Lost London

[El_Greco]

Some old pictures of London I found on the internet.




St Bartholomew's The Great and Cloth Fair.Smithfield.1880













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."





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.





Bishopsgate.City.1880



Gray's Inn Lane.Holborn.1880



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."



Barnard's Inn Hall.Holborn.1880
"The Hall is said to have been built not later than 1450 but as we now see it it has of course undergone much alteration.It is remarkable as having preserved its louvre of lead of the time of Henry VIII in its original condition.This is one of the few still remaining.Even after halls were furnished with fireplaces in the side walls the practice was continued of kindling a fire on a hearth of tile or brick in the centre of the room letting the smoke escape by a hole in the roof over which was an erection to keep out the rain with open sides - the louvre."



Inner Courtyard Barnard's Inn.



Barnard's Inn The Fetter Lane Front.



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."



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."





Queen's Head Inn Yard.Borough.1880



St Mary Overy's Dock.Southwark.1880
"'The Dock'says Mr.Rendle (p. 203),'exists in the very earliest maps.... It was generally neglected and a nuisance and must have been very much larger than we have known it to be.'None of the houses shown in the photograph are of any great age but altogether this is a quaint and intersting nook of old London.The flat-headed doorway to the spectator's left adjoining one with a round head is little as it looks like it a busy thoroughfare for pedestrians unless a low swing-door is to be understood as reserving private rights.The passage turning to the left through the houses leads to Clink Street."



No 73 Cheapside.City.1880



College Street.City.1880



The Oxford Arms Inn Warwick Lane.City.1875













Saracens Head Yard.Aldgate.1880

[Jack Rabbit Slim]

Fantastic photos, and yet, in a way, I wish you hadn't posted them! Everytime I see Ye Olde pictures of London my heart weeps at what has been lost because of the goddam fucking second world war and crappy town planners. I would give up 10 years of my life to be able to spend one day in pre-war London, just strolling about the streets. I mean, just think of how great London is today, and then add on everything that was lost....wow. And it's not even the grande, rich buildings that I miss, it's also the narrow alleys with jumbled assortments of old, rundown buildings on either side that add such great character.

I especially like the photo of 'Temple Bar.City.1880', very...London!

And as for this:

Originally Posted by El_Greco

The Oxford Arms Inn Warwick Lane.City.1875

Fuck me with a chainsaw then wipe me dry!!

[Mr Bricks]

Wow!! Amazing! Are there any medieval buildings left in London?

[El_Greco]

Originally Posted by SuomiPoika

Are there any medieval buildings left in London?

Lambeth Palace.1485
St James's Palace.1530
Guildhall.1411
Old Curiosity Shop.1567
Staple Inn.1586
Gray's Inn.1569
Temple Church.1185
Middle Temple Hall.1574
Lincoln's Inn.Late-15th Century

[Zim Flyer]

Excellent thread El Greco.

This is my own contribution:

This is Broad Street Station in 1898:

[Mr Bricks]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

Lambeth Palace.1485
St James's Palace.1530
Guildhall.1411
Old Curiosity Shop.1567
Staple Inn.1586
Gray's Inn.1569
Temple Church.1185
Middle Temple Hall.1574
Lincoln's Inn.Late-15th Century

Thankyou

[Phobos]

Precious pictures!
The medieval buildings of London gave the city a special atmosphere.It reminds me of Chester!

[steppenwolf]

Brilliant find El Greco! Thanks!

[Zenith]

You're all on my blacklist for encouraging my depression through pictures...

[ROYAL BLUE]

Fantastic pictures!

Some do show that it was a grim place to live if you were poor (As most people were in 1880)



Looks like the set from OLIVER! (60's musical).

[Blindfold]

Originally Posted by ROYAL BLUE

Looks like the set from OLIVER! (60's musical).

Took the words out of my mouth.

El_Greco you are da man yet again! My flabber has never been so gasted!

[ESSEXgeezer]

Utterly facinating pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

[El_Greco]

Glad you liked them so heres more pictures :

A Passage In Ratcliff c1900.



Aldgate High Street c1912.



Black Eagle Wharf.Wapping or Limehouse.



Wapping.



George Yard.Whitechapel.



Shoreditch.



Mitre Square.City.1938.



Mitre Square 1888.CGI.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

Lambeth Palace.1485
St James's Palace.1530
Guildhall.1411
Old Curiosity Shop.1567
Staple Inn.1586
Gray's Inn.1569
Temple Church.1185
Middle Temple Hall.1574
Lincoln's Inn.Late-15th Century

Aren't Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London technically medievel too?

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by Jack Rabbit Slim

Fantastic photos, and yet, in a way, I wish you hadn't posted them! Everytime I see Ye Olde pictures of London my heart weeps at what has been lost because of the goddam fucking second world war and crappy town planners.

It wasn't WW2 and the 60s town planners who were to blame for the loss of these buildings, it was the Victorians! To be fair to them, many of the medievel areas were slums and they saw the demolition of these buildings as a way of regenerating these areas, so you can see why they did it.

I am sad to see these pictures, some of these medieval buildings had a lot of character, but in some ways I'm glad that they were demolished (gasp, shock, horror!) Why? Because they were generally replaced with beautiful, ornate Victorian buildings and I have always thought of London as being primarily a Victorian city. We may have lost some great medievel buildings, but we've gained much grander Victorian buildings in their place, buildings that somehow feel more 'London' than the medievel buildings did. Having said that, it would have been nice if a few medievel areas had remained to remind us of our past.

[El_Greco]

Originally Posted by SnowyBoy1

IBecause they were generally replaced with beautiful, ornate Victorian buildings and I have always thought of London as being primarily a Victorian city. We may have lost some great medievel buildings, but we've gained much grander Victorian buildings in their place, buildings that somehow feel more 'London' than the medievel buildings did. Having said that, it would have been nice if a few medievel areas had remained to remind us of our past.

...and Victorian buildings were replaced with ugly concrete boxes...
Its time to start knocing down these fucking concrete boxes and reconstruct lost buildings.Many european countries are doing this why cant we?

[El_Greco]

...

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

...and Victorian buildings were replaced with ugly concrete boxes...
Its time to start knocing down these fucking concrete boxes and reconstruct lost buildings.Many european countries are doing this why cant we?

I agree with you, but personally I would want to see our grand Victorian buildings rebuilt, rather than the timber-framed buildings shown here. They look great but in my opinion the Victorian buildings which replaced them are / were grander and have more of a London feel about them.

One area where I would love the old buildings to be rebuilt is the area surrounding St Pauls. The hotchpotch that currently surrounds isn't good enough for such a grand cathedral. If they could get the area looking like it did pre World-War 2, then I would be a happy man!

[El_Greco]

^ Oh yeah the area around St Pauls was lovely :

[potto]

Anyone interested in how London grew, the problems it faced and images should go to the Old London in Maps exhibition at the British Library it is free but ends on 4th March def worth a visit