Place · United Kingdom
The history of the City of London, one place at a time
Assembled from 2 dug tiles · 25 sourced records · last reviewed 17 August 2026
The City of London holds Aldgate, breached by rebels in 1381 and 1471, and the Tower of London, raised by William the Conqueror in the early 1080s, where three queens were beheaded and a 1974 bomb killed a visitor. Sieges, executions and modern violence have all left their mark here.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in City of London — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in City of London
Three queens beheaded a few paces from a Norman keepthree queens beheaded on this lawn Tower of London
200–2014 Rebels died under a dropped portcullis at this gate
Rebels killed in a lowered portcullis, 1471 Aldgate House
50–1888
City of London in layers
St Botolph's Aldgate, the ancient parish church serving Portsoken ward, is a Grade I listed building a short walk from this corner. UK Heritage register
Roman period; demolished 1761
The Roman gate of London's wall ran beneath what is now Aldgate High Street and Jewry Street, its northern edge believed to sit under the pavement near 1-2 Aldgate High Street, before being demolished in 1761. Medieval London Sites, Fordham University
Roman period
Scheduled remains of the Roman wall, bastions, and Aldgate itself run from 17 Bevis Marks to India Street, a short walk northwest. UK Heritage register
early 1080s
William the Conqueror built the White Tower in the early 1080s as the Tower of London's strongest keep, later whitewashed on the order of Henry III. Wikipedia: White Tower (Tower of London)
built 1080
St John's Chapel, built in 1080, is the oldest complete Norman chapel to survive, still functioning as a chapel royal inside the White Tower. Wikipedia: St John's Chapel, London
founded c. 1108
Holy Trinity Priory, founded around 1108 by Queen Matilda of Scotland, stood near what is now Duke's Place, a few minutes' walk from here. Wikipedia
from 14th century
Regalia have been kept within the Tower precincts since the 14th century, following repeated thefts and attempted thefts from Westminster Abbey. Wikipedia: Jewel House
1326
During the 1326 invasion, Isabella of France took the City of London after Edward II abandoned the Tower and fled west. Wikipedia: London uprising
14th–18th centuries
The rising ground northwest of the Tower moat served as the public execution site for high-status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid-18th century. Wikipedia: Tower Hill
1381
In 1381, thousands of Peasants' Revolt rebels forced their way through Aldgate—directly beneath the rooms where poet Geoffrey Chaucer was then lodging. London Museum collections
June 1460
In June 1460, Yorkist forces besieged the Lancastrian garrison holding the Tower of London amid the wider unrest of the Wars of the Roses. Wikipedia: Siege of the Tower of London (1460)
1471
In 1471 around 5,000 troops under Thomas Neville, the Bastard of Fauconberg, tried to storm Aldgate to free Henry VI from the Tower, but defenders dropped the portcullis and killed those caught inside the gate. The History of London
Tudor period
Built by Edward I, Traitors' Gate became the entry point for many Tudor-era prisoners arriving at the Tower by boat. Wikipedia: Traitors' Gate
current building from 1520
The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, whose current building dates to 1520, became the burial place for many of those executed on Tower Green. Wikipedia: Church of St Peter ad Vincula
16th century
Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were all beheaded on Tower Green, considered a mercy of privacy denied to lesser prisoners. Wikipedia: Tower Green
1593 built; survived 1666
Built in 1593 with a cellar possibly dating to the 13th century, the Hoop and Grapes on Aldgate High Street is one of the very few timber-framed buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1666. Medieval London Sites, Fordham University
1598–c.1616
The Boar's Head Theatre, an inn-yard playhouse active from 1598 to around 1616, staged the Earl of Worcester's Men and other companies a short walk from here. Wikipedia
1666
During the Great Fire of London in 1666, five deaths from sheer fright were recorded in St Botolph Aldgate parish, an unusually panicked toll for the eastern edge of the city. Death by Numbers analysis of Bills of Mortality
built 1701
Bevis Marks Synagogue, built in 1701 for London's Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community, is the oldest synagogue in the UK in continuous use, a short walk southeast. Wikipedia
18 November 1876
Aldgate station, on the Circle and Metropolitan lines, opened here in 1876 with its entrance on Aldgate High Street. Wikipedia
1888
During the 1888 Whitechapel murders investigation, a chalked sentence—later called the Goulston Street graffito—was found near a clue linked to the crimes, a few streets north. Wikipedia
unveiled 1928 and 1955
The Tower Hill Memorial, designed by Lutyens and later expanded by Maufe, commemorates civilian mariners killed in two world wars who have no known grave. Wikipedia: Tower Hill Memorial
17 July 1974
An IRA-linked bomb exploded inside the White Tower on 17 July 1974, killing Dorothy Household and injuring 41 others, many of them children. Wikipedia: 1974 Tower of London bombing
July–November 2014
888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British or Colonial serviceman killed in the First World War, were planted in the Tower's dry moat in 2014. Wikipedia: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red
Questions about City of London
What is the City of London known for historically?
It is known for two sites of violent turning points: Aldgate, where rebels stormed through in 1381 and were trapped under a dropped portcullis in 1471, and the Tower of London, built from the early 1080s, where Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were beheaded on Tower Green.
What happened at Aldgate in 1471?
Defenders dropped the portcullis mid-charge, trapping and killing the rearmost of roughly 5,000 rebels under Thomas Neville, the Bastard of Fauconberg, who were attempting to storm the gate and free Henry VI from the Tower.
What happened at the Tower of London in 1974?
A bomb exploded inside the White Tower on 17 July 1974, killing one visitor and injuring forty-one others.
Who was executed at the Tower of London?
Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were beheaded on Tower Green; their remains lie in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, a short distance from where they died.
What stood at Aldgate before the present building?
A gate stood there through which Peasants' Revolt rebels poured in 1381, beneath rooms then occupied by Geoffrey Chaucer, and where trapped rebels died under a falling portcullis in 1471.
How old is the White Tower?
The White Tower has stood at the centre of the Tower of London since the early 1080s, raised by William the Conqueror.