22nd October. You wouldn’t think there was much evidence of Roman London
today, (or Londinium, as it would have been called then) some 1800 years after
the Romans left Britain. Today Pauline Hedges took us on a guided tour to
demonstrate that there is actually quite a lot of it to be seen, just by
wandering around the City. This tour was arranged a year ago, following a tour
of the Financial areas of the City of London, also guided by Pauline. We had
such a good time last year that we
decided there and then to do another trip a year later, when we would
visit Roman London.
Londinium circa 200 A.D.
As usual, we gathered at Shepperton station for the 9.45 a.m.
train to Waterloo. We were 17 in number, and most of us elected to obtain a
group ticket, which meant an all zones day ticket to London cost us just £9.10
each. A few of us made other
arrangements. Mark Steptoe is a season ticket holder, and was able to obtain a
ticket for himself and Jenny free of charge. Des and Moira were heading to the
West End after the walk, so used their senior Railcards for a discounted fare
to Waterloo. So none of us paid the full
price for a rail ticket, which pleased us immensely.
All aboard the train at Shepperton
The guided tour started earlier than I had expected. As we
passed through Fulwell station, Doreen pointed out that this is where she went
to school. I tried to get a photograph of this historic site but the train was
moving too fast. A little later, somewhere near New Malden, Mark pointed out
the very building where he used to work. Yes, the very building!
Doreen's old school - Thames Valley Grammar
I wasn’t going to be left out of this, and when we arrived
at Vauxhall station I made sure everyone was aware that this is where I got off
the train during my commuting years. Mark, a fountain of knowledge on many
subjects told us that in the early days of railways, a delegation of Russians
came to learn about this new transport system. Members of Parliament took them to
the nearest station which was Vauxhall. When the Russians asked what it was
called, meaning the type of building, they were misunderstood, and were told it was called Vauxhall.
Thus it came about that the Russian word for station is ‘vauxhall’. Strange but true
.
Vauxhall Station
Upon arrival at Waterloo, we went our separate ways for 10
minutes for a ‘comfort break’, arranging to meet in the usual Waterloo meeting
place, under the clock. From there it didn’t take long to go down the
escalators to the London-City line, and a few minutes later we emerged from
Bank station and crossed the road to the
Royal Exchange. Here we met up with our
tour guide Pauline, and off we went on our quest for Roman London. Most of it
lies 7 yards under our feet, but parts of it can still be seen, as we were to
discover.
On the steps of the Royal Exchange
Pauline tells us about the Bank of England, behind us
The City is divided into numerous wards, which were
established in Medieval Times, and it wasn’t long before we were walking
through the ward of Cheap. The word in old English means ‘Market’. An
interesting aspect to this part of the walk was the large number of livery
halls we passed, including the Mercers, Goldsmiths and Saddlers. The most famous of all is the 15th
Century Guildhall itself, a magnificent building which I was fortunate to visit
many years ago. Inside it has two giant statues, called Gog and Magog.
The Guildhall
Pauline showed us a number of public gardens in the City.
Apparently there are dozens of them within the square mile, mostly very small,
but they provide a tranquil place to sit or stroll for City workers. We had a
walk around one of them ourselves, I can’t remember which one. There was a
board in the garden showing a map of all the green spaces in the City of
London. You could easily spend a relaxing day just strolling around these
gardens.
A City garden
We passed the Barbican, the 20th Century walled
City, on our way to London Wall, a street which gives a useful clue to what
might be found there. This is where the PDG and I met up with the Lord Mayor’s
procession a couple of years ago. Today however we were here to view the
remains of the actual Roman wall, which can clearly be seen. There has been
some restoration work, but if you look closely it is still possible to see
Roman workmanship in the wall. The Museum of London is also here, and Pauline
suggested that we come back and spend some time in this Museum, which has
amazing displays on the subject of Roman London.
A piece of the actual wall which surrounded Londinium
Narrow medieval streets
Walking past the famous bells of St Mary-le -Bow, the time was
just after 12 noon and we heard the bell rather strangely chime 4 times.
Shortly afterwards it chimed another 4 times. I assumed it was striking 12 but
taking its time over it. Pauline explained how the prevailing wind is from the
west, which explains why only East Londoners can claim to be born within the
sound of Bow, and are therefore true Cockneys. Mark Steptoe, born in West
London, sadly cannot make this claim, even if he wanted to. The bells are also
credited with persuading Dick Whittington to return to London, and of course
are mentioned in the Nursery Rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’
The clock tower - St Mary-Le-Bow
A plaque nearby
As our walk continued it was interesting to come across fascinating
road names which clearly indicated the activities which went on there, for
instance Milk Street, Poultry, and Pudding Lane. If you were looking for a
brothel in medieval times, you would go to Love Lane or Cock Street (it's true, believe it or not). Wardrobe
Place really was the place monarchs kept their state clothing, and Mincing Lane
was actually named after nuns from a nearby Church who lived there. The
Medieval word for a nun was mynchen, from which Mincing Lane derives.
Fancy gate post at a City garden
All too soon we were back at our starting point. Des and
Moira left us to go shopping in the West End whilst the rest of us headed off
to Waterloo, from where we walked down to the South bank for lunch. Ken
suggested a Restaurant called The Archduke, which he had been in before and
found to be good. So in we went, and
were very impressed. The Restaurant sits among railway arches, but the upstairs
area we sat in had a super view to the London Wheel and the Thames beyond. If I
ever I feel like coming to London for the New Years Eve celebrations, I will
book this very table. Despite a large number of us turning up at no notice, the
staff couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful. The food was good quality
and unusually for London, reasonably priced. I had a home made burger with
stilton, which was quite delicious.
Archduke Restaurant
It had been another excellent guided tour in London, and
Pauline have already planned next year’s tour, which will be Chaucer and
Shakespeare’s London, including the Globe Theatre. I can’t wait.
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