London stories
Explore the stories of the world's greatest city and uncover the hidden treasures of our collections.
All stories
A timeline of Roman London: Londinium from start to end
How the Romans created London, built temples and baths, then abandoned their city 350 years later
Kenric: London’s long-running lesbian social group
Meet-ups and connections since 1965
Why were charity wristbands so popular in the noughties?
When the ultimate fashion accessory was a silicone statement bracelet bought for £1
Anna Maria Garthwaite: Spitalfields silk designer
Her naturalistic floral designs were the height of silk fashion in the mid-1700s
Gay’s The Word: Britain’s oldest LGBTQ+ bookshop
A central London haven that’s weathered many storms over the years
The dissolution of London’s monasteries
Henry VIII’s reforms forever upended London’s religious life and land ownership
A microcosm of Georgian London
Rudolph Ackermann’s collection of prints lets us peek inside the city’s buildings in the early 1800s
Henry Mayhew brings Victorian London to life
His spectacular survey preserved the experiences and voices of street workers in the 19th century
London at home in the 1990s
Photographer Magda Segal invites us to look at the spaces Londoners call home
Three-dimensional portraits of Victorian Londoners
Stereoscopic photos from our collection are the clues to a popular optical illusion of the past
The Thames Set by James McNeill Whistler
As the polluted river crawled by, Whistler scratched out images of London’s watery margins
The Penny Post sparked a letter-writing revolution
Letter-writing exploded in popularity in Victorian Britain thanks to one-penny postage
Kensington Market led British alt fashion for 33 years
Where Freddie Mercury sold boots and punk thrived
The Green Park: Fireworks, robberies & scandal
The thrilling history of London’s smallest royal park
How the telegraph took off in Victorian London
This invention marked the beginning of instant messaging – and standardised time
The Ronan Point disaster: Tower blocks’ demise
This 1968 accident rattled confidence in the buildings of the future
