EARLY
LONDON
PREHISTORIC, ROMAN, SAXON
AND NORMAN

BY
SIR WALTER BESANT

LONDON
ADAM & CHARLES BLACK
1908

CONTENTS

[BOOK I]
PREHISTORIC LONDON
CHAP.PAGE
[1.]The Geology3
[2.]The Site17
[a]3.]The Earliest Inhabitants33
[BOOK II]
ROMAN LONDON
[1.]The Coming of the Romans53
[2.]The Roman Rule57
[3.]The Aspect of the City79
[4.]Remains of Roman London95
[5.]The Building of the Wall112
[6.]London Bridge128
[7.]London Stone133
[8.]The Desolation of the City135
[BOOK III]
SAXON LONDON
[1.]The Coming of the Saxons153
[2.]Early History161
[3.]The Danes in London169
[4.]The Second Saxon Occupation176
[5.]The Second Danish Occupation190
[6.]Town and People196
[7.]Thorney Island231
[8.]Saxon Remains243
[BOOK IV]
NORMAN LONDON
[1.]William the Conqueror249
[2.]Domesday Book262
[3.]William Rufus272
[4.]Henry I.275
[5.]The Charter of Henry I.279
[6.]Stephen289
[7.]FitzStephen the Chronicler301
[8.]The Streets and the People321
[9.]Social Life337
[10.]A Norman Family345
[APPENDICES]
[1.]The River Embankment351
[2.]The Riverside Discoveries353
[3.]Strype on Roman Remains356
[4.]The Clapton Sarcophagus361
[5.]363
[INDEX]365

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
King Edgar adoring the Saviour[Frontispiece]
Geological Map of the Site[7]
Statues of King Lud and his two Sons, Androgeus and Theomantius[19]
The Marshes of Early London[25]
Side of Font, East Meon Church, Hampshire[36]
Side of Font, East Meon Church, Hampshire[37]
Offa being invested with Spurs[39]
An Archer[42]
Figures reconstructed from Ancient Clothes and Remains found in a Bog[43]
Figures in Wood at Wooburn in Buckinghamshire, supposed to represent Itinerant Masons[45]
Pavement before the Altar of the Prior’s Chapel at Ely[49]
Statue of a Roman Warrior found in a Bastion of the London Wall[58]
Roman Knife-handle—Figure of Charioteer, Bronze[60]
Carausius[61]
A Sea Fight[66]
Tomb of Valerius Amandinus (A Roman General)[67]
Coffin Lids found in London[71]
Bronze Roman Lamp found in Cannon Street[75]
Method of Swathing the Dead[77]
Dow Gate[79]
Tessellated Pavement[81]
Roman Sandals taken from the Bed of the Thames[89]
The Laconicum, or Sweating Bath[90]
Tessellated Pavement[91]
Roman Roads radiating from London[93]
Roman Altar to Diana found in St. Martin’s-le-Grand[95]
Roman Bath, Strand Lane[97]
Roman Antiquities found in London, 1786[101]
Roman London[102]
Statuettes of Roman Deities[103]
Roman Sepulchral Stone found at Ludgate by Sir Christopher Wren[107]
Roman Statue discovered at Bevis Marks[108]
Roman Antiquities found in London in 1786[109]
Roman Remains found in a Bastion of London Wall[113]
Roman Arch, London Wall[122]
A Ship[126]
An Anglo-Saxon WarriorFacing [136]
Ancient Copper Bowl found in Lothbury[138]
The Ark[142]
King and Courtiers[146]
A Group of Anglo-Saxon Spearmen[154]
Gregory the Great, St. Benedict, and St. Cuthbert[156]
Lady in a Chariot[157]
Family Life[159]
Aelfwine[161]
The Coronation of a King[162]
Aldhelm presenting “De Virginitate” to Hildelida, Abbess of Barking, and her NunsFacing [162]
King Ethelbald[164]
King in Bed[166]
The Perils of the Deep[167]
Slaves waiting on a Household[171]
Guthlac carried away by Devils[172]
Saxon Minstrels[174]
Playing Draughts[175]
The Alfred Jewel (Reverse) The Alfred Jewel (Obverse)[177]
Page from Gospel Book given by Otho I. to Athelstan, Grandson of Alfred the Great; on it the Anglo-Saxon Kings took the Coronation Oath[178]
From King Alfred’s “Orosius”[179]
King Cnut and his Queen, Emma, presenting a Cross upon the Altar of Newminster (Winchester)[181]
The King receiving a Deputation[183]
Anglo-Saxon Warriors approaching a Fort[185]
A Fight[186]
Diagram of Canal[188]
King Edward the Confessor’s Palace at Borstal (Brill)[193]
A Solar[196]
Building a House[197]
October. Hawking[198]
A Banquet[199]
Saxon Ladies[201]
Saxon Horn[202]
Merchantmen with Horses and Camels[203]
A Banquet[205]
Glastonbury Abbey[206]
Anglo-Saxon Nuns[207]
Conferring the Tonsure[208]
A Burial[209]
Saxon Church at Greenstead[211]
St. Dunstan[213]
The Last DayFacing [214]
Anglo-Saxon Modes of Punishment[216]
The Flogging of a Slave[216]
Three Men in Bed[218]
Mother and Child[219]
Drawing Water[220]
St. Luke, from St. Chad’s Gospel Book, date about 700 A.D.[221]
Anglo-Saxon Husbandman and his Wife[223]
Feeding the Hungry[225]
Going to the Chase[226]
The Hawk Strikes[226]
Feasting[227]
Anglo-Saxon House[229]
The Situation of Westminster[231]
St. Dunstan at the Feet of Christ[233]
Monks[235]
The Famous “Book of Kells” MS. of the Gospels in Latin, written in Ireland (A.D. 650-690)[237]
Rood over the South Door of Stepney Church[239]
Edward the Confessor’s Chapel[241]
Ancient Enamelled Ouche in Gold discovered near Dowgate Hill; probably Ninth Century[243]
An Ancient Comb found in the Ruins of Ickleton Nunnery[244]
Duke William comes to Pevensey[249]
King Harold shown in a Mêlée of Fighting-Men[251]
Charter of the City of London given by William the Conqueror[252]
A Norman Knight[253]
Norman Horsemen[255]
Harold trying to pull the Arrow from his Eye[255]
Norman Archers[255]
William the Conqueror and his Knights (from the Bayeux Tapestry)[257]
Bishops[258]
The Seal of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, Half-brother of William I.[259]
Part of a Page of Domesday Book[263]
William I. and II., Henry I. and StephenFacing [264]
Norman Soldiers[267]
Norman London[269]
Norman Capitals from Westminster Hall[273]
Seal of St. Anselm[275]
Norman Arch, in the Cloisters, Westminster AbbeyFacing [276]
Coronation of Henry I.[279]
An Ancient Seal of Robert, Fifth Baron FitzWalter[281]
The Temple Church[283]
A Fight[291]
Costume of English Kings of the Eleventh Century. Anglo-Norman Ladies of High DegreeFacing [292]
St. John’s Chapel, Tower of London, Norman Architecture[295]
March. Field Work. September. Boar-Hunting[303]
Matron and Maid[305]
A Horseman[308]
Tilting[313]
Tilting in Boats[314]
Dancing[315]
The Chase[317]
The White Tower[319]
Representation of Orion[322]
Craftsman at work on a House[323]
London Wall[325]
A Norman Hall[327]
Three Bishops[329]
Building a HouseFacing [338]
A Family Group[339]
Lady saving a Stag from the Hunters[341]
Saxon Doorway, Temple Church[343]