According to his diary, in December 1642 John Evelyn visited London and viewed the "celebrated line of communication". (1) However, although 'Directions for the Defence of London' (2) were issued by Parliament in August 1642 and instructions issued "to put the City into a posture of defence" (3) at about the time of Edgehill, it would appear that, apart from the possibility of the construction of some small earthworks, the substantial work did not commence until 1643.

It was not until 23 February 1643 that an Act of Common Council was passed ordering the construction of the defences and this received Parliamentary approval on 7 March. On 13 March 1643, the Venetian Secretary in England, Gerolamo Agostini, noted "already they have begun to work". (4)

Agostini reported the completion of the forts on 15 May (5) although during the month before, a Scottish merchant, William Lithgow was able to walk the circuit of the defences. (6)

Although it can be argued (as N. G. Brett-James has done) that there were two distinct fortifications of London, the first in 1642 and the second during the following year (7), I have been unable to find no evidence to support the fact that the "Lines of Communication" existed before the Spring of 1643. Either Evelyn was mistaken or London's defences were far more advanced at the end of 1642 than we realise. Can anybody shed any additional light on this?

References

(1) E. S. DE BEER (editor), The Diary of John Evelyn, (Oxford, 1955), Vol. II, page 80.
(2) Calender of State Papers, Domestic, Charles I, 1641-43, page 369.
(3) Tract, dated 25 October 1642, printed in London for T. Smith. Taken from NORMAN G. BRETT-JAMES, The Growth of Stuart London, (London, 1935), page 269.
(4) Calender of State Papers, Venetian, 1642-43, Vol. 26, page 252.
(5) Ibid, page 273.
(6) WILLIAM LITHGOW, The Present Surveigh At London, reprinted in LIEUTENANT-COLONEL W. G. ROSS, R.E., Military Engineering during the Great Civil War, 1642-9, (London, 1984), Appendix A.
(7) NORMAN G. BRETT-JAMES, The Growth of Stuart London, (London, 1935), page 269.

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