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HISTORY
of LONDON
The
Romans
The Romans came to England in AD 43. They built a town on
the River Thames. The name of the town was Londinium.
The Romans chose a good place for the town. It was easy to cross
the river there. Soon, they built a bridge over the river.
Londinium got bigger and bigger. Ships came to the town from all
over Europe. The Romans built roads from Londinium to other
parts of Britain.
By the year 400, there were fifty thousand people in Londinium. Soon after 400, the Romans left Britain. We do not know very
much about Londinium between the years 400 and 1000.
William
the Conqueror
In 1066, William the Conqueror came to England. William came
from Normandy in France. He became King of England and lived in
London.
But William was afraid of the people of London. He built a big
building for himself - the White Tower. Now it is part of the
Tower of London. Many tourists visit the Tower of London every year. The Crown
Jewels - the Queen's gold and diamonds - are kept there.
All the Kings and Queens of England lived in London. It was the
biggest town in England. By 1600, there were more than two
hundred thousand, people in London.
Shakespeare's
London
Shakespeare was bom in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. Later, he
lived in London. Shakespeare wrote thirty-six plays. They are
still read and acted all over the world.
The plays were acted in the Globe Theatre. The theatre was demolished
in 1644.
The
Great Fire
The houses in Shakespeare's London were built very close to
one another. They were made of wood. Sometimes there were small
fires.
On Saturday 2nd September 1666, there was a big fire. lt started in the house of the King's baker, in Pudding Lane,
near London Bridge.
The baker's wífe woke up in the middle of the night. The house
was burning. Soon the next house started burning. Then the next
and the next ... The fire bumed until Thursday.
Most of London was burnt. A quarter of a million people lost
their homes.
Dickens'
London
People built houses again after the Great Fire. But they
built them of stone and brick.
The city grew larger and larger. By 1830, there were more than
one and a half million people in London.
The railways came. There were factories all over the city.
London became richer and richer.
But there were also other changes. The city became dark and
dirty. The air was full of smoke. People lived in very bad
houses. Some very poor people did not have houses. They slept in
buildings with beds for homeless people.
Charles Dickens lived from 1812 to 1870. He lived in London for
many years. In his books we read about London at that time.
We read about the rich people in their big houses. And we read
about the poor people. Many of the London poor had little to
eat.
Most children did not go to school. Some of them worked all day
in factories. Other children lived in the streets. Every day
children died in the streets of London.
But London is better now. The city is much cleaner. And many
Londoners work in offices or shops. But a lot of people still
work in factories.
The
River Thames
The River Thames is part of London's history. The Romans
built Londinium beside the river. It was a small town then. Now,
it is a very large city. But the River Thames is still the
centre of London.
Until 1749, there was only one bridge across the river: London
Bridge. The old London Bridge looked very strange. There were
houses and shops on the bridge.
The water did not flow under the bridge quickly. Often, the
river froze in winter. The water became ice. The people walked
on the river. There were cafés and restaurants on the ice.
In the nineteenth century, many new bridges were built. Now
there are more than twenty bridges over the Thames in London.
Source:
Philip Prowse (Heinemann) |
