London

**London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom**. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. London's vast urban area is often described using a set of district names, such as Bloomsbury, Mayfair, Wembley and Whitechapel. These are either informal designations, reflect the names of villages that have been absorbed by sprawl, or are superseded administrative units such as parishes or former boroughs.

Whitechapel is an area in East London and the administrative centre of London Borough of Tower Hamlets. St. Mary's Chapel, which later became known as St. Mary Matfelon was a church in Whitechapel, a district in East London, was damaged during the Blitz and demolished in 1952, its location and graveyard is now a public garden on the south side of the road. Many famous people have had connections in Whitechapel, including The Elephant Man (who's real name was Joseph Merrick), Jack The Ripper, who perpetrated a series of murders in the late Victorian era and Ronnie and Reggie Kray, who famously killed one of their associates George Cornell in The Blind Beggar.

Southwark is an area in Central London and is the north-west of London Borough of Southwark. The Romans built a 'suburb' south of the River Thames on the site of modern Southwark. However it was abandoned in the 5th century when the Romans left Britain. Yet under the Saxons a new 'suburb' grew up and flourished. It was called the south work and became known as Southwark. (From the 16th century it was also called The Borough). Today Southwark has many attractions. Among them are the Clink Prison Museum and the Tate Modern. Other attractions are the Vinopolis, Shakespeare's Globe and London Dungeon. Southwark is also known for the Old Operating Theatre Museum. It was originally the women's operating theatre for St Thomas's Hospital and it was built in 1822. HMS Belfast, which was a light cruiser launched in 1938 and served in the Second World War and the Korean War and remained in service until 1963, was brought to Southwark in 1971.  There are many known landmarks in Southwark, including the Tower Bridge, which was constructed in 1886, the Tower of London, that was founded towards the end of 1066 and The Shard, which was built in 2009.

## Whitechapel

Whitechapel is an area in East London and the administrative centre of London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is

2.4 miles (3.8 km) north of Southwark. It was part of the ancient parish of Stepney, Middlesex. It was split off as a separate parish in the 14th century. It became part of the County of London in 1889 and Greater London in 1965. Because the area is close to the London Docklands and east of the City of London, it has been a popular place for immigrants and the working class.

Whitechapel is known for its notorious crimes, including the Whitechapel Murders of Jack The Ripper, the murder of George Cornell by Ronnie Kray in The Blind Beggar in 1966 and the murders of Frank Adkins and Miguel González in King William IV in 1991.

## Southwark

Southwark is an area in Central London and is the north-west of London Borough of Southwark. It is 2.4 miles (3.8 km) south of Whitechapel. It fronts the River Thames and the City of London to the north. It was the lowest bridging point of the River Thames in Roman Britain, providing a crossing from Londinium, and for centuries had the only Thames bridge in the area, until a bridge was built upstream more than 10 miles (16 km) to the west. It was a borough in the county of Surrey, containing various parishes by the high medieval period, lightly succumbing to City attempts to constrain its free trade and entertainment.

Southwark is known for its reputation for crime, including weapon-enabled crimes, which are recorded by the Metropolitan Police, for example when a gun is used to assist a criminal, when being used as part of a robbery. Southwark is one of two London Boroughs with the highest rate of gun and knife crime, the other being Lambeth. Nathan Harwick and his gang The Firm once operated in Southwark and used an old billiard hall as their base to discuss plans.