Place · United Kingdom
The history of London, one place at a time
Assembled from 5 dug tiles · 70 sourced records · last reviewed 12 September 2026
London's ground holds a workhouse on Poland Street, a Roman bathhouse beneath Shadwell's docks, a Saxon knights' grant at Aldgate, and the Tower of London's siege, executions and plague burials — each site changed by outbreak, riot or rebuilding across nearly two thousand years.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in London — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in London
The garrison that fired on London and paid for itA nine-day siege ended with the Tower's commander hacked apart within sight of where you are standing. Waterloo Block
41 BC–1974 The doctor who pulled the handle off a killer
A hundred yards from where you are standing, a physician traced a cholera outbreak to one water pump and stopped it cold. 7, Poland Street
1606–now The garrison that shelled its own city
In 1460, the men holding the Tower for the king turned their cannon on the streets around you. White Tower
1080–1974 The Father who walked into the cholera ward
Two hundred feet from where you stand, a mission priest earned his name by staying when everyone else ran. Roman Bath House, Shadwell
1508 BC–1983 The knights who fought for a strip of mud outside the wall
You stand inside the Portsoken, land a Saxon king once handed to a guild of fighting men. Aldgate House
1108–1876
London in layers
1508 BC to 1311 BC
A dated sample recovered nearby, cataloged as BETA-249960, places human activity on this ground between about 1508 and 1311 BC. Open Context / p3k14c radiocarbon dataset
Greater London, near Tower Hill
Radiocarbon samples recovered a few hundred yards west, cross-referenced by the p3k14c project, date to spans between 41 BC and roughly AD 1000, marking continuous activity on this ground long before the Tower was built. OpenContext / p3k14c
D'Arblay Street
Formerly Portland Street, it was renamed for the writer Frances Burney, Madame d'Arblay, and runs from Poland Street to Wardour Street just north of you. Wikipedia
Social Eating House
Social Eating House, just steps from here, held a Michelin star before shutting down. Wikipedia
Inner Ward, Tower of London
Archaeologists have found evidence that plague victims were buried hastily far below the Tower's Inner Ward grounds. National Geographic
Tower Green
Tower Green served as a burial ground in the Middle Ages, and 19th-century regrading turned up the remains of buildings once standing there. Wikipedia: Tower Green
Roman period, from AD 43
The Roman Bath House at Shadwell, protected today as a scheduled monument, sits almost exactly beneath this spot. Historic England / Wikidata
Tower Hill, near the Underground station
A stretch of the Roman-built London Wall survives at Tower Hill, first raised by the Romans around AD 200 to defend Londinium. Wikipedia: London Wall
White Tower
William the Conqueror had the White Tower built in the early 1080s as a royal stronghold and residence, whitewashed by order of Henry III in 1240. Wikipedia
St John's Chapel
Built in 1080 inside the White Tower, St John's Chapel is the oldest surviving complete Christian chapel from the early Norman period and still functions as a chapel royal. Wikipedia
White Tower
William the Conqueror built the White Tower in the early 1080s as the castle's strongest point, later whitewashed on Henry III's orders in 1240. Wikipedia: White Tower (Tower of London)
Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula
Excavations beside the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, just west of the White Tower, uncovered more than twenty skeletons, some buried in tight groups suggesting rushed 14th-century plague interments. National Geographic / Cardiff University
Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate
Queen Matilda of Scotland founded Holy Trinity Priory near Aldgate around 1108, with advice from Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, on ground now a short walk southwest. Wikipedia: Holy Trinity Priory
Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula crypt
The crypt of the Chapel Royal, near where you stand, holds roughly 1,500 burials, including three queens and five men executed for adultery, some interred with quicklime. Historic Royal Palaces / Cemetery Travel
White Tower basement
Prisoners were interrogated and tortured in the basement of the White Tower for centuries; an executioner's block and axe from that era are still displayed there. Historic Royal Palaces
Tower of London area
In 1326 Isabella of France took the City of London after her husband Edward II abandoned the Tower and fled west. Wikipedia: London uprising
Tower of London
In June 1460, Yorkist nobles who had fled to Calais returned to besiege the Tower of London during the Wars of the Roses. Wikipedia
Tower of London
Yorkist forces besieged the Tower of London in 1460, part of the fighting between the houses of Lancaster and York. Wikipedia: Siege of the Tower of London (1460)
Wakefield Tower
King Henry VI was killed while praying in the Wakefield Tower's chapel in 1471. Wonders of the World
Tower Green
Seven people were beheaded and three shot by firing squad on Tower Green between 1483 and 1941, a privilege of rank meant to keep the deaths away from crowds. Historic Royal Palaces
Tower of London
Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, disappeared inside the Tower in 1483, and their fate is still argued over. Historic Royal Palaces / multiple sources
Beauchamp Tower
Thomas Miagh, an Irishman found in contact with Irish rebels, was tortured with the Scavenger's Daughter device in the Beauchamp Tower and carved his name into its wall. My Macabre Roadtrip
Tower Green
On 19 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed by sword on Tower Green, a short walk from where you stand, and buried without ceremony nearby. Historic Royal Palaces
Tower Green, Inner Ward
Anne Boleyn was beheaded on Tower Green in 1536, one of at least seven nobles executed on this patch of ground rather than in public. Historic Royal Palaces
Questions about London
What is London known for historically?
Among much else, it is known for the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak, in which physician John Snow traced 420 deaths to a single contaminated pump near Poland Street and had its handle removed; for the Tower of London's centuries of executions, sieges and royal imprisonment; and for the Portsoken, land the Saxon king Edgar the Peaceful granted to a guild of knights called the Cnichtengild.
What happened at Poland Street in 1854?
The address sits near the site of the Broad Street cholera outbreak, where John Snow traced 420 deaths to a contaminated water pump and had its handle removed, stopping the outbreak. The site itself had held the St James Workhouse since 1725.
What happened in Shadwell during the cholera outbreaks?
Cholera struck the crowded streets around the Roman Bath House site in 1849, 1855 and 1866. The mission priest Charles Lowder worked among the dying there until his own death in 1880, on ground later transformed by the London Docks, built between 1799 and 1815.
Who held the land at Aldgate before Holy Trinity Priory?
The Portsoken was granted by the Saxon king Edgar the Peaceful to the Cnichtengild, a guild of knights, in exchange for jousting duty. Their descendants gave the soke to Holy Trinity Priory around 1120. The ground later became one of London's worst Great Plague burial sites, with mass graves near St Botolph without Aldgate churchyard.
What happened at the Tower of London in 1460?
The garrison holding the Tower for the king, under Lord Scales, fired cannon and wildfire into the surrounding city during a siege by Yorkist rebels and London's own militia, before starving and surrendering. Scales was later caught fleeing by boat and killed by a crowd.
What else took place at the Tower of London?
The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror in the early 1080s as a royal stronghold, and the site later held executions on Tower Green, a 1941 firing squad, and centuries of siege and rebuilding.