I can only imagine how many similar places to see ancient ruins in everyday context are in Rome. Or Athens.
Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
51–60 of 99 posts
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#52The Museum of London site (now closed as they prepare to move to their new site, coincidentally near the AWS HQ), and there was a window you could look down on part of the wall, which you can also see from the other side of the road near Barbican. I won't give directions, as that seems futile anywhere near Barbican, but I had only just thought about how weird it is that there is wall at Tower Hill, and wall at Barbic…
The new Museum's site also has a very cool view through a window, but it's a view of the passing trains [underground], because historically that building (one of London's markets) had a freight service and of course there's no room to move a railway line under London so even though it hadn't needed a freight service for decades the passenger service over the same rails still exists and you will be able to wave to sur…
I went on that Open House tour, and they said the window view is a secret until opening day. They've told contractors not to take personal photos.
For context, this line is Thameslink, just south of Farringdon, on the east (heading south) side.
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#53[dead]
In a locked room off that car park is a bit more of that fortification. https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/visiting-roman-ruins-hi...
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#54[dead]
> That car park in image [4] is wild. The juxtaposition of a mundane parking Meh. Let me introduce you to Colchester, the oldest recorded town in the UK. The wall behind the carpark you see here is the original Roman wall (circa 65 AD) with modern brick on top... (The tourist sign is in the foreground if you zoom in). The walls were built after the city was sacked by the rebel queen Boudica in 60 AD. https://www.goog…
Show 'em the Hole in the Wall.
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
For further confusion, ‘London’ does not exist at all as a well defined entity and the UK has no de jure capital.
For further confusion there are two cities within the (historical) county of London - the city of Westminster and the city of London.
Very few people on HN will have been alive when there was a county of London. It ceased to exist in the 1960s.
The UK does not require this layer of subdivision to exist, so it's not that there's a different county or set of counties covering the same area now but rather there is no county. This is a contrast to say the US system where AIUI there must be a county and in some cases that county doesn't really matter (e.g. New York County in New York City aka Manhattan) but it has to exist anyway.
City status is very different here, the Monarch (ie now Charlie) gets to decide what is or is not a city, but because that's arbitrary it also has very few consequences, it's a cosmetic basically, you can write "City" on some signs if you like, but if you feel like a small town you still feel like a small town, and if you already feel like a bustling city then having the word doesn't make a real difference.
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about Southwark? That has a cathedral too.
A cathedral is neither necessary nor sufficient for city status. City status in the UK is given by the monarch and that's all there is to it. Cambridge is a city without a cathedral and Bury St Edmunds is a town with a cathedral.
Indeed. Southend got city status mostly because their MP was murdered.
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
For further confusion there are two cities within the (historical) county of London - the city of Westminster and the city of London.
Very few people on HN will have been alive when there was a county of London. It ceased to exist in the 1960s. The UK does not require this layer of subdivision to exist, so it's not that there's a different county or set of counties covering the same area now but rather there is no county. This is a contrast to say the US system where AIUI there must be a county and in some cases that county doesn't really matter (e…
UK is a country made up of 4 countries, I guess we really like to annoy anyone trying to define a hierarchy
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
The new Museum's site also has a very cool view through a window, but it's a view of the passing trains [underground], because historically that building (one of London's markets) had a freight service and of course there's no room to move a railway line under London so even though it hadn't needed a freight service for decades the passenger service over the same rails still exists and you will be able to wave to sur…
I went on that Open House tour, and they said the window view is a secret until opening day. They've told contractors not to take personal photos. For context, this line is Thameslink, just south of Farringdon, on the east (heading south) side.
I'm terrible at keeping secrets so, it was probably a bad idea to let me go on the tour, or, perhaps we should try to have fewer secrets so that I'd remember ?
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very few people on HN will have been alive when there was a county of London. It ceased to exist in the 1960s. The UK does not require this layer of subdivision to exist, so it's not that there's a different county or set of counties covering the same area now but rather there is no county. This is a contrast to say the US system where AIUI there must be a county and in some cases that county doesn't really matter (e…
UK is a country made up of 4 countries, I guess we really like to annoy anyone trying to define a hierarchy
"And by 'country' we mean a sovereign state that is a member of the UN in its own right"
Re: Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about Southwark? That has a cathedral too.
A cathedral is neither necessary nor sufficient for city status. City status in the UK is given by the monarch and that's all there is to it. Cambridge is a city without a cathedral and Bury St Edmunds is a town with a cathedral.
As is Southwell.