Nightwalking review a nocturnal history of London

Bursting with learning and pulsing with life, Matthew Beaumont’s survey of writers from Chaucer to Dickens explores the city’s seamier side

Richard of Devizes, a cleric and chronicler of the late 12th century, once cautioned readers about the dangers of the capital city. “You will come to London. Behold! I warn you, whatever of evil or of perversity there is in any, whatever in all parts of the world, you will find in that city alone.” There then follows a long list of the kind of insalubrious places and characters to avoid, such as “effeminate sodomites” and “lewd musical girls” – and among them are people who walk the streets at night.

People who do so, it is often assumed, are up to no good. (It’s one of the reasons I like doing it.) For much of history, you had to have a pretty good reason to be out after dark. Edward II made it illegal to be abroad after eight in the evening; the law, although modified, was not repealed until 1827. In later years it wasn’t really enforced, but it didn’t have to be: until street lighting became common, there was always an element of danger at night, and criminals who broke other laws after dark could be killed on the spot.

Continue reading...