London History | Online Estate Agents Turtle Homes

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The Romans

Londinium was established as a town by the Romans following the invasion of England in 43AD. Early London occupied a small area, roughly equivalent to the size of Hyde Park. In AD61 the native Iceni tribe, led by Queen Boudica, rose up against the Romans and destoyed the town. The city was quickly rebuilt as a planned Roman town and expanded over the following decades. During the 2nd century Londinium had grown to a population of around 60,000 inhabitants and replaced Colchester as the capital of Roman Britain.

The Romans built a substantial defensive wall around the city which survived for 1600 years and defined the perimeter of London for centuries to come. The Roman Empire was in rapid decline by the 5th century . Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410AD, London also went into decline and was practically abandoned.

Saxons and the Vikings

The Saxons settled approximately one mile to the west of Londinium and formed the town of Lundenwic. Saxon London consisted of many wooden huts with thatched roofs. Viking attacks dominated became increasingly common from the 830’s and by 871 are believed to have camped within the old Roman walls during the winter of that year. In 878, English forces led by King Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings and forces them to sue for peace. English rule in London was restored and settlement was re-established withing the old Roman walls to improve defenses.

By the 10th century London has become an important commercial centre. Although the capital of England was in Winchester, London was becoming increasingly important. The Viking attacks began again. It is believed that the nursery rhyme “London Bridge is falling down” records an attack on the bridge. After a stalemate the Vikings and Saxons jointly ruled England until 1042, when Edward the Confessor became King. Following Edward’s death, no clear heir was apparent, and his cousin, Duke William of Normandy, claimed the throne. The Royal Council, however, met in London and elected the dead King’s brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson as King. William outraged by this, then sent his army to invade England in 1066

Norman and Medieval London

Under William the Conqueror several royal forts were constructed along the riverfront of London including the Tower of London to defend against attacks by Vikings and prevent rebellions. During the medieval period London grew up in two different parts. The nearby up-river town of Westminster became the Royal capital and centre of government, whereas the City of London became the centre of trade and commerce. The area between them became entirely urbanised by 1600. In 1100 London’s population was little more than 15,000.

By 1300 it had grown to roughly 80,000. Medieval London was made up of narrow twisting streets, and most of the buildings were made from combustible materials such as wood and straw, which made a constant fire threat. Sanitation was poor and London lost at least half of its population during Black Death.

Tudor London

The Tudor period was a dramatic period of English history. Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I helped transform England from a comparatively weak European backwater into a powerful state which would dominate much of the world in the coming centuries. The period saw London rapidly rising in importance amongst Europe’s commercial centres, small industries were booming. Trade expanded across Western Europe to Russia and the Americas. Russia Company and British East India Company were established in London by Royal Charter, the latter ultimately came to rule much of India. Fuelled by a vast expansion in the use of coastal shipping to import coal from Newcastle and immigrants; the population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.

Stuart London

London’s expansion beyond the borders of the City progressed in the 17th Century. The unsanitary and overcrowded City of London has suffered from numerous outbreaks of the plague many times over the centuries. The Great Plague occured in 1665 and 1666 and killed about 60,000 people. The Great Plague was immediately followed by the Great Fire of London. It started as a small fire in Pudding Lane in the City of London, and raged for four days as an enormous fire. The fire destroyed two thirds of the city, including Old St Paul’s Cathedral.

The new city generally followed the streetplan of the old one, and most of it has survived into the 21st century. There was a move from wooden buildings to stone and brick construction to reduce the risk of fire. Christopher Wren was appointed to rebuild the ruined churches and replace St Paul’s Cathedral. The East End, the area immediately to the east of the city walls, became heavily populated in the decades after the Great Fire. London’s docks began to extend downstream. At around this time the City of London was becoming the worlds’s leading financial centre. It economic prominence was based on trading and redistribution rather than industry. The Bank of England was founded established in 1694.

Georgian London

London quickly grew in size and population during the Georgian era. In 1804 the population reached about one million. Many tradesman from different countries came to London to trade goods and merchandise. Also more immigrants moved to London making the population greater. 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.

Victorian London

During the reign of Victoria London expanded enormously as industry came to Britain and railways were built linking much of the country to the capital. A new network of metropolitan railways allowed the for the development of suburbs in neighbouring counties from which middle class and wealthy people could commute to the centre.

The population expanded from 1 million in 1800 to 6.7 million a century later. The urbanised areas continued to grow rapidly, spreading into Islington, Paddington, Belgravia, Holburn, Finsbury, Shoreditch, Southwark and Lambeth. Many of the buildings in London today were built in Victorian times. The most famous being the Houses of Parliament. By the 1840’s gas lamps were being used to light streets all over London.

The Twentieth Century

London entered the 20th century at the height of its influence as the capital of the largest empire in history, but the new century was to bring many challenges. London’s population continued to grow rapidly in the early decades of the century, and public transport was greatly expanded. Improvements to London’s overground and underground railway network, including large scale electrification were carried out. The First World War began in 1914. The first air raid London on 1915 and during the war over 835 people were killed in air attacks.

The period between wars saw London’s geographical extent growing more quickly than ever before or since. Their was a preference for lower density suburban housing, typically semi-detached. This was facilitated not only by the continuing expansion of the railway network but by increasing car ownership. London’s suburbs expanded outside of the County of London, into the neighbouring counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. During World War II, London suffered severe damage, being bombed extensively by the Luftwaffe.

By the war’s end, just under 30,000 Londoners had been killed by the bombing, and over 50,000 seriously injured. Tens of thousands of building were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless. After the war the authorities decided upon high-rise blocks of flats as the answer to housing shortages.

During the 1950s and 1960s the skyline of London changed dramatically. London’s traditional status as a major port declined in the post-war decades as the Old Docklands could no longer accommodate large modern container ships. The docklands area was largely derelict by the 1980s, but was developed into flats and offices from the mid 1980s onwards.

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