Category: History

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The Decline and Fall of ​Dark Age London​ Archaeology Virtual Walk

Sunday 1st November 2020 ​

The first British Brexit?   The Roman Britains kicked out the Romans in 407AD, and then asked them to come back  after a catastrophic collapse.  Faced with plaque, civil war, invasion, mass  immigration,  industrial decline, reversion to barter the authorities struggled against anarchy and the Dark Ages.

Or was it?   Wasn’t it a rather a transition into the Late Antique period in which life for most people went on much as before except paying taxes to local rulers not to distant Romans?

This virtual walk explores why the Roman system in London broke down, and what really was the impact of the end of the Roman system in London.? What is the evidence?  Can we do much more than guess?  How should we regard the written records? We tramp the virtual streets of London in search of the light to shine on the Dark Ages.

This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude.

To Book for this walk click here

Also given as a physical walk at 2.30 pm on Saturday, September 28, 2019. The meeting point was exit 2  St. Paul’sTube.

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The Archaeology and Culture of Roman London Virtual Walk

October 25th, 2020 at 6 p.m. (UK time)

 

This virtual walk is about the amazing archaeological discoveries of Roman London, and an attempt to bring to life through archaeology and Roman literary sources what it was like to live in a provincial Roman Capital..

We begin with a walk around the circuit of the City Walls, and walk to the River to discuss the origin of the London Bridge before striking inland to   explore Roman Government on the site of the Roman Town Hall or Forum.  We walk to what has been  called the ‘the Pompeii of the North’., past the Temple of Mithras, along the main Roman way to the  Bath House &  Amphitheatre before ending in the shadow of St Pauls.

To book click here:

This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude. For more great London Walks events click here:

Previously run on Aug 3 2019 London Bridge Underground Tooley Street Exit

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New Series of Archaeological Virtual Walks for London Walks

Painting of the Roman Forum of London from the air
Painting of the Roman Forum of London from the air

This is my schedule of Virtual Walks. One every Sunday at 6pm.

The Programme is:

 ​Sunday 25th October 2020 ​​The Archaeology and Culture of ​Roman London​  Virtual Walk. For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:

​ Sunday 1st November 2020 ​ ​​The Decline and Fall of ​Dark Age London​ Archaeology Virtual Walk. ​For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:

​ Sunday 8th November 2020 ​ ​ ​The Rebirth of Saxon London Archaeology Virtual Walk For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:

​ Sunday 22nd November 2020 ​ ​ ​​Flower of Cities All – ​Medieval London​ History & Archaeology Virtual Walk​ For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:

Sunday 29th November 2020. ​ ​ ​The London of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell  Virtual Walk For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:

​ Sunday 6th December 2020​​ The Financial City from Slavery t​o Hedge Fund  Virtual Walk For more details click here. To buy Tickets click here:

Sunday 13 th December 2020 Myths, Legends and the  Origins of London Archaeology Virtual Walk . For more details of this walk click here. To buy Tickets click here:

Bookings will be via Eventbrite and London Walks and links will be posted here.


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MYTHS, LEGENDS AND THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF LONDON

Virtual Guided Walk for London Walks

Currently, not programmed.

  • Bran's head taken to Tower Hill

This virtual walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in the archaeological evidence as well as the myths and legends of London’s origin.

A Walk for London Walks.

Archaeology in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries has revolutionised our view of the early history of London while its rich set of myths and legends have been largely forgotten. This walk is designed to set that right and give an insight into London’s legends, and how they relate to modern archaeological discoveries.

According to legend London was founded in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan called Brutus. He called the new City Troia Nova or New Troy, which became corrupted to Trinovantum. Around the time of Julius Caesar the name changed to Lud’s Dun and eventually to Londinium. Early archaeologists therefore looked for a prehistoric City, to add to the history they could read by classical authors of a City founded shortly after the Roman Invasion of 43 AD. When the Roman system broke down in 410 AD, historical and archaeological records become almost non-existent, until the foundation of St Pauls Cathedral in 604 AD. The two hundred year gap, sometimes called the Dark Ages, has another rich selection of legends. The walk will explore these stories and compare to the archaeology.

The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River at Billingsgate, along the River to London Bridge, up to the Roman Forum at the top of Cornhill, into the valley of the River Walbrook, passed the Temple of Mithras, along Cheapside to the Roman Amphitheatre, and finishing up in the shadow of St Pauls.

This is a London Walks Guided Walks. Look at their web site for a list of more of their amazing walks

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Huge Circle of pits found around Durrington Walls

This is astonishing prehistoric find. A huge circle of pits surrounding Durrington Walls which is itself Britain’s biggest henge, and a mile or so away from Stonehenge, and Woodhenge. Continuing the golden age of Stonehenge archaeology.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jun/22/vast-neolithic-circle-of-deep-shafts-found-near-stonehenge?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX01vcm5pbmdCcmllZmluZ1VLLTIwMDYyMg%3D%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=MorningBriefingUK&CMP=morningbriefinguk_email

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Early Neolithic Pottery found in Shoreditch.

This is a great find – very little neolithic pottery has been found in or near the City so this fills in a blank. It still doesn’t give us enough information to write authoritatively about the City before the Romans, but its a significant step forward.

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2020/04/08/rare-pottery-discovery-dated-to-the-first-farmers-to-settle-in-london/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklyemailblog

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Myths, Legends and the Origins of London

Myths, Legends and the Origins of London

2.30 Sat 2 May 2020 Tower Hill Tube (meet by the Tower Hill Tram)

Please check that the walks have not been cancelled.

The Head of Bran by John Everett Millais

The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, and it looks at the archaeological evidence for the origins of London and reconsiders London’s myths and legends.

London has a rich set of origin myths and legends which are not as well known as they should be. This walk is designed to set that right and give an insight into London’s myths and legends.

Worth knowing for their own right do these origin myths have anything to say about the actual origins of London? This is what this walk explores. It is split into two halves – the first reveals the myths and the second finds out where the ‘truth’ of the origins of London may lie.

 

This is a London Walks Guided Walks. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks

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Southwark & Bankside Pub Tour. London Bridge Tube, 7.15 22nd Feb Tooley St Exit

Southwark & Bankside Pub Tour.

London Bridge Tube, 7.15 22nd Feb Tooley St Exit

Southwark has a unique historic and literary heritage and an authentic historic ambiance, with beautiful views of the Thames and the City of London. Plus some of London’s most famous Pubs!

Historic Southwark is chock-full of famous people, and we encounter traces of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens as we explore the history of London’s most famous suburb. Its location at the south end of London Bridge made it a key strategic and commercial site. This was where the great Medieval Inns were located, and from where Chaucer’s pilgrimage set off for Canterbury. Its independence from the City made it a haven for ‘undesirable’ elements and it became the home of the Medieval Stews (Brothels), and also the home of the Shakespearean Stage. On the walk we explore the sites of the Globe, the Rose, the Swan and the Bull and Bear Baiting Pits and Shakespeare’s role in the area. By the Victorian period its nature had changed completely into an industrial centre, home of notorious slums, of debtors prisons, and of charitable hospitals. It became one of the main inspirations for Dickens London fiction whose father was imprisoned here for debt when Dickens was a young boy. It was at the White Hart that Dickens introduced Sam Weller into the flagging story of the Pickwick Sporting Club – the character who saved Dickens literary career.

This is a London Walks Guided Walk by Kevin Flude