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Whitecross Street: from Priss and a prison to street food and street art
The Islington street with one foot in the City of London has many fascinating guises. Whitecross Street Whenever I find myself on...
London On The Ground
Oct 57 min read
A timeline of the tallest building in London: from St Paul’s to the Shard
Five buildings have successively replaced St Paul’s as the capital’s tallest. St Paul's Cathedral and The Shard Sir Christopher Wren’s St...
London On The Ground
Sep 216 min read
Hubert Pragnell’s bombed City of London after World War II
Unpublished drawings of St Paul’s and Blitz-damaged Wren churches in the 1950s and 1960s. St Paul's Cathedral and St Nicholas Cole Abbey,...
London On The Ground
Jul 126 min read
Oranges and lemons: bells and churches, with a moral to the story
Which are the six London churches mentioned in the nursery rhyme and what is its message? Oranges and Lemons makes references to the...
London On The Ground
Jul 56 min read
St Mary Aldermanbury: Wren church, Churchill (and me)
A small City of London park with a rich history surprised me with a link to my past. St Mary Aldermanbury Garden St Mary Aldermanbury...
London On The Ground
Jun 145 min read
London’s stone column monuments in height order
Nelson’s Column is London’s best known free-standing stone column, but is it the tallest? Duke of York Column - Nelson’s Column -...
London On The Ground
May 265 min read
Charles Barry in Islington
The Parliament architect honed his Gothic Revival design skills on four Islington churches. Architect Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) is...
London On The Ground
Dec 14, 20246 min read
Smithfield Market to turn lights out on a millennium of history
An 850 year old document describes a livestock market for swine, cows, oxen and woolly flocks at Smithfield. Smithfield meat market, the...
London On The Ground
Dec 2, 20245 min read
The Royal Agricultural Hall and Christmas past
Islington's Business Design Centre has a history of festive family fairs in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Business Design...
London On The Ground
Nov 23, 20245 min read
King’s College London’s Maughan Library reveals its secrets
The site’s 800 year history includes housing Jews converted to Christianity, and legal and national records. During London Open House...
London On The Ground
Nov 16, 20244 min read
The Monument, the relief and its meaning
The sculpture on the Monument to the Great Fire of London is rich with symbolism . It illustrates the catastrophe that destroyed...
London On The Ground
Oct 20, 20247 min read
Albert Memorial: a rare look at the undercroft
Simple brick arches support one of Victorian London's most elaborate monuments. I recently joined the first ever public tour of the...
London On The Ground
Sep 29, 20246 min read
The Islington pub with a carved fireplace more than 400 years old
The Old Queen's Head, Victorian on the outside and Tudor inside. The popular North London watering hole on Essex Road appears to be like...
London On The Ground
Sep 23, 20244 min read
Then and now: John Thomas Smith's London
Ancient London buildings depicted in the 18th century and today. In June, I posted some of John Thomas Smith's engravings of London,...
London On The Ground
Sep 6, 20241 min read
Eltham Palace: Medieval meets Art Deco
From ruined royal residence to magnificent modern mansion. A 15th century gothic great hall, a stunning 20th century Art Deco...
London On The Ground
Aug 26, 20247 min read
How the 'Cheesegrater' got its wedge shape
The City of London office block, Richard Rogers and Sir Christopher Wren. Officially 122 Leadenhall Street, or the Leadenhall Building,...
London On The Ground
Aug 18, 20245 min read
St Bartholomew's Hospital: see conservators at work in the 18th century North Wing
See paintings by William Hogarth and climb the scaffolding to admire the Great Hall's stucco ceiling. The 18th century North Wing of St...
London On The Ground
Aug 10, 20246 min read
Queenhithe: one of London's oldest landmarks
A mosaic at the ancient harbour illustrates London's history since Roman times. Queenhithe is the only remaining inlet of the Thames in...
London On The Ground
Aug 5, 20244 min read
Islington Cattle Market: lost secret of Essex Road
The challenger to Smithfield closed in 1837 after less than a year. A couple of years ago, at one of the excellent exhibitions at the...
London On The Ground
Jul 21, 20246 min read
Ancient buildings of John Thomas Smith's London
Late 18th century engravings of London buildings that were already old then (spot the few that remain today!). John Thomas Smith captured...
London On The Ground
Jun 29, 20241 min read
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