What exactly is the City of London?
As a reader of our newsletter you might think this is a bit of a daft question. But you’d be surprised how often we need to explain to people that the City of London is not the same as London. It’s complicated, sort of.
In the beginning (well around 43AD) the Romans decided that they wanted to formalise the trading arrangements they already had with Britain – a hodge-podge of regions, governed by different tribes – by conquering us. No messing about trying to agree trading terms or tariffs, they just sent over their legions, killed a few chieftains, built towns with names with Noviomagus Reginorum (now Chichester) and, closer to home for Six in the City, Londinium. They threw a wall around it a century or so later, possibly to prevent the likes of that upstart Boudicca from torching it again and to impose taxes on trade. For that was what Londinium was set up to be – a trading post. It has carried on as such ever since. But it isn’t London. You don’t find Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey or Arsenal football Club in the City of London; you find them in the 32 Boroughs that make up Greater London and that, can be very confusing to our lovely visitors and not just those from overseas.
Here’s a map of London, i.e. ‘Greater London’
Look very carefully at the middle of the map and, just above Southwark you’ll see the tiny part called ‘City’. And that is it; more or less what Londinium became, although a bit bigger and also known as ‘The Square Mile’ even though it’s not square and it’s more than a mile. And, it’s not actually a London Borough but don’t ask us to explain that; it’s a whole other post
Here’s another diagram to make this point a bit clearer
The purple line marks the placement of the Roman Wall, and the red line is the boundary of today’s City of London.
Small it might be, but for visitors it sure packs a punch. Unsurprisingly, considering the Romans, kicked it off, it’s got the best Roman remains such as sections of the wall, recreated temples and preserved parts of the Amphitheatre. There are Saxon structures inside All Hallows by the Tower. There are the unparalleled Wren churches and their spectacular ‘HQ’, St Paul’s Cathedral, the site of many era-defining Royal events. There are Victorian Gothic offices (decorated in one instance by some Devils), Horace Jones’s amazing Tower Bridge, so good that it was made into a marvellous Lego model. The River Thames rolls alongside, a witness to every kind of history from triumph to tragedy. Go east to what is now called ‘the Insurance Quarter’ and you find some of the most exciting and innovative 21st century architecture, gleaming and reflective and offering you spectacular views across London (yes, the big one) for free.
You need a good guide to help you find all this, to tell you the stories, explain the quaint City customs, point out the finest examples of craftmanship and the wickedness that could come from greed. That’s where we come in. Every one of us was trained by the City of London to be able to guide you around this quintessential gem of an area, on behalf of the Lord Mayor (that’s not the same as the Mayor of London but we’ll explain that another time). Our tours are all designed to highlight different aspects of the Square Mile, whether you want architecture, royal history, an understanding of the ancient guilds, an explanation of what happened to all the Tudor stuff (that’s easy; all burned down in 1666 and that’s a tour of its own) or where to go to find the best views. Why not book a private tour for a birthday present? We’re good. Don’t just take our word for it, read the reviews!