The 700 year old London Bridge was finally pulled down in the 1800's and replaced by a newer structure with wider arches, that eventually proved too heavy for it's foundations, and was sold to Arizona in the 1920's. Quick work by Skeletal Legion Artificers meant that most of the Citadel survived, and that which didn't was quickly repaired from the rubble, or from the constant belch and flow of the forges. At last, the dead had control of the entire structure, and no longer had to worry about the passing of the living around them.

But the development of the city didn't stop there. Nine huge docks were built on the Thames in the 1800's, and the Restless began to struggle to find the space among the hoards of Quick to trade their own goods. Huge winches and cranes were commissioned by Thatcher, worked from the rooftops to the river, so that goods could be loaded onto the ships without interference from the living. Despite this show of power, Thatcher's opposition continued to grow, primarily from the Emerald Legion's new Anacreon, an early industrial factory worker called Tabitha Shepherd who rose quickly through the ranks to replace her unsuccessful predecessor.

There was great unrest and uprising in the city throughout the 1800's. The tensions between the ancient Anacreons finally blossomed into full-blown war. Plots were made in the back rooms of the Citadel and executed on open streets. Political unrest spilled out into the day to day lives of London's Restless, and by the dawn of the Great War, both Tabitha Shepherd, and the ancient Skeletal Legionnaire Matthew Thatcher, as well as the Anacreon of the Grim Legion, had fallen into Harrowings from which they had not returned.

However, the fighting was a blessing in disguise for the city, which was left in the hands of younger, faster-thinking Wraiths by the outbreak of the War to End All Wars, the Forth Great Maelstrom, and the Insurgence. The Maelstrom was ferocious in its force, and soon, the great Citadel of London Bridge was left uninhabitable. It was only the quick thinking of the new Anacreons that kept the city from disaster as they worked fast to secure a safe haven in the Tower of London, using their Puppeteers and Haunters to guide the actions of the living, and retreating into the arms of their old allies, the Corax.

When the Grim and Emerald Legions united to seize the city, London fought hard. However, with the Maelstrom raging, and with only the good will of the raven-folk keeping them from its grasp, the fight was a long and difficult one. Ultimately, the remaining Legions, aided by the advise of the often sympathetic Emerald Anacreon Lincoln Wattson, made the decision to cease openly fighting the Grim Legion for the well-being of all the Wraiths of the city. Instead, the resistance was driven underground, sheltering in underground stations along with the living, conspiring with the Renegades to recapture London for their own.

However, this only happened once Lincoln Wattson and the Emerald Legion, as well as the Guild of Spooks closely allied to them, turned away from the Grim Legion and joined them. Then, the strong leadership left in control of London once again proved its worth, and almost as soon as Agora fell in Stygia, they loyalists rallied. The recapture of the city was almost totally bloodless, and before the Maelstrom began to quell, London was once again in the hands of the Stygians, the Citadel was theirs again, and the Grim Anacreon, Julius Mirros, was consigned to the forges.
However, the Legion of violent dead did not remain quiet for long.

The Blitz began in September 1940, and with it, their numbers, grew once more. 20,000 people were killed in the bombing, and a large number of them crossed over into the Grim Legion under their fresh-faced Anacreon, Charles Peters. For a moment, the Skeletal and Emerald Legion's power wavered. Once again, tremors of potential power-struggles began to reverberate across the city, tremors only made worse when Lincoln Wattson disappeared under unusual circumstances and never returned.

So it came to pass that the new Anacreon for the Skeletal Legion, the relatively inexperienced Harvey Sanders, was forced to ration power with the Emerald and Grim Legions in a three-way share that crippled the city more than it benefited it. More and more trade was taking place irrespective of the Legions, and when the massive London Docks closed in the 60's and 70's, a Renegade gang run by 1920's gangster Freddy Carmichael and his lifetime moll Alice Baker, stepped in to take control of them. Increasing numbers of small Renegade and Dark Kingdoms communities, and centuries of ferocious power-struggles meant that the Hierarchy's control of the city was becoming tenuous. A situation only fed by the Depression of the 80's and 90's, feeding the ranks of the dead with hundreds of Restless ill-content with authority.