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S98
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 08, 2005 - 5:36 pm: | 
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Can anyone tell me a little bit
about London before the murders?
I heard it was mainly separated into
'City of London' and 'East End'. I heard
loads and load about Whitechapel (East End)
but I heard little on the rest of the City.
A little summary will be great |
Phil Hill
Detective Sergeant
Username: Phil
Post Number: 106
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 09, 2005 - 1:04 pm: |
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London is an ancient city situated on the river Thames, the major river of South East England - it may predate the Roman conquest (43AD) but the walled Roman city (roughly a square mile in area) was the first permanent built part of what we now know as London. This (much changed in 2,000 or so years)is now the "City of London" with St Paul's Cathedral, the Royal Exchange, Stock Exchange etc at its heart. It is the financial hub of britain, Europe and in some ways the world. The "Square Mile" as it is known has its own Mayor and City Council, Police Force and ancient Livery Companies (trade guilds, esssentially) and has a measure of recognised independence - the Sovereign (King or Queen of the day) touches the City Sword when entering or leaving it to show that she acknowledges the City's right of self-government.
"The City is to the east of a small river called the Fleet. About a mile westward, just before the Norman Conquest in 1066, King edward the Confessor built an Abbey and a palace.
The City had St Paul's Cathedral (the Minister or church in the "East") so St Peter's Abbey on Thorney island became known as the West Minister, and the area - its name changed to Westminster became the centre of government. This is where Parliament and the Sovereign live and work in the main.
So you had settlements to east and west. Over times these were linked and expanded, into the great connurbation which we now know as London.
The area around Westminster became known for theatres, eating houses and places of entertainment and is often known as the "West End" - akin to the generic term Broadway (NY) or Hollywood (LA).
The East End, of which Whitechapel and Spitalfields form part and where Jack the Ripper roamed in the late 1880s, is an area immediately to the east of the City and its old walls, close to the former London docks. It developed from the C17th, first with immigrant weavers, and later became a poor/working class district (hence the contrast between the glittering West End, and the East End slums). in the 1880s it was home to many immigrants from Eastern Europe, especially Jews.
London has a long as fascinating history, I have touched on only a tiny part of it, and failed to mention the Tower, Buckingham Palace, and much of the history associated with those places and many more.
But I don't want to bore.
I love London and would be happy to share more about it, if you want me to,
Regards,
Phil |
S98
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 4:13 pm: |
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wow you really seem to have done your research
thanks alot ! being a great help
will be back soon with more to ask
til then - S
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Phil Hill
Detective Sergeant
Username: Phil
Post Number: 119
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 10:42 am: |
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Glad I was able to help.
Phil |
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