Our Kind of Town Public Lecture: Mapping London's Histories

The Layers of London project seeks to uncover and map thousands of histories of London, its people and communities by working with individuals and groups across the city. In this presentation, Matthew Davies, the project’s director, will introduce and discuss its evolution and the technical and historical challenges involved in building maps of London’s past. Toby Butler will respond and raise some issues for further discussion.

Bios

Matthew Davies is Executive Dean of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, and Professor of Urban History. A historian of medieval and early modern London, he is director of the ‘Layers of London project’ which is based at the Institute of Historical Research and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the IHR Trust.

Toby Butler is a historical geographer and heritage consultant with a particular interest in oral history, digital heritage, and mapping memories. Projects include Ports of Call, working with community groups and artists around the docks of East London to map and historically interpret the area (www.portsofcall.org.uk); the Bethnal Green Disaster Memorial Project (www.bgmemorial.org.uk) and Groundbreakers, which focuses on mapping and interpreting the pre-Olympic history of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.

This event is organised by LivingMaps Network in association with the Institute of Advanced Studies UCL