Краеведческий материал: Лондон
учебно-методическое пособие по английскому языку

LONDON

Historically, London grew from three distinct centres: the walled settlement founded by the Romans on the banks of the Thames in the 1st century AD, today known as the City of London, “the Square Mile,” or simply “the City”; facing it across the bridge on the lower gravels of the south bank, the suburb of Southwark; and a mile upstream, on a great southward bend of the river, the City of Westminster.

The three settlements had distinct and complementary roles. London, “the City,” developed as a centre of trade, commerce, and banking. Southwark, “the Borough,” became known for its monasteries, hospitals, inns, fairs and the great theatres of Elizabethan London—the Rose (1587), the Swan (1595), and the world-famous Globe (1599). Westminster grew up around an abbey, which brought a royal palace and, in its train, the entire central apparatus of the British state—its legislature, executive, and judiciary. It also boasts spacious parks and the most fashionable districts for living and shopping—the West End.

The north-bank settlements merged into a single built-up area in the early decades of the 17th century, but they did not combine into a single enlarged municipality. The City of London was unique among Europe’s capital cities in retaining its medieval boundaries.

The population of London already exceeded one million by 1800. A century later it reached 6.5 million. The solidly built-up area of London measured some 5 miles (8 km) from east to west in 1750, 15 miles (24 km) in 1850, and 30 miles (50 km) in 1950.

The evacuation and bombing during World War II were a turning point in London’s history because they brought the long era of expansive suburbanization to a sudden end. After the war the government decided that the metropolis had grown too much for its own economic and social good and that its growth was a strategic risk. A Green Belt was imposed, and subsequent growth was diverted beyond it.