Understanding History: Britain in the Wider World, Roman Times-Present

London Through Time

Thematic Study: London Through Time

• London is the capital of the United Kingdom and a major global city.

• It has a population of nearly 9 million people speaking over 300 languages.

• London is a leading business and cultural center.

• The River Thames is where London began nearly 2000 years ago.

Enquiry

• This thematic study explores how London has changed over the last 2000 years.

• The challenge is to write a 'Time Traveller's Guide to London,' covering five historical periods.

Task

1. Modern Buildings:

• The Shard: The tallest building in the UK, opened in 2012.

• City Hall: A curved glass building on the Thames' south bank, opened in 2002.

• 'The Gherkin': A skyscraper in 'the City,' opened in 2004.

1. Historical Buildings:

• Tower Bridge: Opened in 1894.

• The Tower of London: First built by the Normans, completed in the eleventh century.

• London Bridge Station: Opened in 1836, London's oldest railway station still in use.

• St Paul's Cathedral: Completed in 1711 on a site used as a church since AD604.

Roman London, AD43-AD400

• In AD43, the Romans invaded Britain and established a settlement called Londinium on the River Thames.

• The location was chosen because the river was narrow enough to build a bridge.

• Initially, they built in wood but rebuilt London in stone by AD120.

• For nearly 400 years, London was the largest and most important city in Roman Britain.

• Most of Roman London lies beneath the modern city; knowledge comes from archaeological digs.

Task

• Write the first page of your 'Time Traveller's Guide to London.'

• Describe five places in Roman London and what they reveal about life at the time:

  1. The quays: Ships from the Mediterranean brought goods like glass, marble, wine, and fish sauce. They exported slaves, hunting dogs, and oysters.

  2. The public baths: A popular meeting place with hot steam rooms, cold plunges, and an exercise yard.

  3. The fort: Large enough for 1000 soldiers, including barracks, latrines, a grain store, and the commander's house.

  4. The amphitheater: Used for entertainment such as gladiatorial combats and animal fights; it could seat 7000 people.

  5. The basilica: A large administration building facing the forum, which was used as a market and meeting place. The forum was lined with small shops.

  6. The south bank settlement: Built on two islands and included inns, workshops and government buildings.

  7. The bridge: Connected north and south London. Many people and carts crossed here every day.

  8. Along the streets: Single-storey houses, shops and workshops of ordinary Londoners.

  9. Across the city: Many religious temples where Romans left offerings to their gods.

Medieval London, AD400-1450

London in the Early Middle Ages, AD400-1100

• London changed significantly between AD400 and 1100 due to migrations and invasions.

• In the fourth century, the Roman Empire began to collapse; by AD410, the Roman army had left Britain, and Londinium was abandoned.

• In the seventh century, Saxon settlers built a new trading town called Lundenwic to the west of the Roman city.

• In the ninth century, Vikings attacked London.

• The Saxons abandoned Lundenwic and established a new town within the Roman walls, with new streets, houses, workshops, and churches.

• In the 1050s, Edward the Confessor, a Saxon king, built a royal palace and abbey at Westminster, which became the center of government.

London in the Late Middle Ages, 1100-1450

• In the late Middle Ages (1100-1450), London became Britain's largest and wealthiest city.

• By 1300, London's population exceeded 80,000.

• Rich merchants constructed large stone houses, while poorer people lived in wooden-framed houses.

• Houses were sometimes three stories high, indicating vertical growth.

• The poorer parts of the city were crowded, increasing the risk of fire.

• Street cleaners removed waste outside the city walls, but medieval London remained dirty, smelly, and noisy.

• Animals roamed the streets, and waste from trades like butchering and fishmongering caused pollution.

• In 1066, the Normans invaded England.

• To control London, they built the Tower of London.

• In 1087, they began constructing a new cathedral at St Paul's.

Task

• Study picture D:

  • The Tower of London: Strengthened by medieval kings in the thirteenth century and turned into an impressive palace.

  • London Bridge: Rebuilt in stone after 1176, featuring houses, shops, and a chapel on top.

  • St Paul's Cathedral: By the fourteenth century, it was the largest church in England.

  • London's walls and gates: Built on top of Roman defenses.

  • Parish churches and monasteries: By 1400, London had over 100 churches and more than 20 monasteries.

• Write the second chapter of your travel guide:

  • Explain how London changed in the early Middle Ages.

  • Explain what made London an impressive city in the late Middle Ages.

  • Describe what a time traveler might see and smell walking through London's streets in 1400.

Early Modern London, 1450-1750

• An oil painting of London from 1630 shows important changes since the Middle Ages.

• The spires and towers of London's parish churches dominated the skyline.

• Nearly all London's monasteries had been closed by Henry VIII in the 1530s; many became houses for wealthy people.

• New forms of entertainment, such as theaters, emerged on the south bank of the Thames:

  • The Swan (1595)

  • The Hope (1614)

  • The Rose (1587)

  • The Globe (1599)

• Large trading ships brought luxury products like tobacco, sugar, and pepper to London.

• By 1630, new companies traded with the Americas, West Africa, India, and the East Indies, making London a center of world trade.

• In 1666, a fire broke out at a bakery in Pudding Lane near London Bridge, raging for four days and destroying about a third of the city.

• Most houses and churches within the medieval walls were burned, including St Paul's.

• Within ten years, much of London was rebuilt in brick.

• A new St Paul's Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren, opened in 1714.

• New fashionable squares and streets were built to the west of the old city.

• London became a city of contrasts, with rich and poor living in different districts.

• The River Thames had only one bridge, which contained many shops and houses.

• The heads of executed traitors were displayed above the entrance to the bridge.

• London's population grew significantly:

  • 1580: 150,000 Londoners

  • 1630: More than 300,000

• Many poor people moved to London and lived in overcrowded suburbs beyond the medieval walls.

Task

• Write the third chapter of the time traveler's guide explaining how and why London changed in the Early Modern period.

London 1750-1900

• By 1810, London had more than a million people.

• Significant changes had occurred since the early modern period.

Task

• Study picture F:

  • The dome of the new St Paul's Cathedral

  • Other new churches

  • London Bridge (buildings demolished by 1810)

  • The Palace of Westminster and Westminster Bridge (built in 1750)

  • Blackfriars Bridge (built in 1769)

  • New houses and factories south of the river

• In 1836, London's first railway opened south of the river.

• Over the next ten years, there was a boom in railway building.

• New railway lines connected London to different parts of Britain, strengthening its role as the capital.

• By the mid-nineteenth century, central London had more railway stations than any other city in the world.

• Over the next 50 years, the suburbs around London expanded as more people commuted by train.

• By 1900, London's population reached 4 million.

• To make room for railway tracks and stations, whole neighborhoods were demolished, making poorer people homeless.

• Areas around railway stations often became overcrowded and impoverished.

Task

• The title for the fourth chapter of the time traveler's guide to London is 'London, 1750-1900.'

  • Begin by explaining what a time traveler might see in London in 1810.

  • Then explain what they might see in 1900.

London since 1900

• In the early twentieth century, London expanded into the surrounding villages and countryside.

• By 1939, the city's population had reached 8.6 million.

• Many people lived in vast suburbs with houses having electric lighting and inside bathrooms.

• Londoners used cars, buses, and the underground for transport, and lorries replaced horses on the streets.

• Between 1939 and 1945, London's growth stopped due to the Second World War.

• Heavy bombing and rocket attacks destroyed or damaged over a million buildings, leaving over 100,000 Londoners homeless.

• The population fell to 6.7 million.

• In 1946, the rebuilding of London had just begun.

Task

• Study photograph G:

  • Identify which famous buildings survived the bombings of the Second World War.

• Over the last 70 years, London's skyline has been transformed.

• After the Second World War, much of the terraced housing in the city center was demolished.

• Thousands of people moved to high-rise towers beyond the central area.

• By 1981, there were 400 high-rise housing blocks across all parts of London.

• Shopping centers, multi-story car parks, office blocks, fly-overs, and ring-roads dominated the city.

• In the 1980s, London became a center of international finance.

• Skyscrapers now stand on top of the oldest part of the city, but many historic buildings remain.

• St Paul's Cathedral still stands, and the Roman Temple of Mithras can still be visited seven meters below one of the tallest towers.

Task

• Write the final part of the time traveler's guide to London with the heading 'London since 1900.'

  • Explain what a time traveler might see in the 1940s.

  • Then explain what a time traveler might see today.

Understanding the Changing World, PERIOD STUDY 1450-1750

The Early Modern Period

• The three centuries between 1450 and 1750 were a time of great change in Britain, Europe, and the wider world.

• Some historians call these centuries the 'Early Modern period' because this was when many things that shaped our modern world first began.

Task

• Find three examples of Europe becoming more connected with the wider world.

• Find three examples of religious changes.

• Work out how the power of the monarchy changed during this period. Write two sentences to explain it.

  • 1472: The invention of printing was brought to England by William Caxton.

  • 1485: At the Battle of Bosworth, Henry Tudor defeated Richard III. This was the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.

  • 1492: Christopher Columbus 'discovered' the Caribbean Islands.

  • 1517: Martin Luther's criticism of the Catholic Church led to the Reformation. Europe became divided between Catholic and Protestant countries.

  • 1522: Ferdinand Magellan sailed around the world.

  • 1534: Henry VIII became head of the English Church.

  • 1536: Henry VIII and his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, began to close the monasteries in England.

  • 1588: Catholic Spain sent a fleet of ships to invade England. The Spanish Armada was defeated, and England remained a Protestant nation.

  • 1600: England's East India Company began to trade in South East Asia.

  • 1605: Gunpowder plot. Catholic plotters attempted to blow up Parliament but were arrested before they could do so.

  • 1607: England established its first successful colony in North America.

  • 1642: The start of the English Civil War, fought between the supporters of King Charles I and the supporters of Parliament.

  • 1649: King Charles I was executed.

  • 1660: The monarchy was restored when Charles II became king.

  • 1688: The 'Glorious Revolution'. The Catholic monarch, James II, was forced to give up his throne. Parliament invited James's Protestant daughter (Mary) and her husband (William) to rule. It placed limits on the power of the monarchy.

  • 1707: The Act of Union between England and Scotland was passed. This meant that two countries were ruled by the same parliament in London. The act was not accepted by Catholic highlanders in Scotland.

  • 1745: The Jacobite Rebellion. Charles Edward Stuart (grandson of James II) landed in Scotland and led a rebellion to force the English king, George II, off the throne. The rebellion was defeated at the Battle of Culloden.