17 Really Interesting Facts About London (You Don’t Already Know)

This even surprised us when we found out and we’ve been building treasure hunts in London for over half a decade.

Even though Henry VIII is possibly one of the most famous monarchs in British history (“divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” is one of the first things drummed into us from primary school age), he’s only depicted once in public in the UK capital.

If you fancy tracking him down, you’ll find him above the gatehouse of London’s oldest hospital, St Bartholomew's.

Sticking with the Tudor theme for a moment, here’s a (coincidental) and interesting fact about London: The Tower of London sealed the fate of three Tudor women.

Anne Boleyn is probably the most famous person ever to lose her life at the Tower of London, but few people know that her daughter, who later became Queen Elizabeth I, was also imprisoned there. Luckily for her, she made it out alive.

Her paternal grandmother wasn’t so lucky. Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII’s mother, died at the Tower after giving birth.

Once a grand gateway to Buckingham Palace, Marble Arch now stands pretty much on top of what was once Tyburn, the site of London’s most infamous gallows. For centuries, crowds gathered here to watch public executions. 

If you look closely at the arch, you’ll see that the elegant monument now symbolises England, Scotland, and Wales united.

Bet you weren’t expecting a surprising remnant of London’s diplomatic past like this to show up, were you?

Before Texas joined the United States, it maintained its own London mission right here on St James’s Street. It only lasted a few years, but still, it’s a pretty fascinating piece of metal if you ask us.

Just because you can’t see them, it doesn’t mean they’re not there: and nowhere is that more evident than in London’s hidden Roman remnants.

Tucked away beneath modern skyscrapers between glass offices lie the bones of ancient Roman Londinium. Take it from us, you can still walk sections of the old city wall, explore the Mithraeum temple near Bank, or spot fragments built into newer structures, there’s a hidden city within the city (if you know where to look!).

Interested in exploring London’s Roman history? Check out The City Treasure Hunt, around 2000 years’ worth of history is waiting to be uncovered!

Not many people know that when Cleopatra’s Needle was erected on the Victoria Embankment in 1878, a time capsule was sealed beneath it. 

Luckily, we don’t have to dig it up to know what’s inside. It’s full of everyday Victorian treasures including coins, a Bible, cigars, and even a set of women’s fashion accessories.

Next time you find yourself in and around the Barbican, you may notice the name “Mountjoy” dotted around.

Intriguingly, this refers to the owner of Shakespeare’s only known address in London, Christopher Mountjoy. We know this because, unfortunately for Christopher, he was sued by his son-in-law for not paying the dowry he owed.

Shakespeare’s signature is on the trial notes because he was called as a witness! 

This is one of my favourite “facts” about London because it’s just so….random.

The shape of a wedding cake might be so commonplace to us now that we rarely stop to consider how oddly-shaped they are. But if you look up at the tiered spire of St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street, you can definitely see why it’s said to have inspired London baker Thomas Rich when he crafted the world’s first tiered wedding cake in the 18th century.

Which came first, the cake or the building? History says it’s the building…but tiered cakes have been a thing for a long time, so. Who knows!?

Firstly, we’d like to apologise in advance because when you start looking closely at the details of London’s architecture and even fences, you start seeing pineapples absolutely everywhere.

But you probably weren’t expecting them to pop up on top of one of the city’s most iconic buildings. 

Look closely at St Paul’s Cathedral, and you’ll see that its twin towers are crowned not with crosses, but with pineapples, once a rare and luxurious symbol of hospitality.

One of the most interesting facts about London is that it’s absolutely full of museums, but what’s even more fascinating is that this isn’t even a modern concept.

Moored in Southwark, The Golden Hinde is a full-scale reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s legendary ship which may have been the world’s first vessel preserved for public display.

When it returned from the New World stuffed with treasure and precious cargo, the then Queen Elizabeth I was so impressed that she ordered it to be open for public admiration. Londoners were fascinated by it as early as the 17th century, making it a forerunner of maritime museums everywhere.

Not all world-firsts are impressive (I mean, this one literally exploded) but it’s still pretty cool that we know where this now commonplace piece of technology was first put to use.

Outside the Houses of Parliament, on Bridge Street, stood the world’s very first traffic light, installed in 1868 by railway engineer John Peake Knight. It was gas-lit, manually operated, and short-lived (it exploded), but it paved the way for modern traffic control across the globe.

There’s a plaque commemorating the spot, but you have to look up to find it! 

Here’s an interesting fact about London for all feline friends out there.

If you head on over to Greenwich, you’ll find a bronze statue that pays tribute to Trim, the seafaring cat who travelled with explorer Matthew Flinders on his voyage to chart Australia.

Trim became a beloved ship’s mascot and remains one of London’s most endearing maritime memorials, and he’s got sister statues in Sydney, Melbourne and Lincolnshire, Matthew Flinders’ home county. 

Everyone thinks the legendary Mayflower ship set sail from Plymouth…which it did, after a fashion.

The first place in England that the Mayflower sailed from was actually London, right outside of a pub that was then called The Shippe Inn. Luckily, it’s undergone a name-change to make it more recognisable: it’s called The Mayflower Pub.

If, for some reason, you miss the sign out the front, just take a look at the roof. The weather vane is shaped like the vessel that took the Pilgrim Fathers to the New World all those years ago.

Take a moment to feel for the Victorians, who would have absolutely loved watching Walking With Dinosaurs. 

Built in the 1850s, decades before scientists fully understood what dinosaurs looked like, the world’s first life-sized dinosaur sculptures were placed in Crystal Palace Park. 

Though hilariously inaccurate by today’s standards, these Victorian beasts were once cutting-edge science.

We’re going to keep going with the pub theme for a little while longer and trust me, this one’s worth it.

The Paxton’s Head in Knightsbridge is named after Sir Joseph Paxton, a name you probably don’t recognise.

However, he was the Victorian gardener behind both the Crystal Palace and the first person to cultivate the Cavendish banana, the variety most of us still eat today.

Espresso martinis are served in bars all over the world, and I find it really surprising that they haven’t been around longer.

The story goes that espresso martinis were first created when bartender Dick Bradsell concocted the drink after a model requested a drink that would  “wake me up and mess me up”.

The rest is cocktail history, because that still seems to ring true to this day!

Let’s end on a sweet note…

Obviously, strawberries and cream are the iconic “dish” of Wimbledon, to be washed down with a glass of Pimm’s (or whatever you prefer) but it’s mind-boggling to imagine this many strawberries in one place.

And we’ll go full circle, because the tradition of eating strawberries and cream in England goes right back to Henry VIII, who was apparently served them by Cardinal Wolsey.