Dear Motley Officers, Crew & Friends, there are two cities in London. There is the city of London and the City of London. I know, it is too confusing. How did this come about?
As you know, Londinium was founded by the Romans. They ruled from 43 to 410 CE, during which time the city became the administrative centre of Britain. The city was largely deserted when the Romans left, and it was not until 886 that Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, occupied and began the resettlement of the old Roman walled city. Alfred rebuilt the dilapidated Roman walls (protecting the inhabitants from Viking raiders), built quays along the Thames, and laid out a new city street plan. The city was called Lunduntown at that time.
William of Normandy killed King Harold of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, before he advanced on London. When he arrived, he threatened to ransack the city, but the city negotiated a peaceful surrender. The price was a charter, that recognised the freedom & independence of the citizens of the City of London. This was to William’s benefit, since the city had become a wealthy international trade and financial centre.
However, the 11th Century was a dangerous time. William had to establish a secure presence against foreigners, but also Norman rule was not universally accepted by the natives; “certain strongholds were made in the town [London] against the fickleness of the vast and fierce populace1”. William built the White Tower, now part of the Tower of London, on the eastern edge of the city.
In 1130 King Henry I appointed a Sheriff2, and it is from this time that the ‘City of London Corporation’ governed the city. The office of Mayor was created, and there was a move towards civic independence for London.
In 1215 King John, having overextended himself at war with France, faced rebellion. He was forced to sign the Magna Carta. The Mayor of London was of sufficient importance that he joined the Barons as a signatory to the Magna Carta. The document states "the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties by land as well as by water".
This was the final approval of the liberties given to the city, but the unique position of the City of London was finally sealed in the 17th Century. There had always been tension between the City and the Crown. In the 1630s London was growing rapidly, extending to outside the ancient walls. King Charles I asked the City of London Corporation to extend their jurisdiction to the surrounding areas. The Corporation said “no”. This is sometimes called ‘the great refusal’. It solidified the City of London’s unique position, as it continues to be administered independently from the rest of London3.
If you had visited the City of London at the end of 1664, you would have found a busy, overcrowded city. The poor lived in hovels but the merchants and better off lived in half timber, half brick medieval houses. The houses were several stories high, and each floor overhung the one below, giving more space to the occupants. Two houses on opposite sides of the street could almost touch at the top level level, leaving the rooms at street level and the street itself in the gloom, with little fresh air. The rich, clergy and nobility had slowly migrated west to mansions along the Thames, between the City and Westminster, where Parliament and the Monarch resided (when in London).
Plague4 was a regular occurrence. At the end of 1665 the ‘Great Plague’ arrived, carried by rats, and by Spring it had spread throughout the city. The authorities thought the plague was spread by contact with an infected person, so they attempted to isolate infected families in their houses and painted a red cross on the door. Around 68,000 people died over a period of 18 months.
The loss of life led to economic collapse. There were no workers to make or transport goods, no customers to buy goods, servants & apprentices were sacked and had to beg for food. Grass grew on the streets.
And as if life could not be harder, on 2 September 1666, after a hot summer, the Great Fire of London started. The fire started around 2am, in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane (they sold savouries rather than cakes). As the diarist John Evelyn wrote:
“All the skie was of a fiery aspect, like the top of a burning oven, and the light seene above 40 miles round about for many nights. God grant my eyes may never behold the like, who now saw above 10,000 houses all in one flame: the noise, and cracking, and thunder of the impetuous flames, ye shrieking of women and children, the hurry of people, the fall of towers, houses, and churches, was like an hideous storme, and the aire all about so hot and inflam’d, that at last one was not able to approach it, so that they were forc’d to stand still and let ye flames burn on, wch they did for neere two miles in length and one in bredth. The clouds of smoke were dismall, and reach’d upon computation neer 50 miles in length”.
The fire burnt the city for four days. Officially, only six people died but there may have been others, such as beggars, unaccounted for.
The great fire changed the City of London completely. Four fifths of Medieval London was burnt: 13,000 houses and 90 churches. Over 100,000 people were made homeless. Many ancient buildings were destroyed including St Paul’s Cathedral. However, the fire also killed the rats (whose fleas carried the plague), and London had no further plague outbreaks.
King Charles II and many architects saw this as an opportunity to rebuild the city in a grand and more convenient way. But it was hard to identify who owned what, when everything was covered in ash & rubble (some buildings were demolished during the fire to provide fire breaks). Also, the cost was astronomical. But some streets were widened, the first raised pavements were built, and the Fleet River made into a canal (later covered over). There were new building regulations, and house walls had to be of brick or stone. The city was gradually rebuilt, though it mostly followed the medieval street layout. In the meantime, many people migrated out of the city into the newly developed areas to the west.
Sir Christopher Wren was very busy at this time. He took responsibility for building St Paul’s (completed in 1708), and 51 other churches. He also designed ‘The Monument’ a memorial to the Great Fire.
The 18th Century was a period of rapid growth for London, reflecting an increasing national population, the start of the Industrial Revolution, and London's role at the centre of the British Empire – especially financially. In the 19th Century many of the city’s inhabitants moved out to the suburbs, and houses were demolished to build office blocks. During World War II (1939 to 1945), large areas of the city were bombed. The result is a large number of modern buildings juxtaposed with mostly Victorian buildings, but occasionally there is an ancient building that escaped the Great Fire of London.
The City of London is roughly one square mile or 717 acres (nearly 3 km²) in size. It is sometimes called ‘the square mile’ or just ‘the City’. The Lord Mayor of London (not the same person as the Mayor of London) and the councillors are a self-governing unit running the City of London, within the larger city of London. They also run the police authority for the City, and look after five central London bridges. The City remains the financial centre of the UK. The City of London has around 8,000 residents, 513,000 daily commuters (pre-pandemic) and 10 million annual visitors.
The City maintains some medieval customs. For instance, a freeman (or woman) of the City of London is now an honorary, symbolic title but in the Middle Ages it meant that someone was free to earn money and buy land within the city. It is believed that the first Freedom was presented in 1237. The privileges included being able to drive livestock over London Bridge, and through the city without paying a toll. Every year, some Freemen and the Lord Mayor drive sheep over London Bridge, for charity. Click here to see a video about it.
The Monarch still maintains the courtesy of declaring his or her intent of entering the City, by asking the Lord Mayor for ‘permission’, which of course is always granted.
As always, any links are provided to give the reader more information. I do not make any money from these links. Where possible permissions have been sought for the use of images and text, unless they are in the Public Domain. If there is an issue with copyright, please contact me. I am an amateur historian covering a wide range of subjects. I do careful research using secondary sources (books, articles, videos and a little bit of Wikipedia). If there are any mistakes I apologise, and please let me know.
Contemporary French chronicler, William of Poitiers.
The Sheriff was responsible for the collection of all rents, debts and fines due to the King, and the enforcement of law and order.
London is administratively called ‘Greater London’. It consists of the 32 London boroughs, and the City of London.
For more about the plague read my Motley Talk about the subject.