Lines of Communication (London)

[3][4] They acted to supplement the inner defences provided by Roman and medieval wall in the City of London which underwent repairs and maintenance at this time.

In 1643 a major construction effort was made, to provide a comprehensive ring of fortifications around the city.

[5] The fortifications failed their only test when the New Model Army entered London in 1647,[6] and they were levelled by Parliament the same year.

From George Vertue's print it may be seen that the line begun below the Tower of London, at the Thames, and went northward towards the windmill in Whitechapel Road; then inclining to the north-west, it crossed the Hackney and Kingsland Roads, near Shoreditch, and turning to the south-west, crossed the end of St. John Street, Gray's Inn Lane, Bloomsbury, and Oxford Road (now New Oxford Street), near St. Giles Pound (junction with St Giles High Street).

Then proceeding westward to Hyde Park Corner, and Constitution Hill, it inclined towards Chelsea Turnpike, Tothill Fields, and the Thames.