History - Archive Articles

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.

Find the Tyburn Stone

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

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.

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).

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).

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.

The fragment of London’s Roman Wall hidden in a car park

Dotted around London can be found various remnants of the original Roman Wall that once encircled it, yet one fragment is rarely seen, despite being in full view of those who know where to find it.

London’s lost bridge across the Thames at Blackwall

For nearly 1,700 years, the only bridge across the Thames was the famous London bridge, until Putney Bridge was constructed in 1726. Yet London very nearly had another bridge crossing the Thames, which may have been in fact constructed, at least in part before being abandoned.

Old and modern photos of London Bridges – blended

The Museum of London Docklands has released some hybrid photographs showing 'then and now' views of London and its most iconic bridges across the ages.

A temporary museum to the history of Queens Market

A small exhibition about the history of East London's Queens Market has popped up inside the market itself.

South London’s Severndroog Castle to reopen to the public

After decades of closure, South London's very own castle is to be opened to the public again.

More Blue Plaques planned for London

Despite all the media fuss about the death of the Blue Plaque a couple of years ago, they are still going strong, and nominations has opened for more of them to be installed on buildings.

A Victorian shop and a roof garden at John Lewis

Up on the 3rd floor of the 1960s John Lewis building on Oxford Street can be found a relic of Victorian times -- a full shop frontage of what the first John Lewis fabric store probably looked like.

Last chance to visit the De Morgan Centre before it closes

You have less than a month left to visit the De Morgan Centre before it closes its doors, possibly for a very long time. The what centre?

Post Office Railway a step closer to offering public tours

Plans to open the mothballed Post Office Railway to the public as part of a new museum got a boost today when the Heritage Lottery Fund allocated a £4.5 million grant to the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA).

We are living in the era of Phantom Time

In the year 614, exactly 1,400 years ago, Europe entered the era of Phantom Time, from which we have never escaped as 300 years of history mysteriously appeared in our calendars where it shouldn't be.

Walking through a Tunnel under the Thames — Part 1

Earlier today, people queued up outside Rotherhithe Station for a rare chance to walk through a railway tunnel under the Thames. Yet next to them ran another tunnel, also under the Thames and also equally rarely walked through.

Rare photograph of London in 1845 gets first ever public display

A new exhibition opens next month at the Museum of London Docklands that offers a chance to see a rare photograph of a long lost bridge over the Thames.

Film screening – Glimpses of Lost London 1930-1980

For one week from this Friday, the Hackney Playhouse will be screening Seven Streets, Two Markets and A Wedding, a collection of vintage film clips all about London.

Parliament appoints a Suffragette Artist-in-Residence

Parliament has commissioned an artist, Mary Branson as its official "Suffragette Artist-in-Residence" to develop a permanent work of art to commemorate the women's suffrage campaign.

Ewell’s tiny historic gaol

A small building can be found off the High Street in Ewell that has a long heritage, as a jail.

BBC archive of old London programmes

It's a boring Bank Holiday, so what better than to watch a load of old BBC programmes about London's buses, buildings and tube tunnels?

Petrie Museum putting 3D-scans of ancient Egyptian objects online

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, that delightfully dusty museum in Bloomsbury has entered the modern age with a new 3D graphics library.

150th anniversary of the Southwark Park Act

On this day 150 years ago, Southwark Park was born. Or at least, the government approved the law that was to see the park created, as a recreational space for local dock workers in Rotherhithe and Deptford.