The lay of the land

London has been continuously inhabited since approximately 46A.D. The Romans settled on the north bank of the River Thames (near today's London bridge) after they invaded England. It became a thriving trading post for the Roman expansion into Roman Britain (Britannia). About 200 A.D. a defensive wall was built around the city. For well over a millennium the shape and size of London was defined by this Roman wall. The area within the wall is now "the City", London's famous financial district. Newspapers and TV reporters refer to "The City" much like we say "Wall Street" in the US. Traces of the wall can still be seen in a few places in London. The City of London is approximately one square mile while Greater London is 600 square miles (and it includes 32 other boroughs, like the City of Westminster).

One of the unique things about walking through a city as old as London is the mix of architectural styles (and the age of the buildings) - it can change from building to building and block to block. In chronological order, you might find: Anglo-Saxon (pre-Norman), Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Baroque, Queen Anne, Georgian, Victorian, Jacobethan, Edwardian (up to 1915), and then all of the 20th century additions.

Two significant events, almost 300 years apart, further shaped the layout of the city. In 1666, there was a fire in London that wiped out most of the city and its wooden structures. As a result there aren't many Tudor or earlier buildings remaining. However, the Tower of London was one important survivor of the fire (the oldest part of the Tower of the London, the White Tower, was built in 1078. The White Tower now houses the Crown Jewels). Central London in 1666, with the burnt area shown in pink.

During World War II, the Blitz bombings by the Nazis (Sep 1940-May 1941), damaged or destroyed more than one million London houses. The city was bombed for 76 consecutive nights and many Londoners spent the night (for months on end) sleeping in local Underground or Tube stations set up as shelters. Most of the bombing was concentrated around St. Paul's Cathedral (rebuilt after the 1666 fire) and despite it's massive size, it was relatively undamaged by the Germans.