Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This East London History Walking Tour investigates the recently revealed true locations of London's English Civil War defences and lines of communication that ran from Wapping to Shoreditch. For nearly 300 years people believed that George Vertue's 1738 map showed the locations and the lines of the trenches that were erected by Parliament in February 1643. But a recent article in London Archaeologist reports on a new study revealing that Vertue's map was a deliberate forgery and proposing a new map of Civil War London. Using William Lithgow's description of the forts and trenches that linked them together in 1643 I follow his footsteps from Wapping Fort through the East End to Whitechapel Forest, along Brick Lane to Shoreditch and Hoxton Fort.
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon and the YouTube Members
Related videos:
Walking London’s Civil War Defences in Islington
youtu.be/zmv1d-cz3rM?si=awOOVKPU8WvnxucQ
Exploring Shoreditch & Hoxton in London's East End
youtu.be/symMQSBFCGQ?si=hoVWhRpR2mPkMh8Z
Historic Whitechapel Walking Tour: Uncovering the Hidden Gems of East London youtu.be/IP8mjHhCnzc?si=BBJHp9jtqC8-XDnv
2005 blog post: Walking the Finsbury Forts thelostbyway.com/2005/09/walking-the-finsbury-forts.html
The Civil War defences of East London reviewed: preliminary results -
Peter Mills, London Archaeologist 2021
archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-457-1/dissemination/pdf/vol16/LonArch_16-03/LonArch_16-03_03_Mills.pdf
Chapters
0:00 Wapping
1:19 Vertue's Map
8:57 Tobacco Dock
17:45 Whitechapel Fort
24:40 Brick Lane Fort
29:36 Shoreditch Fort
31:03 Hoxton Fort
Ways To Support the Channel
Patreon patreon.com/JohnRogers
YouTube Memberships youtube.com/channel/UCk1qvhkPMbF703QHR8qj8og/join
Donation via PayPaul paypal.me/JohnRogersLondon
Buy Me a Coffee - thanks ko-fi.com/johnrogerswalks
- Thank You!
Please subscribe for regular videos: bit.ly/1EJjIB8
Music
Epilogue - Hanna Ekstrom
Only Water - Jay Taylor
Strings in Solitude 2 - Hanna Ekstrom
courtesy of epidemicsound.com
share.epidemicsound.com/ftphix (affiliate link)
Over the Meadow, Over the Stream - Alan Rogers
Civil War Stock Footage purchased from Pond5
Maps:
Vertue’s Map
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vertue%27s_1738_plan_of_the_London_Lines_of_Communication.jpg
Open Street Map “© OpenStreetMap contributors” using data available under the Open Database Licence
NLS Historic OS Maps 'Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland' maps.nls.uk/index.html
#londonwalk #londonhistory
_________________________________________________________________________________
Patreon patreon.com/JohnRogers
My shop: teespring.com/stores/the-lost-byway
My Books:
Welcome to New London amzn.to/3LTK9Rv
This Other London amzn.to/2zbFmTd
Audiobook & Kindle: amzn.to/2xLGb8s
Blog: The Lost Byway: thelostbyway.com
Twitter: twitter.com/fugueur
Instagram instagram.com/thelostbyway
Shot in 4K on a Olympus OM-D EM-1 mark 2 with audio recorded with a DJI Mic Mini
My Walking kit (amazon affiliate link - I earn a small commission on purchases)
amzn.to/2Xky2UA
This East London History Walking Tour investigates the recently revealed true locations of London's English Civil War defences and lines of communication that ran from Wapping to Shoreditch. For nearly 300 years people believed that George Vertue's 1738 map showed the locations and the lines of the trenches that were erected by Parliament in February 1643. But a recent article in London Archaeologist reports on a new study revealing that Vertue's map was a deliberate forgery and proposing a new map of Civil War London. Using William Lithgow's description of the forts and trenches that linked them together in 1643 I follow his footsteps from Wapping Fort through the East End to Whitechapel Forest, along Brick Lane to Shoreditch and Hoxton Fort.
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon and the YouTube Members
Related videos:
Walking London’s Civil War Defences in Islington
youtu.be/zmv1d-cz3rM?si=awOOVKPU8WvnxucQ
Exploring Shoreditch & Hoxton in London's East End
youtu.be/symMQSBFCGQ?si=hoVWhRpR2mPkMh8Z
Historic Whitechapel Walking Tour: Uncovering the Hidden Gems of East London youtu.be/IP8mjHhCnzc?si=BBJHp9jtqC8-XDnv
2005 blog post: Walking the Finsbury Forts thelostbyway.com/2005/09/walking-the-finsbury-forts.html
The Civil War defences of East London reviewed: preliminary results -
Peter Mills, London Archaeologist 2021
archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-457-1/dissemination/pdf/vol16/LonArch_16-03/LonArch_16-03_03_Mills.pdf
Chapters
0:00 Wapping
1:19 Vertue's Map
8:57 Tobacco Dock
17:45 Whitechapel Fort
24:40 Brick Lane Fort
29:36 Shoreditch Fort
31:03 Hoxton Fort
Ways To Support the Channel
Patreon patreon.com/JohnRogers
YouTube Memberships youtube.com/channel/UCk1qvhkPMbF703QHR8qj8og/join
Donation via PayPaul paypal.me/JohnRogersLondon
Buy Me a Coffee - thanks ko-fi.com/johnrogerswalks
- Thank You!
Please subscribe for regular videos: bit.ly/1EJjIB8
Music
Epilogue - Hanna Ekstrom
Only Water - Jay Taylor
Strings in Solitude 2 - Hanna Ekstrom
courtesy of epidemicsound.com
share.epidemicsound.com/ftphix (affiliate link)
Over the Meadow, Over the Stream - Alan Rogers
Civil War Stock Footage purchased from Pond5
Maps:
Vertue’s Map
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vertue%27s_1738_plan_of_the_London_Lines_of_Communication.jpg
Open Street Map “© OpenStreetMap contributors” using data available under the Open Database Licence
NLS Historic OS Maps 'Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland' maps.nls.uk/index.html
#londonwalk #londonhistory
_________________________________________________________________________________
Patreon patreon.com/JohnRogers
My shop: teespring.com/stores/the-lost-byway
My Books:
Welcome to New London amzn.to/3LTK9Rv
This Other London amzn.to/2zbFmTd
Audiobook & Kindle: amzn.to/2xLGb8s
Blog: The Lost Byway: thelostbyway.com
Twitter: twitter.com/fugueur
Instagram instagram.com/thelostbyway
Shot in 4K on a Olympus OM-D EM-1 mark 2 with audio recorded with a DJI Mic Mini
My Walking kit (amazon affiliate link - I earn a small commission on purchases)
amzn.to/2Xky2UA
