London stories
Explore the stories of the world's greatest city and uncover the hidden treasures of our collections.
All stories


Hardy Amies: London’s great tailor & couturier
The Savile Row-based designer had a long career spanning luxurious couture and casual menswear

Skating through the history of London’s ice rinks
Did you know ice rinks were invented in London? And the earliest version was made from pig fat?

Emmeline Pankhurst: Suffragette icon
Pankurst’s leadership of the militant votes-for-women campaign made her a feminist hero


London 1948 Olympics: The ‘Austerity Games’
Held in the struggling post-war years, these frugal Games were celebrated as a harmonious success

How Florence Nightingale shaped London healthcare
Modern nursing has a lot to thank this 19th-century trailblazer for


John Hargrave: Leader of the Kibbo Kift
Camp out, help others, work for world peace: Hargrave’s youth movement aimed for a better society

Boudica: Rebel queen of the Iceni
London burned when this warrior queen challenged the Romans

How a Neolithic jade axe came to Mortlake
Polished, Italian and left in the Thames

Why Charles I was executed
A tale of religion and Parliament which ends abruptly in 1649

The candid street photography of Margaret Monck
Capturing the energy of 1930s Londoners

Christabel Pankhurst: Suffragette leader
An inspiring leader whose radical tactics intensified women’s fight for the vote

The murder of Thomas Becket
An event that shocked medieval Europe – and a cult that's lasted centuries

Kitty Marion: Actor & Suffragette
Battling for the vote with fire and hunger strikes

How Mary Quant revolutionised 1960s fashion
This champion of super short hemlines influenced how a generation dressed

Millicent Fawcett: Suffragist, not Suffragette
Meet a leader of the law-abiding votes for women campaign