Two thousand years on the Thames: London, the back story

About Two thousand years on the Thames: London, the back story

By the ULTIMATE London Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

London was founded by the Romans almost two thousand years ago at a crossing of the Thames. It has burned, been bombed and rebuilt, and grown into one of the world’s great cities, yet its old streets still follow ancient lines.

Londinium

The Romans founded Londinium around AD 47, near today’s London Bridge. They built walls whose line still marks the edge of the City of London, and fragments survive near the Tower and the Barbican.

Two cities

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror built the Tower to command the old city, while upriver at Westminster the abbey and royal palace became the seat of the monarchy and later of Parliament. London grew as two centres, the merchants’ City and royal Westminster, joined by the Strand.

London is not one city but two, the City of London and Westminster, which grew together along the river.

The Great Fire

In September 1666 the Great Fire destroyed most of the medieval City. Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt St Paul’s Cathedral and dozens of parish churches, and The Monument stands near the spot where the fire began.

The Victorian city

In the 19th century London became the largest city in the world, the capital of an empire. The Victorians gave it the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, the first Underground railway in 1863 and many of its great museums.

The Blitz and after

Bombing in the Second World War devastated large parts of the City and the East End. Rebuilding brought the Barbican and, from the 1980s, the towers of the City and Canary Wharf. The Shard, completed in 2012, now rises over Southwark.

Our advice: walk from Westminster Abbey to the Tower along the river, through the two old cities, and you will see the whole story unfold.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Two thousand years on the Thames: London, the back story before you go.