View of London from the SE as it might have looked before the Roman Invasion
Most Thursdays at 6.30pm City of London
Please note that you need to check it is running this week and book on this link.
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
Here is an introduction to the Saxon London Walk Virtual Walk, taking place this Sunday at 6.30pm. The Podcasts includes Kevin Flude reading contemporary quotations from the end of Roman London and the beginning of Saxon London
Jane Austen’s London takes place at 2.30 pm on Sunday, July 4th. The meeting point is Green Park underground station, London (north exit, on the corner)
The walk takes in the area of the London section of Sense and Sensibility. This is where Jane Austen frequented when visiting her banking brother, Henry. He lived here during his ‘successful’ period, after resigning as a Captain in the Militia and setting up a bank to help soldiers pay for their commissions. He then did what all good bankers do – went bankrupt and ruined himself, family and friends. His uncle lost 10,000 pounds; his rich brother, Edward Knight lost £20,000. (that is 2/5ths of the fortune of Willoughby’s wife, and equal to the income of Darcy, 100 times the annual income of Mrs Austen after her husband died) i.e. a heck of a lot of money. Jane lost £13.
But this area was also the centre of the Ton – the wealthy elite of Regency London. It was here that the French Royal family, in exile, hung out, and the haunt of Beau Brummel and Prinny, the Prince Regent, loungers in chief who were so well satirised in the figure of Sir Walter Elliot. This is where the Dandies lounged, leered and shopped. Here the rich could get their guns, swords, cigars, snuff, hats, shoes, tailored clothes, uniforms, wine, prostitutes, lovers. They came to visit art galleries, see panoramas of European Cities, to ‘see’ the invisible women living in her glass jar, to choose their Wedgwood pottery.
And what is astonishing is that this is still where the megarich do exactly the same things: hang out and shop. All the top brands are here, and instead of people like John Willoughy are to be found Russian Oligarchs, and the rich of the Emirates, and every other country in the world. And most marvellously many of the shops survive into the present day. The same shops and shop fronts still in use. They catered to the stupidly wealthy of the 18th Century are now catering for the stupidly wealthy of the 21st Century. This is where you can buy luxury yachts.
So we follow Jane and Henry, and see the ghost traces left by immoral Willoughby, sensible Elinor, overwrought Marianne, dull but nice Edward Ferrars, dull and horrible Robert Ferrars, stolid Colonel Brandon, vulgar but kind Mrs Jennings and her unforgivably vulgar daughter Mrs Palmer with her despairing husband; the Middletons, the Steeles gals ruthlessly working their assets. Plus we have a little look at the relationship between Prinny and Beau Brummel, and the terrible childbed of Princess Ch
I do various walks from time to time, nearly all for London Walks. (A list of all the walks. lectures, study tours I have given can be found here):
JANE AUSTEN’S LONDON
Jane Austen’s London takes place at 2.30 pm on Sunday, July 4th. The meeting point is just outside the Green Park exit (by the fountain) of Green Park Tube.
The walk takes in the area of the London section of Sense and Sensibility. This is where Jane Austen frequented when visiting her banking brother, Henry. He lived here during his ‘successful’ period, after resigning as a Captain in the Militia and setting up a bank to help soldiers pay for their commissions. He then did what all good bankers do – went bankrupt and ruined himself, family and friends. His uncle lost 10,000 pounds; his rich brother, Edward Knight lost £20,000. (that is 2/5ths of the fortune of Willoughby’s wife, and equal to the income of Darcy, 100 times the annual income of Mrs Austen after her husband died) i.e. a heck of a lot of money. Jane lost £13.
But this area was also the centre of the Ton – the wealthy elite of Regency London. It was here that the French Royal family, in exile, hung out, and the haunt of Beau Brummel and Prinny, the Prince Regent, loungers in chief who were so well satirised in the figure of Sir Walter Elliot. This is where the Dandies lounged, leered and shopped. Here the rich could get their guns, swords, cigars, snuff, hats, shoes, tailored clothes, uniforms, wine, prostitutes, lovers. They came to visit art galleries, see panoramas of European Cities, to ‘see’ the invisible women living in her glass jar, to choose their Wedgwood pottery.
And what is astonishing is that this is still where the megarich do exactly the same things: hang out and shop. All the top brands are here, and instead of people like John Willoughy are to be found Russian Oligarchs, and the rich of the Emirates, and every other country in the world. And most marvellously many of the shops survive into the present day. The same shops and shop fronts still in use. They catered to the stupidly wealthy of the 18th Century are now catering for the stupidly wealthy of the 21st Century. This is where you can buy luxury yachts.
So we follow Jane and Henry, and see the ghost traces left by immoral Willoughby, sensible Elinor, overwrought Marianne, dull but nice Edward Ferrars, dull and horrible Robert Ferrars, stolid Colonel Brandon, vulgar but kind Mrs Jennings and her unforgivably vulgar daughter Mrs Palmer with her despairing husband; the Middletons, the Steeles gals ruthlessly working their assets. Plus we have a little look at the relationship between Prinny and Beau Brummel, and the terrible childbed of Princess Ch
THE REBIRTH OF SAXON LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL WALK
Sunday 4th July 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?
My first virtual walk took place every Sunday at 2pm in August 2020 and was:Myths, Legends and the Archaeological Origins of London in August 2020 and I have since done:
Sunday 25th October 2020 The Archaeology and Culture of Roman London Virtual Walk. For more details click here.
Sunday 1st November 2020 The Decline and Fall of Dark Age London Archaeology Virtual Walk. For more details click here.
Sunday 8th November 2020 The Rebirth of Saxon London Archaeology Virtual Walk For more details click here.
Sunday 22nd November 2020 Flower of Cities All – Medieval London History & Archaeology Virtual Walk For more details click here.
Sunday 29th November 2020. The London of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell Virtual Walk For more details click here.
Sunday 6th December 2020 The Financial City from Slavery to Hedge Fund Virtual Walk For more details 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.
THE FINANCIAL CITY FROM SLAVERY TO HEDGE FUND VIRTUAL WALK
SUNDAY 30th May 2021 6.30pm
To book
This walks looks at the development of the City of London as a financial centre. Its origins were among the money lenders of the Jewish and Italian quarters of Old Jewry and Lombard Street. We continue the story with the introduction of the first commercial companies and the Merchant Adventurers of Elizabethan London, alongside the revival of the cruel trade in Slaves. We walk through the alleyways of the City where innovation went side by side with the introduction of Coffee in the Coffee Houses of Stuart London.
We look at the distinctive architecture of the City as we walk around one of the most specialised market places in the world that once prided itself on the virtues of providing face to face contact.. The financial institutions in the City have encountered many changes since the scandal of the South Sea Bubble and it has weathered them all, so far. It was given a huge boast by the ‘Big Bang’ in Mrs Thatcher’s time. But the consequences of the effects of Brexit and Covid on top of the Internet are not yet clear on the City.
Kevin Flude leading a guided walk on the South Bank
The good news is that I am starting doing real physical Guided Walks again.
Leo Heaton and I are doing an Archaeology walk every Thursday evening at 6.30. We alternate as the Guide.
The plan is to do another walk in the afternoon. I am also putting together a series of special, repertory walks for London walks running throughout the summer.
Here are the details of the walk on 27th May.
ARCHAEOLOGY OF LONDON WALK
Thursday 6.30pm Exit 3 Bank Underground Station Short Description A TALE OF FOUR CITIES Description 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 Lundenburg.
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.
An exploration of what happened at the end of the Roman Period, and how the City became first deserted, and then a Saxon, German speaking English City.
The first British Brexit? The Roman Britons kicked out the Romans in 407AD, and, soon, 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 descent into a Dark Age.
But was that how it was? 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 rather than 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? and can we trust it? Or can we really do nothing much more than guess?
We tramp the virtual streets of London in search of light to shine on the Dark Ages in London.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude, ex Museum of London Archaeology and Museum Curator
This has been a long time coming and only made possible by the need to go Virtual during the Pandemic. I have never done a prehistoric walk around London as such. I have done sections of it, and given lectures on the subject. But they were mostly overviews. This has therefore been a challenge putting this together, but a necessary revision of my knowledge.
So please do join me on:
Sunday 25th April 2021 6.30pm
An exploration of London before the foundation of Londinium
It was long thought that London was founded by a Trojan Exile in the Late Bronze Age. But historical analysis and archaeological excavation gradually demoted the idea to a myth.
On this tour we explore what was in the London area before the Romans. We begin at Heathrow and tour Greater London for evidence from the Paleolithic to the invasion of the Emperor Claudius.
We concentrate on the period since the introduction of farming, and bring together evidence for the prehistoric Kingdoms that controlled the area on the eve of the Invasion. We look for henges, barrows, hill forts, hut circles and look at genetic evidence for identity of prehistoric Londoners. The tour will end in the City.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude, ex Museum of London Archaeology and Museum Curator
THE REBIRTH OF SAXON LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL WALK
London in the 5th Century Reconstruction painting.
Sunday 4th July 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?
ZEPPELIN NIGHTS – A VIRTUAL WALK FOLLOWING THE 1915 BOMBING RAID THROUGH WW1 LONDON
Sunday 14 March 2021 6.30pm
8th of September 1915, 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
On the night of September 8th Kapitanleutnant Henreich Mathy pilotted Zeppelin L 13 across Central London dropping bombs as they went. The trail of destruction lead from University College London, via Russell Sq. to Gray’s Inn Farringdon, Smithfield and out past Liverpool Street to the East End. The walk follows the route taken by the Zeppelin and looks at Central London during the World War 1.
Before World War One London was the centre of the largest Empire the world had ever known. It was the first great era of globalisation; international trade and Finance was booming. London was full of the mega-rich but poverty and sub-standard housing was extensive. Inner London was still the home of Industry, and home to large immigrant communities. Political dissent was widespread with the Labour Party beginning to erode the Liberal Party’s power base, and the issue of Female Suffragette was rocking society. Then, catastrophe as ‘the lights went out all over Europe’.
How would the War affect London? How would Londoners cope with this terrifying new form of warfare – death from above?
We begin our virtual tour at Russell Square Tube and follow the path of the bombing raid to Liverpool Street, looking at London, before, during and after World War One.
