London stories
Explore the stories of the world's greatest city and uncover the hidden treasures of our collections.
All stories
Lost rivers: The Westbourne
Until the 1800s, the Westbourne flowed through the countryside and could safely quench your thirst
Lost rivers: The Tyburn
Flowing under Mayfair and Buckingham Palace, the Tyburn shaped some of London’s wealthiest areas
Lost rivers: The Effra
Lambeth’s famous hidden river was once the source of colourful London myths – and frequent flooding
The Jewish East End
How Spitalfields and Whitechapel offered new lives to thousands fleeing persecution
Jumbo the Elephant
How a 19th-century animal celebrity gave us a massive new word
Silvertown 1917: London’s largest explosion
73 people died when an east London factory making TNT caught fire and exploded
The Stone Age skull rescued from the River Thames
Found after 5,000 years in the mud
The surprising diversity of Roman London
A city home to people from Turkey, Germany and Greece
Who was Admiral Nelson?
Nelson's naval victories gave him national hero status and a permanent place in Trafalgar Square
Harrods: A location for luxury
From humble beginnings to one of the biggest emporiums in Europe
London’s public executions
Hung, drawn and quartered. Beheaded, boiled or burned
Pleasure gardens: London’s first music venues
Handel at Vauxhall? Mozart at Ranelagh? For 18th-century music fans, these were the places to be
The Great Stink of 1858
A smell so incredibly awful it demanded a modern sewer solution
