recovery despite further epidemics. Trade in London was organised into various guilds , which effectively controlled the city, and elected the Lord Mayor of the City of London. Medieval London was made up of narrow and twisting streets, and most of the buildings were made from combustible materials such as timber and straw, which made fire a constant threat, while sanitation in cities was of low-quality.

During the Reformation , London was the principal early centre of Protestantism in England. Its close commercial connections with the Protestant heartlands in northern continental Europe, large foreign mercantile communities, disproportionately large number of literate inhabitants and role as the centre of the English print trade all contributed to the spread of the new ideas of religious reform. Before the Reformation, more than half of the area of London was the property of monasteries , nunneries and other religious houses. Henry VIII 's " Dissolution of the Monasteries " had a profound effect on the city as nearly all of this property changed hands.

The process started in the mid s, and by most of the larger monastic houses had been abolished. Holy Trinity Aldgate went to Lord Audley , and the Marquess of Winchester built himself a house in part of its precincts. The period saw London rapidly rising in importance among Europe's commercial centres. This was the period of mercantilism and monopoly trading companies such as the Muscovy Company and the British East India Company were established in London by Royal Charter. The latter, which ultimately came to rule India, was one of the key institutions in London, and in Britain as a whole, for two and a half centuries.

Immigrants arrived in London not just from all over England and Wales, but from abroad as well, for example Huguenots from France; the population rose from an estimated 50, in to about , in The late 16th and early 17th century saw the great flourishing of drama in London whose preeminent figure was William Shakespeare. During the mostly calm later years of Elizabeth's reign, some of her courtiers and some of the wealthier citizens of London built themselves country residences in Middlesex , Essex and Surrey.

This was an early stirring of the villa movement, the taste for residences which were neither of the city nor on an agricultural estate, but at the time of Elizabeth's death in , London was still very compact. Xenophobia was rampant in London, and increased after the s. Many immigrants became disillusioned by routine threats of violence and molestation, attempts at expulsion of foreigners, and the great difficulty in acquiring English citizenship.

Dutch cities proved more hospitable, and many left London permanently. London's expansion beyond the boundaries of the City was decisively established in the 17th century. In the opening years of that century the immediate environs of the City, with the principal exception of the aristocratic residences in the direction of Westminster, were still considered not conducive to health. Immediately to the north was Moorfields , which had recently been drained and laid out in walks, but it was frequented by beggars and travellers, who crossed it in order to get into London. Adjoining Moorfields were Finsbury Fields, a favourite practising ground for the archers, Mile End , then a common on the Great Eastern Road and famous as a rendezvous for the troops.

The preparations for King James I becoming king were interrupted by a severe plague epidemic, which may have killed over thirty thousand people. The Lord Mayor's Show , which had been discontinued for some years, was revived by order of the king in The new hospital, chapel, and schoolhouse were begun in Charterhouse School was to be one of the principal public schools in London until it moved to Surrey in Victorian times, and the site is still used as a medical school.

The general meeting-place of Londoners in the day-time was the nave of Old St. Merchants conducted business in the aisles, and used the font as a counter upon which to make their payments; lawyers received clients at their particular pillars; and the unemployed looked for work. St Paul's Churchyard was the centre of the book trade and Fleet Street was a centre of public entertainment. Under James I the theatre, which established itself so firmly in the latter years of Elizabeth, grew further in popularity.

The performances at the public theatres were complemented by elaborate masques at the royal court and at the inns of court. Charles I acceded to the throne in During his reign, aristocrats began to inhabit the West End in large numbers. In addition to those who had specific business at court, increasing numbers of country landowners and their families lived in London for part of the year simply for the social life.

This was the beginning of the "London season". Lincoln's Inn Fields was built about The neighbouring streets were built shortly afterwards, and the names of Henrietta, Charles, James, King and York Streets were given after members of the royal family. In January five members of parliament whom the King wished to arrest were granted refuge in the City. In August of the same year the King raised his banner at Nottingham , and during the English Civil War London took the side of the parliament.

Initially the king had the upper hand in military terms and in November he won the Battle of Brentford a few miles to the west of London. The City organised a new makeshift army and Charles hesitated and retreated. Subsequently, an extensive system of fortifications was built to protect London from a renewed attack by the Royalists. This comprised a strong earthen rampart, enhanced with bastions and redoubts. It was well beyond the City walls and encompassed the whole urban area, including Westminster and Southwark. London was not seriously threatened by the royalists again, and the financial resources of the City made an important contribution to the parliamentarians' victory in the war.

The unsanitary and overcrowded City of London has suffered from the numerous outbreaks of the plague many times over the centuries, but in Britain it is the last major outbreak which is remembered as the " Great Plague " It occurred in and and killed around 60, people, which was one fifth of the population. Samuel Pepys chronicled the epidemic in his diary. On 4 September he wrote "I have stayed in the city till above died in one week, and of them about of the plague, and little noise heard day or night but tolling of bells. The Great Plague was immediately followed by another catastrophe, albeit one which helped to put an end to the plague.

On the Sunday, 2 September the Great Fire of London broke out at one o'clock in the morning at a bakery in Pudding Lane in the southern part of the City. Fanned by an eastern wind the fire spread, and efforts to arrest it by pulling down houses to make firebreaks were disorganised to begin with. On Tuesday night the wind fell somewhat, and on Wednesday the fire slackened.

On Thursday it was extinguished, but on the evening of that day the flames again burst forth at the Temple. Some houses were at once blown up by gunpowder, and thus the fire was finally mastered. The Monument was built to commemorate the fire: However, the number of lives lost was surprisingly small; it is believed to have been 16 at most. Within a few days of the fire, three plans were presented to the king for the rebuilding of the city, by Christopher Wren , John Evelyn and Robert Hooke. Wren proposed to build main thoroughfares north and south, and east and west, to insulate all the churches in conspicuous positions, to form the most public places into large piazzas, to unite the halls of the 12 chief livery companies into one regular square annexed to the Guildhall , and to make a fine quay on the bank of the river from Blackfriars to the Tower of London.

Wren wished to build the new streets straight and in three standard widths of thirty, sixty and ninety feet. Evelyn's plan differed from Wren's chiefly in proposing a street from the church of St Dunstan's in the East to the St Paul's, and in having no quay or terrace along the river. These plans were not implemented, and the rebuilt city generally followed the streetplan of the old one, and most of it has survived into the 21st century.

Nonetheless, the new City was different from the old one. Many aristocratic residents never returned, preferring to take new houses in the West End, where fashionable new districts such as St. James's were built close to the main royal residence, which was Whitehall Palace until it was destroyed by fire in the s, and thereafter St.

The rural lane of Piccadilly sprouted courtiers mansions such as Burlington House. Thus the separation between the middle class mercantile City of London, and the aristocratic world of the court in Westminster became complete. In the City itself there was a move from wooden buildings to stone and brick construction to reduce the risk of fire. Parliament's Rebuilding of London Act stated "building with brick [is] not only more comely and durable, but also more safe against future perils of fire". From then on only doorcases, window-frames and shop fronts were allowed to be made of wood.

Christopher Wren's plan for a new model London came to nothing, but he was appointed to rebuild the ruined parish churches and to replace St Paul's Cathedral. His domed baroque cathedral was the primary symbol of London for at least a century and a half. As city surveyor, Robert Hooke oversaw the reconstruction of the City's houses. The East End , that is the area immediately to the east of the city walls, also became heavily populated in the decades after the Great Fire. London's docks began to extend downstream, attracting many working people who worked on the docks themselves and in the processing and distributive trades.

These people lived in Whitechapel , Wapping , Stepney and Limehouse , generally in slum conditions.

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In the winter of —, a frost fair was held on the Thames. The frost, which began about seven weeks before Christmas and continued for six weeks after, was the greatest on record. They established a silk industry at Spitalfields. Lloyd's of London also began to operate in the late 17th century. Many of the goods were luxuries from the Americas and Asia such as silk, sugar, tea and tobacco. The last figure emphasises London's role as an entrepot: Instead it was a great trading and redistribution centre.

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Goods were brought to London by England's increasingly dominant merchant navy, not only to satisfy domestic demand, but also for re-export throughout Europe and beyond. William III , a Dutchman, cared little for London, the smoke of which gave him asthma, and after the first fire at Whitehall Palace he purchased Nottingham House and transformed it into Kensington Palace. Kensington was then an insignificant village, but the arrival of the court soon caused it to grow in importance.

The palace was rarely favoured by future monarchs, but its construction was another step in the expansion of the bounds of London. During the same reign Greenwich Hospital , then well outside the boundary of London, but now comfortably inside it, was begun; it was the naval complement to the Chelsea Hospital for former soldiers, which had been founded in During the reign of Queen Anne an act was passed authorising the building of 50 new churches to serve the greatly increased population living outside the boundaries of the City of London.

The 18th century was a period of rapid growth for London, reflecting an increasing national population, the early stirrings of the Industrial Revolution , and London's role at the centre of the evolving British Empire. A year later, in Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral was completed on his birthday. However, the first service had been held on 2 December ; more than 10 years earlier. This Cathedral replaced the original St. Paul's which had been completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London. This building is considered one of the finest in Britain and a fine example of Baroque architecture.

Many tradesmen from different countries came to London to trade goods and merchandise. Also, more immigrants moved to London making the population greater. More people also moved to London for work and for business making London an altogether bigger and busier city. Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War increased the country's international standing and opened large new markets to British trade, further boosting London's prosperity.

During the Georgian period London spread beyond its traditional limits at an accelerating pace. This is shown in a series of detailed maps, particularly John Rocque 's —45 map see below and his Map of London. New districts such as Mayfair were built for the rich in the West End, new bridges over the Thames encouraged an acceleration of development in South London and in the East End, the Port of London expanded downstream from the City. During this period was also the uprising of the American colonies.

In , he was the Congress's representative of Holland, and got the country's support for the Revolution. On his return voyage back to America, the Royal Navy captured him and charged him with treason after finding evidence of a reason of war between Great Britain and the Netherlands.

It was enlarged over the next 75 years by architects such as John Nash. A phenomenon of the era was the coffeehouse , which became a popular place to debate ideas. Growing literacy and the development of the printing press meant that news became widely available. Fleet Street became the centre of the embryonic national press during the century. The Bow Street Runners were established in as a professional police force. Penalties for crime were harsh, with the death penalty being applied for fairly minor crimes. Public hangings were common in London, and were popular public events.

Severe damage was caused to Catholic churches and homes, and rioters were killed. In the year , freed slaves from London, America, and many of Britain's colonies founded Freetown in modern-day Sierra Leone. Up until , London Bridge was the only crossing over the Thames , but in that year Westminster Bridge was opened and, for the first time in history, London Bridge, in a sense, had a rival.

In , Frankfurt banker Nathan Mayer Rothschild arrived in London and set up a banking house in the city, with a large sum of money given to him by his father, Amschel Mayer Rothschild. The Rothschilds also had banks in Paris and Vienna.

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The bank financed numerous large-scale projects, especially regarding railways around the world and the Suez Canal. The 18th century saw the breakaway of the American colonies and many other unfortunate events in London, but also great change and Enlightenment. This all led into the beginning of modern times, the 19th century. During the 19th century, London was transformed into the world's largest city and capital of the British Empire.

During this period, London became a global political, financial, and trading capital. In this position, it was largely unrivalled until the latter part of the century, when Paris and New York began to threaten its dominance. While the city grew wealthy as Britain's holdings expanded, 19th-century London was also a city of poverty, where millions lived in overcrowded and unsanitary slums.

In , the then Home Secretary and future prime minister Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police as a police force covering the entire urban area. The force gained the nickname of "bobbies" or "peelers" named after Robert Peel. A new network of metropolitan railways allowed for the development of suburbs in neighbouring counties from which middle-class and wealthy people could commute to the centre. While this spurred the massive outward growth of the city, the growth of greater London also exacerbated the class divide, as the wealthier classes emigrated to the suburbs, leaving the poor to inhabit the inner city areas.

The first railway to be built in London was a line from London Bridge to Greenwich , which opened in This was soon followed by the opening of great rail termini which eventually linked London to every corner of Great Britain, including Euston station , Paddington station , Fenchurch Street station , Waterloo station , King's Cross station , and St Pancras station From , the first lines of the London Underground were constructed.

The urbanised area continued to grow rapidly, spreading into Islington , Paddington , Belgravia , Holborn , Finsbury , Shoreditch , Southwark and Lambeth. Towards the middle of the century, London's antiquated local government system, consisting of ancient parishes and vestries , struggled to cope with the rapid growth in population. One of its first tasks was addressing London's sanitation problems. At the time, raw sewage was pumped straight into the River Thames. This culminated in The Great Stink of The engineer put in charge of building the new system was Joseph Bazalgette. When the London sewerage system was completed, the death toll in London dropped dramatically, and epidemics of cholera and other diseases were curtailed.

Bazalgette's system is still in use today. One of the most famous events of 19th-century London was the Great Exhibition of As the capital of a massive empire, London became a magnet for immigrants from the colonies and poorer parts of Europe. A large Irish population settled in the city during the Victorian period, with many of the newcomers refugees from the Great Famine — This was the first elected London-wide administrative body, replacing the earlier Metropolitan Board of Works, which had been made up of appointees.

The County of London covered broadly what was then the full extent of the London conurbation, although the conurbation later outgrew the boundaries of the county. In , the county was sub-divided into 28 metropolitan boroughs , which formed a more local tier of administration than the county council. Many famous buildings and landmarks of London were constructed during the 19th century including:.