There was an Anglo-Saxon settlement by the early 7th century, called Lundenwic, about one mile west of Londinium, to the north of the present Strand.

[3] Rather than continuing Romano-British culture, Anglo-Saxons introduced their own building styles, pottery, language, place names and religion.

[4] Rather than occupy the abandoned, overgrown Roman city, Anglo-Saxons at first preferred to settle outside the walls, only venturing inside to scavenge or explore.

[6] In the early 8th century, Lundenwic was described by the Venerable Bede as "a trading centre for many nations who visit it by land and sea".

Archaeologists were for many years puzzled as to where early Anglo-Saxon London was located, as they could find little evidence of occupation within the Roman city walls from this period.

However, in the 1980s, London was rediscovered, after extensive independent excavations by archaeologists Alan Vince and Martin Biddle were reinterpreted as being of an urban character.

[8][9] In the Covent Garden area, excavations in 1985 and 2005 have uncovered an extensive Anglo-Saxon settlement that dates back to the 7th century.

[9][10] The excavations show that the settlement covered about 600,000 m2 (6,500,000 sq ft), stretching along the north side of the Strand (i.e. "the beach") from the present-day National Gallery site in the west to Aldwych in the east.

From the mid-6th century, London was incorporated into the Kingdom of Essex, which extended as far west as St Albans and for a period included Middlesex and Surrey.

The original building would have been only a modest church at first and it may well have been destroyed after Mellitus was expelled from the city by Sæberht's pagan successors in 616.

The majority of London's population remained pagan during the larger part of the 7th century, and the bishop's seat was occupied only intermittently, by Cedd between 653 and 664, and by Wine between 666 and c. 672.

The bishopric of London was re-established for good in 675, when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, installed Earconwald as bishop.

In 865, the Viking Great Heathen Army launched a large scale invasion of the small kingdom of East Anglia.

Alfred quickly set about establishing fortified towns or burhs across southern England to improve his kingdom's defences: London was no exception.

A Norse saga tells of a battle during the Viking occupation where the English king Æthelred returned to attack Viking-occupied London.

Sweyn's son Cnut the Great continued the attacks, harrying Warwickshire and pushing northwards across eastern Mercia in early 1016.

[12] Cnut was succeeded briefly by his sons, Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut, after which the Saxon line was restored when Edward the Confessor became king in 1042.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the popularity he enjoyed at his accession — "before he [Harthacnut] was buried, all the people chose Edward as king in London.

Modern historians reject the traditional view that Edward mainly employed Norman favourites, but he did have foreigners in his household.

This was commenced between 1042 and 1052 as a royal burial church, consecrated on 28 December 1065, completed after his death in about 1090, and demolished in 1245 to make way for Henry III's new building, which still stands.