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This amazing city is a Melting Pot of cultures. According to archaeologists, this area has been inhabited for more than 6,000 years. Since then, it's rapidly grown and developed, stretching over more than 1,500 square km, making it one of the largest cities in Europe by area. More than 88 million people call it home.
It was also one of the most popular tourist destinations. In 2023 alone, this location was visited by 19.2 million foreign tourists. This is where ancient Roman ruins coexist with modern skyscrapers and old catacombs with Metro lines. We're talking about London. Yes, yeah, you heard it right. There are Roman ruins in London, and they're located underground. And this is not the only amazing attraction hidden under London.
Today, we will descend step by step into the underground depths of this amazing city and find out what is under London. And to watch even more exciting videos, don't forget to like this video and subscribe to the channel. [Music]
So, London, let's first see what's underfoot. First, there's a layer of paving stone, 5 to 10 cm thick. Then, there's a further 20 cm of soil. At a depth of 45 to 60 cm, electric cables run under sidewalks and roadways. At a depth of 45 to 75 cm, we'll also come across gas pipelines. They can even be laid under footpaths and highways.
So, what's next? Well, for starters, we're going to visit a very nice place, a spa to be precise. But it's not just any spa; it's underground. To get there, you'll go down into the basement of an office building on Lower Thames Street. It's called Billingsgate Roman House and Baths. And while we're down there, let's bring you up to speed.
In 1848, builders constructing the new Coal Exchange in the City of London came across a magnificent Roman building. They realized the importance of the find, so they preserved its remains in the basement of the building. The next stage of the excavations took place 100 years later. In the 1960s, the Coal Exchange was demolished, and a new building was built on the site. Further excavations were carried out there. The ruins were preserved in the basement of this new building.
During the excavations, archaeologists determined that the Roman House was built at the end of the 2nd century. The rooms on the east side even had heated floors. The house once overlooked the Thames, but at that time, the river was much broader than it is today. However, this pleasant view was eventually spoiled when the walls were built on the riverside. Walls and the house and its large yard were in the shadow.
What do you do with land that no longer offers a beautiful river sight? According to some speculation, the loss of the pretty view was the reason for the building of the baths. Well, here we are. This complex was in use until the early 5th century AD. Several hundred coins from the late 4th century were found during excavations. However, by the year 500, the house was probably in ruins, and it wasn't the only one.
In the early 5th century, the Roman city, then Londinium, not London, fell. Some historians say it happened in 410 when the Roman Emperor Honorius refused to help the people of Britain suffering from barbarian raids. The Romans left, and many of London's buildings became piles of overgrown rubble. Later, the Saxons began to build their dwellings on the site, but their buildings didn't last as long because of the wars. Such a cycle of construction and deconstruction lasted for a thousand years, and all this time, deep under the ruins of several eras, were the Roman Baths and House, which survived the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz, the bombardment of Britain by the aircraft of Hitler's Germany.
Now, let's go through the Town Hall Art Gallery in the City of London. That's where the entrance to our next location is, or rather, what's left of it. These remnants are about 8 meters (26 ft) underground, under layers of construction debris and rubble. No, we're not in Rome; we're still in London. More specifically, the Roman era London Amphitheatre. You were probably expecting something more like an amphitheater, not just the remains of walls and a drainage system. Let's get the imagination going, and if that's a problem, we have the help of an impressive digital projection that works at this location to fill the gaps.
The amphitheater was built in 70 AD. What's remarkable is that it was located inside the city, whereas most ancient amphitheaters were located outside. It was reconstructed at the beginning of the 2nd century. The entrances were paved with tiles, and the walls were made of stone. The capacity of the amphitheater grew to 6,000 people. But at that time, the arena was used for public and religious events, animal fights, public executions, and gladiatorial fights.
Remember when we said the ancient Romans left Londinium and it fell into despair? Well, a couple of centuries later, the amphitheater was abandoned. What's more, most of it was dismantled for building materials, and so it looked like this for hundreds of years. The situation changed in the 11th century when the overpopulation of London forced the territory to be reclaimed. According to some sources, in the 12th century, the first London Town Hall was built nearby. Later, in the 15th century, the Guildhall appeared here, preserved despite the Great Fire of London and the Blitz, which we've already mentioned. Various other buildings were built around the amphitheater, which became the public square of the town court.
Let us now carefully walk around these remnants of sand. It is the same sand that covered the arena in ancient times to absorb, absorb the gladiator's blood from their wounds. And now, we'll need to look in several places to find lost locations that were once an essential part of the London landscape. In many parts of the city today, you could be standing just steps away from one of the lost rivers and not even realize it. Although "just steps away" is quite a mouthful, we must go as much as 11 meters (36 ft) underground to find some of them.
First, let's move to London's St. Pancras Road in central London. Take a look at the glass and steel skyscrapers of Euston Road nearby. It's hard to imagine that there were once grassy fields with a river running through the middle, right? Nevertheless, near St. Pancras Old Church, there is a plaque depicting people bathing at this very spot on the banks of the River Fleet in 1827. This river is one of many in London, but has been buried underground. Dozens of rivers and canals were buried beneath the streets of London over a century ago.
But why did they end up underground, and what do they look like today? These rivers were used for collecting drinking water and for fishing. But the River Fleet, for example, became heavily polluted when butchers in the Smithfield area started dumping the remains of dead animals into it. Eventually, it became simply part of the sewer system. Another underground river is the River Tyburn, which runs through Regent's Park under Buckingham Palace. It was once considered a perfect place for salmon fishing. In London, the Tyburn Fishing Society has even proposed to restore the river as a prime fishing river. This is a rather ambitious and unfeasible plan, to say the least. To achieve this goal, they would have to destroy billions of pounds worth of property, including Buckingham Palace itself.
The River Effra, on the other hand, is hidden under the Oval Cricket Ground. However, in the 1950s, the river again showed itself and caused flooding of the cricket pitch due to excessive rainfall. The sewer overflowed. And these are just some of London's underground rivers. They now pass through culverts and are part of London's sewage system. The courses of many of these rivers have been altered. Today, the Wildlife Gardeners of Hackney and the Thames Catchment Community Eels Project are engaging volunteers in restoring some of the lost rivers. Volunteers have already succeeded in releasing the Old Lee River in the Hackney Marsh area and the Indian Creek in Albany Park. These efforts not only improve the environment but also reduce flood risks.
Now, let's go one more meter down, and in the process, we'll learn an entertaining story. In times of crisis and wars, everything changes, and the leaders of countries also have to change their way of life. So, Winston Churchill, during the Second World War, spent a lot of time underground in a bunker located 12 meters (40 ft) underground. Let's have a look inside. It's quite feasible because now it's a museum, and at a depth of 12 meters, it includes the Cabinet War Rooms, a historic underground complex that housed the British government's Command Center during World War II, and the Churchill biographical museum.
The Cabinet War Rooms, located under the Treasury Building in Westminster, began construction in 1938 and opened a year later in 1939, a week before Britain declared war on Germany. They operated throughout World War II and were last used on August 16th, 1945, the day after Victory over Japan Day. In total, 115 meetings were held in the Cabinet War Rooms. Two rooms were of particular importance. The first was the Map Room. It was constantly used by officers of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. They were responsible for the daily intelligence summary for the King and the Prime Minister and the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces.
And the other key place here is the Cabinet Room. After being appointed Prime Minister, Winston Churchill visited it in May 1940 and declared, "This is the room from which I will direct the war." Here, the Prime Minister and his key advisors met with the three Chiefs of Staff, the heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Of course, the meetings, which sometimes stretched into the morning, were held in strict secrecy. Two centuries were on duty at the door. Other interesting rooms here were Churchill's bedroom and the transatlantic telephone room, a tiny room disguised as a private toilet for top secrecy. Here, Churchill and his generals called US President Franklin Roosevelt and American generals. The purpose of many of the bunker's separate rooms changed throughout the war, but the facility always included private bedrooms for senior officers and ministers and rooms for typists and telephone switchboard operators. The basement, called the Dock, was located beneath the Cabinet War Rooms. In this extremely uncomfortable place, the staff slept so they would not have to go home under heavy air raids at the end of their shifts.
On August 15th, 1945, Japan surrendered, ending the war. The next day, the lights in the Map Room were simply turned off, and the employees left their offices. As a museum, the bunker opened its doors to the public in 1984. In 2003, the museum opened access to other rooms that Churchill, his wife, and closest associates used. Two more years later, it was rebranded and named The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms.
Well, let's continue our way down. As we descend to a depth of 20 meters (66 ft), let's imagine the following situation. You want to send, let's say, a letter to a person who lives on the other side of town. Today, you'll probably use messages or email to do this. But almost two centuries ago, the scheme was more complicated. If you lived in 19th-century London, you'd have to write a letter and then place it in a metal capsule, put it in a pipe, and close the door, thus sealing the pipe. A specific mechanism would push the capsule through the pipe with air, and someone on the other side of town would receive your letter. Sounds unusual, right? And for a modern person accustomed to messages and social networks, it's also complicated. But that's roughly how our next destination worked: the London Pneumatic Dispatch Company.
It was established in 1859 and was supposed to deliver mail, parcels, and light goods around London underground. The system was launched in 1863 and operated for 11 years. The company tested the technology in 1861 with funding of £25,000, roughly the equivalent of $3,936,489 in 2024. At that time, a 413-meter-long pipe was installed. Inside, there was a track of 61 cm wide. The capsules, in which parcels or letters were placed, were fitted with vulcanized rubber flaps to make them airtight, and pushing these capsules down the tube was a 30-horsepower steam engine with a huge fan. These capsules probably must have been pretty light, then, you'd think, and you'd be wrong, because some capsules with all the packages could weigh up to 3 metric tons and travel at 60 km an hour.
A permanent line was built between Houston Railway Station and the Northwest District Post Office on Everel Street. This route was approximately half a kilometer long. A capsule carrying up to 35 mail sacks made the short journey between terminals in 1 minute. 13 trips were made daily. The daily operating expenses were £14, 10 shillings, and 5 pence. Eventually, the company planned to build a network of such lines in London. The next line connected Houston and Hoxton. When it was ready in 1865, the company's chairman, the third Duke of Buckingham, squeezed into one of the capsules and took a test ride on it, like a train. Subsequently, several more lines were built, all with difficulties due to the financial crisis, including from the main post office. However, the system didn't save much time, so in 1874, the Post Office abandoned its use. A year later, the company was liquidated. It was reported in the press that the reason was the constant sticking of parcels underground. By the way, the London Pneumatic Mail was not the only one in the world. We already told you about a similar service in our video about underground New York.
So, let's not stray too far from the mail theme and just hop on a miniature train. Don't be surprised by its size; it's specifically made that way, so watch your head when you get on. We're on the Post Office Railway, 21 meters (69 ft) underground. These ran under London in the 20th century and were designed to carry many, only not people. This 61 cm wide automatic electric underground railroad was opened in 1927 and operated for 76 years until it closed in 2003.
How did it appear? In the early 20th century, Royal Mail staff were looking for a way to speed up deliveries. That's when they turned their attention to Chicago's underground freight train system, and so the idea was born. Planning and work went on for a full 10 years. The underground railroad became available for Christmas packages in 1927, and letters began to be delivered through it in February 1928. It was also heavily used later on, running 22 hours a day. There were eight stations, the largest of which was located under Mount Pleasant. At its peak in the mid-20th century, the system carried out 4 million pieces a day along a 10.5 km underground section at a speed of around 64 km an hour, with terminals at Paddington in the west and Whitechapel in the east. But by the end of the century, mail volume had declined. It was used only at a third of its capacity, and the road became unprofitable. By the early 2000s, only three stations remained. According to the Royal Mail, it was five times more expensive to use the railroad to transport mail than it would have been to use cars. In 2003, the Mail Rail was closed and abandoned, and many entry points were sealed off. Other enthusiasts, armed with cameras, tried to follow in their footsteps. And then, due to an imminent opening of the Postal Museum, journalists were allowed into the tunnels, and in 2017, Mail Rail opened to the public. The very trains, one of which we boarded at the beginning of our journey, became available for visitors. Their track runs, among other things, under Royal Mail's sorting office in Mount Pleasant.
So, it's time to leave the mini train and get on the regular London Underground train. And to do that, you have to go down to a depth of 24 meters (79 ft). Look around you. A symphony of iron and plastic. You knew the London Underground was the first in the world, right? Once upon a time, this form of transportation was desperately needed because the roads were clogged with people, carriages, stage coaches, and horse-drawn omnibuses. The result was the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first subway system. The idea of an underground railroad connecting the city of London with the city center was proposed. Next, permission was obtained, and preparatory work was carried out for this purpose. A short test tunnel was built in the small town of Kibblesworth. It was used for 2 years in the first subway train development, and later, in 1861, it was filled up. The site was not chosen by chance; its geological properties were similar to London.
The psychological environment surrounding the first subway was quite tense. It was ridiculed in music halls and called "the drain," with predictions that the tunnel top would collapse and passengers would suffocate from the smoke. An evangelical pastor even accused the railroad company of trying to enter hell. Those who built the subway also had to wade through real obstacles, namely gas, water, and sewer pipes. It wasn't an easy task, but the day X came. On January 10th, 1863, the world's first subway station opened. It connected Paddington and Farringdon. Two trains ran on the new lines. They were, wait a minute, wooden carriages with gas lighting, towed by steam locomotives. A total of 38,000 passengers were carried that day. The subway was a resounding success. People who previously had to spend almost an hour and a half on the road could reach their destination in 20 minutes tops, thanks to the subway.
However, in the next 2 days, there were unexpected difficulties. Many people wanted to use the subway, and the trains couldn't cope. As a result, steam locomotives and cars not designed for subway travel worked on the line. The engines of these steam locomotives created an abundance of smoke in the tunnels. Ventilation in some areas was so imperfect that people in the subway felt ill. But none of this prevented the subway from carrying 9 million passengers in its first year. Over the next 2 years, the line was extended further east into the city to Moorgate and in the other direction to Hammersmith. Other lines were soon added to the growing network, and deeper underground tunnels appeared. Gas locomotives were later replaced by electric trains. The first underground electric railroad opened in 1890. Today, the London Underground has 11 lines, 272 stations. Every year, its trains travel 43 million miles, and that's halfway to the sun, no less.
About the same level, 24 meters underground, another fascinating place is located. What do you think when you hear the word catacombs? Gloomy labyrinths where decayed human remains are hidden? Well, that's certainly not the case with the Camden Catacombs. They were used for another purpose. The Camden Town neighborhood in Northwest London dates back to the late 18th century. It's now home to the street markets and concert venues associated with alternative culture. On average, 250,000 people visit it every week. Walking through Camden Market, few people consider what lies beneath it, and there are the Camden Catacombs, a vast network of underground passages closed to the public.
They were built in 1837 by Victorian engineer Robert Stephenson. The catacombs were used as stables for the horses and ponies that worked on the railroads. The horses helped drive the railroad cars back and forth. At one point, there was even a veterinary hospital for the animals in the catacombs. The horse tunnels from The Roundhouse to the Regent's Canal provided a safe passage for the horses working at the station. In the 19th century, there was also a pool near the catacombs for boats on the Regent's Canal. Later, in 1869, wine importers W. and Gilbey moved their business to Camden Goods Station. The catacombs became a great place to store whiskey, wine, and gin. Nowadays, most of the underground tunnels have not survived. Those that remain have been closed to the public because of the risk of flooding.
Let's go even lower, 36 meters (8 ft) deep to be exact, to get to this depth. You'll need to find a drum-shaped building near the Northern Line. Several such unusual structures can be found near some subway stations. They've been preserved since the Second World War, and that's our next point. What were these buildings for? They were the entrances to the so-called deep shelters. Eight of them were built in the early 1940s to protect the public from bombing. They're located underneath London Underground stations. Each had two entrances and could fit up to 8,000 people. Although 10 shelters were originally planned for a total of 100,000 people, each consists of two parallel tunnels, 5 meters in diameter and 370 meters long. Together, they constituted a network of underground shelters. The shelters were designed so that after the war, they could be connected to form an express subway line. This plan was discussed before the outbreak of hostilities, but it was never realized due to the lack of funding.
The shelters were opened as early as 1940 during the Blitz, in response to public demand for shelter at London Underground stations, although they were not finally completed until 1942. Today, most of the shelters hold documents, but some were used for a different purpose. For example, the shelter on Clapham Common was used as an underground farm until 2023. The spacious halls were used to grow herbs. The structure on Chenies Street is known as the Eisenhower Center, in honor of its role in World War II. The fact is that General Eisenhower used this underground facility as his headquarters during preparations for D-Day, that's the term for the operation to land a naval landing in Normandy. The structure is now used to store documents. One of the entrances to the Stockwell shelter has been decorated and turned into a war memorial. The Camden shelter on Buck Street is decorated with a mural by street artist Nathan Bowen. The shelter at Clapham South is the only one you're likely to be able to look inside. It was originally built as part of a new rail line that was supposed to run between North and South London. The London Transport Museum runs tours there as part of its Hidden London program.
Let us too walk past the preserved bunk beds that are still in place. About 8,000 people could have been squeezed into these rows of three bunks. However, the shelter was never fully utilized. It was opened in 1944, several years had passed since the Blitz. Nevertheless, the shelter was helpful to families who had lost their homes. It was apparently quite crowded. After the war, in 1948, Jamaican immigrants from the Empire Windrush, a ship traveling from Australia to Britain, were housed here for up to 6 months. Many eventually settled in neighboring Brixton.
But it's time for us to move on. The next point of our journey is 50 meters (164 ft) underground, and it is a sewer. While we're down this deep underground, let's learn more about this structure. Imagine the 1850s. You're walking along the Thames, you enjoy the view of the river in its pristine state, with no skyscrapers nearby. But do you feel that smell? Yep, it's coming from the river. At this time, 2.5 million people were living in London, and those 2.5 million flushed toilet waste down the storm drain every day, and from there, that waste went, yes, yes, into the Thames. The river was flowing sluggishly. Instead of draining into the sea, the waste was left there, so the river effectively became an open sewer. But for all the pollution in the Thames, people didn't stop taking water from the river for cooking and drinking, and of course, they got sick. For example, it was during that period that cholera became widespread; it killed 15,000 Londoners. Nevertheless, the authorities did nothing about the problem until 1858. That year, due to the hot summer, the Thames began to smell so bad that it became known as "the Great Stink." At the time, it was wrongly believed that cholera was transmitted through miasmas, that is, odor. It was an outdated theory that the cause of many epidemics, including the plague, was hidden in the bad air emanating from rotten organic matter. So, because of the foul-smelling Thames, members of Parliament became concerned about their health and decided to commission a new sewage system. The engineer Joseph Bazalgette was put in charge of the construction. Bazalgette decided to build a vast underground sewer system that carried London's waste downstream to the mouth of the Thames, away from the main areas where people lived. The engineers spent 9 years to build six interceptor sewers totaling around 161 km in length. As we've already mentioned, some of London's rivers were also used to create the sewer network. In total, 318 million bricks were needed. All of this wasn't in vain. Building an efficient sewage system helped to defeat cholera. Typhus also went down. The tunnels are still in good condition thanks to the durable Portland cement.
In modern times, there was a need to increase the sewer system capacity, and so the Thames Tideway Project was born, and now we're moving through its result: the super tunnel, a 25 km long combined sewer. This large tunnel is, for the most part, up to 67 meters underground, but the lead tunnel part of its system goes down to about 80 meters. At Beckton, the tunnel runs under the Thames through the whole of London. Construction was completed in March 2024. Tests will be carried out, and the tunnel will be up and running as early as 2025. The cost of the project was £4.2 billion. Yes, London's fast-growing population has led to the appearance of advanced sewage systems.
What about the water system? It's at about the same level, 10 to 80 meters (262 ft) underground, to be exact. We're at the Thames Water Ring. Before the Thames Water Ring was built, water was mainly supplied through water pipes that were located just below the surface. Most water pipes were weakened by corrosion and couldn't cope with the huge amount of water volume, and the need for drinking water was only increasing. The construction of the ring made it possible to reduce the load on these water pipelines and to maintain them properly. As a result, most of them are still in operation today. By the way, the oldest of these water pipes dates back to 1838. [Music]
The main part of the Thames Watering was constructed in 1988 to 1993. As a result, about 80 km of concrete tunnels were built, connecting large water treatment plants in the western part of London with pumping stations in the central districts with the highest water demand. Building the structure cost about £248 million at the time, which by today's standards equates to about £665 million. Today, this system carries up to 1,300 million liters of water daily. This amount could fill 520 Olympic swimming pools to the brim. [Music]