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:
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London regeneration: history, politics and architecture
Course Date: Sat 21 Mar 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetExplore 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.Full fee: £59.00Senior fee: £47.00Concession: £30.00 -
Rescue Revealed Restored: the blitz and preserving History (city tour)
Course Date: Sat 28 Mar 2020
Location on this date: OS - Off SiteThis walks covers an area devastated in the Blitz explaining what happened in 1940/41, the efforts to rescue St Paul's, the Roman remains that were revealed as well as post war restoration and rebuilding of historic buildings. Meeting place Moorgate tube station outside Café Nero. Will finish at the Guildhall.
London guide: Marilyn Greene. Meeting place Moorgate tube station outside Café Nero. Will finish at the Guildhall.
London guide: Marilyn Greene.Full fee: £19.00Senior fee: £15.00Concession: £10.00 -
Alleys and lanes of Hampstead
Course Date: Sun 19 Apr 2020
Location on this date: OS - Off SiteExperience the intricate network of alleys and lanes in the heart of old Hampstead and see how Hampstead developed from a fashionable spa in the 18th century to a thriving village with social amenities. Starts and finishes outside Hampstead tube Station (High Street entrance). Starts and finishes outside Hampstead tube Station (High Street entrance).Full fee: £19.00Senior fee: £15.00Concession: £10.00 -
London: change and challenge (1980s and 1990s)
Course Date: Tue 21 Apr 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetExplore the paradox of London in the 1980s and 1990s, a city reshaped by the free market ideas of the
government of Margaret Thatcher and the New Labour government of Tony Blair.Full fee: £179.00Senior fee: £143.00Concession: £79.00 -
Discovering Victorian London: empire, enterprise and education
Course Date: Tue 21 Apr 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetVictorian London shaped today's city. Discover the lasting legacy of the Victorian age, uncover its secrets, and meet some of the characters who created one of the world's greatest cities. NB. Initial lecture at City Lit.Full fee: £149.00Senior fee: £119.00Concession: £66.00 -
Village London
Course Date: Wed 22 Apr 2020 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetLondon is made up of a series of villages, each with its own individual characteristics. Explore Shoreditch, Mayfair, Bermondsey, Notting Hill, Clerkenwell, Islington, Harrow on the Hill and Wapping, in one initial lecture at City Lit and eight walks. Initial lecture at the City Lit.Full fee: £159.00Senior fee: £127.00Concession: £70.00 -
Bricks to Brutalism, Metroland to Moderne: London’s housing
Course Date: Thu 23 Apr 2020
Location on this date: OS - Off SiteThrough 4 walks explore an array of London’s residential styles from housing the East End poor and the modernist style of 1930s Hampstead to brutalist blocks of flats by Lubetkin and Lasdun in post-war Bethnal Grreen and suburban Metroland. NB. This coures will be taking a break week on 14 May.
FIRST MEETING POINT - OUTSIDE WHITECHAPEL TUBE. FIRST MEETING POINT - OUTSIDE WHITECHAPEL TUBE.Full fee: £79.00Senior fee: £63.00Concession: £35.00 -
Hogarth's London: 1697-1764
Course Date: Fri 24 Apr 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetExplore the high and low life of 18th-century London through the drawings and paintings of William Hogarth. There will be a visit to either the Sir John Soame Museum or the National Gallery.Full fee: £219.00Senior fee: £175.00Concession: £96.00 -
From the 1880s to the 1930s: how the new East End was born
Course Date: Tue 28 Apr 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetIn 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. Walk through six tumultuous decades of change.
The course will begin with an initial lecture at City Lit followed by six walks.
Last session held at City Lit.Full fee: £149.00Senior fee: £119.00Concession: £66.00 -
Stories of London
Course Date: Thu 30 Apr 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetWalk 2,000 years of London’s history. Explore the lanes and alleyways of the city of London and learn about the lives of its people, both rich and poor. Initial lecture at City Lit followed by six walks. First session at the City Lit.Full fee: £129.00Senior fee: £103.00Concession: £57.00 -
London and the Reformation
Course Date: Sat 16 May 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetThe Reformation had a profound effect on the landscape of 16th-century London as church buildings were transformed into stables, private houses, a wine tavern and biscuit factory! Nearly 50 martyrs were burnt or died in prison in London.
Come along and find out more.Full fee: £59.00Senior fee: £47.00Concession: £30.00 -
Hampstead and the pioneers of modern art
Course Date: Sun 17 May 2020
Location on this date: OS - Off SiteIn the early 20th century Hampstead was home to some of the era's most pioneering artists. We will walk in the footsteps of the Slade School artists who socialised in Downshire Hill and the Modernists working in Belsize Park. Starts Hampstead Tube station, Ends Isokon Gallery, Lawn Road, near Belsize Park. The tutor can take people back to the Station. There is also an option to spend time in the Isokon gallery afterwards. Starts Hampstead Tube station, Ends Isokon Gallery, Lawn Road, near Belsize Park. The tutor can take people back to the Station. There is also an option to spend time in the Isokon gallery afterwards.Full fee: £19.00Senior fee: £15.00Concession: £10.00 -
Henrietta Dream: Arts and Crafts of Hampstead Garden Suburb
Course Date: Sun 7 Jun 2020
Location on this date: OS - Off SiteThis walk traces the early history and developments of Hampstead Garden Suburb. It includes the Heath Extension, Central Square- designed by Edwin Lutyens, and the original Artisans quarter designed from 1907 by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin. Starts outside the main entrance to Golders Green Tube station Garden Suburb and ends at Temple fortune on the Finchley Road. Starts outside the main entrance to Golders Green Tube station Garden Suburb and ends at Temple fortune on the Finchley Road.Full fee: £19.00Senior fee: £15.00Concession: £10.00 -
Further village London
Course Date: Wed 24 Jun 2020 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OS - Off SiteA further five walks around London's former villages - Hampstead, Highgate, Archway, Fitzrovia and Soho. Why did
these areas grow up as villages and how did they become swallowed up by the city of London?Full fee: £89.00Senior fee: £71.00Concession: £39.00 -
The lost town of Lundenwic: mid-Saxon London 600-900 CE
Course Date: Sat 4 Jul 2020
Location on this date: KS - Keeley StreetLook at the least known episode in London's history, mid-Saxon town Lundenwic (AD 600-900). Includes an introductory lecture, a museum visit and a guided walk around Covent Garden.Full fee: £69.00Senior fee: £55.00Concession: £30.00
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