Day 32: Finding Roman London

Today was a busy day and it's late here, so I apologize because this post is not going to be what it deserves.

This morning Ethan and I decided to go see St. Paul's Cathedral.  We had decided not to go in because of the cost, but to walk around and see the exterior.  We wandered around the massive cathedral, taking in the 365' dome.  Outside the front entrance of the church, stands a statue of Queen Anne, the first Queen of Great Britain.

St. Paul's was an important image of British resilience in the face of the German attacks during World War II.  The cathedral was struck with three bombs, two which detonated and caused damage, but not enough severely harm the building.  The third bomb was successfully defused and removed.  A famous image of St. Paul's surrounded by the smoke of London on fire became a rallying image for the British, and the world, against the German Blitz.

We then headed to Southwark Cathedral, where Ethan was meeting with dean of the cathedral.  We also wanted to visit as the cathedral was where Ethan's priest and mentor had been ordained (plus the cathedral has plenty of history).  The cathedral sits in the parish nearest to the Globe Theater, so it has strong connections to William Shakespeare and his troop.  His brother is even buried there.

While we were in the church, Ethan attended a morning prayer service in the Harvard Chapel.  The Harvard Chapel is named for John Harvard, the benefactor whose gift changed the name of New College to Harvard College in 1639.  John Harvard was baptized in the Southwark Cathedral.

After lunch Ethan headed to his meeting and I started my tour of Roman London.  I decided to walk to a wall section at Tower Hill from Southwark Cathedral.  My route took me across Tower Bridge, which gave me a great view of two of London's newest buildings.  The lower building is the City Hall of London, built in 2002 and known as the "Armadillo" (or some more vulgar options), and the taller is the Shard, built in 2012.  They certainly add flair into the London skyline.

I then made my way back to the Tower of London and went up the hill behind it.  It provided a new perspective of the fortress, and one I think that most tourists miss.  I think from this angle it becomes more clear how over time pieces were added to the fortress.

Just above the Tower of London is a remnant of the Roman city walls.  The walls would have stood over 20' high and had a sentry's walk.  There's also evidence that they had tours built in intervals around the wall.  The current remains were adapted in the medieval times, but the use of Roman bricks can still be seen lower down.

I tried to follow the London Wall Walk from the Tower of London to the Museum of London, which houses much of the Roman archaeology of the city, but failed.  I think construction blocked the route, but I soon got lost and decided to head more directly to the museum.  The one advantage of this is the route took me right by yet another of London's newest skyscrapers.  30 St. Mary Axe, better known as the Gherkin, was completed in 2003 and opened the following year.  I tend to think it looks more like a pinecone than a pickle.

After a solid day of walking, I made it to the Museum of London.  I began my tour in the earliest periods of London's history.  One of the highlights of the collection is the skull of an aurochs, a wild ox that stood around 6' tall and thought to have inhabited Britain between 245,000-186,000 BCE.

Skipping ahead many thousands of years, these stone mace-heads from c. 2500 BCE were probably a marker of status and authority.  The rare marbled stone would have made them rarer, therefore representing leadership.

These coins come from the Sunbury Hoard, which dates between 100 and 50 BCE.  The image on the left depicts a "highly stylized" Apollo and a butting bull.  This is particularly interesting as Julius Caesar first invaded Britain in 55/54 BCE.  These coins, if interpreted correctly, show that Mediterranean powers had been trading with the British natives before Caesar's invasion. 

I made my way into the Roman section, which followed the history of Londinium from beginning to end.  A moment of London's Roman history that has always fascinated me is the destruction in the 60s CE at the hands of Boudicca.  As the Roman governor was campaigning against the Druids in northern Wales, Boudicca, queen of the Icenii, ravaged southeastern England.  She burned both London and St. Albans.  Eventually, when he had hurried back, the Roman governor was able to subdue the uprising.  The skull below, found in Walbrook Stream, is believed to be a victim of Boudicca's devastation.

A temple to Mithras, a Persian god beloved by the Roman army, was found in London in 1954.  The site has had a deal of controversy, with all the remains being moved and then being rebuilt inaccurately.  The Mithraeum is now currently being worked on and restored in a more accurate manner, which sadly makes it unaccessible.  Luckily for me, some of the pieces of the Mithraeum are in the Museum of London.

There is evidence that around 350 BCE the Mithraeum was rededicated to Bacchus.  Some sculptures, like the one below, were re-carved to depict Bacchus, when they had originally shown Mithras.

I could go on for a long time about what I saw in the Roman section of the Museum of London, but sadly, it is late and I'm still trying to process it all!

Ethan met me at the museum and managed to look at basically the whole collection in the time it took me to go through about half of the Roman section.  After I finally finished, I had him show me some of his highlights from the other parts of the museum.  One of the first ones he showed me as this century old model of the old St. Paul's.  The St. Paul's depicted was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

We also saw an early printed book containing the Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder.  I think the illustrations certainly helped readers understand the massive tome, which covers topics ranging from astronomy to zoology to mining to painting.

Another favorite piece of mine was fragments of broken stained glass windows, smashed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.  This has really become a theme of my trip, with all the churches I've seen.  The fractured glass and bent metal really captured the destruction the Dissolution caused for me.

I'm sorry I can't capture this day to the fullest.  It was really wonderful to explore Roman London in the Museum of London (although I did have questions about their collection and use of replication).  Certainly showed me a lot about the Roman side of a wonderful city!

Fun Fact #32: Going of yesterday's sidetone, today I stumbled upon this list of plants that were introduced (or attempted to be introduced) to London by the Romans:

Cherry

Cucumber

Fig

Grape

Mulberry

Pea

Walnut

Apple

Pear

Hazel

Plum

Lentil

Quince

Olive

Stone Pine

Peach

Coriander

Rue

Dill

Summer Savory

Fennel

Day 29: Trying to Max Out the London Pass

Today was a long and busy day.  I will be filling this post out in the morning.  Until then, enjoy the photos!

Here is the update!

We had an early start to the day and went straight to the Tower of London.  With the London Pass, we were able to skip the ticket office all together and go straight into the Tower, which made our visit all the more enjoyable.  Since we arrived on the early side, the Tower was not packed and we could easily walk around.  First we learned about the history of the mint in the Tower.  One of my favorite facts was that in the late 18th century many countries used very similar coins, in both size and weight.  It was less expensive to reuse these coins than to make new ones, so the Royal Mint stamped portraits of the reigning ruler, George III at the time, to make the coins valid.  Below is an example of an American dollar coin from 1795 that has been stamped and could have circulated in England.

Tower of London has its own special guardians, commonly known as Beefeaters.  The groups actual name is Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeomen Guard Extraordinary, which is far too long.  The Beefeaters are all retired non-commissioned or petty officers from the armed forces and must have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct medal.  They now mainly act as tour guides (and tourist attractions), while the protection of the Crown Jewels falls to the same unit providing security and protection for Buckingham Palace.

The Tower of London was begun in the 11th century and reworked and expanded over the next three centuries.  The St. Thomas Tower was built between 1275 and 1279 and is made to look as it would during the reign of Edward I.  Edward was a very devout Christian king, personally going on the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land when he was heir to the throne and famously issuing the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, expelling the Jews from England.  This edict stayed on the books for over 350 years.  Below is a restoration of the small chapel in a turret of St. Thomas Tower.

The tower sits above the more famous Traitors' Gate, which was originally built as a water access to the fortress for Edward I, but later became known for bringing prisoners into the Tower.  The prisoners would have come along the Thames, passing under the heads of recently executed prisoners  displayed on London Bridge, and then being brought in through the gate and into their cells.  Two famous prisoners who came to the Tower this way were Anne Boleyn and Thomas More.

At the center of the Tower of London is the White Tower.  Originally the site of William the Conqueror's keep, but the building was subsequently changed over the centuries.  The Tower, after it fell out of use as a seat of royal power, held many famous prisoners.  Probably the most famous were known as the Princes in the Tower, Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, sons of the King of England.  When Edward IV died in 1483, his elder son was named king, although not crowned.  His uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), was named Lord Protector as Edward V was only twelve.  The Princes were imprisoned in the White Tower and were never seen by any one in the public after the summer of 1483.  In June of 1674, during construction on the White Tower, two skeletons of children were found in a chest under a staircase.  Believed to be the bodies of the two princes, the skeletons were interred at Westminster Abbey, although their story will always remain a mystery.

Sadly, pictures are not allowed in the White Tower which houses a great armory.  Pictures are also not allowed in the Jewel House, which contains the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.  I love jewelry and precious gems and stones, so the Crown Jewels made me exceptionally giddy.  For those who have not been before, you pass the main portion of the jewels (e.g. the crowns, scepters, and orbs) on a moving walkway.  There is one on each side and I made Ethan go on both of them with me so we could see all the jewels from both angles.  Needless to say I was amazed and very happy.

The Crown Jewels also contain other items, such as pieces used in royal baptisms, banquets, and religious festivals.  The highlight of this collection was a massive punch bowl made for George IV.  The bowl is 8,000 ounces, plated in gold, and can hold 144 bottles of wine.  What a great way to start a party!

As we were heading towards the exit of the Tower, we spotted a couple of re-enactors in period costume.  I think they were meant to portray Henry VIII and the ill-fated Anne Boleyn who was beheaded at the Tower of London.

After leaving the Tower of London, we headed to the Tower Bridge, one of the most iconic sights in London.  With our passes we were able to climb all the ay to the top of the bridge and cross the walkways between the two towers.  Below is a view of the Union Jack atop the Tower Bridge seen from the walkways.

The view of east London and the Thames from the walkway of Tower Bridge.

After climbing back down from the top of the bridge, we were able to explore the Victorian engine room that used to raise and lower the drawbridge.  It was done through hydraulic power and steam power, using massive machinery.  Now the drawbridge is operated by a more modern electro-hydraulic drive system.

We walked along the bank of the Thames, which gave wonderful views back to the Tower of London.  The White Tower rises above the walls of the fortress and in the bottom left of the picture, the curve of Traitors' Gate is just visible.

We made our way to the Globe Theatre, but were sadly told that we could only see the interior in the morning, and as we had spent a long time at the Tower of London, we were too late.  Disappointed, we took the tube towards Buckingham Palace to see the Royal Mews and the Queen's Gallery.

After lunch, we headed into the Mews to see how British royalty travel in style.  Below is the Irish State Coach, built for the Royal Family in 1851 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin.  It was damaged by fire in 1911 and completely restored in 1989.  It is used during state occasions, and like most of the royal carriages, is used during the State Opening of Parliament.

The current Royal Mews were built in 1850 and, with modifications, now contain stables for thirty horses, garages for state cars that carry the Royal Family, and the collection of carriages.  The Mews also contain housing for those involved with transporting the Royal family, including chauffeurs, coachmen, grooms, etc.  The royal carriages are pulled by Windsor Greys or Cleveland Bays and the Queen personally names the horses.  Two of the horses are named Concord and Lexington, which I appreciated. 

The gem of the Royal Mews is the Gold State Coach, an eight-horse drawn carriage built in 1762 that has been used in the coronation ceremonies of seven British monarchs.  The coach is four tons, twenty-four feet long, and twelve feet wide.  It is decorated with symbols of the United Kingdom, focusing on the unity of Scotland, England, and Ireland and the victory over France in the Seven Years' War.  The sculptures on the carriage depict tritons, announcing and accompanying the arrival of Neptune.  The two at the front of the coach blow conch shells, sounding the arrival.

The panels around the carriage were painted by Giovanni Cipriano and depict the gods in Britain.  One, although not depicted below, shows the arrival of Neptune and his queen, Amphitrite, on the shores of Britain in a magnificent triumphal ceremony, much like the ones the carriage is involved in.

The two tritons on the rear of the carriage are shown holding fasces, a symbol of power since Roman times.  Here they show the imperial power of the British monarch.

Four of the horses used to pull the royal carriages were in stables that the public could view.  Pearl is one of the Cleveland Bays, an English breed of horses that almost went extinct.  In 1962, there were only four purebred stallions left in the United Kingdom.  Queen Elizabeth II helped to save the breed by purchasing a purebred stallion and helping the breed grow again in size.  Pearl has been one of the Queen's horses since 1999.

The Royal Mews also has a riding school, used to exercise and train the horses.  Training the horses takes a great deal of time, first being broken into a saddle and then harnesses.  They also have to be trained to deal with the busy streets of London, loud sounds of crowds and the city, and the weight of the carriages before they can be used for public ceremonies.  However, their handwork is rewarded and after the busy summer season, they get six weeks out in pastures in the English countryside.

We decided to not go to the Queen's Gallery as we would have had to wait about an hour to get in and the current exhibit is on artistic depictions of gardens which we did not find all that appealing.  We headed to our last stop on our London Pass, the Beefeater Gin Distillery.  Once again we were disappointed because they were all booked and we could not go on a tour of the distillery.  Though the London Pass was fantastic in a lot of ways, it does not allow you to book sights ahead of time nor does it mention certain issues like the Globe closing after the morning and needing to book ahead at certain places.

However, with our two day pass, we saw a lot of the great sights of London and had a wonderful time being super tourists in the city.