Setting In the 17th century London was still a medieval city with a maze of narrow lanes. Only the main streets were paved. The City was surrounded by a stone wall, which had seven gates: Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Moorgate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate. Most houses were still timber-framed, the panels being filled in with wattle and daub. They had their gables on the street frontage. In order to gain extra space the upper storeys were jettied out over the narrow streets. Only a few buildings which stood at the time the novel is set have survived, e.g. the Tower, parts of the Inns of Court, the Banqueting Hall, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall, which now forms part of the Houses of Parliament. St. Paul's Cathedral, as we know it today, was built at the end of the 17th century by Sir Christopher Wren. |
Newgate, one of the seven gates of the City, was used as a prison. |
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The old City was totally destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, the buildings
which survived the fire were lost over the centuries through land speculation.
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Tyburn was the place of execution for London's criminals. It was situated where Marble Arch stands today. |
London Bridge in 1633. |
Old St. Paul's Cathedral. |
A map of London in the 1660s. |