This road was used as the route for transporting bricks after the Great Fire of London in 1666, hence the name. It now boasts the greatest concentration of curry houses in Britain.
Harrods was bought in 1985 by Mohamed Al Fayed for £615 million, it covers 4 1/2 acres and holds over 300 department stores.
The bricks of the buildings on Downing Street were originally yellow brick which over two centuries became blackened from pollution. After restoration in the 1960s they were painted black.
The first nude statue in London was erected in the South-East corner of Hyde Park in 1822. After the pleas from 'country women' a fig leaf was later added to save their blushes.
Every year a Norway Spruce is erected here and decorated as part of the Christmas festivities. The tree is a gift of thanks from the Norwegians for Britain's support during the Second World War
Bishopsgate often displayed the heads of recently executed criminals on spikes for passers by to to see. The heads were used as a warning to anyone thinking about breaking the law.
Originally named Old Jerusalem, this pub was renamed after Richard, the local dandy and warehouse owner, who became famous for refusing to tidy up after his fiancee died on the eve of their wedding.
Trellick Tower is seen to be the best work of Erno Goldfinger, however his design was hated so much by Ian Fleming that he named a villan in James Bond after him.
An urban myth, which began shortly after WWII, suggests that an ancient Roman battleground is located here and the body of Iceni Warrior Queen Boudica is buried somewhere beneath platform 9 and 10.
From 1235 until 1835, the monarch’s personal zoo was kept at the Tower, and it included many exotic animals given as presents by other monarchs, including polar bears, leopards and elephants.
To mark the 50th birthday of the Royal Air Force in 1968, Flight Lt. Allan Pollock flew his Hawker jet under the walkway of Tower Bridge. This unauthorised stunt won him a court martial.
This pub takes its monastic theme from the Dominican priory which once stood here. The elaborate and witty decorations date from 1904 and make this a unique London watering hole.
The current tavern dates back to 1720, but inns of the same name have stood here since the 14th century. They’re named after the Priory of St.John of Jerusalem which used to stand nearby.
The famous illuminated advertising of Piccadilly Circus began as early as 1893, before most of the city had electric street lighting.
The market began life in 1974 as a weekly crafts market, and now has about 100,000 visitors each weekend. The Stables Market is where the horses used to be kept for towing canal barges.
The square here was laid out by Inigo Jones in 1630, on land once used by the monks of Westminster Abbey as a garden, but confiscated by Henry VIII during the Reformation.
Oxford Circus got its new diagonal pedestrian crossing in 2009. It was inspired by crossings in Tokyo like the one at Shibuya, and in recognition of this Japanese musicians played at the opening.
Currently the third tallest Ferris wheel in the world (the tallest when built in 1999, but now behind Singapore and Nanchang), it moves at 0.6mph, and you can see 25 miles from the top.
Big Ben refers to the 13 ton bell in the clock tower of Westminster Palace. Opinion is divided as to whether it was named after the then Commissioner of Works, or a famous prize-fighter of the time.
This is the oldest part of Westminster Palace, built for William II in 1097. This was the meeting place for medieval parliaments and courts, and is where Charles I was put on trial in 1649.
No.10 was given to Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first ‘prime minister’, by George II in thanks for his service. Walpole’s official title, First Lord of the Treasury, still remains on the letterbox.
The Mall took on its current form as a royal processional route around 1912. The palace approach was widened, and Admiralty Arch was built at one end and the Victoria Memorial at the other
