London Under London: A Subterranean Guide [Paperback]

Richard Trench (Author), Ellis Hillman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1993

One of the most popular books on London (it has reprinted six times since it was first published in 1984) London under London has now been updated to take into account the latest subterranean developments. A new section covers: the pioneering deep level water main 80 kilometres in length, much longer even than the Channel Tunnel; new power tunnels and the enormous substation beneath Leicester Square; new underground railways; glass fibre communication; and much more. Clearly, metropolitan man is burrowing as actively as ever. The London we know and see is only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the familiar surface lies an unknown city, a Hades of buried and forgotten rivers, sunken sewers, underground railways, pipes and passages, tubes and tunnels, crypts and cellars. These lifelines of the metropolis twist and turn hidden beneath the pavements of the city - fifteen hundred miles of Neo-Gothic sewers, a hundred miles of Neolithic rivers, eighty-two miles of tube tunnels, twelve miles of government tunnels and hundreds of thousands of miles of cables and pipes. Layer upon layer, they run their urgent errands, carrying people, delivering water, removing sewage, passing currents, sending messages, conveying parcels. Drawing extensively from the literature and visual archives of the underworld, London under London traces the history of the tunnellers and borers who have pierced the ground beneath the city for close on two thousand years. The authors trace the routes taken by man and nature, and enable us to follow them from the comfort of our armchairs. They can also tell us, gazetteer-style, exactly where we can get below and see the strange world which they depict, whom to ask for permission, and which of the public service authorities organizes trips underground.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most entrhalling books ever written on London." -- House and Garden " 'London Under London' is knowledgeable, lively, opinionated and utterly fascinating." -- Evening Standard

About the Author

Richard Trench has worked for the Observer, the Guardian and the Financial Times on a freelance basis, and from 1982 to 1987 he wrote the Time Out Guide to Paris. He is also the author of "Forbidden Sands," an account of his crossing of the Sahara to the salt mines of Taoudenni, "Arabian Travellers," "George Philips London" and "Travellers in Britain." Ellis Hillman, a passionate enthusiast about subterranean London, is Chairman of the London Subterranean Survey Association, founder and president of the Lewis Carroll Society, principal lecturer in enviornmental studies at the University of East London and a councillor for the London Borough of Barnet.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: John Murray Publishers, Ltd. (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719552885
• ISBN-13: 978-0719552885
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,642,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DOWN UNDER - LONDON, June 6, 2004

By 

E. E Pofahl (HUNTINGTON, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: London Under London: A Subterranean Guide (Paperback)

Except for Anglophiles and London Buffs most people's knowledge of the London Underground is limited to its use as a bomb shelter during the World War II Blitz. However, the Underground existed for centuries before WWII. Chapter 1 succinctly narrates the Underground during the Blitz, and concludes stating "....to understand the full complexity of what lies under London, we must begin with her subterranean rivers."

Chapter 2 notes "There are over a hundred miles of rivers in London, fed by over a hundred springs and wells....Hidden from view, recalled only in street names...." As early as 1463 a Royal Act ordered "The covering-in of the Walbook's middle and lower reaches" vaulting and paving it over. These rivers were covered over or diverted into tunnels. Many of the rivers underground became more sewers than rivers. The text also notes "There are several lost rivers under London referred to by London's chroniclers but impossible to trace."

The text devotes several chapters to the development of underground sewers, water systems, gas pipes, trains, and later telegraph, telephone and electricity systems. The text gives captivating accounts of several engineering problems that were confronted, how they were resolved together with thumbnail sketches of the engineers and managers involved. . Tunneling under the Thames River was a major venture taking fifteen years to complete. Most intriguing is the account of The London Hydraulic Power Company founded in 1871where "Raw water (untreated) water was pumped at a pressure of 400 pounds per square inch through the miles of pipes running beneath London, and was used to raise and lower cranes, operated lifts.... theatre safety curtains, wagon hoists, even hat hat-blocking presses...." Amazingly the company survived until the mid-1970s.

As telegraph lines were developed underground, the Post Office gained control of the telegraph system and later gained control of the telephone system which they tried to suppress. As electricity developed around a national grid, distribution moved underground and by WWII was operating as a national industry. After the dropping of the first atomic bomb, the British government considered operating from the underground but by the 1960s gave up plans to fighting and surviving a nuclear war from under London. The text notes that new water and electricity tunnels characterized the 1980s and early 1990s with "The biggest capital project under London in the last ten years has been the completion of the London Ring Water Main"

This is a fascinating book and the reader will be amazed by the extensive underground systems under London that are still in use today.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll wonder why you've spent so long on the surface, February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: London Under London: A Subterranean Guide (Paperback)

London Under London is a concise and highly interesting look at the subterranean world beneath Englands capital. From the middle ages to the present day, Richard Trench provides a detailed history of the various constructions built by London's city planners to deal with the problems of transport, sanitation and overcrowding. Rivers dissappear, tube stations become secret bunkers, tunnels collapse and construction workers uncover 16th century plague pits. A fascinating read for both the student of history as well as the casual observer, London Under London will forever make your journey on the tube a very different experience.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most interesting book I have ever read, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: London Under London: A Subterranean Guide (Paperback)

That London is an interesting city is not in doubt. However, this detailed revelation of what secrets lie beneath this great city are quite amazing. This really is a book that you will constantly want to pick up time after time, always finding something new.