Roman influence?
Long before there was an England, long before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and even before the Viking conquest of several hundred years earlier, the Roman Empire conquered what we now know as England. London itself was founded by the Romans in the first century AD, and altho there may have been a pre-existing settlement in the area, the Romans established London. Several Roman roads are also still somewhat extant.
So, maybe I’m blowing sunshine here, but I fancy that Sanrio might have added some of this influnce in their interpetation of the areas surrounding London. Here is what I like to imagine is a Roman fort.
And a column with apparent Greco-Roman influence.
