London: a brief history

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London a brief history

• Alan Powers
• University of Greenwich
• 5 October 2004

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Roman London

• Roman wall built c.200 AD. The names of the
  gates still exist as street names.

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Roman cities were all laid out to the same basic
plan

• It was a map of the four parts of the heavens, at
  the intersection of the paths of the sun and the
  stars. They called this the umbelicus or navel
  of the city. An offering to the gods of the
  underworld was placed here in a mundus, a
  double chamber below ground.

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• A section of the London wall at Tower Hill.
• The lower courses are Roman.
• The wall was built into later houses rather than
  demolished.

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• A reconstruction of London in 1400, with St
  Pauls Cathedral, London Bridge and the Tower of
  London

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Power relations in mediaeval London

• London was still mostly contained within the
  Roman walls, although these were not very strong
  for defence. The King used London merchants as a
  source of money, and his Tower prevented
  rebellion.
• The Court was based at Westminster

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• The Tudor palace at Greenwich, a favourite
  residence of King Henry VIII (1491-1547), close
  to the shipbuilding yards of Deptford and Woolwich

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The 1500s

• Historical events Englands break with the
  Church in Rome causes international conflicts.
  Monasteries in London dissolved.
• Printing increases the circulation of knowledge.
• Growth of public performances

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• Moorfields and Bishopsgate, map of c.1559

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The beginning of suburbs

• London began to grow outside the walls, where
  there was more space and freedom from regulation.
• Royal edicts tried to stop this growth, but it
  was ultimately impossible. Moorfields was used
  for drying cloth and for recreation.

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• London in 1560

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• W. Hollars view of London, 1647, showing Globe
  Theatre

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• Water supply in 1613.
• The New River Head in Clerkenwell, south of
  Sadlers Wells Theatre.

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• Water supply in 1613.
• The New River Head in Clerkenwell, south of
  Sadlers Wells Theatre.

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The New River

• The New River was one of the first major public
  works projects for London, privately financed
  although given royal support by James I. Water
  comes 36 miles by gravity from Hertfordshire. It
  is still one of the sources of water supply in
  London.

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• St Pauls Church, Covent Garden, designed by
  Inigo Jones, 1631, as the centre piece of the
  piazza, called The Handsomest Barn in Europe

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• The Covent Garden Piazza, engraved by W. Hollar,
  1640

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The importance of Covent Garden

• Covent Garden showed a new attitude to
  development
• 1.An aristocratic landlord took a planning
  initiative and a commercial risk
• 2. There was a coherent design, with unified
  fronts, linking individual properties together
• 3. New public space was created.
• 4. The London square was born.

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• London fortified by Parliament, 1642-3

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• Sir Christopher Wrens plan for rebuilding London
  after the Great Fire, 1666

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Planning London after the fire

• Wrens plan shows the influence of mathematics
  and theatrical scenery combined.
• The radial streets were based on ideas first used
  in Rome in the 1560s.
• It is a city of sightlines and efficient
  circulation.
• John Evelyn and Robert Hooke, both friends of
  Wren, proposed simpler grid plans.
• In the hurry to rebuild, the old streets and
  property divisions were largely retained.

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• A coffee house in London in the 1680s - the
  beginning of the modern office?

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The importance of coffee

• Coffee that makes the politician wise
• And see through all things with his half-closed
  eyes Alexander Pope
• It has been claimed that without coffee, it would
  not have been possible to have a scientific
  revolution or a modern commercial economy,
  because coffee makes people think in a rational
  rather than emotional way.
• Can food and drink really affect the course of
  society?

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• Soho Square, first built 1677-91, all the houses
  replaced 100 years later. Shown here in the 1820s

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Food supply in London

• Before canned food (c.1900) and refrigeration
  (which for most people meant before 1950), much
  of Londons economy was concerned with food
  supply. Animals were brought to London for
  slaughter close to the markets.
• Fruit and vegetables were grown around London and
  brought in by cart or boat.
• Cows were kept in London to provide milk.

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• Beer Street by William Hogarth, 1751
• Physical contact is part of the good society.

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• William Hogarth Gin Lane, 1751. Lack of
  contact creates disorder in social space?

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Beer Street and Gin Lane

• The artist William Hogarth was appalled at the
  misery caused by lethal cheap gin. Partly as a
  result of his print, it was brought under
  control.

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• The Bedford Estate in Bloomsbury. Projection of
  future streets, 1795
• Aristocratic houses give way to streets and
  squares for professionals.

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• Extending polite London plan for the Bedford
  Estate, 1800
• Note the alignment changes in the street grids
  owing to old roads and different property
  boundaries.

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• Drury Lane Theatre, from Ackermanns Microcosm of
  London, 1808-10. Mass entertainment and spectacle
  in Regency London.

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• St Lukes Hospital, from Ackermanns Microcosm of
  London, 1808-10

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• Regent Street, designed by John Nash, 1822

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• John Nashs Regent Street, stretching from St
  Jamess Park to Regents Park.

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• The March of Intellect cartoon of 1827

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• Gas light in the streets, c.1822

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• Euston Station, opened 1837, the first London
  mainline station.

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• Building the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park for the
  Great Exhibition, 1851

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• Urban poverty, from The Builder, 1854

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• Railways in outer London opened between 1852 and
  1875

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• Developers houses for the middle classes the
  Eton College Estate, Chalk Farm

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• Bye-law houses, built after 1870. Close rows,
  back yards, no trees.

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• First underground journey on the Metropolitan
  Line, 1862

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• Regeneration in 1900 the Old Nichol becomes the
  Boundary Street Estate, LCC Architects

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• Shiplake House, Boundary Street Estate, 1895

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• London Electric Railways map, 1906

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• Suburban semi-detached housing grows - Hendon and
  the Great North Road in 1939

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• Bomb damage around St Pauls Cathedral

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• The growth of built-up London, seen as a reason
  to halt expansion, reduce population in the
  centre, and move population into new towns
  further away from London, such as Harlow,
  Stevenage and Crawley.

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• Traffic segregation. Illustration from The County
  of London Plan, Penguin Books 1945

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• Before and after zoning County of London Plan
  1945

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• West Hill, Wandsworth. Council housing. Safe,
  respectable, boring?

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Trellick Tower, 1967

• Heroic landmark or urban hell?
• Architect Ernö Goldfinger
• Now a listed building and a fashionable address

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• 1972 Can Britains capital survive the onslaught
  of the developers?

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• Warning of 1666 cartoon from How Should we
  rebuild London?, after the Second World War

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The Official End of Zoning, 1999

• The concept of zoning is increasingly losing its
  meaning.With the barriers between home, work, and
  leisure continuing to break down, the future
  emphasis of development plans should be on
  promoting flexible designations which enable
  mixing of uses and the ability to change the mix
  over time
• Towards an Urban Renaissance, 1999

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Some questions

• What are the forces that shape cities? Geography
  and commerce? (material causes)
• Ideas about right living and right behaviour?
  (Ancient Roman, Christian, Socialist, Ecological)
• Professional expertise? (planners, architects)
• The people who live there? (struggle for a better
  life, political action)
• How can London become a sustainable city?