London History Courses & Guided Walks
From its Bronze Age beginnings to capital status, London has witnessed growth and destruction throughout its long history. Join us for lively classroom discussions and popular walks around the city and discover who and what has left their mark on the city.
Watch City Lit tutor Eleanor Jackson explore some of London's secret spaces:
Many of our courses are delivered online. For more information about our live online courses, please see our guide to online learning.
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East End in fact and fiction
Course Date: Sat 12 Dec 2020 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OnlineCovering the early 19th century to the early 20th century, we will examine the history of the East End, and we will analyse how it was portrayed in works of fiction.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £49.00Senior fee: £39.00Concession: £25.00 -
Transports of delight: London's railway stations
Course Date: Wed 6 Jan 2021 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OnlineLondon's stations see over 1 billion journeys annually, but the buildings themselves are often ignored. Explore a
different station and environs each week, discovering the architecture, history, stories and future of these lifelines of London.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £139.00Senior fee: £139.00Concession: £61.00 -
City of words: further adventures
Course Date: Thu 7 Jan 2021
Location on this date: OnlineLondon luxuriates in literary references. We follow the footsteps of the authors, poets and playwrights, and some of their creations, as we walk a brand new neighbourhood each week, exploring the literary connections.
London guide: Eleanor Jackson.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £99.00Senior fee: £79.00Concession: £44.00 -
London's quartiers
Course Date: Fri 8 Jan 2021
Location on this date: OnlineThrough 8 online sessions with London guide Sue Jackson, explore some of the areas which form Central London – from Spitalfields to Soho, and Clerkenwell to Covent Garden, amongst others.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £159.00Senior fee: £127.00Concession: £70.00 -
Archaeology of London
Course Date: Mon 11 Jan 2021
Location on this date: OnlineExplore the archaeology and history of London through its cultural monuments, topography and material remains to more fully appreciate the rich archaeological evidence of the capital.
Tutor: Jill Hummerstone. Tutor :Jill Hummerstone.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £189.00Senior fee: £151.00Concession: £83.00 -
Lesser known West London walks
Course Date: Mon 11 Jan 2021
Location on this date: OnlineThrough a series of virtual tours explore some areas of West London that are rarely explored but with interesting history. Riverside walks, musical connections , places of worship, Arts and Crafts style, former industrial buildings, television history, social history, elegant homes and famous personalities all feature.
London guide: Diane Burstein.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £189.00Senior fee: £151.00Concession: £83.00 -
Introduction to Charles Booths’ London
Course Date: Tue 12 Jan 2021
Location on this date: OnlineDuring this six-week course, we will explore aspects of Charles Booth’s landmark survey ‘Life & Labour of the People in London’, published in 17 volumes between 1889 and 1903.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £129.00Senior fee: £103.00Concession: £57.00 -
Tudor London
Course Date: Tue 12 Jan 2021 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OnlineThis course will explore the dynamic development of London during the Tudor century, an era shaped by the twin influences of the Renaissance and the Reformation, and marked by the growth of London both as a capital city, the royal chamber or Camera Regis, but also as a growing port and centre of trade and craft based industry.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £129.00Senior fee: £103.00Concession: £57.00 -
The City of London: the Square Mile
Course Date: Wed 13 Jan 2021 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OnlineExplore the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666. Discover how London recovered from one of the great disasters and became a centre of commerce and the heart of a great empire. We follow in the steps of some of its best known characters like Doctor Johnson and Samuel Pepys and some lesser known including William Lilley and Thomas Chatterton.
London guide: Paul Sinclair. The course follows on from the HLW06 The City of London; the square mile, but new students are welcome.
The first meeting point will be Chancery Lane tube, outside number 150 High Holborn.
London guide:Paul Sinclair.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £79.00Senior fee: £63.00Concession: £35.00 -
Norman and Plantagenet London 1000-1350
Course Date: Fri 15 Jan 2021
Location on this date: OnlineWe chart the impact of the Norman Conquest on the development of London and end by exploring how Londoners reacted to the Black Death with killed 50% of the inhabitants. There will also be a guided walk.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £189.00Senior fee: £151.00Concession: £83.00 -
The Heights of Dickens
Course Date: Sun 17 Jan 2021
Location on this date: OnlineFollow in Charles Dickens’ footsteps in a virtual walk from Highgate to the hamlet of North End on the border with Hampstead and Hampstead Garden Suburb. We see houses that Dickens stayed in; learn about his friendships; see inspirations for David Copperfield and peep into Highgate Cemetery where several members of the Dickens family were buried. We will pay a visit to the Spaniard’s Inn featured in the Pickwick Papers and continue with Bill Sikes' journey in Oliver Twist from Highgate Hill across the grounds of Kenwood towards North End and Hendon.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £9.00Senior fee: £9.00Concession: £9.00 -
Crimes and misdemeanors: crimes that rocked the capital
Course Date: Thu 4 Feb 2021
Location on this date: OnlineRoyal scandals, fraud, hoaxes & crime, this city has always had a darker underbelly. This course looks at some of the events that shocked and shaped the city.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £69.00Senior fee: £55.00Concession: £30.00 -
Trains, drains and remains
Course Date: Sun 14 Mar 2021
Location on this date: OnlineA virual tour considering the history of the city which is largely under our feet, we will discuss the tube and post office tunnels, water conduits, hidden rivers, and archaeological remains from burials and buildings found in the ci.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £19.00Senior fee: £15.00Concession: £10.00 -
London regeneration: history, politics and architecture
Course Date: Sat 20 Mar 2021
Location on this date: OnlineExplore the reconstruction of London after WWII, the decline of its infrastructure, population and economy in the 1960s and 1970s and the emergence of a truly global city by the end of the century.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £59.00Senior fee: £47.00Concession: £30.00 -
From the 1880s to the 1930s: how the new East End was born
Course Date: Tue 13 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlineIn an area branded 'the hell of poverty', libraries, theatres, art galleries and social housing were established. Workers went on strike and activists campaigned for better lives. Discover this history by taking virtual walks through six tumultuous decades of change.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £159.00Senior fee: £127.00Concession: £70.00
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