Being one of the oldest cities in the country, London’s cobbled streets are bursting at the seams with almost 2000 years worth of history. And whilst some of those well-trodden roads really do want you to know about it (Old Street and Old Kent Road, for example, kind of do what they on the tin); there is, in fact, another historic stretch of road competing for the title of the oldest in the city. It’s just a little less obvious about it.
Now look, before I continue – I’m well aware that conversations surrounding which spots in London are the oldest are always going to be a tad hazy. There’s no definitive answer to a lot of the questions because – well… as far as I’m aware, none of us were actually there when the first parks, pubs, stations and streets were being built. What we do know for sure, however, is that there’s a whole load of history right beneath our feet. And just like plenty of other things that I have extremely minimal factual knowledge on; I still plan on confidently putting my two cents in on the matter. Make yourself comfy, folks. It’s time for another Secret London history lesson.
The oldest street in London
Over in the City of London, you’ll find Watling Street. Connecting Queen Victoria Street to St Paul’s Cathedral (and offering a pretty gorgeous view in the process), Watling Street puts forward a fairly convincing case as the oldest street in London.
Credit: Andrew the Kerr, Shutterstock
Despite perhaps seeming fairly unassuming upon first glance; there’s a whole lot more to this ancient stretch of street than first meets the eye, as it’s actually one of the only remaining sections of a rather lengthy cross-country road which used to span all the way from the English Channel in Dover to a Roman Fort near Wales.
The history of Watling Street
The original Watling Street, in its entirety, stretched for a whopping 276 miles. And parts of the street are around 2000 years old. The route it followed roughly resembles that of the modern day A2 and A5 roads – with the former running from Dover to London via the Old Kent Road and the latter connecting London to Shropshire. The only remaining London part of this long, ancient track to have kept its original name is the very same Watling Street that we can wander down today. The Watling Street as we now know it, however, spans less than 200 metres.
City archeologists are relatively certain that the section of Watling Street that remains to this day was built upon the original Roman road. Other parts of the ancient Watling Street can supposedly be founds around New Change, Newgate Street, and Old Kent Road. A well-preserved piece of the 2000 year-old track was, in fact, recently uncovered beneath Old Kent Road. This marked the first piece of physical proof that sections of the original road do still exist underneath the modern-day streets of London.
