A Glance Into London’s History

By: Juliet Burfield

Roman London – The beginning of London is dated in 43 AD with the invasion of the Romans. Before the invasion there weren’t any permanent settlement signs on the London’s site. Recently, the original “ London Bridge “ was excavated and it was situated only yards away from the current London Bridge. 18 years after the invasion, Boudicca queen of the Iceni tribe launched an aggressive rebellion against the rulers of Britain – the city was almost entirely destroyed. However, the city was very quickly rebuilt with a cluster of timber-framed wooden buildings. London continued growing under the late Roman Empire and peaked when reached a impressive population of about 45,000. Unfortunately, the city went into a decline as the Roman Empire creaked its way to a tottering old age mainly because the young troops defending London’s trade routes were reallocated across the Channel.

Anglo-Saxon London – in 604 AD the original St. Paul’s Cathedral was constructed. By the 9th century, London was a very prosperous trading center which eventually resulted in many attacks by the Danes which in 851 arrived with 350 longboats and basically eliminated London. In the next century, the English, Danish and Norman kings ruled the city. In 1065 when Harold the successor of Edward was crowned, he established London as the most important city in all London.

Medieval London – started on Christmas Day, 1066 when the famous William the Conqueror was crowned the king of London. In 1097 William II started building the Westminster Hall close to the abbey which has the same name. At the beginning of the 12th century, London had a population of approximately 18,000 which was very low in comparison with the peak of the Roman Britain. In 1176 the London Bridge was constructed and in 1245 Henry II began reconstructing the Westminster Abby ( destroyed after the battle between Stephen and Maud for the crown ). In 1381 the city was invaded by the peasant’s during the Wat Tyler’s peasant’s revolt.

Tudor London – in 1485 when Henry VII was crowned, London’s population was approximately 75,000. In 1600 it reached 200,000 under the Tudors when the city was very prosperous. An international exchange was founded by Thomas Gresham in 1566 in order to enable London to compete for financial power with Amsterdam. Later on in 1560, it became the Royal Exchange.
Stuart London – during this period the city entered a period of extensive building development but unfortunately two huge disasters ( the Great Plague and the Great Fire ) ruined the city. The first one started in 1665 and killed from 70,000 to 100,000 people. The second one started on September 2th, 1666 and destroyed 13,000 buildings, 52 company halls, 89 churches and the old St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Victorian London – during this period the first railway was constructed from the London Bridge to Greenwich in 1836. In 1834 both the Westminster Palace and the Houses Of Parliament burned down and they were replaced by the triumphant mock – Gothic Houses of Parliament which were designed by Charles Barry. The Big Ben was constructed in 1859 and in 1863 the first underground railway from Paddington to Farringdon Road was finished.

20th Century London – In 1904 the very first motor bus service in London started its activity and was followed by the first underground electric train two years later. In 1921, London had a population of about 7,500,000. During the Second World War, ¾ of the city was destroyed by the German bombs so as the London Docks. Overall, 32,000 people were killed and over 50,000 were severely injured. Heathrow opened its doors in 1946 and the very first double-decker red buses appeared on London’s roads in 1956. The last impressive building project was the Millennium Dome – an exhibition centre beside the Thames in the north part of Greenwich.

Article Source: http://www.bigfreearticles.com

This article summarizes the long and interesting history of London starting from the Roman London and ending into the 20th century.

About the Author:
Juliet Burfield owns www.jandkapartments.com where people that want to visit London will find the best luxury serviced London apartments.

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