1 · Temple Church
The Strand
Stop 01 · THE STRAND
Temple Church
Where the fight to put the king under the law began.
The story in dates
1185
The Knights Templar consecrate the round church.
1215
Rebel barons confront King John here in January.
1215
Magna Carta is sealed at Runnymede on 15 June.
1265
Simon de Montfort summons the first Parliament to include elected commoners.
Who to know
King John
Forced to accept limits on his power
Stephen Langton
Archbishop who championed Magna Carta
Portraits: Photograph of the statue at Canterbury Cathedral (Wikimedia Commons); confirm the photographer's licence before use; Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Why it matters
The first time an English king was made to accept that he was not above the law.
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2 · Somerset House
The Strand
Stop 02 · THE STRAND
Somerset House
The Reformation and the great land grab that remade England.
The story in dates
1534
Henry VIII breaks with Rome and makes himself head of the Church.
1536
He dissolves the monasteries, the largest land grab in English history.
1547
Lord Protector Somerset raises the first Somerset House from seized church stone.
1549
Cranmer's English prayer book replaces the Latin Mass.
1636
Charles I's Catholic queen keeps an open chapel on this spot.
Who to know
Duke of Somerset
Lord Protector for the boy king
Thomas Cranmer
Wrote the prayer book, burned in 1556
Portraits: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Why it matters
The fear that a monarch might shift the country back to popery becomes the fault line of English politics for the next two hundred years.
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3 · Villiers Street
Charing Cross
Stop 04 · CHARING CROSS
Villiers Street
The king's male favourite, raised from nowhere to a dukedom, and so hated that London cheered his murder.
The story in dates
1614
George Villiers catches King James I's eye at court.
1617
The besotted king, who called him his 'sweet child and wife', heaps titles on his favourite.
1627
Still the favourite under Charles I, he leads costly military disasters at Cadiz and the Ile de Re.
1628
Buckingham is assassinated at Portsmouth; Londoners toast his killer as a hero.
Who to know
James I
The king who raised his favourite
Duke of Buckingham
James I's male favourite, made a duke
Portraits: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Why it matters
The scandal of royal favourites, and the resentment building against the crown.
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4 · Trafalgar Square
Charing Cross
Stop 06 · CHARING CROSS
Trafalgar Square
Where a king who would not share power stumbled into civil war.
The story in dates
1625
Charles I takes the throne, certain his power comes from God alone.
1629
He dismisses Parliament and rules alone for eleven years.
1640
Broke and cornered, he is forced to recall it.
1642
He storms the Commons to seize five MPs, fails, and raises his standard. War begins.
Who to know
Charles I
The king who chose war over compromise
John Pym
Leader of the Commons who defied the king
Portraits: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Why it matters
The long quarrel over who rules, king or Parliament, finally breaks into open war.
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5 · Banqueting House
Whitehall
Stop 07 · WHITEHALL
Banqueting House
Parliament's army won the war, then did the unthinkable and killed the king.
The story in dates
1645
Parliament's New Model Army destroys the king's forces at Naseby.
1646
Charles surrenders, but from captivity he refuses every settlement.
1648
The army purges Parliament; the Rump resolves to try the king.
1649
On 30 January he is beheaded on a scaffold outside this hall.
Who to know
Charles I
Executed on this spot
Oliver Cromwell
New Model Army general who becomes Lord Protector
Portraits: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Why it matters
The moment Parliament killed a king and claimed supremacy over the crown.
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6 · Downing Street
Whitehall
Stop 08 · WHITEHALL
Downing Street
Where power quietly passed from the crown to a Prime Minister.
The story in dates
1662
At the Restoration, Downing turns on his old comrades and hunts down the regicides who had once been his friends.
1684
Downing secures the Crown land and throws up a row of cheap houses; Number 10 is one of them.
1735
Robert Walpole moves into Number 10 as first Prime Minister.
1700s
Government by minister, not monarch, takes root.
Who to know
Robert Walpole
Britain's first Prime Minister
George Downing
The turncoat spy who gave the street his name
Portraits: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Why it matters
The monarch still reigns, but from here on the minister rules.
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7 · Houses of Parliament
Westminster
Stop 10 · WESTMINSTER
Houses of Parliament
The end of the 500-year battle: Parliament, not the crown, supreme.
The story in dates
1605
Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot try to blow up Parliament.
1679
The crisis over a Catholic heir splits Parliament into the first Whigs and Tories.
1688
The Glorious Revolution throws out the Catholic James II.
1689
The Bill of Rights makes Parliament supreme for good.
Who to know
William & Mary
The invited Protestant monarchs
James II
The Catholic king who fled
Portraits: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Why it matters
The destination of the whole story, where the crown finally bows to Parliament.
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