National Heritage List for England

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Greater London covers approximately 600 square miles, most of it built over the last hundred years.It is bisected by the Thames which has profoundly influenced its evolution. Here we see the first road network, built over 2000 years ago, which extended across England. The knot of streets at the centre... ...formed the Roman port of Londinium, whose population peaked at an estimated 25-30,000. This covered roughly the square mile of the City of London today. Virtually nothing of Roman London survives above ground.However precious archaeological finds have been protected, shown here in the City in red and here in the whole of Greater London in yellow. In the 5th century the Romans abandoned Londinium and left Britain. Invading Saxons created a new port to the west, and a link to a church at Westminster. Isolated farmsteads were built in the countryside beyond. Many of these areas still use Saxon placenames, recognisable by endings such as -ham, -ton, -wich, and -worth. From the 9th century London grew again within the Roman walls. Medieval villages developed on Saxon sites, connected by a network of winding roads. Here we see the position of Saxon and Medieval sites protected today.Few intact examples from this long period of London’s history survive. The Tudor period saw a growth in population after centuries of famine and plague, and a substantial increase in trade and wealth. Much redevelopment occurred following Henry VIII’s destruction of London’s religious sites, and by 1600 a population of c200,000 was bursting its city walls. Here we see the location of protected Tudor structures today. The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed three-quarters of London and most of its Medieval, Tudor and early 17th century heritage. Afterwards houses and businesses sprang up along the old Medieval streets and expanded organically outside the city walls. Here are sites of surviving, protected 17th century structures. Many examples were lost after the Fire, in early 20th century slum clearances As yet there is no road network information for Greater London as a whole, for either the 17th century or Tudor period. Between 1714 and 1840 London’s power increased. Its population grew from 630,000 to 2 million and it overtook Beijing as the largest city in the world. A dense network of roads now connected London’s historic villages to its core. A relatively high proportion of Georgian buildings has survived. partly as post fire buildings had to be built of fireproof brick, not timber. Today most intact Georgian structures are listed. There are more listed buildings from this period of London’s history than any other. Many however were lost to commercial development in the first half of the 20th century, before the ‘listing’ of Georgian buildings began. London’s Victorian population grew from 2 to 6 million and thousands of buildings were built, as Britain became the most powerful country in the world. Significant amounts of demolition occurred from the 1940 up until the late 1970s when their adaptability and usefulness began to be recognised. Here we see protected early Victorian builidngs. The scale of Victorian development has meant much survives, though more is protected through conservation area designation than listing. During the first half of the 20th century London's population was overtaken by New York's, and Britain’s industrial pre-eminence was challenged. Population declined and people left the centre for cleaner, greener suburbs, helped by new public transport. A green belt now limited urban growth. The first protection for sites and structures known as ‘scheduling’ began in 1913.However these early 20th listed buildings only began to be protected after WWII. The first protection for sites and structures known as ‘scheduling’ began in 1913. However these early 20th listed buildings only began to be protected after WWII. Listing was introduced in 1947 and diversified over the next decades. From the 1980s the very best post-war examples began to be included. Despite a decline in population, only recently reversed, London has physically expanded by around 60% in the past 100 years. Here we see all London’s listed buildings and scheduled monuments. These form only a tiny percentage of the capital's historic fabric today.