Objects & Stories

Greyhound racing, 16th-century witch trials and the 1960s Ford machinists’ strike

Highway robbery, a 15th-century battlefield and the treasured Hampstead Heath

Links to the Gunpowder Plot and Peasants’ Revolt, and home to arguably the world’s most beautiful sewage works

Brent’s locals can boast of Wembley Stadium, and almost 150 languages between them

London’s largest borough was once home to Charles Darwin, and the relocated Crystal Palace

Best known for its market and music scene, Camden has room for the British Museum too

Where it all began, courtesy of the Romans, nearly 2,000 years ago

Home to the Houses of Parliament, Chinatown and London’s theatreland

As well as giving us Stormzy, this borough gave Britain its first international airport

The borough where entertainment history collides with suburbia – and some striking architectural landmarks

An arms factory, Adele and the world’s first ATM

A historic military and maritime hub by the river

Where warehouses and workshops have become studios, galleries, cafes and clubs

A 16th-century palace, an imposing Victorian prison and a glorious suspension bridge

In the 19th century, Haringey welcomed Alexandra Palace and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Harrow’s famous school opened in 1572, while Kodak set up a factory here in 1891

Havering’s past includes a Bronze Age hoard and a Tube-driven transformation to suburbia

The borough of Heathrow, and Uxbridge’s Second World War air force station

A borough whose history takes in aristocratic wealth, dangerous highwaymen and rock’n’roll royalty

Shaped by waterways, elegant squares and distinctive council estates, Islington is home to cultural icons and radical thinkers

London’s smallest borough packs a big punch with tourist draws like Portobello Road and several world-renowned museums

This royal borough’s coat of arms shows three salmon – a sign of its ancient connection to the river

Culture, industry, a historic cricket ground – Lambeth bears the imprint of many diverse influences

Taking in areas like New Cross and Sydenham, Lewisham is home to beautiful gardens as well as sites of rebellion and protest

An outer London borough with a history of textiles, tobacco and, most famously, tennis

A borough shaped by Thameside industry – and the London 2012 Olympics

One of London’s greenest boroughs, where 40% is open space

Famous for its beautiful parks, miles of Thames waterfront and royal connections

An amazing snapshot of London’s history that spans Roman ruins and the gleaming Shard skyscraper

A story of ancient villages swallowed by suburbia

The heart of London’s East End whose story dates back to Roman times

A borough with a reputation for wildlife, creativity and top-tier footballers

Where you’ll find the iconic Battersea Power Station and some of south London’s best-known green spaces

Before London was London

From the arrival of the Romans to the decline of their empire

Six hundred years that stretch from the Romans to the Norman conquest of Britain

London in the Middle Ages

The Tudor family’s kings and queens ruled England for over 100 years

A period defined by Queen Elizabeth I, the longest-ruling Tudor monarch

London under King James I

After the Tudors came the Stuarts, including James I, James II, Charles I and Charles II

Life in Georgian London, when Britain was ruled by four kings named George

Spanning the reigns of five kings from the House of Hanover, a British royal house with German origins

The era-defining rule of Queen Victoria

A century of enormous and rapid change

From the new millennium to the present day