1-191-465 - © London Museum/Heritage-Images

'London from Southwark', c1630. View of London with the old St Paul's Cathedral and the old London Bridge which has traitors' heads on pikes above the gate. In the foreground is the church of St Mary Overy, (later Southwark Cathedral) on Bankside with its theatres, the Rose, Globe, Hope and Swan. The Tower of London is on the far bank of the River Thames, to the right of the bridge. Very few of the hundreds of church spires still remain as many were destroyed, along with the old St Paul's, in the Great Fire of London in 1666. There are some topographical inaccuracies, such as the Thames curving sharply round just past the Tower, and the whole riverfront has been squeezed into the view. London was still a small town, as shown by the rolling countryside behind. This is only one of three paintings to show London before the English Civil War.