Edinburgh from Arthur’s Seat. Castle to the left, St Giles the ’rounded’ spire in the middle, and Salisbury Crags to the right
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
This is my select booklist for Edinburgh, one of my favourite towns. Strangely, heading it up is a book based in London, and written in Bournemouth. However, Stephenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a very Edinburgh book but published in London on January 9th 1886.
What makes it fit for an Edinburgh booklist? Firstly, Edinburgh is the best place for a science-based Gothic Horror Novella. A City made for Ghost Tours, but with a scientific legacy arguably second to none. One of the inspirations for the book was the story of Deacon Brodie. He was a cabinetmaker who rose to be Deacon (president) of the craft of cabinetmaking. Therefore, he had wealthy clients and was impeccably respectable. When he went to his clients houses, or made them locked cabinets, he would copy the locks using wax moulds. Then he and his team would rob the house. He hid a cache of keys underneath Salisbury Crags which you can see above.
To cut a long story short, he made an attempt on robbing the Excise Office in Canongate, Edinburgh, on March 5th 1788. The heist failed, one of the robbers turned King’s Evidence. So Brodie fled to one of his mistresses in London, then to the Continent. But he was relentlessly pursued and captured in Amsterdam. He was brought back to face trial, found guilty, and hanged on a new scaffold, which he may just have had a part in designing.
Stevenson had cabinets made by William Brodie and as a young man produced a play about him. He was intrigued by the idea of a wealthy man having a dual life. The idea itself, seems obvious but the expression a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character is still often used to describe someone with two opposing sides to their characters. The idea of duality provides many ways to look at the book. Edinburgh itself was a duality. There was the old, filthy, higgledy-piggledy Old Town on top of the Volcanic Ridge, with the spacious New Town in the Valley below, with modern wealthy houses providing healthy homes for the rich. The idea of Two Cities, of the rich and the poor; the good and the evil; rationality and sensuality; hetero and homosexual fits well with Victorian Britain, but perhaps best into Victorian Edinburgh, the City of Burke and Hare. These famous Edinburgh serial killers were working for one of Europe’s greatest medical centres, where debate about Darwinism, and the powers of the brain were hotly debated in a City with a strong Presbyterian background.
In Bournemouth, Stevenson befriended the former Reverend Walter Jekyll, younger brother of gardener Gertrude Jekyll. He was probably homosexual and the author borrowed the name for the rational part of Jekyll and Hyde. At a time when to be gay was a crime, most gay people had to live a Jekyll and Hyde existence. In fact, Sodomy was a capital offence in Scotland until the year after the publication of the ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Strangely, in a book list I would encourage you to watch the 1920 silent film starring John Barrymore to enjoy its ghastly atmosphere. You can watch it for free on YouTube here.
Ian Rankin’s Rebus
Ian Rankin is a typographical author of the highest rank. Every story brings Edinburgh, its people and its history to life. And yet set in a very readable crime fiction envelope. The Rebus I chose was ‘Set in Darkness‘ because it has the Scottish Parliament at its heart. It begins with a body found in Queensbury House, which is being preserved and incorporated into the new Scottish Parliament buildings. Please read my post on the book (link below).
Queensberry House to the right, with the Scottish Parliament in the background. Royal Mile, Cannongate in the foreground. (Photo: K. Flude)
Recently published is ‘Edinburgh a New History’ by Alistair Moffat. This is an excellent summary of Edinburgh’s History. He has written a large number of books about Scotland. I particularly liked ‘Reivers‘ which is a great book about the border raiders, both North English and Scottish who raided the borderlands between Edinburgh and York during the 13th to the 17th Centuries. They inspired the young Walter Scott, who collected Reivers ballads before inventing the Historical Novel.
As to Walter Scot, our Blue Badge Guide for Edinburgh, considers his long descriptive passages unreadable. But I’m not so convinced, having read Ivanhoe and Rob Roy as a boy. But if I were to recommend a Walter Scot, it would be Heart of Midlothian as it is set in Edinburgh and deals with crime, poverty, urban riots and other manifestations of life in Edinburgh in the 18th Century.
Midlothian is the country around Edinburgh, named after the legendary Celtic King Loth. The Heart of Midlothian, is Edinburgh or more precisely, a heart marked out in the cobbles. It is located outside of St Giles, on the Royal Mile, where the Tollboth (townhall and prison) and execution site for the City used to be. To this day, Edinburghers (or more correctly, Dunediners) are supposed to spit on the heart for good luck.
Old Print of the Tollbooth with St Giles to the right of the print.
It is hard to exaggerate the importance of Walter Scot. Byron said he had read his books 50 times, and never travelled without them. Goethe said ‘he was a genius who does not have an equal.’ Pushkin said his influence was ‘felt in every province of the literature of his age. Balzac described him as ‘one of the noblest geniuses of modern times’. Jane Austen and Dickens loved his books. The point is he invented the Historical Novel, and for the first time, as Carlyle wrote, he showed that history was made by people ‘with colour in their checks and passion in their stomachs.’ The only other person I can think of who was held in such universal regard was Tolstoy. There is also sense in which Scott invented our modern idea of Scotland, with its kilts and bagpipes.
The Scottish Enlightenment
A walk through the centre of Edinburgh has so many statues of people who made the modern world it is astonishing. So you should read: ‘The Scottish Enlightenment – the Scots Invention of the modern world‘ by Arthur Herman.
Burke and Hare: The True Story Behind the Infamous Edinburgh Murderers by Owen Dudley-Edwards
The story of Burke and Hare is well known, but it shows how important Edinburgh was as a medical centre in the early 19th Century. Bodies were shipped to Edinburgh from the London docks, such was the demand for bodies for anatomy teaching. Arthur Conan Doyle got his medical training here from a man called Joseph Bell, whose logical mind was the model for Sherlock Holmes.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
My last choice is Murial Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie set in a school in Edinburgh where the teacher singles out 6 of her pupils for special education. She wants to give them a cultured outlook in life which includes her own fascistic views. Made into a wonderful film starring Maggie Smith, but also a great book. It also, in a strange way, reinforces the huge legacy of the Scottish Education system. It is said that the Reformation brought to the Scots the idea that everyone should be educated enough to read the Bible in their own language. But it seems to me the Scots had a particular understanding of the importance of Education before the Reformation. St Andrews University was founded in 1410, Glasgow in 1410, Aberdeen in 1495 and Edinburgh in 1510.
Of course, you should read some poetry by Burns, and I would begin with Tam O’Shanter the story of Tam, Maggie his horse and Nannie, the witch with the short skirt (Cutty Sark). The version above (see link) is read over a comic novel of the poem. But if you prefer the words, this is the one I read for my groups where I ruin the Scots dialect, and disgrace myself, but oh how I enjoy it! www.poetryfoundation.org tam-o-shanter
St Distaff Day. Spinning—showing the distaff in the left hand and the spindle or rock in the right hand
I’m not sure what the Three Kings were doing on the day after Epiphany. But, the shepherds, if they were like medieval English farmworkers, would still be on holiday. They went back to work, traditionally, next Monday, which is Plough Monday – (See my post here). This year, January 12th. By contrast, the women, according to folk customs, went back to work on St. Distaff Day, the day after Epiphany. Today, January 7th. In an ideal world, St Distaff’s Day is the Sunday after Epiphany (January 11th), and Plough Monday is the next day. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. I am not sure the woman going back to work on the 7th January, would be happy with the men lounging about until Plough Monday? An extra 4 days off! Maybe, St Distaff Day was normally on the Sunday before Plough Monday?
Distaffs and Women’s Work
A distaff is ‘a stick or spindle on to which wool or flax is wound for spinning’. Because of its importance in the medieval and early modern economy, it became a synecdoche for women. St Distaff is a ‘canonisation’ of this use of the word. So, a day to celebrate working women.
We know that medieval and early modern women were a vital part of the workforce, despite the demands of childcare. Many women took on apprenticeships, even more continued their husband’s work after he died. Some professions like silk became a female speciality. Many taverns were run by the Alewife. Plus, London was full of female servants and nurses. Many women had several jobs.
The exhibition at the British Library on Medieval Women. In Their Own Words, indicated that most of the sex workers had two or more other jobs. But even if a woman remained solely in the domestic realm, the wife had to be mistress of a formidable range of technologies. Baking, Brewing, Cooking, Laundry, Gardening, Dairy, Medicine (including distillation), horticulture, spinning, sewing and embroidery. Even, aristocratic women did embroidery of the finest quality, and it often made an important financial contribution to the household. They also ran the household, which means they had to have a formidable range of managerial skills. Dealing with servants, managing the accounts etc.
Chatelaine.
The other symbol of ‘women’s work’ was the Chatelaine. The word also means keeper of the Castle. But women who controlled households had a clasp that hung from the waist. It was a bit like a Swiss Knife as it had the keys, and all sorts of other useful items. Here is an old photo of the Chatelaine from the collection of the Old Operating Theatre Museum, of which I was the Director for 25 years. From left to right it has a pencil, a little notepad, a pill dispenser, a pair of scissors, a little bucket that held a dose of medicine, a whistle to summon urgent assistance. These were not only useful but a symbol of authority for the Matron. 19th Century.
St Distaff Day and Plough Monday
Robert Herrick (1591–1674), born in Cheapside, London, a Goldsmith, priest, Royalist and Poet wrote in ‘Hesperides’.
Partly work and partly play You must on St. Distaff’s Day: From the plough, soon free your team; Then come home and fother them; If the maids a-spinning go, Burn the flax and fire the tow. Bring in pails of water then, Let the maids bewash the men. Give St. Distaff all the right; Then bid Christmas sport good night, And next morrow every one To his own vocation.
Herrick, I think is suggesting fun and games are to be had. The men burning the flax and firing the tow, The women soaking the men with pails of water. In this piece, he links the plough team with St Distaff Day. This implies that the ploughs would be out on the next day. So as St Distaff’s Day is not always on a Sunday, perhaps Plough Monday is not always on a Monday? He certainly suggests everyone goes back to work either on St Distaff Day or on the day after,
St Anne & St Agnes Church in London, Saints of the Distaff. Photo K Flude
Saints & Goddesses of the Distaff Side
In London, the Fraternity of St Anne and St Agnes met at the Church dedicated to the Saints. It is by a corner of the Roman Wall on the junction of Gresham Street and Noble Street. St Agnes is the patron saint of young girls, abused women and Girl Scouts. St Anne is the mother of the mother of the Son of God. So, together they represent the three generations of women: maidens, mothers, and grandmothers.
The Three Mother Goddesses (and someone else) “Limestone relief depicting four female figures sitting on a bench holding bread and fruit, a suckling baby, a dog and a basket of fruit’ the Museum of London
This trinity of women were worshipped by the Celts. Archaeologists discovered the sculpture above while investigating the Roman Wall a few hundred yards away at Blackfriars. Scholars believe it depicts the Celtic Three Mother Goddesses. The fourth person is a mystery, maybe the patron of a nearby temple? The relief sculpture was removed perhaps from a temple, or the temple was trashed at some point. Then the sculpture was used as rubble and became part of the defences of London.
The idea of triple goddesses is a common one. In Folklore and History they have been referred to as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, or even Maiden, Mother and Hag. They come in Roman, Greek, Celtic, Irish, and Germanic forms. Their names include the Norns, the Three Fates, the Weird Sisters, the Mórrígan and many more. The Three Fates, the Goddess Book of Days says, were celebrated during the Gamelia. This is the Greco/Roman January Festival to the marriage of Zeus and Juno. The Festival also gives its name to the Athenian month of January.
The Importance of the Grandma
The use of the terms Hag and Crone for the third Goddess is rare now, but was common. It does a great disservice to the importance of the Grandmother figure. (Although the original meaning of the words were less pejorative. For example, Hag may have meant diviner, soothsayer.) The three phases of womanhood are equally important to the continuation of the species. They provide love, support, and experience through the generations. Compare these three generations of supportive deities with Ouranos (Uranus), Cronus (Saturn) and Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn castrated and deposed his father, Uranus. Later, he tried to eat his son, Jupiter. But then, Jupiter is nobody’s idea of an ideal father. As one example, he eats his lover, Metis, to avoid her giving birth to his daughter, Athene. (See my post on the birth of Athena.)
Recent work on human evolution has suggested that the role of the Grandmother is crucial to our species’ ability to live beyond the age of fertility. Because, in evolutionary terms, once an individual cannot procreate, their usefulness for the survival of the genes is finished. So what’s the point of putting resources into grandma’s survival? The theory is the Grandmother has such an impact on the survival of the next generation, that longevity. for the female, beyond fertility makes evolutionary sense. Grandfathers less so.
There was a theory widely held that the original Deities, dating before the spread of farming, were mother goddesses. The idea is that the hunter-gatherer goddesses (perhaps like the Venus of Willendorf) were overthrown by the coming of farmers. These patriarchal societies worshipped the male gods, which destroyed the ancient Matriarchy. Jane Ellen Harrison proposed an ancient matriarchal civilization. Robert Graves wrote some interesting, but no longer thought to be very scientific studies, on the idea. Neopaganism has taken these ideas forward.
1451 Glasgow University was founded (and you wonder why the Scots made such an impact on the world.)
1789 The USA held its first national presidential election. (Long may that fine democratic tradition survive and prosper!)
1845. Today is the anniversary of the breaking of the fabulous Portland Vase by a drunken visitor to the British Museum. It looks immaculate despite being smashed into myriad pieces, a wonder of the conservator’s art. To see the vase and read its story, go to the BM web site here:
Today in the orthodox church, дед Мороз (Ded Moroz= father of frost), accompanied by Cнегурочка (Snieguroshka= fairy of the snow) brings gifts on New Year’s Eve, (which is on January 7th). He travels with a horse-drawn troika.
Saint Geneviève praying for the end of the rain. 19th Century by Alfred Gérente Notre-Dame de Paris.
St Genevieve of Nanterre (c. 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) has her feast day today. Nanterre is an ancient settlement swallowed up by modern Paris. Genevieve was a most remarkable woman who met St Germanus of Auxerre on his way to Britain. She was only 7 when she met Germanus. He encouraged her piety. She became a consecrated virgin (someone who made vows of chastity to be a ‘bride of Christ’). Thereby living an aesthetic life of fasting and prayer. Hence, miracles soon became associated with her, (including changing the weather) and the ‘usual’ medical miracles. After moving to Paris, she encouraged the women of the City to stay in the City for prayer and fasting to prevent the Huns capturing the City in 451. Attila and the Huns abandoned the siege.
St Genevieve saved the City on other occasions too, helped build two large Church projects, including St Dennis. She intervened fearlessly in public affairs, and was a brave and resolute woman who challenged the male hierarchy with some success. And what makes me like her even more was that she is not a martyred teenager Saint tortured to death to gain her sainthood. But she did great works and lived to old age of 82 still ‘full of virtue’. In the medieval period, she became the Patron Saint of Paris. She is patron to: Paris, shepherds, winemakers, wax-chandlers, hatmakers; against eye complaints, fever, plagues, drought, and war.
St Germanus
St Germanus played a significant role in Genevieve’s life, protecting her from slander and attack. He is one of the most significant figures in post Roman studies in Britain. Accounts of his visits to Britain in the early 5th Century are among the very few descriptions of post-Roman life. He was sent to Britain to counter the Pelagian Heresy, which was endangering the Catholic version of Christianity.
Incidentally, Nanterre has an interesting prehistory. The name in Celtic means ‘enduring sacred site’. A large cemetery has been found, which helps support the possibility that it is the original site of Paris. Julius Caesar attended an assembly with local Gallic leaders in the area. The topography of Nanterre fits as well for the location of the assembly as the island in the Seine (Île de la Cité) which is an alternative location.
In Their Own Words
This is an excerpt from Julius’s Caesar book concerned with training druids. (It is photographed from my book ‘In Their Own Words- details below).
‘In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ by Kevin Flude
It brings together contemporary quotations about the Prehistoric, Roman and Dark Ages with a commentary by the author. It’s an enjoyable read! To buy the Kindle (£2.40) or a paperback version (£5.99), click here.
If you have read it, please go here and write a review! It is sadly devoid of any!
On This Day
1521 Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X. (our present Pope is the XIV)
1661 Samuel Pepys saw the Beggar’s Bush at the Theatre in Gibbon’s Tennis Court, Vere Street, near Lincoln’s Inn Fields. He records it was ‘the first time that ever I saw women come upon the stage’. The Restoration of Charles II to the throne allowed, for the first time, women to appear on the professional stage.
1777 George Washington defeats Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton
Today: keep bird feeders well stocked. Check houseplants for mealybugs, mites and other pests. (Gardeners’s Year The Metroplitan Museum of Art).
The Full Moon today falls in Cancer in a conjunction with Jupiter and an exact opposition to Mars and Venus. Thus, the mood of the times is divided between those supporters of individual liberties. And the Government’s right to control personal behaviours’. That, ast least is what Old Moore’s Almanack for 2026 says. And that’s probably enough Astrology for the year!
First written in January 2023, revised and republished January 2024, 2025, 2026
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 11.00am Sat 18th April 2026 To book Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.45pm Sat 18th April 26 To book Jane Austen’s London Walk 11.00am Sun 19th April 26 To book Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 6pm 1st May 2026 To Book Myths, Legends, Archaeology, and the Origins of London 11:15am Sat 2nd May 26 to Book London Bridge to Bermondsey 2:15pm Sat 2nd May 2026 To book Jane Austen’s London Walk 2.30pm Sun 31st May 2026 To Book The First Blitz – Zeppelin London New Walk! 6pm Sun 31 May 2026 To Book Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 3pm Sat 6th June 2026 Tobook The Rebirth Of Saxon London Archaeology Walk 11am Sun 7th June 2026 To book Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 5th July 2026 To book London. 1066 and All That Walk 11.30am Sun 12th July 26 Tobook Bloody, Flaming, Poxy London 3pm Sun 12th July 26 To book The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 11:15am 2nd Aug 26 To book Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 2nd Aug 26 To book Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 11.00am Sat 5th Sept 2026 To book Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 5th Sept 2026 To book Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sat 24th Oct 2026 To book
For a complete list of my guided walks for London Walks in 2026 look here
Monday 1st January 2025 7.00 pm On this Virtual Walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.
The New Year has been a time of review, renewal, and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London traditions and folklore.
At the end, we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023.
The virtual walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin, virtually, at the Barbican Underground and continue to the Museum of London, the Roman Fort; Noble Street, Goldsmiths Hall, Foster Lane, St Pauls, Doctors Commons, St. Nicholas Colechurch and on towards the River Thames.
The Civil War, Restoration and the Great Fire of London Virtual Tour
The Great Fire of London looking towards StPauls Cathedral from an old print
7:30pm Fri 30th January 2025
January 30th is the Anniversary of the execution of Charles I and to commemorate it we explore the events and the aftermath of the Civil War in London.
Along with the Norman Conquest of 1066 and winning the World Cup in 1966 the Great Fire in 1666 are the only dates the British can remember!
And we remember the Great Fire because it destroyed one of the great medieval Cities in an epic conflagration that shocked the world.
But it wasn’t just the Great Fire that made the 17th Century an epic period in English History. There was a Civil War, beheading of the King, a Republic, a peaceful Restoration of the Monarch, the last great plague outbreak in the UK, the Glorious Revolution and the Great Wind.
The Virtual Walk puts the Great Fire in the context of the time – Civil War, anti-catholicism, plague, and the commercial development of London. The walk brings to life 17th Century London. It starts with the events that lead up to the Civil War concentrating on Westminster and ends with a vivid recreation of the drama of the Fire as experienced by eye-witnesses. Route includes: Westminster, Fish Street Hill, Pudding Lane, Monument, Royal Exchange, Guildhall, Cheapside, St Pauls, Amen Corner, Newgate Street, Smithfield.
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk
11.30 am Sun 9th Feb 2025 Monument Underground Station
also on 11.30am Sun 27th Apr 25 but starting from Moorgate
London Roman Riverside Wall o
This is a walking tour features the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman London, and looks at life in the provincial Roman capital of Londinium.
This is a walking tour that features the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman London, and looks at life in the provincial Roman capital of Londinium.
Our Guides will be Publius Ovidius Naso and Marcus Valerius Martialis who will be helped by Kevin Flude, former Museum of London Archaeologist, Museum Curator and Lecturer.
We disembark at the Roman Waterfront by the Roman Bridge, and then explore the lives of the citizens as we walk up to the site of the Roman Town Hall, and discuss Roman politics. We proceed through the streets of Roman London, with its vivid and cosmopolitan street life via the Temple of Mithras to finish with Bread and Circus at the Roman Amphitheatre.
Zinger Read: Talk about a high-quality one-two punch. This walk investigates the groundbreaking archaeological discoveries of Roman London. And then it reconstructs life in a provincial Roman capital using archaeological and literary sources. Discoveries – insights – like flashes of lightning in a cloud. We begin at the site of the Roman bridge. We might be decent young Roman citizens in togas, having this and that bit of explained to us as we make our way towards the Roman Town Hall. From there we head to the site of the excavation called ‘the Pompeii of the North.’ Followed by the Temple of Mithras. We finish with a walk along the Roman High Street in order to end at the site of the Roman Amphitheatre. So, yes, welcome to London as it was 2,000, 1,900, 1,800, 1,700 and 1,600 years ago. And, yes, the walk’s guided by a real expert, the distinguished emeritus Museum of London archaeologist Kevin Flude. That means you’ll see things other people don’t get to see, delve into London via fissures that aren’t visible, let alone accessible, to non-specialists.
REVIEWS “Kevin, I just wanted to drop you a quick email to thank you ever so much for your archaeological tours of London! I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon your tours! I look forward to them more than you can imagine! They’re the best 2 hours of my week! 🙂 Best, Sue
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Guided Walk
2.30 pm Sunday 9th Feb 2025
Green Park underground station, Green Park exit, by the fountain To book
Also
9 February 2025
Sunday
2.30 pm
4.30 pm
8 March 2025
Saturday
2.30 pm
4.30 pm
6 April 2025
Sunday
11.30 am
1.30 pm
2025 is the 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s Birth in Steventon, Hampshire. We celebrate her fictional and real life visits to Mayfair, the centre of the London section of Sense & Sensibility and where Jane came to visit her brother
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours today must be in want of this walk.”
People associate Jane Austen and her characters with a rural setting. But London is central to both Jane Austen’s real life and her literary life. So, this tour will explore Jane’s connections with London and give the background to Sense and Sensibility, a good part of which is based in this very area. We begin with the place Jane’s coach would arrive from Hampshire, and then walk the streets haunted by Willougby; past shops visited by the Palmers, the Ferrars; visit the location of Jane Austen’s brother’s bank and see the publisher of Jane’s Books. The area around Old Bond Street was the home of the Regency elite and many buildings and a surprising number of the shops remain as they were in Jane Austen’s day.
Jane Austen’s ‘A Picture of London’ in 1809 Virtual Walk
With the help of a contemporary Guide Book, Jane Austen’s letters, and works we explore London in 1809.
‘The Picture of London for 1809 Being a CORRECT GUIDE to all the Curiosities, Amusements, Exhibitions, Public Establishments, and Remarkable Objects in and near London.’
This Guide Book to London might have been on Henry Austen’s shelf when his sister, Jane, came to visit him in London. But it enables us to tour the London that Jane Austen knew in some detail. We will look at the Curiosities as well as the shopping, residential, theatres areas as well as the Port, the Parks and the Palaces.
The guided walk is a thank you to Alix Gronau, who, having been to one of my lectures in 1994, wanted the book to come to me. I have had the book restored and am using it to explore London in 1809.
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Sunday 9th February 25 To book
A Virtual Tour of Jane Austen’s Bath
7.30pm 10th February 2025
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 11.30am Sat 22nd Feb 25
Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London
Druids at All Hallows, by the Tower
2.30pm Sat 22nd February 2025 Tower Hill Underground
The walk tells the stories of our changing ideas about the origins of London during the Prehistoric, Roman and Saxon periods.
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in myths, legends and London’s Archaeology.
The walk will tell the story of the legendary origins of London which record that it was founded in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan and was called New Troy, which became corrupted to Trinovantum. This name was recorded in the words of Julius Caesar; and, then, according to Legend, the town was renamed after King Ludd and called Lud’s Dun. Antiquarians and Archaeologists have taken centuries to demolish this idea, and became convinced London was founded by the Romans. Recently, dramatic evidence of a Bronze Age presence in London was found.
When the Roman system broke down in 410 AD, historical records were almost non-existent, until the Venerable Bede recorded the building of St Pauls Cathedral in 604 AD. The two hundred year gap, has another rich selection of legends. which the paucity of archaeological remains struggles to debunk.
The walk will explore these stories and compare the myths and legends with Archaeological discoveries.
The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River at Billingsgate, London Bridge, and into the centre of Roman London.
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30am Sat Mar 8th 25 Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30pm Sat 8th Mar 25
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 11.30 Sat 22nd March 2025 London. 1066 and All That Walk Sat 2.30pm 22nd March 2025
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 11.30am Sun 6th Apr 25
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 2:30pm Sun 6th Apr 25
and
Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.30pm Friday 18th April 25 To book
George Inn,Southwark
A Walk around Medieval London following in the footsteps of its resident medieval poet – Geoffrey Chaucer
One of the spectators at the Peasants Revolt was Geoffrey Chaucer, born in the Vintry area of London, who rose to be a diplomat, a Courtier and London’s Customs Officer. He lived with his wife in the Chamber above the Gate in the City Wall at Aldgate. His poetry shows a rugged, joyous medieval England including many scenes reflecting life in London. His stories document the ending of the feudal system, growing dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Church, and shows the robust independence with which the English led their lives.
His work helped change the fashion from poetry in French or Latin to acceptance of the English language as suitable literary language. This was helped by the growth of literacy in London as its Merchants and Guildsmen became increasingly successful. In 1422, for example, the Brewers decided to keep their records in English ‘as there are many of our craft who have the knowledge of reading and writing in the English idiom.’
Chaucer and other poets such as Langland give a vivid portrait of Medieval London which was dynamic, successful but also torn by crisis such as the Lollard challenge to Catholic hegemony, and the Peasants who revolted against oppression as the ruling classes struggled to resist the increased independence of the working people following the Black Death.
A walk which explores London in the Middle Ages, We begin at Aldgate, and follow Chaucer from his home to his place of work at the Customs House, and then to St Thomas Chapel on London Bridge, and across the River to where the Canterbury Tales start – at the Tabard Inn.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30am Sun 27th Apr 25
Roman layer opus signinum,
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 3:00pm Sun 27th Apr 25
Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield.
The Walk creates a portrait of London in the early 16th Century, with particular emphasis on the life and times of Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More during the Anne Boleyn years.
More and Cromwell had much in common, both lawyers, commoners, who rose to be Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, and ended their careers on the block at Tower Hill.
The walk starts with an exploration of Smithfield – site of the stake where heretics were burnt alive and of St Bartholomew’s Monastery – given to Richard Rich after his decisive role in the downfall of Thomas More. We continue to St Paul where Martin Luther’s books were burnt, and later, where Puritans preached against dancing round the Maypole.
We walk along the main markets streets of London, to Thomas More’s birthplace, and to the site of More’s and Cromwell’s townhouses before, if time allows, finishing at the site of the Scaffold where More and Cromwell met their ends, overlooking where Anne Boleyn was incarcerated in the Tower of London
To Book: https://www.walks.com/our-walks/tudor-london-the-city-of-wolf-hall/
A Boy From Haggerston before the War. 6pm 1st May 2025 Shoreditch Library.
Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London 11.30am Sun 25th May 25 To book
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 3pm Sun May 25 To book
The Peasants Revolt Anniversary Guided Walk
Medieval drawing of an archer
6.30pm Wed 11th June 2025 Aldgate Underground To book
An Anniversary Walk tracking the progress of the Peasants as they take control of London in June of 1381
Short read: The Summer of Blood
Long read: The Peasants’ Revolt. The greatest popular rising in English history. This is the anniversary walk. The London Walk that heads back to 1381, back to the Peasants’ Revolt. You want a metaphor, think stations of the cross. This is the stations of the Peasants’ Revolt walk. We go over the ground, literally and metaphorically. Where it took place. Why it took place. Why it took place at these places. What happened. The walk is guided by the distinguished Museum of London Archaeologist His expertise means you’ll see the invisible. And understand the inscrutable.
On the anniversary of the Peasants Revolt we reconstruct the events that shook the medieval world. In June 1381, following the introduction of the iniquitous Poll Tax, England’s government nearly fell, shaken to the core by a revolt led by working men. This dramatic tour follows the events of the Revolt as the Peasants move through London in June 1381.
We met up with the Peasants at Aldgate, force our way into the City. We march on the Tower of London as the King makes concessions by ending serfdom, at Mile End. But the leaders take the mighty Tower of London and behead the leaders of Richard’s government. Attacks follow on the lawyers in the Temple, the Prior at St. John’s of Jerusalem, Flemish Londoners, and on Lambeth and Savoy Palaces.
The climax of the Revolt comes at Smithfield where a small Royal party confront the 30,000 peasants.
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 11.30am 13th July 2025 To Book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 3pm Sunday 13th July 25 To book Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30 am Sat 2nd Aug 2025 ToBook Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 2:30pm Sat 2nd Aug 2025 To Book Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London 11.00am Sat 16th Aug25 to Book Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 6:30pm Wed 24th Sept 2025 To book The Archaeology of London Walk 6.30pm Fri 3rd October 2025 To Book Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 11:30pm Sat 4th Oct 25 To book The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 11.30pm Sat 8th Nov 25 To book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.00pm Sat 23rd Nov25 To book Rebirth of Saxon London 23rd Nov 25 Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk sat 11am 6th Dec 2025 To book Cromwell’s and More’s Tudor London Walk 2pm 7th Dec25 To book Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30pm Sun 14 Dec25 To book Christmas With Jane Austen Virtual London Tour 7.30pmTues 16 Dec25 To book The London Equinox and Solstice Walk 11:30pm Sun 21st Dec 25To book The London Winter Solstice Virtual Tour 7.30pm Sun 21 Dec 25 To book
Previous Years Archives
Here are previous archive of guided walks and events
St Stephens, Walbrook. This view of the Church is not normally visible. The brown brick area to the right is much ‘cruder’ than the left. Christopher Wren was saving money by not ‘finishing off’ parts that were not visible from the public thoroughfare. Photo by the Author in 2008
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Feast Day of St Stephens
It is the Feast day of St Stephen. He was the first Christian Martyr and was stoned to death not long after Jesus’ apotheosis. He was a deacon in the early Church, brought before the Sanhedrin for blasphemy. At the trial, he made a long speech outraging the audience. St Paul was in the audience (also known as Saul).
Stephen attacked the importance of the Temple to Judaism, making parallels with idolatry. Perhaps, I wonder, this explains why there are so few early Christian Churches identified in the archaeological record? Were they consciously avoiding large Temple Basilican structures to differentiate themselves from pagan religions?
Wrens & Presents
The 26th is the day when Wrens could be hunted. Read my post about Robins and Wrens and their seasonal importance here. Also, the day, people gave presents (Boxes) to servants and working people. Other days for presents included St Nicholas’s Day (December 6th), Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Twelfth Night.
St Stephens Walbrook
Wren’s most beautiful Parish Church is dedicated to St Stephen. It is one of the first Parish Churches to have a dome. There is also a splendid Altar designed by Henry Moore. I took a Swedish Choir around the City of London on a guided walk. St Stephen’s was open, and, once inside, they just fancied the acoustics. So, they sang. I recorded. Listen below:
In 1858, James Ewing Richie wrote about ‘Boxing Night’ in ‘The Night Side of London’. I’ve mixed it up with another source. So here is a list of the people who might come knocking at the door for their traditional Boxing Day Box.
Richie’s advice was to tie up your knocker to avoid paying these people:
The Chimney sweep. Then varlets playing French Horns pretending to be the Waits – {The Waits were licensed musical beggars}
Then came the Turncock, who switched the water supply to your side of the street on alternative days. Followed by the Postman, the Dustman; the Road Waterer in summer, and the Road Scrapper in Winter. After this, the real Waits turned up for a musical turn. Then the Lamplighter, the Grocer’s Boy and the Butcher’s Boy.
I imagine the Knocker-upper also got a Box. My grandmother told me about the knocker-upper in Old Street in the early Twentieth Century. He would tap on the window with his long stick to wake up those people without a reliable clock.
Google search image of the ‘knocker-upper’, the lady at top left worked in Limehouse and is using a pea-shooter.
Richie records that he had to give a tip to 6 people who wished him a Happy Christmas on his way to work. The tip he gave was half a crown each. He thought his wife would be lucky to get away with a shilling per person for the trade men listed above. Strange that he gave more than twice as much to random strangers than his wife gave to people who served them all year. Perhaps this reflects his belief that the size of his tip reflected his position in society. It is all curmudgeonly. This is probably because he believed it would be spent on drink, leading to the miseries of drunkenness.
The Drunkards Children by Cruikshank 1848. Cruikshank was a famous illustrator from a dynasty of visual satirists and one of Dickens illustrators. The story shows the effect of alcoholism on a family. It ends with the suicide from London Bridge of the mother.
First Published on Dec 26th 2022, Republished December 2023, 2024, 2025
The Solstice and the East Pediment of the Parthenon
British Museum Shop, reproductions of Hestia and Selene’s Horse from the Parthenon Marbles
At the Summer Solstice, I took a group to the British Museum and, a few days later, to Stonehenge, and managed to ‘integrate’ the two into a solstice narrative. At the BM, over years of trying to explain the sculptures, I have been building in my mind an interpretation of the Pediment that gives, I hope, an original insight into the possible intentions of the sculptors. I don’t know how ‘true’ it is, but I do think it gives an insight into metaphor and symbolism in great works of art. Bear in mind that there is a lot of uncertainty about some of the attributions, and, that the male and female virtues that I am talking about are traditional ones, not necessarily how we would express it in the modern world.
At the left of the above photography, you see the horses that take Helios chariot into the sky to bring up the sun to light the world every day. Most sun deities are male, and the Sun gives light and life to the world, without it this earth is an inert block of ice cold stone. The next statue is casually laying back and looking fit, relaxed and not looking as if he is in that position because of the impossible triangular Pediment space he inhabits. He is the epitome of male strength, usually identified with Hercules but other people have other ideas and a young Dionysus is another suggestion. Whoever he is he represents male beauty and strength. So this end of the pediment represents the Sun and male virtues. This is the East Pediment of the Parthenon which is orientated to the rising sun, a little north of east.
Next figure is Demeter, the goddess of fertility, the goddess of the earth. Placed here to remind us that the Sun needs the Earth to create life and sustenance. It reminds us that the universe is not male, the male only works in conjunction with the female. Demeter is cuddling her daughter Persephone, the Goddess of Hades. She reminds us that life is a cycle of death and life. Plants die, turn into soil and create the conditions for future life.
Next is Hebe, daughter of Zeus and Hera, wife of Heracles (Hercules). She is the cupbearer to the Gods and gives them the ambrosia that keeps them forever young. She is the Goddess of Immortality, a reminder that the universe is eternal.
Next to Hebe is a void where there was the central statue of the east pediment depicting the Birth of Athena (according to Pausanias who wrote a guide in the 2nd Century BC to the Temple). Athena was born from the head of her father Zeus- a virgin birth. Athena therefore is, in some ways, the greatest of the Olympians, as she has the virtues of her female sex and the virtues of her father’s masculinity (and, dear Gods, hopefully not the massive ‘Me Too’ vices of her father). She is therefore, wise, nurturing, just, intuitive, decisive, a leader; an ideal combination of male and female.
Zeus (sitting) Hephastus to right (looking back with Axe) Athena just visible above Zeus’s head
Her back story is that her dad, Zeus eats her mum, Metis, who is pregnant with her. Sometime later, he has a cracking headache. Hephaestus, the disabled artificer God hits Zeus over the head with an axe to clear the headache. Zeus gives birth to a fully formed Athena through the split in his head. She was known as Athena Parthenos, Athena the Virgin. Her name is originally Athene but it got changed to Athena in 500 BC.
Hestia, Dione, Aphrodite, Horse of Selene’s chariot
To Athene’s left is Hestia (Vesta for the Romans). Her name means “hearth, fireplace, altar” and she is the goddess of the domestic sphere, of the comforts of home, of a warm fire enjoyed by a loving family.
The next set are two beautifully draped women languidly leaning on each other, and these are Dione, with her daughter Aphrodite – the Goddess of Love. Dione is the daughter of Gaia and Uranus daughter of earth and sky. So, here, counterpoised to Hercules, are epitomes of women. Women of power, creation, and love.
Finally, we have the exhausted horse of Selene. Her chariot takes the moon into the sky, positioned opposite to Helios and the Sun. Selene is the Moon goddess, and the Moon is beautiful, powerful as it gives us the tides and fundamental to the life of humans as she presides over the menstrual cycle. Compared to the movements of the Sun which any fool can work out, and which are relentless (symbolising Justice) the movements of the Moon are mysterious to most of us. So Selene is beautiful, powerful, creative and the Goddess of Intuition.
So, if you put it all together, the East Pediment of the Parthenon shows that the world is a union of the male and the female, balanced between the two with Zeus and Athene in the middle, with Athene holding the main part because she, in her person, represents both the male and the female.
Of course, we know that the Athenian society was a patriarchal one with women mostly kept in the domestic sphere. But here, at least, women were given an equal billing in the organisation of the Cosmos.
Sculptures from the east pediment of the Parthenon
I must end by warning the reader that this is only my interpretation. I am not a scholar of Ancient Greece. I have come to my own conclusion based on spending a lot of time looking at the marbles, doing Solstice Virtual Tours, and mostly informed by the labels in the gallery, with of course, some reading including Mary Beard’s book entitled ‘Parthenon’ and the BM’s guidebook. In particular, I have not incorporated into my ‘story’ the sculptures that were in the gaps that do not survive or only in fragments scattered throughout the Museum world. However, what we do know is that in the centre is Zeus and Athene and at the edges are the chariots of the Sun and the Moon. And so fitting to celebrate the Solstice.
Medieval Cataract Surgery – calling couching Eye Care through the Ages .
So, on St Lucy’s Day, you, being someone worried about your eyes, might have sought an altar dedicated to St Lucy, the patron saint of eye health. (see December 13th’s Post on St Lucy). Although you may be disappointed that there has been no miraculous cure for you, you might have been encouraged to do something about it. So that’s what this post is about.
There are only two churches in the UK dedicated to St Lucy or St Lucia. One run by the National Trust in Upton Magna, Shropshire, but there must have been a few chapels in Cathedrals and Abbeys dedicated to her. I have my eyes open for them!
For Redness of the Eye or Pink Eye
There are many household books still, existing. These show that much of medical practice was carried out in the home, by ordinary men and women. More often women, actively not only collected useful recipes and cures, but also tested them out and improved them. Here is an example:
For the redness of eyes, or bloodshot. Take red wine, rosewater, and women’s milk, and mingle all these together: and put a piece of wheaten bread leavened, as much as will cover the eye, and lay it in the mixture. When you go to bed, lay the bread upon your eyes calmer and it will help them.
Fairfax Household book, 17th/ 18th century. (Reported in The Perpetual Calendar of Folklore by Charles Kightly)
‘Pink eye’ is mentioned in a document unearthed at the Roman Fort of Vindolanda. It lists the troops of the Cohort in occupation. We read that of the garrison of 750, 474 are absent with 276 in the fort of which 38 are sick, 10 with ‘pink eye’. This is probably conjunctivitis.
Prevention is better than cure
Things hurtful to the eyes. Garlic, onions, radish, drunkenness, lechery, sweet wines, salt meats, coleworts, dust, smoke, and reading presently after supper.
Good for the eyes. fennel, celandine, eyebright, vervain, roses, cloves and cold water.
Whites Almanack 1627
Cataract operations
Cataract operations have been carried out since 800 BC using a method called ‘couching’.
This was a last resort when the cataract was opaque and the patients nearly blind. It would mean they would need very thick lenses to see well again but, crude as it seems, it worked.
But the operation, without anaesthetics must have been a considerable ordeal. The recovery (still required today for those suffering from a displaced retina) means that the patient has to lie on their back for a week with supports on either side of the head to prevent movement. Of course, there was a serious risk of infection, so prophylactic visits to a chapel of St Lucy might be called for.
The modern treatment for cataracts was established in the 1940s and offers a great solution in 15 minutes surgery. Currently, the NHS has been having trouble dealing with all the cases required, (6% of surgery is for cataract operations). Before COVID-19, there was some talk about cataracts being, in practice, not readily available on the NHS. The waiting time is supposed to be 18 weeks but, for example, at NHS Chesterfield Royal Hospital the waiting time approaches almost 10 months. But waiting times around the country vary from 10 weeks to over a year.
Patrick Brontë’s Eye
On 26th August 1846 Charlotte Brontë took her father to Manchester from Haworth for Cataract surgery. The operation took 15 minutes but without anaesthesia. He was very calm and said the pain was ‘a burning pain.’ It was vital he stay still through the pain. Then, he had to remain in bed for a month in the dark, minimising movement. Leeches were applied to his face, to reduce the inflammation of the wound. He was looked after by a nurse 24 hours a day, supervised by Charlotte. She used the time she spent waiting in writing Jane Eyre. Her Father’s vision was significantly improved and he was able to resume his Parish duties.
You will note, above, that it was considered bad for the eyes to read in low light. It is a myth and not true. Poor Samuel Pepys was continually worried about his reading and writing habits ruining his eyesight. This is an extract from the poignant last entry in his famous diary:
And thus ends all that I doubt I should ever be able to do with my own eyes in the keeping of my journal, I being not able to do it any longer, having done now so long as to undo my eyes almost every time that I take a pen in my hand; and therefore, whatever comes of it, I must forbear: and therefore resolve from this time forward to have it kept by my people in long-hand. I must be consented to sit down no more than is fit for them and all the world to know; or, if they be anything, which cannot be much now my amores are past and my eyes hindering me almost all other pleasures. I must endeavour to keep a margin in my book open, to add, here and there, a note in shorthand with my own hand.
Samuel Pepys Diary, May 31st
The sad thing is that Pepys had another 38 years before he went blind, and what glorious diary entries have we missed because of his false fears of the effect of eye strain?
First published in 2022, updates 2023, 2024 and 2025
The Venerable Bede tells us that King Lucius converted to Christianity in around 180AD. He says that the King asked Pope Eleutherius to send teachers to instruct him. The Venerable Bede (died 735 AD) got this from the Liber Pontificalis of c 590. There is also a tradition that St Peter’s Cornhill in London was set up by King Lucius, and that St Peter’s is the oldest Church in London.
13th Pope Eleutherius
What to make of this? Bede is considered to be a reliable historian and got his information, in this case, from the Vatican. Pope Eleutherius is held to be a real Pope. He reigned at the right time, from perhaps as early as c. 171, and to his death which may be as late as AD 193. (Wikipedia). But the tradition of Lucius has been written off as a legend.
But to my mind there are questions that need asking. Not the least of the questions to ask about the veracity of this legend is: ‘What does it mean to be called the King of Britain in the middle of the Roman occupation?’
St Peters Church First Cathedral in Britain?
As to the early origin of St Peters Church, archaeologists dismissed the tradition of a Roman St Peters Church because it is built over the Roman Forum. So how can it have been the site of a Christian Church?
St. Peter’s seen from Cornhill in a rarely seen view as there is normally a building in the way. (Photo K Flude)
But the balance of possibilities, arguably, changed in the 1980s, when archaeologists led by Gustav Milne showed that the Basilica of the Forum was pulled down in about 300AD. So from being practically an impossibility, there is now a possibility that this subsequently became the site of a Roman Church. It doesn’t make it true but it makes it more of a possibility.
We know London sent at least one Bishop to Constantine the Great’s Council of Arles in AD 314. So a Christian community in London must have predated this time. There must have been Churches, here. And a site at the prestigious centre of the Capital of Londinium, makes a lot of sense. There are, in fact, three Churches on the site of the Roman Forum: St Peters, St Michael and St Edmund the Martyr.
Constantine the Great
In AD 306, Constantine was acclaimed Emperor on the death of his Father, Constantius Chlorus. Constantius’s wife was Helena, a Christian. He and his mother were in York when his father died. He was recognised as Caesar, (but not Augustus) by Emperor Galerius and ruled the province for a while. Then he moved to Trier, then moved on Rome, where he accepted the Christian God’s help to win the Battle of Milvian Bridge. This led him to supreme power in the Roman Empire. And might give a context for the demolished Basilica to be replaced by a Church.
There is, however, no archaeological evidence for St Peters being Roman in origin apart from the demolition of the Basilica and the legends. And there is certainly no evidence of the Basilica being turned into a Church as early as the 2nd Century.
Early Christianity in Britain
Where does that leave King Lucius? There are well attested Christian traditions that Britain was an early convert to Christianity. (The following quotes are from my book ‘In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ D A Horizons, 2009 by Kevin Flude and available here.)
‘In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ D A Horizons, 2009
So, an early date for an active Christian community is likely. A Church, replacing the Basilica, is plausible, particularly, after Constantine the Great probably passed through London on his way to seize the Roman Empire. So an early date for St Peters in possible. But there is no evidence for its origin as early as the late 2nd Century, the time of King Lucius.
A King of Britain in the Roman Era?
And could anyone, claim to be the ‘King of Britain’ at this date? We do know that King Togidubnus was called Great King of Britain in a Roman Temple inscription in Chichester in the First Century.
Altar Dedication, Chichester
To Neptune and Minerva, for the welfare of the Divine House by the authority of Tiberius Claudius Togidubnus, Great King of Britain, the Guild of Smiths and those therein gave this Temple from their resources, Pudens, son of Pudentinus, presenting the site.
Togidubnos seems to have been placed in control of a large part of Southern England, centred around Chichester, after the invasion of 43AD. He is thought to have been the successor to Verica, who was exiled and called on the Romans to restore his throne. Tactitus says that Togidubnos remained loyal down ‘to our own times’ that is to the 70s AD. So he presumably held the line for the Romans against the Boudiccan revolt in 60AD.
The Romans had used Verica’s fall as their excuse for invasion, and so an honorific of Great King to him and his successors makes sense. It is assumed that after Togidubnos’s death after 80AD, the title lapsed. But it might have stayed with the family as an empty honour? Furthermore, we know that Britain had a plethora of Kings and Queens before the Roman period. Also, the Romans never conquered the whole of Britain. There were, therefore, many British Kings all the way through the period of Roman control, not least beyond Hadrian’s Wall.
So, it is possible there was someone in Britain who had, or made, a claim to be ‘King’. Whether he was ‘a’ or ‘the’ or merely descended from a King of Britain, we don’t know. And that that someone, perhaps converted to Christianity, possibly in the time of Pope Eleutherius. He may have taken the Roman name Lucius. Who knows? Its possible.
Confusing Luci?
It has been suggested that King Lucius of Britain was confused with King Lucius of Edessa, but this is considered unsatisfactory. Also, the link to London and St Peters, need not be a contemporary one. It might be two traditions that are linked together at a later period. But, of course, there is a faint possibility that the Basilica shrine room, above which St Peter’s is built, was converted for Christian use at the earlier time necessary to make sense of the King Lucius story.
King Lucius may not be a proper saint, but he has a feast day. This is because of his connections to Chur in Switzerland. There is a tradition that Lucius was martyred here. This got him an entry in the Roman Martyrology. David Knight proposes that the Chur connection comes from the transplanting of rebellious Brigantes to the Raetia frontier in the 2nd Century AD. He suggests that the Brigantes brought the story of Lucius to Chur. At the end of the King’s life, is it possible he travelled to join his people in exile in Switzerland. Here he met his unknown end. If true, this would base the story of Lucius in the North rather than London. For further reading, see ‘King Lucius of Britain’ by David J Knight.
Early Bishops of London
John Stow in the 16th Century records the tradition of King Lucius, which comes with a list of early British Bishops of London. These he finds are recorded in Jocelin of Furness’s ‘Book of British Bishops’. This book is discussed by Helen Birkett ‘Plausible Fictions: John Stow, Jocelin of Furness and the Book of British Bishops’. In Downham C (ed) /Medieval Furness: Texts and Contexts/, Stamford: Paul Watkins, 2013.
Her analysis concludes that the book is a ’12th-century confection in support of moving the archbishopric from Canterbury ‘back’ to its proper place in London. (This information was included in a comment to the original post by John Clark, Emeritus Curator of the Museum of London.)
To sum up. We can’t bring King Lucius out of legend, nor find any credible source linking him him with St Peters Cornhill. But the site of St Peters is a plausible, though unproven, location for a Roman Church from the 4th Century onwards. It also makes sense of the choice of the Saxons, to name their Church St Pauls. St Peter is more common as a dedication for important Churches and perhaps they chose St Paul as they knew of the ruins of St Peters the old Cathedral.
Any other early Cathedrals?
Archaeologists have also tentatively identified a masonry building in Pepys Street on Tower Hill as the Episcopal Church of late Roman London. The foundations suggest a large aisled building. Its identification as a Cathedral springs from multiplying the found foundations symmetrically by a factor of four and comparing the result to Santa Tecla in Milan. The discovery of Marble and window glass doesn’t sit so well with the alternative suggestion that it is a granary. But, to my mind, it’s not very convincing, although Dominic Perring in his recent book ”London in the Roman World’ makes the most of the case for it being a Cathedral.
And Finally?
Roman ForumSite of Roman Forum Google Maps
If you look at the two maps above. The one on the left shows the Forum, the white lines are the Roman Road system. You might just be able to see the modern road system super-imposed. What this shows is that the Forum is on a different axis than the modern day road system. Cornhill cuts right across the North Western corner of the Forum. Where the letter L is, and to the left is under the modern road. So, that shows that this part of the Forum must have been knocked down before Cornhill was built. On the right hand side you can see the dark grey east-west road which is Cornhill. To the South of it you can see a dark area (above the green of St Peter’s Churchyard). This grey area is St Peters. What the Google map shows clearly, is that the orientation of St Peters, is clearly on a different orientation to that of the modern road of Cornhill. And that orientation is closer to the orientation of the Roman Forum. This makes it more likely that the axis upon which St Peters was originally built (assuming Wren followed the original axis when he rebuilt it after the Great Fire) conformed to the Roman grid pattern. This is by no means proof, and can only be proved by excavation. But, its interesting.
On This Day
1660 – Margaret Hughes became the first woman (we know about) to act on the English Stage. She played Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello. It was staged in a converted tennis court called the Vere Street Theatre, which was in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. In 1660 Charles II was restored to the throne, and had got used to watching female actors perform while he was in exile in France. So when he returned, he licensed two theatre managers, Thomas Killigrew and Sir William Davenant to run theatre. Davenant claimed to be the natural son of William Shakespeare, suggesting that Shakespeare stayed in his parents’ Inn, the Crown, in Cornmarket, Oxford on his way home to Stratford-upon-Avon.
First Published on December 3rd, 2022. Revised in December, 2023, 2024 and 2025
