University of Bihać

Pedagogical Faculty
English Department

LONDON

Edna Tričić
March, 2016
 CONTENTS:

Introduction …………………………………………………………3
London Through Ages ……………………………………………....4
The Great Fire of London …………………………………………....5
London's Most Important Landmarks. ……………………………….6
Government and Religion .…………………………………………...6
Geography and Culture .……………………………………………...7
Education and Transportation .……………………………………….8
Famous People Born in London .……………………………………..8
Conclusion………….…………………………………………………9
Bibliography…………………………………………………………10

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 1. INDTRODUCTION

London is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom.
Standing on the river Thames in the south east of Great Britan, London is a world-class city
with a 2,000 year history. From Roman settlement,to capital of a vast Victorian empire to
modern financial services centre, London has played many roles in its time – each leaving its
mark and helping shape the modern global metropolis of eight million people spread over 600
sq miles. The name of London is derived from London, believed that it was given by a Trojan
hero Brutus. Londinium was actually a commercial centre in Roman Britain The name
‘London’ comes from two old words, ‘lun’ (spelled ‘llyn’), which meant a lake or pool, and
‘dun’ which meant a strong place or fort on a hill. London is a leading city with strengths in
the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion , finance, healthcare, media,
professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its
prominence.

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 2. LONDON THROUGH AGES

Legend says that London was founded not by the Romans of 1st century AD, but in far
more ancient time by Brutus the Trojan, around 1070 BC, about 1000 years before the Roman
invasion. Brutus was the great grandson of Aeneas, a Trojan prince who was one of the few
survivors after the Greeks burnt Troy to the ground1. London started its evolution with the
Roman creation of Londinium and some of the main axes of the contemporary city, such as
Oxford Street, are still with us. But then in the 61 AD, Queen Boudica fought with her tribe
against the Romans and killed more than 30.000 Londoners. London was abandoned in 410
AD and under the Saxons isolated farmsteads were built in the surrounding countryside.

From the 9th century, London grew again within its original Roman boundary, and
during the Norman period it was connected by the Strand to a new political centre at
Westminster. By this time most of Roman London had been lost, with its many timber
buildings decayed and its stone buildings reused. Viking attacks dominated most of the 9th
century, becoming increasingly common from aroind 830 onwards. London was sacked in
842 and again in 851. The Danish ' Great Heather Army ,' which had rampaged across
England since 865, wintered in London in 871. The ciry remained in Danish hands until 886,
when it was captured by the forces of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and reincorporated
into Mercia. Today, virtually nothing from the Roman period exist above ground, though
beneath street leven many important archaeological remains survive. The new Norman regime
established new fortressed within the city to dominate the native population. By far the most
important of these was the Tower of London at the eastern end of the city, the first stone
castle in England. During the Medieval period plagues and famines significantly restricted
population growth, however under the Tudors, London's population increased to around
200,000. Following Henry VIII's demolition of London's religious houses, significant new
development occurred, and a number of royal retreats were built away from the centre. As a
result only a tiny proportion of pre-1700 London buildings and structures exist today.
Between 1714 and 1840, London's population increased to nearly 2 million, making it the
largest and most powerful city in the world. The Victorian period found London expanding
once more,as the population grew from around 2 million to 6.5 million.

1
Geoffrey of Monmouth; Historia Regum Britanniae; p.3

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 The opening of the London Underground in 1863 effectively cut distances and enabled
residents to leave the crowded centre for more spacious suburban developments. Despite a
culling of Victorian buildings between 1940 and 1970, the sheer scale of development has led
a much higher survival rate. The population peaked in 1940 at around 8.5 million, before
declining and then rising recently to just over 8 million. Despite the decline and the
devastation caused by the Second World War, the 20th century saw the largest urban
expansion in London's history.

3. THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

The Great Fire of London began on the night of September 2, 1666, as a small fire on
Pudding Lane, in the bakeshop of Thomas Farynor, baker to King Charles II. At one o'clock
in the morning, the fire started to madly rage and waking people up not knowing what was
going on. At this time, London houses were of woof and pitch constructions, extremely
flammable, and it didn't take long for the fire to expand. The strong wind blew that night, and
that was the main cause why fire got fastly to every corner of streets. By eight o'clock in the
morning, the fire had spread halfway across London Bridge. The only thing that stopped the
fire from spreading was the gap that had been caused by the fire of 1633. Although the loss of
life was minimal, the magnitude of the property loss was staggering. 80% of the city proper
was destroyed, including 13,000 houses, 89 churches and 52 Guild Halls. People were
desperate, having no homes nor financial sources. This event changed the face of London
forever.

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 4. LONDON'S MOST IMPORTANT LANDMARKS

Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Tower
Bridge and more landmarks can be found in London. A great way to see lots of them in a
short space of time is by going straight to Trafalfar Square or on a walk up the Thames
fromWestminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. First comes the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben,
then the London Eye, while further down the river comes St Paul's Cathedral, the Gherkin
Building, Tate Modern, Tower of London, Westminister Abbey and of course, Tower Bridge.
Other known, breathtaking buildings and places are : City Hall, Admiralty Arch, St James'
Palace, Jewel House, Guildhall, Royal Exchange, Golden Hinde, Shakespeare Globe,
Millenium Dome, British Museum, Tate Modern, National Gallery, Natural History Museum,
Imperial War Museum, Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Madame Tussauds
and much more.

5. GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION

The great London Authority consists of two elected parts. They are the Mayor of
London, who has executive powers, and the London Assembly, who scrutinise the Mayor's
desicions and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The GLA is responsible for
strategic planning policing, the fire service, most aspects of transport and economic
development. The headquarters of the GLA and the Mayor of London is at City Hall. The 33
local authorities are the 32 London borough councils, and the City of London Corporation.
They are responsible for local services such as local planning, schools, social services, local
roads and refuse collection.

According to the 2011 Census, the largest religious groupings are Christian ( 48.4 per
cent ), followed by those of no religion ( 20.7 per cent ), Muslims ( 12.4 per cent ), no
response ( 8.5 per cent ), Hindus ( 5.0 per cent ), Jews ( 1.8 per cent ), Sikhs ( 1.5 per cent ),
and has a large number of churches, particulary in the old City of London.

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 6. GEOGRAPHY AND CULTURE

At a largest scale London lies within the bowl of the London Basin, with most of the
built-up area on the Tertiary and younger sediments, and only a small part of south London
lying on the chalk backslope of the North Downs. The centre of the basin is dominated by the
modern valley of the Thames, which formes a level corridor running from west to east. There
are a few notable hills in Greater London, but none of them more than a few hundred feet
high, and they have no impeded the development of the city in all directions. It is therefore
very roughly circular. The climate of London is broadly similar to the rest of the UK, with
cool summers, mild winters, no wet or dry seasons, and often moderate to strong winds.

London is widely believed to be the culture capital of the worlds, although this title is
disputed with a number of other cities internationally. One of the interesting things in London
are specific modern food which tourists cannot resist and for sure drinking culture with pubs
on every corner. City is home to notable cultural attractions such as the British Museum, the
Tate Galleries, the National Gallery, the Notting Hill Carnival, The O2, West End theatre.
Many other British cultural icons are strongly associated with London in the minds of visiting
tourists, including the red telephone box, the routemaster bus, the black taxi, and the Union
Flag. There are also three major concert halls in the capital. London is famous for its rock
scene, and was the starting point of some of the greatest 60s and 70s artists such as David
Bowie, Iron Maiden, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, The Seks Pistols, The Who,
Pink Floyd, Queen and popular 90s acts like Blur and Coldplay. There are over three dozen
major theatres, most concentrated in the West End. London is home to over 240 museums,
galleries, and other insitutions, many of which are free of admission charges and are big
tourist attractions as well as playing a researh role. London is the home of many professional
sport teams and has hosted various international sporting events, including the Summer
Olympics. Football is very popular and London is home to Wembley Stadium as well as club
stadiums, such as Empires Stadium, Stanford Bridge and White Hart Lane. Cricket grounds
such as Lord's and The Oval are in London, as well as rugby union fields.

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 7. EDUCATION AND TRANSPORTATION

London has the largest student student population of any British city, altough not the
highest per capita. Universities in London may be divided into two groups:

 First, the Federal University of London ( with over 120,000 students ) which
comprises 19 colleges and 12 institutes
 Secondly, there are other universities of the University of London rather popular

London has an extensive and developed transport network which includes both private
and public services, journeys made by public transport systems account for 25% of London's
journeys while private services accounted for 41% of journeys. London's public transport
services are dominated by the executive ageny for transport ( TfL). TfL controls the majority
of public transport, including the Underground, Buses, Tramlink and Docklands Light
Railway, London River Services and London Overground. TfL also controls most major roads
in London, but not minor roads. In addition, there are several independent airports operating
in London, including Heathrow, the busiest airport in the UK.

8. FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN IN LONDON

London was and still is the hometown of many people who deserved to be mentioned
because of their life achievement : Mary Shelley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cecil Beaton, Lord
Byron, Thomas Moore, Keira Knightley, Ida Lupino, Seal, J.W. Turner, David Cameron,
Charlie Chaplin, William Blake, Vera Lynn, Mary of Teck, Adam And, John Lydon, Rod
Stewart, Christopher Lee, Adele, Slash, Alan Rickman, Roger Moore, Gary Oldman, Alan
Turing, Alexander Pope, Hugh Grant, Ian Fleming, Daniel Defoe and many, many more.

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 9. CONLUSION

London has always been and will be one of the most important cities in the world. It
can offer everything people want to see, feel or experience. It is such an amazing city, full of
lights, history and architecture, charm, glow, beauty, hospitality and much more.

“Unreal City, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn. A crowd flowed over London
Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent,
were exhaled. And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. Flowed up the hill and down. King
William Street. To where St Mary Woolnoth kept the hours. With a dead sound on the final
stock of nine!” 2

“Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that
life can afford.”3

2
T.S.Elliot; Selected Poems
3
Samuel Johnson; The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 3

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10. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

 Geoffrey of Monmouth; Historia Regum Britanniae, c.1136; adapted and translated,

e.g., by Wace, Langamon
 Clout, Hugh, ed. The Times History of London (London: Times Books 1999)

Internet sources:

 http://londonwhere.com/
 http://www.britannica.com/place/London
 http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g186338-Activities-London_England.html

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