From Westminster Abbey to Covent Garden

This leg of the tour follows the River Thames - what the MP John Burns once referred to as liquid history. We begin at Westminster Abbey, amidst the political and legislative heart of the United Kingdom. The Abbey is best reached from Westminster tube station on the far corner of Parliament Square. Westminster Abbey is an architectural masterpiece, which lies at the heart of English history. Thousands of people visit the Abbey every day to see the monuments, the memorials, Poets’ Corner and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
A monastery was established here in the 10th century but it was really Edward the Confessor, in the 11th century, who rebuilt the monastery and built a substantial church on the site. Unfortunately this, the East range of the cloisters, is the only bit of Edward’s building that remains. His church was finished in December 1065, just eight days before he died, and when William the Conqueror turned up he used it for his own coronation. And the Abbey has been the setting for every monarch’s coronation ever since. Now we're going to cross the river, so head back towards Westminster’s tube station and walk over Westminster Bridge. Although the river may look a bit mucky, it’s actually cleaner that it has been in centuries. It was so filthy in the 1850s from all the raw sewage and carcasses tossed into it, that the House of Commons had to hang sacking treated with chloride of lime in the windows to mask the smell. But at least it helped Parliament realise that it had to start taking sewage and sanitation seriously. When you’ve crossed the bridge, walk north along the river, past the old County Hall - the old home of London’s local government - until you reach the dizzying splendor of our next attraction.
As the tallest observation wheel in the world, the London Eye dwarfs many of the capital’s other famous landmarks. It’s nearly 3 times as tall as Tower bridge and 4 times wider than the dome of St. Paul’s
- Doug, you are the engineer responsible for making sure this thing works. Now, it looks like a great big bicycle wheel, is it as simple as that?
- It’s almost as simple as that, yeah. If you imagine a bicycle wheel with spokes then this is what you've got
- Only it’s a bit bigger
- It's a bit bigger
When I first heard about the London Eye I thought it was going to be a complete disaster. But ever since it went up it’s been one of my favourite London landmarks.
Continuing down the river, the next bridge is Hungerford Bridge, taking trains into Charing Cross station. The first bridge on this location was completed in 1845 by the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel. We want to cross here and fortunately there are 2 new pedestrian bridges the Golden Jubilee Bridges. When you’ve crossed the river, turn right to walk along the Embankment to Cleopatra’s Needle.
London's monuments come in all shapes and sizes and date back from all sorts of periods in our history. But Britain’s oldest monument is down here on the Embankment. It’s three and a half thousand years old and is Cleopatra’s Needle, the 60-foot-high granite obelisk was originally erected in the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III around 1450 BC. It was presented to the UK 1819 by the vice-roy of Egypt, but Cleopatra’s needle didn’t come to Britain until 1877, when Victorian engineers finally found a way to move the 200-ton obelisk and erect it using a kind of crane on London’s Embankment.
Let’s leave the river now and head into one of the most vibrant areas of London. Carry on to the next bridge, this one is Waterloo Bridge, and go up onto Lancaster place. Across the road is Somerset House - great for ice skating in winter and concerts in summer. Walking away from the river, you’ll come to the Strand. Cross over and turn left and then turn right at Southampton Street - Welcome to Covent Garden. There’s a link here to where we started: 'Covent' used to be 'Convent' and the land was owned by Westminster Abbey, when it was a kitchen garden.
In 1630, Covent Garden became the site of London's first experiment in town planning, because the fourth Earl of Bedford commissioned Inigo Jones to design a square suitable for gentlemen to live in. Now, Inigo Jones had been to Italy, and it’s almost certain this square was based on an Italian piazza. It was unique in 17th century London and it was very much copied. Unfortunately none of these 17th century houses survives to this day but nevertheless, the place where they were built defines the shape of Covent Garden. We finished our tour now, I think you’ve earned a refreshing glass of ale, so why not head to one the best of Covent Garden pubs - The Harp? You can find it if you head back to Southampton Street, immediately turn right down Maiden Lane and keep walking, good bye!