Oldest Footage of London Ever

This is the oldest footage of London ever. Includes amazing old footage combined with modern shots of the same location today. Also features maps carefully researched to show where the camera was. Arranged by location, 46 shots of classic footage with a twist and an inspiring soundtrack.

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This collection of footage was taken between 1890 and 1920 and shows various places around London, all identifiable by location on a map.

In order they are:

WESTMINSTER:

1. Parliament square, looking across at Big Ben

2. Westminster Abbey

3. Westminster Abbey from Tothill Street

4. Houses of Parliament from the South Bank

5. Houses of Parliament from across the Thames River

6. Big Ben from Westminster Bridge

7. Flipbook animation of the south side of Westminster Bridge

8. Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister

9. No 10 Downing Street door

EMBANKMENT

10. Victoria Embankment

11. Cleopatra's Needle

12. Egyptian Lions at Cleopatra's Needle

13. Blackfriars Bridge

ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

14. St Paul's Cathedral from the South Bank

15. St Paul's Cathedral from across the Thames River

16. St Paul's Cathedral from the tower of St Mary Le Bow Church

TOWER BRIDGE & TOWER OF LONDON

17. Tower of London viewed through Tower Bridge

18. Tower Bridge looking south from the parapet

19. Tower Bridge closing after allowing a boat to pass

20. Looking south along the length of Tower Bridge

21. Panorama of the Tower of London from Tower Bridge

22. South side of the Tower of London

23. Tommies marching in the moat

THE CITY

24. Monument to the Great Fire of 1666

25. Pan up the Monument

26. The Bank of England

27. The Bank of England from Cheapside

28. St Mary Le Bow tower from Cheapside

FLEET ST & THE STRAND

29. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub

30. Temple Bar Memorial

31. The Royal Courts of Justice

THE WEST END

32. The Empire Theatre, Leicester Square

33. Piccadilly Circus

CHARING CROSS & TRAFALGAR SQAURE

34. Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross Station

35. Panorama of Trafalgar Square

36. Admiralty Arch

37. Nelson's Column

ST JAMES & BUCKINGHAM PALACE

38. Crimean War Memorial

39. St James's Palace

40. Band at St James's Palace

41. Buckingham Palace

42. Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace

HYDE PARK

43. Hyde Park Corner

44. Hyde Park Corner traffic

45. Hyde Park

TRAFALGAR SQAURE

46. Oldest footage of London - Trafalgar Square (1890)

CREDITS

Footage
Bombing of London, 1917, PD
Seeing London - ca 1920s, PD
Westminster Bridge Robert W Paul, 1896, PD
Edwardian London, 1911, PD
Early Traffic Scenes, 1890-1900, PD
Old London Street Scenes, 1903, PD
Blackfriars Bridge, R.W. Paul, 1896, PD
1890s Traffic Scenes, 1897, PD
Garde descendante du palais St-James,
Louis Lumière & Auguste Lumière, 1896, PD
Londres, Piccadilly Circus,
Louis Lumière & Auguste Lumière, 1896, PD
Entrée du Cinématographe,
Louis Lumière & Auguste Lumière, 1896, PD
Londres, entrée de Hyde Park,
Louis Lumière & Auguste Lumière, 1896, PD
Londres, Pont De Westminster et Parlement,
Auguste Lumière 1896, PD
Hyde Park Bicycling Scene, Robert W Paul, 1896, PD
Trafalgar Square, Wordsworth Donisthorpe, 1890, PD

Music
Just Me and My Thoughts, Published by Audioblocks
Recording of Big Ben, Edison brown wax cylinder
Ferguson/Hope/Gouraud, PD
Morning Sun, Published by Audioblocks
Anthem To The Fallen, Published by Audioblocks
Smoker's Section, Published by Audioblocks
Softly Inspiring, Published by Audioblocks
Lightness, Published by Audioblocks
Licensed under CC by 3.0
Black And White Rag, 1908,
Composed by George Botsford
Performed by Winifred Atwell, 1952, PD

Photographs
Poppies At The Tower Of London, 2014,
Martin Pettitt, CC by 2.0
London bridge photo from hot air balloon,
2014, Daniel Chapman,
Aerial photo from hot air balloon of tower bridge,
2014, Daniel Chapman,
Trooping The Colour,
2007, Jon Bennett, CC by 2.0
London From The Shard, 2013,
Flickr user: [Duncan], CC by 2.0
Shutterstock

Thanks to
The People of London
Simon Meyer
St Mary Le Bow Church
Open Street Maps

Directed by
Al Paton

Produced by
Yestervid

© Yestervid 2015

[ramonwilliams]

I at 82 years of age found this to be a brilliant video, thank you so much...Ramon

[markiliff]

Other people just mash together old clips. This carefully researched and lovingly edited artefact is a thing of beauty. Thank you.

[asef]

All those people dead and buried, lived in the same city we do today, went to work on the same roads we use today. Makes you wonder what life is all about. What are we doing here, what are we waiting for

[weekdaycycling]

I'm not a British, not a Londoner but this epic footage makes me goosebumps.
It's incredible that's even an old light post in the footage be standing there up to now.

[erwannleligerien]

London from 1890 to today, still amazing !
Greetings from France.

[gina]

This makes me nostalgic for a time i wasn't even alive🥺

[kelila.q]

1:45 when the guys pass the camera and turn to look at it at the same place at the same time nearly a hundred years apart. I love that. Nice job lining up the films like that.

[smurfylee]

Fantastic! I was thinking of my grandfather while watching, he was born in 1911 over there (I'm in Australia), he used to tell me stories and show me photos of his life there. He came out to Australia in 1927 as he had always had a yearning for the bush. He bought his farm and live stock and had it the whole time until his late 80s and he died 1998. This footage made me feel connected to him.

[enriquemireles]

They need to send a thank you note to the company that made those lamp post. Over hundred years and still standing.

[MichelineLelong]

I'm a Londoner and this brought tears to my eyes. I still remember some landmarks
that I knew when I was a little girl.  May London carry on as a city with history, beauty
and to be seen by future

[pentirah]

Fascinating! I was born in 1931, after the date of these films, but I remember there were still quite a lot of horse drawn vehicles then, and nothing like as many cars The milkman, the baker and the coal man still delivered with horse and cart. Many funerals used horses then.

[LilyD]

My father in law was born in 1924 and he passed away last summer. Is amazing and actually quite emotional to see what the world looked like in his childhood. Thank you for this.

[theuktoday]

must be very weird standing in the same footsteps as those who originally filmed the originals, thanks for creating this wonderful video.

[folkvar]

London had much more character back then.

[BubbleFizz]

Am I the only one who felt really proud of the trees in the comparisons?

Like, you could see them before and they grew up so big and strong. 🌳

[barbaratg]

Our eternal gratitude to the cameramen and early filmmakers who made and preserved these films. So sad none of these people are still with us
Thanks for the memory

[johncraske]

Excellent. I particularly enjoyed the spit screen 'then and now' shots. Obviously a time-consuming exercise, but well worth it.

[princecaspen]

Crazy how they constructed those buildings that still stands today, my house is on its last legs and it's only 40yrs old

[rogerfrench]

Wonder what these ppl would think if they were transported forward to 2019 London. They would probably cry.

[clearday]

Wow. What a treat to be able to hear the oldest sound of Big Ben chiming :) Really enjoyed this video. Splitting the screen between the different eras gave me goosebumps. Thanks for making this.