Excellent. I read this on the train from Crystal Palace (new name) via Penge (ancient) and New Cross (new), to London Bridge (Roman). A couple of millenia in a 20-minute train ride!
There's the Dagenham Idol on show at Valence House. It's a carved wooden figure found in 1922 at when laying sewer pipes for Dagenham Ford and dated to be around 4000 years old i.e. Bronze Age. It really deserves to be far more celebrated as it's quite an eerie object, enigmatically other.
I've always supposed "London" was Celtic in origin. The Romans sometimes named settlements after people (Aurelian > Orléans old and New) but nobody's suggested that there was a forgotten emperor named Londinius; my guess is that a forgotten Celtic name is a more likely source.
Among the almost forgotten Celtic inhabitants would have been Little Fred ("the ancient Brit with bags of grit") and Big Ed
Yes, there are many theories about where the name came from and a Celtic origin is one of the most likely. From what I understand, the case is not so clear cut as with Penge, Brent and Thames.
Fascinating Matt, I started and finished my working life in The City and I loved it, the ghosts and shadows of history tapping you on the shoulder round every corner.
I was taught that within the City of London there are no “roads” ; streets, lanes, hills, walls, fairs, passages, gates, but no “roads” until beyond the old City boundary.
I classed that as Aldersgate Street up to the junction with Fann Street. A child used to be tossed in a blanket whilst the ground was beaten by staves carried by Aldermen at the beating of the bounds at that very corner.
Yes, the official boundary was changed in the 1990s to bring all of the Golden Lane Estate within the City. I spoke to someone who’d been on the planning committee and, I’m told, there was a fight to leave Goswell Road out of the City so that bit of trivia could be maintained, but to no avail.
Excellent. I read this on the train from Crystal Palace (new name) via Penge (ancient) and New Cross (new), to London Bridge (Roman). A couple of millenia in a 20-minute train ride!
There's the Dagenham Idol on show at Valence House. It's a carved wooden figure found in 1922 at when laying sewer pipes for Dagenham Ford and dated to be around 4000 years old i.e. Bronze Age. It really deserves to be far more celebrated as it's quite an eerie object, enigmatically other.
Indeed! I've got a whole section and illustration about it in my next book. It's one of the greatest artefacts in London.
I've always supposed "London" was Celtic in origin. The Romans sometimes named settlements after people (Aurelian > Orléans old and New) but nobody's suggested that there was a forgotten emperor named Londinius; my guess is that a forgotten Celtic name is a more likely source.
Among the almost forgotten Celtic inhabitants would have been Little Fred ("the ancient Brit with bags of grit") and Big Ed
https://tinyurl.com/2pwtakps
Yes, there are many theories about where the name came from and a Celtic origin is one of the most likely. From what I understand, the case is not so clear cut as with Penge, Brent and Thames.
There’s the Shrewsbury Tumulus up on Shooter’s Hill which dates back to the Bronze Age.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrewsbury_Barrow
And “Old Dover Road “ at the bottom of the hill where the modern road dog legs over to Blackheath
Fascinating Matt, I started and finished my working life in The City and I loved it, the ghosts and shadows of history tapping you on the shoulder round every corner.
Thank you for taking me away from Christmas gift lists. Brilliantly researched.
Loved everything about this. Great read.
I was taught that within the City of London there are no “roads” ; streets, lanes, hills, walls, fairs, passages, gates, but no “roads” until beyond the old City boundary.
That’s mostly true, but part of Goswell Road sneaks into the boundary. See my earlier piece https://londonist.com/2012/08/why-theres-not-a-single-road-in-the-city-of-london
I classed that as Aldersgate Street up to the junction with Fann Street. A child used to be tossed in a blanket whilst the ground was beaten by staves carried by Aldermen at the beating of the bounds at that very corner.
Yes, the official boundary was changed in the 1990s to bring all of the Golden Lane Estate within the City. I spoke to someone who’d been on the planning committee and, I’m told, there was a fight to leave Goswell Road out of the City so that bit of trivia could be maintained, but to no avail.