London is full of glass towers, but dig a little and you'll find a city that's been standing — in parts — for nearly two thousand years. A recent round-up from Secret London highlights the oldest surviving places in the capital, and it's a handy starting point for anyone who wants their sightseeing with a bit of depth.
The headline name is the Tower of London, begun by William the Conqueror in the 1070s and easily the most famous of the bunch. It's survived as a royal palace, prison and mint, and the Crown Jewels are still on display there. Book tickets online in advance and go early — queues build fast.
Almost as old is Westminster Abbey, with its current Gothic church dating mainly from the 13th century on a site of worship over a thousand years old. Every coronation since 1066 has happened here. Nearby, the oldest part of the Abbey complex and the surrounding Westminster area give you a full day of history within a short walk.
Further east, the City of London hides older gems most visitors walk straight past. Temple Church, built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century, still holds round-arched services and is famous to Da Vinci Code fans. St Bartholomew the Great near Smithfield dates from 1123 and is one of the city's most atmospheric interiors — a favourite film location for good reason. And the City's Guildhall and surviving stretches of the original Roman wall around Tower Hill remind you that Londinium was a going concern in the first century AD.
For pub-lovers, the list also leans on the capital's ancient boozers. Pubs claiming centuries of continuous trading — the kind with wonky beams and open fires — cluster around the City and the riverside, and a self-guided crawl between a few of the oldest makes for a genuinely fun afternoon.
Why care? Because these places are cheap or free relative to London's big-ticket attractions, they're mostly in central locations reachable on foot or by Tube, and they give structure to a visit that might otherwise be a blur of queues and crowds. History buffs, first-timers and repeat visitors looking for a slower side of London will all get something out of a route built around them. Practical takeaway: group them geographically — Tower and Roman wall in one day, Westminster in another, Smithfield and the City pubs in a third — and you'll cover a millennium and a half without exhausting yourself.
Story via Secret London.
