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Location of the castle in central London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic
castle on the north bank of the
River Thames in
central London, England. It lies within the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the
City of London by the open space known as
Tower Hill. It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the
Norman Conquest. The
White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by
William the Conqueror in 1078 and was initially a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new
Normanruling class. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 (
Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (
Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a
moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings
Richard I,
Henry III, and
Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.
The Tower of London has played a prominent role in
English history. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an
armoury, a
treasury, a
menagerie, the home of the
Royal Mint, a
public record office, and the home of the
Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of
Charles II in the 17th century, the monarch would traditionally prepare for several nights at the Tower, and lead a procession from there to
Westminster Abbey for their coronation. In the absence of the monarch, the
Constable of the Tower was in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the
Princes in the Tower were housed at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered. Under the
Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery. (Full article...)
The Great Fire of London was a major
conflagration that swept through the central parts of London from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval
City of London inside the old
RomanCity Wall. It threatened, but did not quite reach, the aristocratic district of
Westminster and
Charles II'sPalace of Whitehall and left the suburban slums surrounding the City largely untouched. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches,
St Paul's Cathedral, and nearly all the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated that it made homeless 70,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll from the fire is unknown and has traditionally been thought to have been small, as only a few verified deaths are recorded. (more...)
The East End of London is the area of
London,
England, east of the medieval walled
City of London and north of the
River Thames. Starting in the 19th century, the area experienced extreme overcrowding and a concentration of poor people and immigrants. Successive waves of immigration began with
Huguenot refugees creating a new extramural suburb in
Spitalfields in the 17th century. They were followed by
Irish weavers,
Ashkenazi Jews and, in the 20th century,
Bangladeshis. Many of these immigrants worked in the clothing industry. The abundance of semi- and unskilled labour led to low wages and poor conditions throughout the East End. This brought the attentions of social reformers during the mid-18th century and led to the formation of
unions and workers associations at the end of the century. The radicalism of the East End contributed to the formation of the
Labour Party and demands for the
enfranchisement of women. Official attempts to address the overcrowded housing began at the beginning of the 20th century under the
London County Council.
World War II devastated much of the East End, with its docks, railways and industry forming a continual target, leading to dispersal of the population to new suburbs, and new housing being built in the 1950s. The final closure of the
London docks in 1980 created further challenges and led to attempts at regeneration and the formation of the
London Docklands Development Corporation. The
Canary Wharf development, improved infrastructure, and the
Olympic Park mean that the East End is undergoing further change, but some of its parts continue to contain some of the worst poverty in Britain. (more...)
Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial
Buckingham Palace is the official
Londonresidence of the
British monarch (or
sovereign), and the largest working royal
palace remaining in the world. In addition to being the London home of
Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace is a setting for state occasions and royal entertaining, a base for all officially visiting
heads of state, and a major
tourist attraction. It has been a rallying point for the British at times of national rejoicing and crisis. The palace, originally known as Buckingham House, was a large
townhouse built for the
Duke of Buckingham in 1703 and acquired by
King George III in 1762 as a private residence. It was enlarged over the next 75 years, principally by
architectsJohn Nash and
Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central
courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of
Queen Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made during the
Victorian era, with the addition of the large wing facing east towards
The Mall, and the removal of the former state entrance,
Marble Arch, to its present position near
Speakers' Corner in
Hyde Park. (continued...)
The London congestion charge is a fee charged on most cars and motor vehicles being driven within the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) in
Central London between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm Monday to Friday, and between 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm Saturday and Sunday.
Inspired by
Singapore's
Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system after London officials had travelled to the country, the charge was first introduced on 17 February 2003. The London charge zone is one of the largest
congestion charge zones in the world, despite the removal of the Western Extension which operated between February 2007 and January 2011. The charge not only helps to reduce high traffic flow in the city streets, but also reduces air and noise
pollution in the central London area and raises investment funds for London's transport system. (Full article...)
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a
theatre in the
Covent Garden district of
London, facing Catherine Street and backing onto
Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663. For its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre" and thus one of the most important theatres in the English-speaking world. Through most of that time, it was one of a small handful of
patent theatres that were granted
monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London. The first theatre on the location was built on behest of
Thomas Killigrew in the early years of the
English Restoration. The building that stands today opened in 1812. It has been home to actors as diverse as Shakespearean
Edmund Kean, comedian
Dan Leno, and musical composer and performer
Ivor Novello. Today, the theatre is owned by composer
Andrew Lloyd Webber and generally stages popular
musical theatre. It is a
Grade I listed building. (more...)
Only Fools and Horses is a British television sitcom, created and written by
John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic
Christmas specials until 2003. Episodes are regularly repeated on
Gold.
After a relatively slow start the show went on to achieve consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "
Time On Our Hands" holds the record for the
highest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers (over a third of the population).
Gray's Inn is one of the four
Inns of Court in London. To be
called to the Bar and practise as a
barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns. Located at the intersection of
High Holborn and
Gray's Inn Road, the Inn is both a
professional body and a place of living and office accommodation (
chambers) for many barristers. It is ruled by a governing council called "Pension", made up of the Masters of the Bench (or "
Benchers"), and led by the
Treasurer, who is elected to serve a one-year term. The Inn is known for its gardens, or Walks, which have existed since at least 1597. Gray's Inn does not claim a specific foundation date; there is a tradition that none of the Inns of Court claims to be any older than the others.
Law clerks and their apprentices have been established on the present site since at least 1370, with records dating from 1391. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Inn grew steadily, reaching its pinnacle during the reign of
Elizabeth I. The outbreak of the
First English Civil War in 1642 during the reign of
Charles I disrupted the systems of legal education and governance at the Inns of Court, shutting down all calls to the Bar and new admissions, and Gray's Inn never fully recovered. Fortunes continued to decline after the
English Restoration, which saw the end of the traditional method of legal education. Although now more prosperous, Gray's Inn is still the smallest of the Inns of Court. (more...)
Postman's Park is a 0.67-acre (2,700 m2) park in the
City of London, adjacent to the site of the former head office of the
General Post Office and a short distance north of
St Paul's Cathedral. Opened in 1880 on the site of the former churchyard and burial ground of
St Botolph's Aldersgate church, it expanded over the next 20 years to incorporate some adjacent burial grounds and nearby land previously occupied by housing. A shortage of space for burials in London meant that corpses were often laid above existing graves and covered over with soil instead of being buried, and thus Postman's Park, as an interment site for over 800 years, is significantly elevated above the streets which surround it. Since 1900 it has been the location of the
Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, a monument erected by
George Frederic Watts to ordinary people who died saving the lives of others, and who might otherwise have been forgotten. In 1972, key elements of the park, including the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, were
grade II listed to preserve their character. Following the 2004 film Closer, Postman's Park experienced a resurgence of interest, as key scenes were filmed in the park.
Arsenal was the first club from southern England to join the
Football League in 1893, and it reached the
First Division in 1904.
Relegated only once, in 1913, it continues the longest streak in the top division, and has won the second-most top-flight matches in English football history. In the 1930s, Arsenal won five League Championships and two FA Cups, and another
FA Cup and two Championships after the war. In
1970–71, it won its first
League and FA Cup double. Between 1989 and 2005, they won five league titles and five FA Cups, including two more doubles. They completed the 20th century with the highest average league position. Between 1998 and 2017, Arsenal qualified for the
UEFA Champions League for an English football record nineteen consecutive seasons. The streak ended after a 38-game season in 2017, when Arsenal finished in fifth place, one point away from the fourth spot occupied by Liverpool. (Full article...)
Chelsea Football Club are a professional English
football club based in West
London. Founded in 1905, they play in the
Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of
English football. Chelsea have been
English champions three times, and have won the
FA Cup four times, the
League Cup four times and the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice. The club had their first major success in
1955, winning the league championship. Chelsea won several cup competitions during the 1960s and 1970s, but after that did not win another major title until 1997. The past decade has been the most successful period in Chelsea’s history, capped by winning consecutive Premier League titles in
2005 and
2006, and reaching their first
UEFA Champions League final in
2008. Chelsea's home is the 42,500-person-capacity
Stamford Bridge football stadium in
Fulham, West London, where they have played since their establishment. Despite their name, the club are based just outside the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in the
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Chelsea's traditional
kit colours are
royal blue shirts and shorts with
white socks. (more...)
The Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the
River Thames in
Southwark, now part of
London. From at least 1329 until it closed in 1842, it housed men under
court martial for crimes at sea, including
"unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of
sedition or other inappropriate behaviour, and—most famously—London's debtors, the length of their stay determined largely by the whim of their creditors. Run privately for profit, as were all prisons in England until the 19th century, the Marshalsea looked like an
Oxbridge college and functioned largely as an
extortion racket. For prisoners who could afford the fees, it came with access to a bar, shop, and restaurant, and the crucial privilege of being allowed to leave the prison during the day, which meant debtors could earn money to pay off their creditors. Everyone else was crammed into one of nine small rooms with dozens of others, possibly for decades for the most modest of debts, which increased as unpaid prison fees accumulated. The prison became known around the world during the 19th century through the writings of the English novelist
Charles Dickens, whose father was sent there in 1824 for a debt of £40 and 10 shillings. Much of it was demolished in the 1870s, though some of its buildings were used into the 20th century. (more...)