Some amazing examples of old photographs of London. These remind us just how many buildings in London have been lost to regeneration, The Blitz, changing land use and fashion.
White Hart Inn Yard.Borough.1880
“The introduction of the railways has greatly changed the character of these old inns.The ‘George’ alone seems now to do any considerable business in the ‘receipt of travellers’;in other cases the business of a tavern has superseded that of an inn and the great courtyards are either being gradually encroached on by warehouses or have been taken up by railway companies as receiving offices.”
Bermondsey Street.Bermondsey.1880
“One cannot help speculating as to the origin of this singular group of houses with their eight gables.Mr.Rendle who was good enough to take pains – unfortunately fruitless – to glean something for me about the history of these houses tells me that in the early part of this century houses of this type were exceedingly common in the main thoroughfares and bye places of Southwark.They are good specimens of the houses of the time of Elizabeth and somewhat later;the frame of massive timber, else mere shells of lath and plaster;but though often out of shape and leaning in all directions wonderfully durable.”
Temple Bar.City.1880
“The photograph shows the west side of Temple Bar as it was a short time before its demolition shored up with timber to counteract the effects of the excavations for the New Law Courts…The Bar as we saw it till it was replaced by the ‘Memorial’ and its famous ‘Griffin’ was built from Wren’s designs in 1670…The statues on the west side shown in our photograph were of Charles I and Charles II in Roman habits.”
Gray’s Inn Lane.Holborn.1880
Bishopsgate.City.1880
Wych Street.Covent Garden(?).1880
“These are very good specimens of the overhanging houses of the beginning of the seventeenth century.It is only to be regretted that the extreme narrowness of the street made it impossible to give the full effect of this picturesque group” writes Alfred Marks.He goes on to inform us that Dr.Johnson worshipped at St.Clement Danes Church which can be seen behind the old houses.
Drury Lane.Covent Garden.1880
View in Drury Lane looking south and showing the St Mary le Strand steeple.A 134 foot tall Maypole was erected on the site of the church in 1661 which Alfred Marks describes in ‘Photographs of Old London’.He also notes the gabled house in this view was formerly the “Cock and Magpie” tavern “a place of entertainment in the reign of Henry VII.”
St Bartholomew’s The Great and Cloth Fair.Smithfield.1880
No 73 Cheapside.City.1880
College Street.City.1880
The Oxford Arms Inn Warwick Lane.City.1875
Saracens Head Yard.Aldgate.1880
Broad Street Station in 1898:
A Passage In Ratcliff c1900.
Aldgate High Street c1912.
Black Eagle Wharf.Wapping or Limehouse.
Wapping
George Yard.Whitechapel
Shoreditch
Mitre Square.City.1938
St Pauls
Gardiners Corner Whitechapel
“The Scottish clothing store Gardiner, with its distinctive clock tower, gave its name to the road junction. Laid out in 1870s, the junction brought together the five main thoroughfares of East London: Commercial Road, Leman Street, Aldgate High Street, Commercial Street and Whitechapel High Street.
Gardiner’s Corner became known as “The gateway to the East End”.
Gardiner and Company specialised in military uniforms and children’s clothing. They traded on the site for nearly a hundred years, finally closing in 1971. The six-storey building was gutted by fire in 1972. As over 200 firemen fought to save the famous landmark, the 130 feet high clock tower came crashing down on the streets below.
All that remains of Gardiners are two small pieces of wall in Drum Road and Whitechapel High Road. The area around Gardiner’s Corner was traditionally known as “Aldgate”, busy during the day, but especially at night once the pubs had closed. Then the people would “go to Aldgate” to visit the jellied eel and coffee stalls, all night cafes, or, perhaps, “Blooms” for hot salt beef sandwiches.In the early 1980s, the Greater London Council constructed a one-way system at Gardiner’s Corner and destroyed its character for ever.”
Whitechapel High Street 1906
Piccadilly Circus 1896
Euston Arch,built in 1838,demolished in 1962
Bloomsbury in 1963
The City 1946
London Docks,1938
Queen Victoria Street, City
Holborn Viaduct
Cheapside
Old Montague Street.Whitechapel.Date Unknown
Whitechapel Road.Whitechapel.1900.
New Castle Place.1900-1920.
Old Castle Street.1915
Original Regents Street
Oxford Circus (Originally Regents Place)
Liverpool Street Station
Cheapside
Covent Garden
Buckingham Palace
London Bridge
Tower Bridge
Poultry
Ludgate
Cannon Street
Gracechurch Street
101 Queen Victoris St.
Adelphi Terrace, Embankment
Fore Street 1860
Exchequer Place, Lewisham 1870
Lambeth Bridge 1860
Lordship Lane, East Dulwich
New Cut Market, Waterloo 1939
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Alan Spiers
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