10 Hidden Historic Sites In London

London's less known historical sites and amazing hidden secrets.

1. Roman Amphitheatre

London History Group / Via londonhistorygroup.com

The Roman amphitheatre built in in AD70 is situated in a vaulted chamber beneath the Guildhall gallery complex.

Discovered in 1998 during a planned expansion of the Guildhall, the remains are displayed in situ and are now a protected monument.

2. Fleet Street Ossuary and Charnel House

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The Fleet Street Ossuary and Charnel House are located within the crypts of St Brides Church in London.

Excavations in the 1950’s of the church revealed the a large number of skeletal remains from a medieval charnel house and individuals interred in the ossuary crypt.

3. Billingsgate Roman Bath House

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The remains of the Billingsgate Roman bath house date from the 2nd-3rd century AD and were first discovered in 1848 during construction of the London Coal Exchange.

They remained preserved in the buildings basement, until further redevelopment at the site in the late 1960’s gave archaeologists the opportunity to further explore the ruin.

4. St Bride’s Church

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St Bride’s Church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 in Fleet Street in the City of London. Activity at the site dates from the Roman period, evident by a Roman mosaic located within the church Crypts.

5. London Wall

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The London Wall is a defensive wall that encircled the City of London.

The wall was built between 190 and 225 AD, it continued to be developed by the Romans until at least the end of the 4th century, making it among the last major building projects undertaken by the Romans before Britannia looked to its own defences in AD 410.

6. Whitefriar’s Crypt

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Tucked away in a tiny alley near Fleet Street lies the remains of the Whitefriar’s Crypt.

Only a crypt remains today of what was once a late 14th century priory belonging to a Carmelite order known as the White Friars. During its heyday, the priory sprawled the area from Fleet Street to the Thames.

7. Roman Fort

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The Roman fort of Londinium (City of London, England) was built around AD 120, just north-west of the main population settlement.

It covered 12 acres and was almost square in size, 200m along each length. As Londinium grew, the fort was later absorbed into the defensive wall that surrounded the city.

8. Lesnes Abbey

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Lesnes Abbey is a ruined abbey in the London Borough of Bexley which is classed as an ancient scheduled monument.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the area of Lesnes passed into ownership of Bishop Odo, as mentioned in the Domesday Survey.

9. Greenwich Saxon Cemetery

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Greenwich Park contains a large Saxon barrow cemetery of approximately 50 round barrows.

At their simplest, round barrows are hemispherical mounds of earth and/or stone raised over a burial placed in the middle, whether inhumation burials or cremations.

10. Parkland

London History Group / Via londonhistorygroup.com

Parkland was once the route of part of the London and North Eastern Railway’s (LNER’s) line from Finsbury Park to Edgware constructed in 1867 by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway, with the branch to Muswell Hill and Alexandra Palace added in 1874.

The Parkland Walk was officially opened in 1984 following extensive re-surfacing and improvements to access and is now a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) linear green walkway and a protected nature reserve.