The Victorian Era

How Big Was Victorian London

Article · Cities & Entertainment · The Victorian Era, 1837–1901

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Victorian London was the largest city in the world. By 1901, the population of the metropolitan area of London was about 6.5 million, more than twice the size of Paris, the second largest city, more than three times the size of New York, and more than four times the size of Berlin. The growth of the population is described in How did London’s population grow?, the social geography in What was Jack the Ripper’s London like?, and the wider setting in Victorian London.

The Growth of the City

The population of the London metropolitan area grew from about 1.5 million in 1800 to over 6.5 million in 1901, an increase of more than four times in a single century. The growth was driven by the migration from the countryside, by immigration from Ireland and the continent of Europe, and by the natural increase of the existing population.

The growth of the city was accompanied by the growth of the suburbs. The new railways and the omnibuses allowed clerks, shopkeepers, and artisans to live at a distance from their work, and former villages were absorbed into continuous streets of terraced housing. Kensington, Bayswater, and Notting Hill grew in the west; Hammersmith, Fulham, and Putney spread along the river; Clapham, Brixton, Camberwell, and Peckham filled the land south of the Thames; and Hackney, Holloway, and Hornsey extended the city to the north. By the end of the century the built-up area stretched far beyond the old boundaries of the metropolis.

The Area of the City

The area of the city was a question of considerable debate, and the answer depended on the definition of the city. The ancient City of London covered only about one square mile, and its resident population actually fell during the period, from about 130,000 in 1800 to under 27,000 in 1901, as offices and warehouses displaced dwelling houses. The County of London, created in 1889, covered about 117 square miles and contained roughly 4.5 million people at the close of the reign. The wider metropolitan area, broadly the district patrolled by the Metropolitan Police, extended over some 700 square miles and held about 6.5 million people in 1901.

The area of the city was the location of some of the great buildings of the period, among them the rebuilt Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, and St Pancras Station, monuments of the architecture of the age. These great buildings belong to the wider story of the Victorian London of the period.

The Density of the City

The density of the city was a question of considerable concern, for the population was very unevenly distributed across the metropolis. The crowded courts and alleys of the East End packed tens of thousands of people into each square mile, while the outer suburbs remained comparatively open. Overcrowding was most severe in poor districts such as Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, and Southwark, where whole families were confined to single rooms.

The density of the city was the principal cause of the great sanitary crises of the period, and the trigger for the great sanitary reforms of the second half of the century. The sanitary infrastructure is examined in What was the Great Stink of London?, in How was the London sewer system built?, and in Victorian Medicine and Public Health. The social consequences of the overcrowding are examined in How did Victorians treat the poor? and in What was the temperance movement?.