The History of London

People have lived in the London area for more than 5,000 years, but instead of a city, there used to be forests and marshes.

The legend of how London began

Legend says that London was founded not by the Romans of the 1st century AD, but in a far more ancient time by Brutus the Trojan, around 1070 BC, about 1000 years before the Roman invasion.

Brutus was the great-grandson of Aeneas, a Trojan prince who was one of the few survivors after the Greeks burnt Troy to the ground.

Read the story how the Greeks made a big wooden horse and filled it with soldiers

Following the destruction of the city of Troy, the inhabitants set off to find new lands. According to a 12th-century monk named Geoffrey of Monmouth, when Brutus lands in Britian it's inhabited by a race of giants led by Gog and Magog. After wrestling them into submission, Brutus chains them to the doors of his palace, he builds on the site where the Guildhall is today.

Wooden statues of Gog and Magog stood guard outside the entrance of the Guidhall until they were destroyed in an air raid in 1940. Today, Gog and Magog are considered as the traditional guardians of the City of London, and images of the two have been carried in the Lord Mayor’s Show since the reign of Henry V (1412-1422).

The History of London 
Roman London (AD 43 - AD 410)

The Romans arrived in England about about 2,000 years ago. They called London 'Londinium'.

The Romans (A43– 410)

The Romans invaded England in AD 43. They landed in Kent, made their way to the River Thames and sailed up it. The Romans knew it was important to control a crossing point at the River Thames, so they decided to build a settlement on the north bank. They chose a spot in two small hills and where the river became narrower. They built a bridge over the Thames, and there has been a 'London Bridge' in the same area ever since.

The Romans laid out buildings, streets and a port, and shortly afterwards they built a bridge. They called the settlement Londinium.

Not everyone welcomed the new Settlers. In AD 61 the native Iceni tribe, led by Queen Boudicca, rose up against the Romans. They burnt Londinium to the ground and killed 30,000 Londoners.

The Romans regained control and over the next 20 yeas rebuilt Londinium. By AD 100, the city was thriving again. At its peak the new Londinium city had a population of up to 60,000 people and for 300 years it was the largest city in Britannia (The Roman name for Britain). It had a fort (where the Barbican centre is now), a Forum/market, an amphitheatre (buried below the Guidhall) and Basilica/business centre. The Romans built a wall around the city to protect it from further invasion.

The Romans ruled in Britain until AD 410, when thy left Britain and London.

Evidence of Roman London today

There is still evidence of Roman London. Parts of the Roman wall can still be seen.

The wall enclosed an area of about 330 acres (130 ha) and had six gates. Moorgate, a medieval gate, was added later.

According to ancient records the wall was three miles long, 18 feet tall, and had fifteen lofty towers (bastions). The river front side was two and a half miles long.

It was built of Kentish Ragstone, brought by boat along the Medway and Thames, with bands of red tiles.

The Anglo- Saxons who followed lived outside the walls in the Aldwych area but in the Medieval period people moved back and rebuilt the walls for defence. From the 17th century as London grew the walls were incorporated into buildings or used to provide materials.