American Reacts to The Secret City of London 

"A city in a city in a country in a country". That beautifully sums up our quirky little island!!

The claim that an American bought London Bridge, thinking that it was Tower Bridge, is a myth. London Bridge needed to be replaced, and an American simply bought the old one. The new London Bridge was completed in 1973.

I worked in the City of London as a postwoman. Wonderful place, full of odd corners and strange places.

I always think of London as 2 cities - City of London and the City of Westminster, both get called just London. I worked in the City, on London Wall and that is what it gets called. The old gates in the city wall are now just place names - ie Moorgate and Aldgate Going into London often gets called going into "town". When Londoners refer to the City they do mean the square mile - City of London. The boarder markers are great for pointing out to tourists, and I love the City police stations - they are much cooler than the regular "Metropolitan Police" of Greater London. We do like keep our traditions and quirks. London Bridge gives you a great view of Tower Bridge - and the story is not really true - he wanted Tower Bridge but had to settle for the old London Bridge (we did build a replacement).

That story about the bridge isn't really true. Yes, he bought London Bridge which is now in Lake Havasu Arizona but he knew what bridge he was buying.

Yes, two cities in one, the City of London also may also be referred to as "The Square Mile". The City was the financial hub but times have changed, although it is still of great importance and it has an interesting history, politically,socially and economic.

Jay Foreman did a video about the old London bridge that the American bought. It's called "What happened to Old London bridge?" It's an interesting story really given how unlikely it seems.

The idea of this being a secret city is quite odd to a British person. We consider is as the financial capital of the UK despite there being residents there who are nothing to do with finance in any way. The media use it as a form of shorthand - “And in the City today the main news is that Consolidated Sprockets fell another three points …”. It is rather like finding out that there is a secret street in New York called Wall Street, except that Wall Street does not have the same historic complexities so the analogy is not really effective.

When someone says they work in the city, I just think the financial sector. I guess it’s comparable to Wall St. This was really interesting 😁

We still have a London Bridge, but the old one that was being replaced was bought and shipped to the USA. There are quite a few bridges over the River Thames ( pronounced Tems). And although we have a rich and colourful history, even I get confused sometimes. So much to learn!!

I've worked in the 'City of London' most of my working life... I loved being there. It's just called 'The Square Mile' by locals. You know you are in the City by looking at the telephone boxes, bollards, street names, even the policeman have a unique uniform and mounted division. Most people who don't live near London aren't even aware of the two designated City's.

Used to work at an insurance company "in the City", except most of it wasn't. The City boundary ran down the centre of the Director's corridor, so the "important" people worked "in the City", and us drones worked in the Borough of Camden. The carpet in the Directors' corridor had a stripe down the middle, showing the boundary. The ground floor had a tiled stripe through the cashiers department.

The City of London is well worth exploring. It's very busy during the day but in the evenings and weekends it's almost deserted. The City is right next to the East End (another area worth exploring) and one can witness wealth and poverty sitting side by side. A tip for visiting London: the number 11 bus from Liverpool Street station is a normal bus but the route takes you past the Bank of England, St Paul's cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

If you want to learn about the odd or interesting parts of London (or just the UK in general) you should definitely check out Jay Foreman's channel, his Unfinished London and Map Men series are fantasticly funny and educational.

Congratulations on a superb video. As a Brit, it's great to be reminded of how quirky the nation can appear when viewed from the outside in. Fear not though, I'm sure that like 99% of visitors to the UK, once you arrive here, you'll feel welcomed with warmth and open arms (as I've felt when visiting the USA) and all of the various UK peculiarities will soon feel nothing to be puzzled by. In fact your UK/Irish DNA will have you adapting so fast, that you'll wonder, why you've ever even wondered about them 😃 PS. If you're interested in London's history, but don't fancy reading lots of history text-books, I'd recommend a novel "London by Edward Rutherfurd" (the audiobook being equally good) - it combines lots of historical facts with a fictional thread.

Aside from what others have said about the whole bridge thing, it's also a myth that a city has to have a cathedral or that everywhere that has a cathedral is a city.

The City has many headquarters of financial institutions. It's where the Bank of England is situated. If you want to visit, you could go to Mansion House of Bank tube stations and just walk around. Not too many residents, it's mainly offices so a bit different to many other parts of London.

The City of London is very, very grand and has some absolutely phenomenal architecture.

I live in SE London & if we were going to 'London' for social etc, we say we're 'going into town'. If I worked in the centre of London I'd probably say 'I work in the City' & Londoners particularly would know this meant. At work today I've been sent an invoice from the 'City of London' & the Crest is on the top left & the Latin 'Domine nos Dirige' on the Crest means 'Lord, guide us'.

A lot of people work in the City of London (the financial centre of the country, perhaps Europe/The World), but very few actually live there, instead they commute in 5 days a week from all over the south east of England, mainly. I worked in the City for some years, but lived in various parts of London within tube/subway/underground commuting distance. I did in fact once spend several nights in the City of London, in one of the serviced ‘penthouse’ apartments in the headquarters building of the company I worked for (a major international bank), for almost all of my career and was visiting the City/UK headquarters from overseas, where I actually lived at the time - so it was not a holiday, just a working visit. Most of the City is pretty dead at night, as so few live there, that a taxi/tube trip is required if you want to go out for dinner or to the theatre, etc.

What I find fascinating (and a little romantic) are the streets, stations, churches and neighbourhoods that still reference the ancient Gates into the City, as well as a street in the north of the City boundary simply called London Wall. In no particular order there's Moorgate, Aldgate, Newgate, Bishopsgate, Ludgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate. I also love the medieval use of the word 'without' to mean 'outside' the gates and walls, such as the beautifully named church of St. Botolph-without-Aldgate.

As Londoners, we know the City of London as the 'Square Mile' financial district. If you go, the Barbican is worth visiting. It is a 1960s/70s utopian project funded by the City of London for workers, with theatre, galleries, and some interesting brutalist architecture. It is now expensive real estate but has a grade listing, so it can't be demolished as it has historical significance.

The "old" City of London is just usually referred to as "The City".

I think if you visit the UK you will find lots of places are connected to the Romans, for instance anywhere that has Chester in the name was part of the Roman empire, you might want to visit Manchester which like London has another City next door called Salford, it's also home to one of the world's most famous football clubs ( Manchester United) which is not in Manchester, but in the borough of Trafford M16, though you wouldn't know where you are, it's just an anomaly of the boundary systems, also Manchester used to be the third busiest port in the UK although it's 35 miles from the sea and most of it was in Salford, nowadays it's home to media city where most of the TV and radio companies are based, also for shopping and leisure, Manchester England is a great place to visit with an international airport ( the third biggest in the UK) easy access to flights to Ireland ( about 45 minutes on a good day) nearby cities like Liverpool and Leeds, on the doorstep of the Peak District and the Cheshire plain and two hours drive from the Lake District, I think you'd enjoy a visit, plus there's still some pubs left

The City, also known as The Square Mile. You’ll find the Corporation of London with the crest in Regents Park for instance, and many of the Royal Parks, but also in North London in the ancients Queens Wood in Haringey and if I remember correctly Epping Forest in East London

From 1990 to 2010 I work in the city of London ie EC1, EC2 ,EC3 , EC4 and E1 doing my Delivery’s and have been in all the major buildings still miss London the greatest city in the world

We live in the suburbs - first north and then south of London. We were surrounded by towns and cities in both Hertfordshire and Surrey, but when I worked in London I used to go 'up to town' on the train for my work. If anyone asked me if I worked 'in town', I would simply say yes. Which is odd when I think of it. For half of my life, I worked in the City of London. At that time, when people asked where I worked, I would tell them 'the City'. I think this is not so the farther you live from London, but I don't know.

The City of London is the centre of the UK's finance sector - often referred to as 'The Square Mile'. It's where the stock market is, along with many international banks, is. If you say 'City of London' to British people they think 'finance sector'

Jay foreman's video about brides of london covers the bridge stuff

Hi Steve from the U.K.. I trained in the 'city of London' and spent a lot of working years there. It’s the financial centre area of London. It has lots of quirky traditions.. if look for the (Lord mayors show), held every November when the new Lord Mayor is sworn in.. you’ll find it on RU-vid I would think.. hope you get over to visit us soon…

Another fact about tower bridge is that it is actually classified as a “ship” and has a captain who’s responsible for the opening and closing of the roadway when tall vessels need to pass through

I know its not exactly the same but Im from Baltimore which received a special charter from the proprietary governor of Maryland 300 years ago as the seat of the county of Baltimore that surrounds it. Baltimore town was founded on the northern shore of the Patapsco River west of the Jones Falls (river) to the east of Baltimore was Jones town and Fells Point. Baltimore grew and absorbed the other towns becoming the 3rd largest city in the nation in 100 years. just before the civil war it was granted independent status and representation in the state legislature apart from Baltimore County.

During the televising of the Queens funeral the tv commentators said that after the Monarch the next most powerful person in the U.K. is not Prince William or the Prime Minister but the Lord Mayor of London because The City runs the finances in the U.K. ; this suprises many people. Washington DC, The City and the Vatican are unlike other areas in the world as they come under no national authority, they have separate laws, pay no taxes, have their own police force and their own flags of “independence”. Washington DC is not part of the US due to an act of Congress in 1871. Many conspiracy theories run with this so you might like to check it out.

The City of London is also called The Square Mile

The City of London is where the money is made. The City of Westminster is where they money is spent

buying the 'wrong bridge' is a modern myth

More confusion now Steve? I regularly visit a pub in Hatton Garden, central London, called the "Old Mitre", the original was built around the 1540's. Until the 1960's this smallish area wasn't London, it was Cambridgeshire? This was because it came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely and was for the use of his servants. I could write more but it's quite complicated. Unless someone else wishes to try? Also as someone else has said, take a look at Jay Foreman's channel. Informative, factual and amusing.

In 1889, London was made a county governed by London County Council. Like many cities, it had boroughs, each of which had mayors. In 1965, as London had grown and suburbs has blended in to it, the Greater London Council was created consisting of combining boroughs under the old LCC and and boroughs on the periphery. The result was 32 new boroughs, each with their own mayor and Member of Parliament, combined under the aegis of the Greater London Council which also had it's own mayor (with powers similar to those of the New York mayor. The City of London is at the heart of this new conglomerate but not a member of it.

45 years ago today, London Bridge was sold to American oil tycoon Robert P McCulloch for a cool $2,460,000. The landmark was subsequently dismantled and shipped over to Lake Havasu in Arizona, where it was reassembled and still stands today.

Worked in the City for many years. Tend to call City of Westminster "town" and the City of London, the "city". Westminster - new bit, Houses of Parliament, main tourist sites! We would say 'Going to go into "town" or would you rather go into the "city'? I love the City - oldest bits and pieces tucked away in unlikely places, and generally not swamped by tourists.

English here and I didn’t know this (and I only live 45 minutes from London lol) thanks for educating me 😃

To confuse things further when people refer to the City they might be referring to London, they might be referring to the City of London and they might be referring to the financial services industry or stock market which used to be based in the City but has spread out a bit now.

Watching from the city of London, in London 👍

If you look at a street map of London you can find the names of the old gates in the city walls, the line of the walls themselves and names of features within the old city. Many have names you would expect to find for activities in a community 1000 years ago. London Bridge, between the city and Southwark was the limit for the navigation of sea going ships. It was too low and narrow between the bridge piers, with a very fast tidal flow.

London being a very old city has lots of odd and weird things to find, if you delve deep enough, there's even a river that flows through a underground tube station! Loads of tunnels, one that was once used by the Royal Mail that had its own little train delivering mail to mail stations across the city. There's a pedestrian tunnel under the Thames so that you can walk from one side to the other! Then there is Churchill's underground War room and so on, much to find if you really look, even some street names are given to the original workers who worked there. ie Goldsmith street, Grocers Hall Court, Hosier Street, Haberdasher Street, Iron Mongers Row and so on, much more than many realise.

The City of London police uniform has red and white checker marking on the cap and sleeve cuffs to distinguish them from the Metropolitan city police. The uniform buttons are also different, brass instead of white metal.

Just one correction: a city isn't defined by the presences of a cathedral. We might call towns cities because they are very large, but a town can only officially call itself a city if it has been granted city status by the monarch. Cathedrals have nothing to do with it!

Most people in the UK are barely aware of the City of London in terms of it being a separate entity. People do know that the City is a powerful trading district, and it's most heavily associated with the banks, The Bank of England and City stock market traders. In terms of its financial power it's probably true to say that it is more important than Wall Street, as it is not just a gambling den but a hub for farming money out to offshore tax havens. A huge percentage of the world's serious money gets funnelled through the City.

Tower Bridge and London Bridge are 2 different bridges. Tower Bridge is next to Tower of London. London Bridge is further along the River about Half way between Tower Bridge and Westminster

With every city, there is always another city or cities within it that you might not notice if you aren't from there, whole streets, churches, shops, pubs and more. In my small town there is a large square of Georgian townhouses with a park in the middle, that a friend who had been living nearby for 7 years was unaware of, they likened it to the Harry Potter books were only a wizard can see certain streets.

It's no secret, it's there for all to see! The narrator referred to city halls when he meant town halls. Regardless as to whether one is in a town or a city, in the UK, the council operates from the town hall. In Sheffield there is a town hall. The city hall is a 1930s concert hall! "The big London", the megacity is called Greater London and it covers the whole area.

I have been in the city of London, I just noticed the dragon and thought oh I’m here and yeah you don’t notice being in the city of London at all. A lot of Brits also do not know about the city of London too

I live in Edinburgh , Scotland . You should have a look at a place called Mary Kings Close i think you would be very interested in it . Theres a few nooks and crannies in Edinburgh with a lot of history ( Grayfriers Bobby ) the buildings around the city are really beautiful . There is also surgeon's hall and the stories of Burke and Hare , deacon Brodie i could go on and on . Just a wee suggestion ok maybe a big suggestion

5:14 a Abby is a building or buildings that Monks' or Nuns' use for their religious practices. so no Westminster Abby comes from Westminster. "In the 11th century, the Collegiate Church of St Peter was named 'west minster' to distinguish it from the nearby east minster of St Paul's Cathedral. The label stuck and the church became known as Westminster Abbey whilst the surrounding land was named Westminster."

Domine Dirige Nos ;-) (The motto of the City of London, it roughly means ‘Lord, guide us’ and along with all those neat dragons that almost literally guard every road in or out is a massive boon for modern fantasy writers!)

Cities in the UK are cities because they are deemed so by the Monarch/Government. They don’t need a cathedral. Huddersfield is a town, but could be a city, but doesn’t want to be so. London Bridge is elsewhere on the Thames, and a new one was built and the old one sold to an American.

Hello Steve, Yes you are totally correct about Tower bridge and yes and American man bought London Bridge thinking it was Tower bridge. The old London Bridge is now in one of the states in the US but I can’t remember where now. These days I think it’s just London and Greater London, confusing I know lol. Great video.

Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Brechin in Angus, Scotland, why do I mention it, well traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today as an episcopal seat of the Scottish Episcopal Church), but that status has not been officially recognised in the modern era. Wikipedia. The rules or convention on what constitutes a Town, Village, City etc. have exceptions to any rule. One notable person from Brechin is James McCosh, Church of Scotland and Free Church minister at Brechin. Later president of Princeton University. 1868-88. Wikipedia.

They're not Dragons - they're Griffons! I went to CLS, "the City of London School"......

Every year we have the Lord Mayor's Show, which comprises of the usual pomp and pageantry you expect from London and a procession of floats from the various guilds that make up the voters in the City of London, worth checking out if you have a spare 3 hours or so.

The big London is called Greater London. It's made up of 32 boroughs. I'm in the borough of Bexley. Parliament and Westminster Abbey are in Westminster. There isn't a huge amount for tourists in the City of London (the small bit in the middle) because it is the financial district. It has some nice old buildings but most are closed to the public.

people normally call the big London everyone knows greater London

There are actually ancient cities within the city we know as London. Apart from the City of London in this video, there is also the City of Westminster: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Westminster

If you really want to learn about look up Jules on London walks. He wears a black bowler hat and carries a black umbrella. Start with Covent Garden

London Bridge was moved to Arizona where David Hasselhoff and his girlfriend (that lady from 80s cop show Hunter) hunted down and found the ghost of Jack The Ripper.

It's 13,000,000 now. And the city of London is what was once inside the city walls. William the Bastard (later the conquer) was a viking descendant himself. Also the city in a country in a country bit was wrong as well as he jumped from England to the UK and missed out Great Britain.

There is a road in the city of London named "London Wall". There are also still lots of small sections of the original London Wall (the old roman wall surrounding the city of London) still standing.

I'm learning a lot about my country by watching someone else learn about my country, what a time to be alive. I am in my thirties and only found out about this topic maybe a year ago, a lot of people I mention this to didn't know about it either. We really are an odd bunch

Someone else has already referred to the fact that the ''old'' London Bridge was bought by an American when it was replaced by a new bridge. What was not made clear is that Tower Bridge and London Bridge always were and still are two completely different bridges at different crossing points on the Thames, not the same bridging point at different times. The relationship of the City of London within London is somewhat analogous to the Vatican City within Rome and possibly even to Washington DC within Maryland. I'm sure someone will chip in with exact reasons why these are all dissimilar but that's why it's an analogy not a direct comparison!

The small London is called the Square Mile and you will find most banks in the world have offices based within that mile of land. They have there own tax laws what makes it very efficient to do business and banking around the world. Not anyone can just set up as it has ancient traditions going back at least 2000 years and kinda grants a monopoly. There is a great video explaining this called the secret city but its a full film/documentary. Good luck with your research.

Westminster was a separate city as well as others is Lambeth & Southwark on the south side

The City of London has two Cathedrals one North of the Thames St Pauls one South Southwark , both Anglican the rest of London also has two Cathedrals south St Georges Lambeth RC & north Westminster also RC Not to be confused with the Abbey!!

The population of London is actually 8.9 million, not 7 million.

Kinda wrong mate. The American gentleman bought an entirely different bridge situated further up the Thames.

There are many places in the UK where the ''administrative'' name is different to the common name. London city is known administratively as Greater London, commonly called just London and the Mayor of London is its nominal head. The City of London, also called ''The Square Mile'' is the financial hub. A great deal of the mechanisms of the financial hub are based in Greater London but controlled from the City of London. The Lord Mayors of London are often financial/mercantile figureheads and considerably more famous and wealthy than the Mayor of London, who is a political figurehead. Dick Whittington was not just a character in a Christmas Pantomime, he was actually a historical Lord Mayor of London (three times, I think?).

Tower Bridge was built so seagoing vessels could get under it. Victorian in origin.

"Large" London is "Greater London" or Metropolitan London, at least I think I'm right on that. The City of London is the pre Norman middle bit within the Roman walls (of which some bits remain, mind you they are in some cases 25 feet high but quite short in length. But if you want to see Roman/medieval walls 97% intact and with their "Gates" or "Bars" (short for barriers and so say the Vikings who inhabited "YORVIK" after the Romans) then go to York, they virtually still surround the City. And don't forget the ghosts of the Roman soldiers at The Treasurers House (York). Back to London which is now far larger, very large in fact with its 11 million people. Its on the River Thames, pronounced TEMS. Enjoy, and thanks for the video.

Watched most of your videos now. The UK.... hey, you opened a can of worms. It's complex and baffling in every sphere. I like your enthusiasm and I can see how you're piecing things together. You are learning so much, I know when you come here you will love it all the more for the effort of learning. I hope you make some videos of your trip here so we can share. Check out Joules Guides.

There are still portions of Roman walls within London, one is at the Tower of London which was a Roman Fort, Tower Bridge is next to the Tower hence its name. London bridge further down the river towards Parliament, was replaced with a modern bridge it is (boring). Parliament is in Westminster Palace.

There is a part 2 to this video where he talks about how the Lord Mayor is elected.

London has more like 9 or 10 million people now .......... the small city of London is mainly tall office buildings so not a usual place for tourists to go

There is a City of London which is one square mile. Then you have the borough of London or Town of London.

I would suggest reacting to a list of the 10 biggest cities in the UK but each video would have the cities in a different order.

Inner London is the tourist areas , and greater London goes all the way to the M25 motorway /freeway which encircles greater London. I hope that helps

It's now 9 million people. London bridge is in Arizona now.

City of London and its surrounds is the east end. Westminster and its surrounds is the west end. Everything else was country side and fields subsumed into London as London grew

Steve, City of London is separate from rest of London, it was the financial hub of the world, its like DC is not part of America and Vatican is a seperate from Italy.

Also , different post codes and the police have a slightly different uniform.

London Bridge was originally the first bridge the Romans build back in the day. It was rebuild several times over the centuries, and this guy bought the abandonded "London Bridge", when it was rebuild a few decades ago. But I don't think he thought he was buying Tower Bridge. This thing was expensive! I'm quite sure he checked, and this story is an urban legend.

a part of the original wall is still there

Technically there are two cities, within the Metropolitan County of Greater London. The City of London and The City of Westminster. Westminster is now one of Greater London's boroughs (there are 32), while the City remains a county within itself (incidentally they both had cathedrals, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's, respectively).

It is difficult but remember the city of London (the square mile) is an ancient city where ad London is just referen to as London which is a metropolitan area. Tower bridge and London Bridge are two different bridges and an American did think they were the same thing and bought London Bridge believing he was purchasing tower bridge.

We've got a lot of history. Glad you're getting into it.

We have a rich and deep history but I didn't know this lol. Some weird ancient laws still exist though.

Westminster is also a city within London

Manhatten ... New york .. Westminster London Everyone goes to westminster basically and its Greater london Its all refered to as London... but actual london city is 1 sq mile the rest are boroughs surrounding London city...

As mentioned the City of London has their own police separate from the Metropolitan police. What this video doesn't mention is that the City of London has responsibility for 6 law enforcement bodies. City of London Police Hampstead Heath Constabulary Epping Forest Constabulary 3 × Market Constabularies (Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield) The City police have national responsibly for insurance fraud & can be seen anywhere in the country in their blue vehicles

Alright Steve lad. To get some context about your roots, please do a reaction to "every country England has invaded: visualised". It's a great video. 🇬🇧💪

You can tell you are in the City of London because the crest is on the street signs and the policemen wear different helmets from the Metropolitan Police.

Westminster is still its own city too