Here is an introduction to the Saxon London Walk, it which Kevin Flude reads contemporary quotations from the end of Roman London and the beginning of Saxon London
PODCAST FOR ROMAN LONDON – A LITERARY & ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIRTUAL WALK
To book click here
NEW SEASON OF VIRTUAL GUIDED WALKS
January – March 2021
To Book follow this eventbrite link
ROMAN LONDON – A LITERARY & ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIRTUAL WALK
Sunday 17th Jan 2021 6.30pm
The virtual walk looks at the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman London, and an attempt to bring to life through archaeology and Roman literary sources what it was like to live in a provincial Roman Capital.
THE REBIRTH OF SAXON LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL WALK
Sunday 24th Jan 2021 6.30pm
An exploration of what happened following the Roman Period. How did a Celtic speaking Latin educated Roman City become, first deserted, then recovered to become the leading City in a germanic speaking Kingdom?
CHAUCER’S MEDIEVAL LONDON VIRTUAL WALK.
Sunday 31st Jan 2021 6.30pm
A Virtual Walk around Medieval London following in the footsteps of its resident medieval poet – Geoffrey Chaucer
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF LONDON BRIDGE & THE HISTORIC BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK VIRTUAL WALK
Sunday 14 Feb 2021 6.30pm
The walk explores London Bridge and Southwark which are at the heart of pre-Roman, Roman and Medieval London’s Archaeology
THE LONDON OF THOMAS MORE AND THOMAS CROMWELL. THE CITY OF WOLF HALL VIRTUAL BOAT TRIP AND WALK
Sunday 21 Feb 2021 6.30pm
We begin on the River touring by boat the Tudor Palaces that were the backdrop to the drama of Henry’s Court. We then walk around the City to find where the two Thomases lived and died.
JANE AUSTEN’S VIRTUAL LONDON WALK
Sunday 28 Feb 2021 6.30pm
Exactly what it says on the tin. With sense, sensibility, pride but no prejudice we’re on the trail of the great novelist. Jane Austen’s London.
ZEPPELIN NIGHTS – A VIRTUAL WALK FOLLOWING THE 1915 BOMBING RAID THROUGH WW1 LONDON
Sunday 14 March 2021 6.30pm
8th of September 1916, the Zeppelin dropped its first bombs near Russell Square and we follow it to its last bomb at Liverpool Street. On the way we discover London in World War 1
RING IN THE EQUINOX VIRTUAL WALK
Saturday 20th March 2021 7pm
On this walk we look at London at the Equinox, its calendars, folklore and events associated with the beginning of Spring
MYTHS, LEGENDS OF LONDON VIRTUAL GUIDED WALK
Virtual Guided Walk Sunday 21 March 6.30pm
The walk will tell the story of the legendary origins of London as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth.
ARCHAEOLOGY OF LONDON WALK – A TALE OF FOUR CITIES
Every Thursday (from 7th January 2021) at 2.30pm Exit 2 Bank Underground Station
Legend says that London was founded as New Troy. Historians believed it was founded as Londinium after the Bridge was built by the legionaries of the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Archaeologists in the 1970s and 1980s discovered that London was refounded as Lundenwic in the 7th Century and again in the 9th Century when it was called Lundeburg.
This walk tells the epic tale of the uncovering of London’s past by Archaeologists. And provides an insight into the dramatic history of the Capital of Britannia, and how it survived revolts, fires, plagues, and reacted to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. It became the foremost English City but with periods under Viking and Norman control.
We tell the story in the streets of the City of London, beginning in the valley of the River Walbrook by the Temple of Mithras, and visit many sites where important archaeological discoveries were made, including the Roman Forum, Amphitheatre. Bath Houses, Temples, Roman roads and the City Walls.
We explore the origins of London. The walk is given alternately by Kevin Flude & Leo Heaton
This is a walk for London Walks
The Rebirth of Saxon London Archaeology Virtual Walk
Sun, Nov 8, 2020 6:00 PM
The Romans gave the name of Saxons to barbarian pirates that plagued the North Sea region in the Late Roman Period. Historians link them with the Angles to create the germanic Anglo-Saxon period of which London was the leading town. But excavation and DNA analysis make the traditional story more difficult to sustain and although the Anglo-Saxons have a rich history how much of it can be trusted? Was there a Dark Age? Or was it just a ‘transistion’? How did English become the main language sweeping aside native Celtic languages? Much of the story of Saxon London has been founded on myth and dubious historical sources, but archaeological, documentary and genetic research has beginning to provide a clearer narrative.
Following the fall of Roman Britain, London was almost deserted. On this walk we explore how London recovered and grew to be the most important City in England by 1066. We will concentrate on the period from 600 AD onwards, and will begin with the story of Lundenwic at Covent Garden. We will then walk along the Strand and Fleet Street to visit the empty City of Lundinium which had a rebirth in the 9th Century as Lundenburgh and which grew to become London – the largest City in the Kingdom by 1066.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude To book click :
The Decline and Fall of Dark Age London Archaeology Virtual Walk
Sunday 1st November 2020
The first British Brexit? The Roman Britains kicked out the Romans in 407AD, and then asked them to come back after a catastrophic collapse. Faced with plaque, civil war, invasion, mass immigration, industrial decline, reversion to barter the authorities struggled against anarchy and the Dark Ages.
Or was it? Wasn’t it a rather a transition into the Late Antique period in which life for most people went on much as before except paying taxes to local rulers not to distant Romans?
This virtual walk explores why the Roman system in London broke down, and what really was the impact of the end of the Roman system in London.? What is the evidence? Can we do much more than guess? How should we regard the written records? We tramp the virtual streets of London in search of the light to shine on the Dark Ages.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude.
To Book for this walk click here
Also given as a physical walk at 2.30 pm on Saturday, September 28, 2019. The meeting point was exit 2 St. Paul’sTube.
New Series of Archaeological Virtual Walks for London Walks
This is my schedule of Virtual Walks. One every Sunday at 6pm.
The Programme is:
Sunday 25th October 2020 The Archaeology and Culture of Roman London Virtual Walk. For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:
Sunday 1st November 2020 The Decline and Fall of Dark Age London Archaeology Virtual Walk. For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:
Sunday 8th November 2020 The Rebirth of Saxon London Archaeology Virtual Walk For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:
Sunday 22nd November 2020 Flower of Cities All – Medieval London History & Archaeology Virtual Walk For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:
Sunday 29th November 2020. The London of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell Virtual Walk For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:
Sunday 6th December 2020 The Financial City from Slavery to Hedge Fund Virtual Walk For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:
Sunday 13 th December 2020 Myths, Legends and the Origins of London Archaeology Virtual Walk . For more details of this walk click here. To buy Tickets click here:
Bookings will be via Eventbrite and London Walks and links will be posted here.
MYTHS, LEGENDS AND THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF LONDON
Virtual Guided Walk for London Walks
Currently, not programmed.
This virtual walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in the archaeological evidence as well as the myths and legends of London’s origin.
A Walk for London Walks.
Archaeology in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries has revolutionised our view of the early history of London while its rich set of myths and legends have been largely forgotten. This walk is designed to set that right and give an insight into London’s legends, and how they relate to modern archaeological discoveries.
According to legend London was founded in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan called Brutus. He called the new City Troia Nova or New Troy, which became corrupted to Trinovantum. Around the time of Julius Caesar the name changed to Lud’s Dun and eventually to Londinium. Early archaeologists therefore looked for a prehistoric City, to add to the history they could read by classical authors of a City founded shortly after the Roman Invasion of 43 AD. When the Roman system broke down in 410 AD, historical and archaeological records become almost non-existent, until the foundation of St Pauls Cathedral in 604 AD. The two hundred year gap, sometimes called the Dark Ages, has another rich selection of legends. The walk will explore these stories and compare to the archaeology.
The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River at Billingsgate, along the River to London Bridge, up to the Roman Forum at the top of Cornhill, into the valley of the River Walbrook, passed the Temple of Mithras, along Cheapside to the Roman Amphitheatre, and finishing up in the shadow of St Pauls.
This is a London Walks Guided Walks. Look at their web site for a list of more of their amazing walks
Myths, Legends and the Origins of London
Myths, Legends and the Origins of London
2.30 Sat 2 May 2020 Tower Hill Tube (meet by the Tower Hill Tram)
Please check that the walks have not been cancelled.
The Head of Bran by John Everett Millais
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, and it looks at the archaeological evidence for the origins of London and reconsiders London’s myths and legends.
London has a rich set of origin myths and legends which are not as well known as they should be. This walk is designed to set that right and give an insight into London’s myths and legends.
Worth knowing for their own right do these origin myths have anything to say about the actual origins of London? This is what this walk explores. It is split into two halves – the first reveals the myths and the second finds out where the ‘truth’ of the origins of London may lie.
This is a London Walks Guided Walks. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks
Southwark & Bankside Pub Tour. London Bridge Tube, 7.15 22nd Feb Tooley St Exit
Southwark & Bankside Pub Tour.
London Bridge Tube, 7.15 22nd Feb Tooley St Exit
Southwark has a unique historic and literary heritage and an authentic historic ambiance, with beautiful views of the Thames and the City of London. Plus some of London’s most famous Pubs!
Historic Southwark is chock-full of famous people, and we encounter traces of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens as we explore the history of London’s most famous suburb. Its location at the south end of London Bridge made it a key strategic and commercial site. This was where the great Medieval Inns were located, and from where Chaucer’s pilgrimage set off for Canterbury. Its independence from the City made it a haven for ‘undesirable’ elements and it became the home of the Medieval Stews (Brothels), and also the home of the Shakespearean Stage. On the walk we explore the sites of the Globe, the Rose, the Swan and the Bull and Bear Baiting Pits and Shakespeare’s role in the area. By the Victorian period its nature had changed completely into an industrial centre, home of notorious slums, of debtors prisons, and of charitable hospitals. It became one of the main inspirations for Dickens London fiction whose father was imprisoned here for debt when Dickens was a young boy. It was at the White Hart that Dickens introduced Sam Weller into the flagging story of the Pickwick Sporting Club – the character who saved Dickens literary career.
This is a London Walks Guided Walk by Kevin Flude