THE STORY OF LONDON

In 43AD the Romans founded a trading port called Londinium on the north bank of the river Thames. As the town prospered, they built a wall to protect it and within the wall there were seven gates through which its visitors came and went. Londinium grew into a thriving cosmopolitan centre of trade, but by the end of the 4th century the Roman Empire was in decline and in 410AD the Romans left. Today the Roman town is known as the City of London, or the Square Mile and is one of the major financial trading areas of the World.

We know little of what happened in London for the next few centuries. It was invaded by both the Vikings from Norway and the Anglo-Saxons from Northern Europe and became known as Lundenwic.

 

In the 11th century a royal palace and church were built in a marshy area to the left of London, called Westminster. The church, Westminster Abbey , was consecrated on December 28th 1065. Ten or so days later the King had died and was buried there. Edward had no children and there were 3 people with a claim to the throne. Two of them became King in that year. The first was Harold and then the man who defeated him at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror. They were both crowned at the Abbey in 1066.

Every single Coronation has taken place there ever since, without exception, including the Coronation of our present Queen in 1953 (the 40th coronation to take place in the Abbey.

William the Conqueror realised that it was one thing to win in battle, but quite another to stay alive and keep protected from your enemies! He built fortified palaces, three in London and then nine surrounding London at a distance of twenty miles, a day’s marching distance. The Tower of London is one of those palaces, and another is Windsor Castle where the Queen still lives to this day.

 

The White Tower, which is the building at the heart of the Tower of London, is still situated right on the edge of the City. William the Conqueror realised the benefit of living side by side with the City merchants and to encourage rather than threaten their power and prosperity. William created new way of governing the country . This was the last time that Britain was invaded.

 

In the 13th century London continued to prosper, especially with the growth of the Guilds, the organisations created to represent and protect the interests of the tradesmen and merchants of the City of London. The 14th century saw the Palace of Westminster becoming the regular meeting place of Parliament, as it still is to this day.

 

When Henry Tudor became King in 1485, the Tudor period in English history began which continued until the death of his grand-daughter Elizabeth I in 1603. During this period of our history England changed from being backwater on the edge of the World to being the thriving heart of World trade, with wealthy merchants and explorers laying down the foundations of the largest Empire ever known in the World.

 

It was also a period of great religious instability which created new Protestant church, brutal suppression of the Catholic church and the growth of huge estates belonging to newly promoted landed families.

 

By the end of the Tudor dynasty, William Shakespeare was performing in his own plays south of the river Thames in Bankside.

 

Seventeenth century London saw Civil War, catastrophe and huge economic and cultural growth.

 

Guy Fawkes narrowly missed blowing up Parliament on November 5th 1605 and Parliament continued to be the focus of attention in the Civil War in the 1640s which led to the execution of the King, an 11 year Puritan Commonwealth and the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.

 

London’s population was decimated in the bubonic plague, or the Great Plague of 1665 and five sixths of the medieval City of London was burnt to the ground in the Great Fire of London in 1666. After the Fire London was rebuilt on the same medieval streets. The brilliant mathematician Christopher Wren designed, as well as dozens of other churches, the great St Paul’s Cathedral..

 

The 18th century saw the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, with the birth of Institutions of Learning such as the British Museum and the Royal Society. Power was moving from the monarchy with the arrival of the Elector of Hanover, George I, to Parliament.

 

1801 saw the first census and the Act of Parliament that saw the building of the first man-made enclosed docks. By the end of the century London was the largest port in the world, importing raw materials from all over the world and that were taken all over the country to be manufactured in factories. In the 19th century London was at the hub of new inventions in transportation, with the building of the Canal network, and the first train and underground systems in the world.

 

In 1837 the 18 year old Victoria became Queen starting a reign that was to last for 63 years. This was the London of Charles Dickens, of great wealth and poverty and a huge increase in the capital’s population. In 1851 the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, the first event to which ordinary people could travel in large numbers by means of public transport, the train. The “Great Stink’ of 1858 led to the building by Joseph Bazalgette of the sewers of London. This was also the century that saw increased immigration, especially into the impoverished East End of London which saw the notorious Jack the Ripper murders in 1888.

In the early 20th century the motor car came to the streets of London and the First World War meant that women became a vital part of the workforce and, after the War, the electorate.

 

The 1930s saw the population of London reach its peak of 8,615,050, the introduction of the Green Belt to contain its growth and the continuing growth of public transport enabling people to live in the suburbs. 1936 saw the establishment of the BBC and the abdication of the King, Edward VIII.

 

Parts of London were changed beyond recognition during the Blitz of 1940-41 during the Second World War, forcing London to be rebuilt again. The 1950s was a decade that started with rationing and austerity, saw the accession of our present Queen, the introduction of the Clean Air Act that put an end to the pollution of London smogs. And ended with the arrival of Rock and Roll.

 

London became the home of the Swinging 60s and a huge growth in the music industry and fashion, epitomised by the mini skirt. It also saw the decline of London’s Docks, an area which by the 1990s was to become the world’s largest area of urban regeneration. The moving of Covent Garden fruit and flower market and the regeneration of the 17th century market buildings started a trend for the reusing of many listed buildings that coincided with the cleaning of many of London’s most famous landmarks.

 

In 1987 Big Bang led to the computerisation of financial trading in the City and put London at the forefront of economic globalisation. The City spread east to the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf.

 

The 1990s and the Millenium saw a number of building projects along the River Thames, including the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, the Millenium Bridge and the London Eye. The Millenium also saw the national museums becoming free and the building of the Jubilee line extension. This was the period of ‘Cool Britannia’ when London became widely acknowledged as the most vibrant city in the World.

 

In 2012 London will host, for the third time, to the Olympic Games.