The Secrets Of London’s Oldest Streets.

Founded by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago, London is a city teeming with history. There's been everything from rebellions to regicides to executions to fire. I've selected eight of the capital's most historic streets, where London's grisly past really makes its presence felt. Let's go. For four centuries, Tower Hill was where nobles imprisoned in the Tower of London here met their gruesome ends. The street hosted its first public execution in 1381, when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, had his head hacked off by a mob in the Peasants' Revolt. The last was the beheading of the Scottish Jacobite rebel Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovatt, in 1747. But there's more to Tower Hill than gory spectacle. One of the oldest parts of the city, it was the site of a Bronze Age settlement and is also home to remnants of the London Wall, built by the Romans to protect the city around 200 AD. Cute couple alert. Part of the old Roman road to Colchester, Whitechapel Road has long been associated with the Whitechapel murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. In 1888, the body of one of the first victims, Martha Tabram, was found stabbed 39 times in the streets, George Yard building. Around the same time, Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, was displayed here as an attraction in the back room of a shop and later moved into the Royal London Hospital opposite. In 1936, Oswald Moseley and his British Union of Fascists were blocked from marching along Whitechapel Road during the Battle of Cable Street. The road's blind beggar pub is also famous as the spot where both the Salvation Army began in 1865 and where, a hundred years later, the notorious gangster Ronnie Cray shot rival George Cornell. At the ancient heart of the UK capital, the City of London is brimming with history and Cornhill is one of the most important thoroughfares. At one end sits the neoclassical Royal Exchange building, once a hub for city traders. At the other is Sir Christopher Wren's 1667 St Peter-upon-Cornhill Church, which claims to occupy London's oldest Christian site, dating from 179 AD. Running off it, Change Alley was the site of Jonathan's and Garroway's coffeehouses, where the city's original traders started in the 17th century. The former was the first place to post share and commodity prices in 1698, while the latter was the first place in England to sell tea. Just south of the river, Tooley Street gets its name from the now-demolished St Olaf's Church, itself named after Norway's King Olaf. In the 11th century, the future Norwegian monarch helped England's Æthelred the Unready against the city's Danish occupiers by pulling down nearby London Bridge with his longboat. In 1861, the Tooley Street fire devastated the area. The blaze took two weeks to fully put out, and led to the establishment of the capital's public-run fire brigade. In 1921, it was Ernest Shackleton's polar explorer vessel Quest, which was refitted here in Hayes Wharf. Famous residents here have included the romantic poet John Keats, who lived nearby while studying medicine, and George Orwell, who slept in a Tooley Street doss house before writing down and out in Paris and London. Not exactly a street, but this London thoroughfare oozes history from every pavement crack. Dominated by the 52-metre Nelson's Column and flanked by the National Gallery, hoped to myriad old masters, the site was once prowled by cave lions, rhinos, elephants and hippos, according to excavation work. More recently, it's been the site of political rebellion. In 1848, the Chartist riots for social reform started in this square, and suffragettes were planting bombs here in 1913 and 1940. Anti-nuclear, anti-apartheid, anti-poll tax, anti-war and even anti-lockdown demos have all followed. Whitehall takes its name from the Palace of Whitehall, where Henry VIII lived, died and married both Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, Charles I was headed outside its banqueting house, which is the only part that survives after fire destroyed the palace in 1698. Sir Robert Peel set up HQ at Number 4 when starting his police force in 1829, and the premises later became known as Scotland Yard. Synonymous with UK government and home to numerous ministries, Whitehall has been a target for terrorists over the years. In 1991, the Provisional IRA fired mortars from Whitehall onto the adjacent Downing Street, one of them exploding in the gardens of Number 10. Below ground, a network of secret bunkers built since the Second World War are designed to keep the country running in the event of an emergency. Developed in the start of the 18th century and named after the military commander John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, this Soho Road has been home to peers such as Lord Nelson and scientists such as Henry Cavendish and Charles Darwin. Philip Morris, which owned a factory here in 1881, named its Marlborough cigarettes after the street. Number 20 and 21, now a hotel, once housed the Marlborough Street Magistrates' Court, where Charles Dickens worked as a reporter and Oscar Wilde stood trial in 1895. Rock stars John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have all faced a judge here too. Further west, upmarket Piccadilly has been a major London artery since the Middle Ages. Its name comes from local tailor and landowner Robert Baker, who made his fortune here by selling Piccadills. These were big lace collars which were trendy in the 17th century and he lived in Piccadilly Hall. Over the years, this long, wide street has been home to aristocrats, various members of the Rothschilds family and even Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel. St James' Hall, which was demolished in 1905, hosted readings by Dickens and concerts by Tchaikovsky. Fortnum and Mason opened in 1705, the Ritz Hotel opened in 1906 and the Royal Academy of Arts continue to provide links to its prestigious past. So there you have it, London's most historic streets. Thanks so much for watching and don't forget to click subscribe. Thanks for watching this video on the History Hit YouTube channel. You can subscribe right here to make sure you don't miss any of our great films that are coming out. Or if you are a true history fan, check out our special, dedicated history channel, historyhit.tv. You're going to love it.