please empty your brain below
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When in London, keep asking ‘why is this here?’ enough times and one of the answer trails will end up at ‘because of where the Romans forded the Thames and built a settlement on the north bank.’
It always comes back to London Bridge.
(that’s my opinion, anyway!)
Marc | 29.01.26 - 7:31 a.m. | #
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I need many layers of clothes to go outside and a stable source of heating to stay inside, so I'm not sure "is habitable" is a logical conclusion of "the climate is maritime temperate".
Karl Freguis | 29.01.26 - 8:09 a.m. | #
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Only last week I was on a train, looked out of the window at an assortment of industrial buildings, rubbish strewn roads and verges , metal railings, a few houses and various business, and pondered “what was the process that took this from uninhabited natural environment to dystopian urban hell hole”….
Steve Green | 29.01.26 - 8:21 a.m. | #
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I often wonder about my little patch of Hammersmith. I have snippets of history: Brandenburgh House replaced by industry along the Thames, prominently distilling. I know why some of the streets are named as they are. A photo of the pub on my street looking out at a bomb damaged warehouse during World War II.
It would be nice to have a more detailed view. I fear that I will have to be the one to document it all, though.
Greg | 29.01.26 - 8:27 a.m. | #
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The Romans developed the site of London, but why here?
There was a ridge of land above the marshes, and a ford at low tide. But there was also a ford further upstream at Westminster. Large ships could get almost as far as the bridge site at high tide, but not further upstream.
It was also roughly a day’s march south from the Catuvellauni capital at Verlamion (St Albans) and two days west from the Trinovantes at Camulodunon (Colchester) and two days east of the Atrebates at Cavella (Silchester).
That said, in later centuries, the Vikings were a little further upstream at Lundenwic, outside the old city.
So why was the ridge and the river here? Geology.
Andrew | 29.01.26 - 8:33 a.m. | #
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In a small post-WW1 estate near me is a Addison Road, named after Christopher Addison. Nearby are roads named after other 1920s politicians with housing connections: Neville [Chamberlain] Road, Kingsley [Wood] Road, and [Arthur] Greenwood Gardens.
Alan S | 29.01.26 - 8:43 a.m. | #
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Andrew, also there were two critical pieces of raised land so the area (generally marshy) was suitable to build on. Without Cornhill and Ludgate Hill the Romans might have chosen to settle further upstream.
The post reveals a fascinating thought that I am sure some of us have pondered and it has never occurred to others.
There was a large area, one of the last left in London, used for market gardening centred around six cottages in an hamlet called Heath Row. World war 2 came and was still in progress and the government wanted a military airfield that could be converted to civilian use after the war.
The story of my own road is fairly obvious and unexciting except for the land being sold by the manor of Carew because the owner lost a debt at the gambling table and had to sell the large estate he owned. My own house is a late addition because a subsequent owner of the land wanted a house for himself when developing the area and had an extra large garden.
Pedantic of Purley | 29.01.26 - 8:48 a.m. | #
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Fascinating post, even if I've never been to Becontree. Thank you.
Wendy C | 29.01.26 - 9:15 a.m. | #
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“... even in the 1920s they knew not to build on a flood plain“
A knowledge that has been lost in recent years. In my village the houses built over 20 years ago don't flood and the recent infill and extension housing floods quite often. It's almost like there was a reason those areas had been left undeveloped.
Dave | 29.01.26 - 9:47 a.m. | #
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Geology rocks and geography is where it's at.
MilesT | 29.01.26 - 9:51 a.m. | #
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Wonderful post, thank you!
Mike on a bike | 29.01.26 - 11:36 a.m. | #
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This post, and yesterday's, are really quite sublime, even for this peerless blog. Superb research and writing.
yeoldemother | 29.01.26 - 11:50 a.m. | #
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So the LCC 'resolved to build 29,000 dwellings within 5 years', and presumably did so. That doesn't seem to happen any more.
dg writes: incorrect presumption
Peter (of Cambridge) | 29.01.26 - 12:13 p.m. | #
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"Have you ever stopped and wondered why somewhere looks like it does?" Indeed, as an education-oriented geologist, that's been a lifetime aim – continued through retirement. So it was with delight that I read this post, bringing us to think about the fundamentals, to really look. Thank you, a delightful post.
Herbof | 29.01.26 - 12:52 p.m. | #
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Great stuff, but I kept waiting to be told who the 'Hedgeman' was.
Freddie | 29.01.26 - 1:37 p.m. | #
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Once upon a time, the Primary School Curriculum included a 'contrasting locality study', which involved studying your locality's geography and history and comparing it with somewhere else.
So children in Becontree might well research their area as outlined above, and compare it with, say, a Derbyshire village, maybe linking up with a school there. Not so easy pre-internet and emails, but we did make programmes to help them when I worked for Schools TV back in the day, and we offered a postal 'link-up' service!
ActonMan | 29.01.26 - 3:24 p.m. | #
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Big developments of council housing like Becontree were helped by the land being available at its low ‘agricultural’ value. The Land Compensation Act of 1961 changed that, obliging house builders to pay the much higher ‘market’ value created by the planning permission. This is still the case, obliging developers to build mostly private housing with little genuinely social housing.
And of the 27,000 houses on the Becontree Estate, around two thirds have been ‘lost’ under the Right to Buy.
ActonMan | 30.01.26 - 12:45 a.m. | #
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Peter (of Cambridge).
From Wikipedia:
"The LCC hoped to build 24,000 homes by 1924. They were only able to achieve 3,000 and the works were extended into three phases lasting until 1935."
Delays were not so unknown back then either!
Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 30.01.26 - 2:32 a.m. | #
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