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In the first of two lectures with the theme ‘Merchants, Money and Megalomania’, Simon Thurley will unearth the lost mercantile buildings of medieval London and show how influential they were.
The lecture will look at the industrial river Thames and consider the changing needs of shipping with the transition from sail to steam and the impact on London as a port.
How might the study of the first 1,500 years of London's port history (encapsulating profound changes ranging from location, infrastructure and technology to variations in river levels) help when making predictions for the future?
The earliest London-made films showed the Victorian city doing everyday business, before its fictional screen image became increasingly shadowy and sinister.