Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

History - Archive Articles

Latest news articles about London’s long history.

The little noticed frieze on Temple Bar Monument
The little noticed frieze on Temple Bar Monument

The little noticed frieze on Temple Bar Monument

Where once a mighty stone gate stood baring the entrance to the City of London now stands a tall ornate monument.

Sep
30
2014

World’s oldest clock museum to move home

The world's oldest clock museum has closed to the public -- because it is about to move home.

Sep
26
2014
Did you visit the Temple of Mithras in 1954?
Did you visit the Temple of Mithras in 1954?

Did you visit the Temple of Mithras in 1954?

This September marks sixty years since the discovery of the Roman Temple of Mithras under a building site near to Mansion House in the City of London.

Sep
25
2014
Brixton’s Electric Avenue to glow again
Brixton’s Electric Avenue to glow again

Brixton’s Electric Avenue to glow again

The first shopping street in the UK to be lit by electricity is to get a makeover after the Heritage Lottery Fund allocated a £2.6 million grant to refurbish buildings along the street.

Sep
25
2014
Brunels’s original rail infrastructure excavated near Paddington Station
Brunels’s original rail infrastructure excavated near Paddington Station

Brunels’s original rail infrastructure excavated near Paddington Station

Remains of structures built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for his Great Western Railway have been unearthed near Paddington in west London.

Sep
23
2014
Inside the derelict Crystal Palace subway
Inside the derelict Crystal Palace subway

Inside the derelict Crystal Palace subway

Just under 150 years ago, a subway was built linking a railway station to a shopping arcade, but was closed 60 years ago, and has been largely sealed up ever since. Which is a pity as it is a true marvel of Victorian brickwork.

Sep
06
2014
100th anniversary of THAT famous poster
100th anniversary of THAT famous poster

100th anniversary of THAT famous poster

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the publishing of one of the most famous posters from WW1 -- the one of Lord Kitchener pointing a finger at the viewer telling them that their country needs them.

Sep
05
2014
Prefab Museum saved till 2017
Prefab Museum saved till 2017

Prefab Museum saved till 2017

A temporary museum that chronicles the soon to be terminated permanence of a temporary housing estate has itself started to ape its subjects by becoming increasingly permanent itself.

Aug
30
2014
150th anniversary of the Thames Valley Railway
150th anniversary of the Thames Valley Railway

150th anniversary of the Thames Valley Railway

Just under 150 years ago, a new railway line opened linking Shepperton to Twickenham. As with so many grand railway schemes, grand plans to expand it further came to nothing, but 150 years later, that little bit of railway is still there, and still very much in use.

Aug
18
2014
The Illustrated London News goes online
The Illustrated London News goes online

The Illustrated London News goes online

The Illustrated London News -- that venerable newspaper that is still technically publishing, albeit very rarely -- has published something.

Aug
17
2014
People abseiling down Big Ben’s clock face
People abseiling down Big Ben’s clock face

People abseiling down Big Ben’s clock face

Something to look out for -- as people will be abseiling down Big Ben's clock face next week

Aug
15
2014
For 100 years, it’s been a Long Way to Tipperary
For 100 years, it’s been a Long Way to Tipperary

For 100 years, it’s been a Long Way to Tipperary

On this day, 100 years ago was the first reported observation of soldiers singing the music hall song, It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary, which was to become one of the most famous songs of World War 1.

Aug
13
2014
TV show about London Underground’s flood barriers
TV show about London Underground’s flood barriers

TV show about London Underground’s flood barriers

Next week, the BBC's Coast TV programme will have a segment about the flood barriers that were installed on the London Underground at the start of WW2.

Aug
07
2014
Visit a museum in the middle of an MoD firing range
Visit a museum in the middle of an MoD firing range

Visit a museum in the middle of an MoD firing range

A hundred years ago, a man died, and in doing so set in chain a series of events that was to see a large island off the coast of Essex sealed off from the general public, and it remains so to this very day.

Aug
05
2014
A mighty memorial to the dead of WW1 in Canary Wharf
A mighty memorial to the dead of WW1 in Canary Wharf

A mighty memorial to the dead of WW1 in Canary Wharf

Somewhat hidden at the moment, around the back next to a fire exit, can be found a mighty memorial to those who died during the two great wars of the last century.

Aug
04
2014
Remembrance Wreaths being lain at London Transport locations today
Remembrance Wreaths being lain at London Transport locations today

Remembrance Wreaths being lain at London Transport locations today

If you travel around London today, keep an eye out for remembrance wreaths laid at key transport locations -- in memory of transport staff who died in WW1.

Aug
04
2014
Queen Anne is Dead
Queen Anne is Dead

Queen Anne is Dead

Early this morning, 300 years ago, Queen Anne died, and set in place the events that would lead to the Georgian era of Monarchs.

Aug
01
2014
This Friday — visit the Clown’s Museum in Dalston
This Friday — visit the Clown’s Museum in Dalston

This Friday — visit the Clown’s Museum in Dalston

For a good many years, once a month, the clowns come out to play, but not any more. A church they played in has turned into a school, so the clowns are in a side room.

Jul
29
2014
How Charing Cross railway station was nearly demolished
How Charing Cross railway station was nearly demolished

How Charing Cross railway station was nearly demolished

Earlier this year I noted the 150th anniversary of the opening of London's Charing Cross railway station, but it came very close to being a eulogy for a long since closed station.

Jul
27
2014
Find the Tyburn Stone
Find the Tyburn Stone

Find the Tyburn Stone

A macabre relic of mass murder can be found sitting, almost unnoticed in the posh entrance of a London hotel.

Jul
21
2014
Enduring War: Grief, Grit and Humour
Enduring War: Grief, Grit and Humour

Enduring War: Grief, Grit and Humour

A modest but thought provoking exhibition has opened at the British Library that looks at the letters sent and propaganda printed during World War One.

Jul
15
2014
Rare opening of a Roman Bathhouse in London
Rare opening of a Roman Bathhouse in London

Rare opening of a Roman Bathhouse in London

Hidden underneath an uninspiring City office block is one of London's most important roman ruins, and it has a rare open day tomorrow (Sunday).

Jul
12
2014
Upminster Windmill gets restoration funding
Upminster Windmill gets restoration funding

Upminster Windmill gets restoration funding

One of London's surviving windmills is to be saved, following the award of a £1.4 million grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Jul
12
2014
30 years ago today – smoking banned in London’s tube trains
30 years ago today – smoking banned in London’s tube trains

30 years ago today – smoking banned in London’s tube trains

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the banning of smoking in London's tube trains. Not a total ban on the entire underground, just inside the trains, a decision which was to have tragic consequences just a few years later.

Jul
09
2014