The Story of London

Two great and terrible calamities smash into England, leaving London possibly reeling. A giant wall of water pulverises England, followed by a second invasion by the Danes, and the rise of an unlikely saviour. Full script of this episode will be posted here https://imgur.com/gallery/hajiHGM for those who wish to follow along.

The Danish King leads a huge force across England, aiming at London, which hunkered down to prepare for the last stand of King Æthelred… two of the most dramatic, violent and amazing years in London’s history are about to take place. A full script with illustrations will be available on https://imgur.com/gallery/hajiHGM

We continue the deep dive into the changes taking place in London during this era; this time looking at how it grew, new buildings, how it started to run itself, the prolific action of churches and more. Cover includes edited photo of reconstructed Anglo-Saxon buildings, West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, Suffolk.

The first in a special two part episode where we really dive deep into the changes taking place in London; this part focuses on the economic and trade explosion that appears to be taking place in the city during this era. Cover art features picture of Saxon coin Horde discovered in Lenborough, Buckinghamshire.

The Story of London takes a moment to examine one of the great urban myths of London- the idea that the nursery rhyme ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ was based on a real life attack by some Vikings in or near the year 1013. Was it true? Where did the idea come from? And what does it tell us about the actual complex events of this era? Cover art includes picture of the bridge at Bad Säckingen, Germ...

This is it… the start of the end game of King Æthelred of England; three years of destruction, mayhem, murder, intrigue, false hopes, and growing problems in both England AND Denmark was to set up for another battle at the walls of London. Carnage awaits us… Cover shows detail from the stained glass depiction of the martyrdom of St. Alphege of Canturbury, Church of St. Alphege, Solihull, England

In the winter of the year 1009, an overlooked conflict broke out on the river Thames; on one side the fleet of the most feared Vikings in Europe. The other? London. This chapter explains how this campaign came about, and how and why London triumphed. Cover features picture of the Gokstad Boat, Viking Ship Museam, Oslo.

London was to witness one of the darkest moments of the era with the St. Brice’s Day Massacre; but what actually happened? Did a King really order the deaths of all the Danes of England? And how did that impact London going forward? Cover includes part of a photo of the Ridgeway Hill Viking burial site, Dorset.

Fresh from the defence of the city, the residents of London suddenly have to cope with some dramatic changes. A new Bishop of London exploded upon the city, with barnstorming sermons and a ferocious legal mind… and the King suddenly began a new, aggressive foreign policy. Cover features photograph of Eurasian Wolf.

London suddenly, and without warning, found itself facing a giant fleet sailing right up the Thames to sack the place but the Vikings were running into a town who had come a long way from the small village it use to be. What follows? Sounds like a bloodbath… the first battle of London had begun. Cover includes picture of King Æthelred I, from the illuminated manuscript, The Chronicle of Abindon.

As England lurches from crisis to crisis, London finds itself growing, becoming more influential and eventually spearheading a new offensive against the Viking raiding fleets… only to be met with betrayal at the highest level. Cover includes picture of the Abingdon Sword, found in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

So in order to get to just how drastic some of the future actions by London were to be, we need to look at what drove them to do what they will do. This episode (which has way too many Vikings in it), looks at the political and military crisis tracking place in England and elsewhere that would trigger the events that would see London become the capital of England. Cover features Legs Cross, Darlin...

London during the 10th century began to transform into a town known for its strong religious feelings; a chapter that examines some of the causes of this, plus how it was to witness the chaos caused by the sudden death of the King… Cover induces picture of Anglo-Saxon cross, Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.

We get stuck into tenth century London with a detailed look as to the era when the city began to go from A Saxon town, to THE Saxon town and why this process began during the reign of King Æthelstan. Cover includes picture of the remains of the burgh wall, Winchester.

We return to the Story of London by briefly going over the events in Britain going on around London, and which would influence London over the next few decades. A massive series of wars between the Kings of Wessex and the forces of the Vikings… welcome, then, to the Great Game and Book 2 of the Story of London, ‘The Kingdom of London’.

We come to a natural end in the Story of London; all that was past is prologue. This is a special episode, where we go over the history of the place in a nice short summery, condensing the previous 17 episodes in a nice re-cap. After all, we have covered a LOT of territory. Cover features replica of the Sutton Hoo helmet.

We return after a brief hiatus with a slightly longer look at the start of the 10th century- an episode that tries to reconstruct what London looked like, when EXACTLY London Bridge was rebuilt and more than that… explore the birth of the London mob. Cover features edited picture of the Bastaibrüken, Germany.

Continuing the tale of the war of 893-897; London faced the prospect of a large Viking fleet upriver that promised to bring war and destruction upon the town… and yet greater threats lay hidden in its future. An episode that takes us to the end of the reign of Alfred the Great. Cover features the Trelleborg Shield, Trelleborg Museam.

London was about to discover it was no longer utterly helpless in the face of Viking raids. For the first time the residents of the town were empowered to mobilise as an army… and over the course of a war that is much overlooked these days, suddenly found they had teeth… Cover includes detail of a Scandinavian axe head, Smithsonian.

We finally reach the year the City of London as we know it was created- 886. But the story behind it, and the confusion it seems to generate, are examined in a wild episode involving war, political gestures and Viking’s Vikinging other Vikings. Cover includes detail from Anglo-Saxon Church, Barton-on-Humber

The second part of this bumper section, we now examine the actions of the other two candidates for the murder of London- the Viking leader Guthrum and Alfred the Great. Cover art features detail from the Butler’s Field pendant.

A special two part episode, as we try and work out who was responsible, ultimately, for the death of Saxon London as it was. In the first part, we examine the role of the King’s of Mercia and the great Viking Leader, Halfdan… Cover includes detail of the Butler’s Field Amulet.

The Story of London gets to the part where the Viking attacks increase as we explore two things impacting upon it- the start of the reign of Alfred the Great and the Great Heathen Army! And how the Viking’s came to occupy the town… draft script and pictures/maps available on the website.

The Vikings had raided London… how did the survivors cope and how did this change them? The Story continues looking at both the aftermath and potentially what created the identity of the city of come. A rough script and support materials can be found on the website. Cover includes detail from Anglo-Saxon gravestone, St Peter's church, Creeton, Lincolnshire, UK.

An deep dive into both the evolution of the tactics and scale of the early Vikings and their impact upon London; how the small collections of pirates grew and escalated their attacks to the point they could take on huge towns, and accounts of the first two raids upon London in 842 and 851.