History - Archive Articles

A look at a 600 year old “timber cathedral” just outside Heathrow

A tiny shade under 600 years ago, Winchester College needed a new barn to replace an older one on some land it owned just outside what is today Heathrow Airport.

In Memoriam: Good King Richard – betrayed, maligned, beloved

On this day in the year 1485, King Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth, the last British Monarch to die in battle on English soil. He was also the last king of the House of York and the…

The remains of Duffield’s Sluice in Bermondsey

If you were to take a walk along the Thames riverside in Bermondsey, you might come across a slightly run-down looking building with an imposing stone plaque on the wall indicating a great heritage.

See London’s best preserved Roman floor in a Church Crypt

If you were to visit a certain Church in the City of London and go down into its crypt museum, almost overlooked under the stairs you can find one of the most perfectly preserved tessellated Roman pavements in the City.…

Over 300 vintage London Transport posters to go on sale

The posh auction house, Christie’s is holding a sale of over 300 original advertising posters dating from 1913 to 1955. The sale is of posters direct from the archives of London Transport Museum (LTM), so not a private collection built…

Chance to see inside a vast forgotten Victorian railway waiting room

There is a hidden marvel at Peckham Rye train station, and it is open to the public on Saturday - the former waiting room. However, this is no mere station waiting room of the sort we might see today, but a vast space with stunning roof.

A 15th century Clock Tower is fund raising for urgent repairs

There has been a church tower on the banks of the Thames in Fulham for over 600 years ringing out the hours and calls to prayer, and I was given a chance to have a climb up the 15th century…

95th Anniversary of the Founding of the House of Windsor

Today marks the 95th anniversary of the decision by the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to change its name to the House of Windsor. Responding to general anti-german sentiment, King George V issued a Proclamation dissolving any association and rights…

The myth of the King Charles I bust opposite Parliament

A little curiosity is mounted on the outside wall of St Margaret's Church next to Westminster Abbey in the form of a lead bust of King Charles I.

Today marks the 800th Anniversary of the Great Fire of Southwark

Today marks what is possibly the 800th anniversary of the Great Fire of Southwark - which burst forth around the 10th July 1212.

The Old Jewel Tower of Westminster Palace

Of the several towers extant within Westminster, one of the more overlooked, literally as well as figuratively has to be the Jewel Tower that sits in a little corner opposite Parliament.

The (rejected) 2001 Monolith is on display by Tower Bridge

It may not look like it, but this 11-foot wide sculpture is the original model for the iconic Monolith used in the film, 2001 and it is on permanent display in St Katherine Docks, next to Tower Bridge.

Crossrail puts a skeleton on public display

Just for one day though, but Crossrail are holding an exhibition to show off some of the historic items their archaeological team has dug up since surface level digging started.

How Big Ben originally got its Nickname

With the news that the Clock Tower at the Palace of Westminster is to be renamed Elizabeth Tower, comes the usual speculation about how the huge bell within got its nickname of Big Ben.

A list of Monarchs by marriage

One of the many historic modifications of the TV series, The Tudors is that Henry VIII is shown as a comparatively young man when divorcing Catherine of Aragon, when in fact he was in his forties. Likewise, it was not…

Fantasy Architecture: Restore the Regent Street Colonnade

Regent Street in central London, while looking very impressive and of a certain age, is a relatively modern street, with a layout that is just under 200 years old -- replacing old slums -- and the buildings that line it today are themselves only around 100 years old as well.

Steam Trains return to the Epping Ongar Railway

Over the weekend, the inhabitants of Ongar in Essex got extremely excited as the disused railway linking the town to Epping returned to life again - as a steam railway service.

The world’s oldest surviving wooden church

If I told you that the world's oldest wooden church is not in a dusty part of Palestine or Ethiopia, but in the green fields of the UK, you might be surprised. Even more so if I pointed out that it is just outside London.

A look around Chipping Ongar Church and Castle

St Martins Church Chipping Ongar Peeking out behind some wonky wooden buildings on Chipping Ongar’s main street is a glimpse of the ancient town church, which is nearly a thousand years old. Built around the time of the Norman Conquest…

A bookshop has opened inside the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner

Wellington Arch, the huge triumphal pile of stone at Hyde Park Corner has gained a tiny bookshop inside the arch itself – oh, and a new exhibition area upstairs. I doubt many people who casually wander past the huge archway…

London’s Lost Suspension Railway at Kings Cross

A full twenty years before steam trains started arriving at the new station of King's Cross, a small monorail suspension railway had operated on the opposite side of the road.

Three heritage events along the Central Line

A terrestrial alignment of heritage took place on Saturday as I found three heritage related events taking place within a few stops of each other on the Central Line. First stop was also underground related as the Post Office’s overflow…

100 days until the…

As the news media will be obsessed today with 100 days, I thought I would join in the joyous celebrations of 100 days to the 27th July 2012. It is also, for example just 100 days until the 31st anniversary…

Two overlooked lumps of old London Bridge

One of those “I never knew that” moments as I was rushing over London Bridge towards the tube station and going around the spike I dodged two stone plinths that people normally sit on. Out of the corner of my…