Place · United Kingdom
The history of London
Assembled from 18 dug tiles · 263 sourced records · 2800 BC–now · last reviewed 16 October 2026
London is a city of layered ground: a Roman bathhouse beneath a Shadwell monument, a cholera pump traced by John Snow in Soho, a Norman fortress begun by William the Conqueror, and a square of Saxon knights. Plague pits, prisons, markets and cemeteries sit beneath its pavements still.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in London — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in London
The garrison that fired on London and paid for itA nine-day siege ended with the Tower's commander hacked apart within sight of where you are standing. Waterloo Block
41 BC–1974 A pedestrian square in London's West End
This point sits inside Leicester Square, the heart of London's entertainment district and once the garden of a vanished aristocratic house. Leicester Square
708–2001 A Norman castle turned museum
This point sits inside the Tower of London, a fortress William the Conqueror started in 1066 and now one of the country's most visited museums. Tower of London
41 BC–2014 Central Criminal Court of England and Wales
This point sits at the Old Bailey, London's main criminal courthouse, on the site of old Newgate Prison. Old Bailey
170–2024 A prison turned museum in Southwark
This point sits inside [[The Clink The Clink
99 BC–1989 The doctor who pulled the handle off a killer
A hundred yards from where you are standing, a physician traced a cholera outbreak to one water pump and stopped it cold. Poland Street
1606–now The garrison that shelled its own city
In 1460, the men holding the Tower for the king turned their cannon on the streets around you. White Tower
1080–1974 A lock between two basins
You're standing by iron bollards where a lock once linked St Katharine Docks' West Dock and its central basin. Silver Jubilee Crystal Crown
1042–1990 A Victorian school beside a murder site
This point sits beside The Aldgate School, a Church of England primary school just off Mitre Square in the City of London. The Aldgate School
73–2020 London's execution ground
This point marks Tyburn, once a village at a crossroads west of the old City, now the traffic island and pavement near Marble Arch. Tyburn
1100–1978 A Victorian burial ground, still open for burials
This point sits inside Highgate Cemetery, a 19th-century cemetery split by Swain's Lane into east and west sides. Highgate Cemetery
2200 BC–2021 A dying Edinburgh preacher's church became Europe's first Coptic church
St Mark's went up for a Presbyterian sermon nobody remembers and stayed alive as something else entirely. Prince of Teck
1610 BC–now A public square built around a naval victory
This point sits at the center of Trafalgar Square, the public square and tourist landmark in central London. Trafalgar Square
708–2020 A red phone box, Grade II listed
This point marks a red K6 telephone box standing by Smithfield Market in the City of London. K6 Telephone Kiosk In Central Markets
900–2001 A 1960s market hall with the largest concrete dome in Europe
This point sits inside the Smithfield Poultry Market, a market hall in the City of London now closed and awaiting a new life as part of the London Museum. Smithfield Poultry Market
2800 BC–2000 London's first planned square
A cobbled square in Westminster, now an open-air shopping and performance plaza. Covent Garden Piazza
566–1974 The Father who walked into the cholera ward
Two hundred feet from where you stand, a mission priest earned his name by staying when everyone else ran. Roman Bath House
1508 BC–1983 The knights who fought for a strip of mud outside the wall
You stand inside the Portsoken, land a Saxon king once handed to a guild of fighting men. St Botolph's Aldgate
1108–1876
London in layers
Mount Pleasant
Cattle bone from the Biometrical Database of European Aurochs and Domestic Cattle, dated 2800-1800 BC, was recovered about 800 meters away at Mount Pleasant. Open Context / Biometrical Database
Hampstead Heath
About 1.2 kilometers away, a Bronze Age bell barrow known as Boadicea's Grave still stands on Hampstead Heath, dating to between 2200 and 800 BC. Historic England / Wikidata
1610 BC–1223 BC
Radiocarbon dating on samples from this part of London places human activity here between roughly 1610 and 1223 BC, in the Bronze Age. Cross-referenced p3k14c / OpenContext
1508 BC to 1311 BC
A dated sample recovered nearby, cataloged as BETA-249960, places human activity on this ground between about 1508 and 1311 BC. Open Context / p3k14c radiocarbon dataset
99 BC–216
A radiocarbon sample taken close by places activity on this patch of ground to the late Iron Age and Roman period, long before any prison stood here. Cross-referenced p3k14c (Open Context)
Greater London, near Tower Hill
Radiocarbon samples recovered a few hundred yards west, cross-referenced by the p3k14c project, date to spans between 41 BC and roughly AD 1000, marking continuous activity on this ground long before the Tower was built. OpenContext / p3k14c
D'Arblay Street
Formerly Portland Street, it was renamed for the writer Frances Burney, Madame d'Arblay, and runs from Poland Street to Wardour Street just north of you. Wikipedia
Social Eating House
Social Eating House, just steps from here, held a Michelin star before shutting down. Wikipedia
Inner Ward, Tower of London
Archaeologists have found evidence that plague victims were buried hastily far below the Tower's Inner Ward grounds. National Geographic
Tower Green
Tower Green served as a burial ground in the Middle Ages, and 19th-century regrading turned up the remains of buildings once standing there. Wikipedia: Tower Green
At the corner of Allen Street and Scarsdale Villas, this building began as St John's Presbyterian Church before becoming a Coptic Orthodox church dedicated to Mark the Evangelist. Wikipedia
church gone by 1874
The school building stands on the disused churchyard of St James Duke's Place, a parish church that was pulled down in 1874. Wikipedia: St James Duke's Place
Roman period, from AD 43
The Roman Bath House at Shadwell, protected today as a scheduled monument, sits almost exactly beneath this spot. Historic England / Wikidata
Highgate Wood
Roman-era Samian ware pottery, dating from 43 to 410 AD, has been recovered from Highgate Wood about 1.8 kilometers away. Wikidata
AD 60
The Iceni, led by Boudica, clashed with Roman forces at the Battle of Londinium in AD 60, a short walk from where the Tower now stands. Wikidata
Londinium
In 60 AD, Boudica's Iceni forces fought the Romans in the Battle of Londinium, roughly a mile east of this spot, destroying the early Roman settlement. Wikidata
Londinium
In AD 60 the Iceni under Boudica fought the Romans at Londinium, the Roman settlement a short walk from this spot. Wikidata: Battle of Londinium
Roman era to 1760
Scheduled remains of the Roman wall, its bastions, and Aldgate itself — the city gate that gave this area its name — survive just north, from 17 Bevis Marks to India Street; the gate itself was demolished in 1760. Historic England / Wikidata: London Wall
circa 170 AD
Wikidata records a Roman building, built around 170 AD and tentatively identified as an octagonal Romano-Celtic temple, excavated at Old Bailey Street just 81 meters from this spot. Wikidata
Tower Hill, near the Underground station
A stretch of the Roman-built London Wall survives at Tower Hill, first raised by the Romans around AD 200 to defend Londinium. Wikipedia: London Wall
from 525 AD
A short walk south, St Bride's Church on Fleet Street anchored a parish recorded as early as 525 AD, the oldest dated jurisdiction found anywhere near this ground. FamilySearch Places
AD 566–771
Carbon-dated bone just 45 meters from this spot places Anglo-Saxon settlement here between AD 566 and 771, part of the trading town called Lundenwic. OpenContext radiocarbon sample UB-4456
AD 597–993
A radiocarbon sample from 380 meters away, BM-2214R, dates human activity on this ground to between AD 597 and AD 993 — among the oldest direct evidence of people near this exact spot. OpenContext radiocarbon record
AD 708-952
A radiocarbon sample taken half a kilometer from here dates human activity on this ground to between 708 and 952 AD. Cross-referenced p3k14c
Questions about London
What is London known for historically?
London's history spans a Roman bathhouse of around AD 43 at Shadwell, a Norman fortress begun in 1066 at the Tower of London, the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak traced by John Snow, nearly 600 years of executions at Tyburn, and London's first planned square at Covent Garden, built in 1630.
What happened at the Tower of London?
The Tower of London, founded by William the Conqueror in 1066, saw its garrison under Lord Scales fire cannon into the city during a 1460 siege before surrendering; it later witnessed the executions of Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey on Tower Green.
What happened at Mitre Square in 1888?
Catherine Eddowes was murdered and mutilated at Mitre Square in the early hours of 30 September 1888, less than two hours after police released her from custody, making her the fourth victim of the Whitechapel murders and the only one killed inside the City of London.
What was the Broad Street cholera outbreak?
In 1854, an outbreak near Poland Street and Broad Street killed 420 people in ten days after waste from an old cesspit leaked into a public water pump. Physician John Snow traced the deaths to that single pump and stopped the outbreak by removing its handle.
What is the Old Bailey built on?
The Old Bailey, London's Central Criminal Court, stands on the site of the old Newgate Prison and takes its name from the fortified wall that once ran along this stretch of the City. A courthouse has stood there since at least 1585.
What happened at St Katharine Docks and Tyburn?
St Katharine Docks, engineered by Thomas Telford, opened in 1828 and closed to commercial shipping in 1968, its lock bollards still bearing the 1828 inscription. Tyburn, near Marble Arch, served as England's principal execution ground from 1196 to 1783, latterly using the Tyburn Tree gallows.