 
The Underground Map Added: 8 Dec 2020 00:24 GMT |
Othello takes a bow
On 1 November 1604, William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was presented for the first time, at The Palace of Whitehall. The palace was the main residence of the English monarchs in London from 1530 until 1698. Seven years to the day, Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Tempest was also presented for the first time, and also at the Palace of Whitehall.
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Linda Webb Added: 27 Sep 2021 05:51 GMT |
Hungerford Stairs
In 1794 my ancestor, George Webb, Clay Pipe Maker, lived in Hungerford Stairs, Strand. Source: Wakefields Merchant & Tradesmens General Directory London Westminster 1794
Source: Hungerford Stairs
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Reg Carr Added: 10 Feb 2021 12:11 GMT |
Campbellite Meeting
In 1848 the Campbellites (Disciples of Christ) met in Elstree Street, where their congregation was presided over by a pastor named John Black. Their appointed evangelist at the time was called David King, who later became the Editor of the British Millennial Harbinger. The meeting room was visited in July 1848 by Dr John Thomas, who spoke there twice on his two-year ’mission’ to Britain.
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Jeff Owen Added: 20 Mar 2021 16:18 GMT |
Owen’s School
Owen Street is the site of Owen’s Boys’ School. The last school was built in 1881 and was demolished in the early 1990s to make way for the development which stand there today. It was a ’Direct Grant’ grammar school and was founded in 1613 by Dame Alice Owen. What is now ’Owen’s Fields’ was the playground between the old school and the new girls’ school (known then as ’Dames Alice Owen’s School’ or simply ’DAOS’). The boys’ school had the top two floors of that building for their science labs. The school moved to Potters Bar in Hertfordshire in 1971 and is now one of the top State comprehensive schools in the country. The old building remained in use as an accountancy college and taxi-drivers’ ’knowledge’ school until it was demolished. The new building is now part of City and Islington College. Owen’s was a fine school. I should know because I attended there from 1961 to 1968.
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Scott Hatton Added: 11 Sep 2020 19:47 GMT |
Millions Of Rats In Busy London
The Daily Mail on 14 April 1903 reported "MILLIONS OF RATS IN BUSY LONDON"
A rat plague, unprecedented in the annals of London, has broken out on the north side of the Strand. The streets principally infested are Catherine street, Drury lane, Blackmore street, Clare Market and Russell street. Something akin to a reign of terror prevails among the inhabitants after nightfall. Women refuse to pass along Blackmore street and the lower parts of Stanhope street after dusk, for droves of rats perambulate the roadways and pavements, and may be seen running along the window ledges of the empty houses awaiting demolition by the County Council in the Strand to Holborn improvement scheme.
The rats, indeed, have appeared in almost-incredible numbers. "There are millions of them," said one shopkeeper, and his statement was supported by other residents. The unwelcome visitors have been evicted from their old haunts by the County Council housebreakers, and are now busily in search of new homes. The Gaiety Restaurant has been the greatest sufferer. Rats have invaded the premises in such force that the managers have had to close the large dining room on the first floor and the grill rooms on the ground floor and in the basement. Those three spacious halls which have witnessed many as semblages of theatre-goers are now qui:e deserted. Behind the wainscot of the bandstand in the grillroom is a large mound of linen shreds. This represents 1728 serviettes carried theee by the rats.
In the bar the removal of a panel disclosed the astonishing fact that the rats have dragged for a distance of seven or eight yards some thirty or forty beer and wine bottles and stacked them in such a fashion as to make comfortable sleeping places. Mr Williams. the manager of the restaurant, estimates that the rats have destroyed L200 worth of linen. Formerly the Gaiety Restaurant dined 2000 persons daily; no business whatever is now done in this direction.
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Bruce McTavish Added: 11 Mar 2021 11:37 GMT |
Kennington Road
Lambeth North station was opened as Kennington Road and then Westminster Bridge Road before settling on its final name. It has a wonderful Leslie Green design.
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MCNALLY Added: 17 May 2021 09:42 GMT |
Blackfriars (1959 - 1965)
I lived in Upper Ground from 1959 to 1964 I was 6 years old my parents Vince and Kitty run the Pub The Angel on the corner of Upper Ground and Bodies Bridge. I remember the ceiling of the cellar was very low and almost stretched the length of Bodies Bridge. The underground trains run directly underneath the pub. If you were down in the cellar when a train was coming it was quite frightening
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Jessie Doring Added: 22 Feb 2021 04:33 GMT |
Tisbury Court Jazz Bar
Jazz Bar opened in Tisbury Court by 2 Australians. Situated in underground basement. Can not remember how long it opened for.
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Tom Added: 21 May 2021 23:07 GMT |
Blackfriars
What is, or was, Bodies Bridge?
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Richard Roques Added: 21 Jan 2021 16:53 GMT |
Buckingham Street residents
Here in Buckingham Street lived Samuel Pepys the diarist, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling
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Jude Allen Added: 29 Jul 2021 07:53 GMT |
Bra top
I jave a jewelled item of clothong worn by a revie girl.
It is red with diamante straps. Inside it jas a label Bermans Revue 16 Orange Street but I cannot find any info online about the revue only that 16 Orange Street used to be a theatre. Does any one know about the revue. I would be intesrested to imagine the wearer of the article and her London life.
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Lena Added: 18 Mar 2021 13:08 GMT |
White Conduit Street, N1
My mum, Rosina Wade of the Wade and Hannam family in the area of Chapel Street and Parkfield Street, bought her first ’costume’ at S Cohen’s in White Conduit Street. Would have probably been about 1936 or thereabouts. She said that he was a small man but an expert tailor. I hope that Islington Council preserve the shop front as it’s a piece of history of the area. Mum used to get her high heel shoes from an Italian shoe shop in Chapel Street. She had size 2 feet and they would let her know when a new consignment of size 2 shoes were in. I think she was a very good customer. She worked at Killingbacks artificial flower maker in Northampton Square and later at the Halifax bombers factory north of Edgware where she was a riveter.
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| LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT |
John Neill Added: 25 Nov 2021 11:30 GMT |
Sandringham Road, E10 (1937 - 1966)
I lived at No. 61 with my parents during these years. I went to Canterbury Road school (now Barclay Primary) and sang as a boy soprano (treble) in the church choir at St Andrew’s church, on the corner of Forest Glade.
Opposite us lived the Burgess family. Their son Russell also sang in my choir as a tenor. He later became a well-known musician and the choirmaster at Wandsworth Boys’ School.
Just at the end of WW2 a German rocket (V2) landed in the grounds of Whipps Cross Hospital, damaging many of the houses in Sandringham Road, including ours.
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Tim Stevenson Added: 16 Nov 2021 18:03 GMT |
Pub still open
The Bohemia survived the 2020/21 lockdowns and is still a thriving local social resource.
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STEPHEN JACKSON Added: 14 Nov 2021 17:25 GMT |
Fellows Court, E2
my family moved into the tower block 13th floor (maisonette), in 1967 after our street Lenthall rd e8 was demolished, we were one of the first families in the new block. A number of families from our street were rehoused in this and the adjoining flats. Inside toilet and central heating, all very modern at the time, plus eventually a tarmac football pitch in the grounds,(the cage), with a goal painted by the kids on the brick wall of the railway.
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STEPHEN ARTHUR JACKSON Added: 14 Nov 2021 17:12 GMT |
Lynedoch Street, E2
my father Arthur Jackson was born in lynedoch street in 1929 and lived with mm grandparents and siblings, until they were relocated to Pamela house Haggerston rd when the street was to be demolished
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Sir Walter Besant Added: 11 Nov 2021 18:47 GMT |
Sir Walter adds....
All the ground facing Wirtemberg Street at Chip and Cross Streets is being levelled for building and the old houses are disappearing fast. The small streets leading through into little Manor Street are very clean and tenanted by poor though respectable people, but little Manor Street is dirty, small, and narrow. Manor Street to Larkhall Rise is a wide fairly clean thoroughfare of mixed shops and houses which improves towards the north. The same may be said of Wirtemberg Street, which commences poorly, but from the Board School north is far better than at the Clapham end.
Source: London: South of the Thames - Chapter XX by Sir Walter Besant (1912)
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Added: 6 Nov 2021 15:03 GMT |
Old Nichol Street, E2
Information about my grandfather’s tobacconist shop
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tom Added: 3 Nov 2021 05:16 GMT |
I met
someone here 6 years ago
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Fion Anderson Added: 2 Nov 2021 12:55 GMT |
Elstree not Borehamwood
Home of the UK film industry
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British Museum British Museum was a station on the Central line, located in Holborn and taking its name from the nearby British Museum in Great Russell Street. Lisle’s Tennis Court Lisle’s Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. Staple Inn Staple Inn is London’s only surviving sixteenth-century domestic building, situated on the south side of High Holborn. Temple Bar Temple Bar is the point in London where Fleet Street, City of London, becomes the Strand, Westminster, and where the City of London traditionally erected a barrier to regulate trade into the city. Weston’s Music Hall Weston’s Music Hall was a music hall and theatre that opened in 1857. In 1906, the theatre became known as the Holborn Empire. Aldwych, WC2B The name Aldwych derives from the Old English eald and wic meaning ’old trading town’ or ’old marketplace’; the name was later applied to the street and district. Andrews Crosse, EC4A Andrews Crosse stood on the site of the courtyard of the former Andrews Crosse Inn. Arne Street, WC2E Arne Street was named after the 18th century composer Thomas Arne, who was born near here. Banbury Court, WC2E Banbury Court is named for Nicholas Knollys, 3rd Earl of Banbury, who owned a house here called Banbury House. Bell Yard, EC4A Bell Yard is a small lane off the Strand where the Bell hostel once stood. Bloomsbury Square, WC1A The 4th Earl of Southampton was granted a building license for the construction of Bloomsbury Square in 1661. Bow Street, WC2B Bow Street was built in the shape of a bow between 1633 and 1677. Bow Street, WC2E Bow Street was first developed by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1633. Broad Court, WC2B Broad Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Bury Place, WC1A Bury Place is one of the streets of London in the WC1A postal area. Chancery Lane, WC2A Chancery Lane has formed the western boundary of the City of London since 1994, having previously been divided between the London boroughs of Westminster and Camden. Covent Garden, WC2E Covent Garden, is the name of a district, but also the name of the central square which formerly hosted a fruit-and-vegetable market. Crown Court, WC2E Crown Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Dane Street, WC1R Dane Street is one of the streets of London in the WC1R postal area. Drury Lane, WC2B Drury Lane is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Endell Street, WC2H Endell Street, originally known as Belton Street, is a street that runs from High Holborn in the north to Long Acre and Bow Street in the south. Essex Court, EC4Y Essex Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Falcon Court, EC4Y Falcon Court is a courtyard off the south side of Fleet Street between Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane. Galen Place, WC1A Galen Place is one of the streets of London in the WC1A postal area. Gate Street, WC2A Gate Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Great Russell Street, WC1A Great Russell Street commemorates the marriage of the daughter of the 4th Earl of Southampton to William Russell in 1669. Hand Court, WC1R Hand Court is one of the streets of London in the WC1V postal area. High Holborn, WC1V High Holborn was part of the old road from Newgate and the Tower to the gallows at Tyburn. High Holborn, WC2B High Holborn is a road which is the highest point in the City of London - 22 metres above sea level. Kean Street, WC2B Kean Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. King Street, WC2E King Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. Kingsway, WC2A Kingsway is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2A Lincoln’s Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder William Newton. Lion Court, WC1R Lion Court is one of the streets of London in the WC1V postal area. Long Acre, WC2E Long Acre is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. Museum Street, WC1A Museum Street is so-named since it approaches the main entrance of the British Museum. Neal Street, WC2H Neal Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. New Square, WC2A New Square is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Norfolk Street, WC2R Norfolk Street ran from the Strand in the north to the River Thames and, after the Victoria Embankment was built (1865–1870), to what is now Temple Place. Odhams Walk, WC2H Odhams Walk is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. Old Square, WC2A Old Square is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Orange Street, WC1R Orange Street disappeared from the map to be replaced by St Martin’s College of Art (now Central Saint Martins). Parker Mews, WC2B Parker Mews is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Pump Court, EC4Y Pump Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Sardinia Street, WC2B Sardinia Street, formerly Duke Street, was a street that ran from Prince’s Street in the south to the western side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields in the north. Sicilian Avenue, WC1V Sicilian Avenue is a shopping parade that diagonally runs in between Southampton Row and Bloomsbury Way. Southampton Buildings, WC2A Southampton Buildings marks the site of the house of the 4th Earl of Southampton, son of Shakespeare’s patron. Star Yard, WC2A Star Yard is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Surrey Street, WC2R Surrey Street was built on land once occupied by Arundel House and its gardens. The Arcade, WC2B The Arcade is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. The Market, WC2E The Market is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. The Piazza, WC2E The Piazza is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. The Strand, WC2R The Strand is one of the streets of London in the WC2R postal area. Tweezer’s Alley, WC2R Tweezer’s Alley probably got its name after the tweezers used by smiths to heat items in the forge that stood there.
Wild Street, WC2B Wild Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Cella Karaoke Lounge This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Circus This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. City of York This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Crown & Anchor This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Grand Union This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Hercules Pillar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Inn of Court This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Knights Templar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. My Old Dutch This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Pegasus Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Penderel’s Oak This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Philomena’s This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Princess Louise This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Secrets This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Secrets This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Sway This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Bountiful Cow This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Old Crown This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Old Red Lion This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Seven Stars This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Ship Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Square Pig This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Sun This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Truckles Wine Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. White Hart This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Ye Olde Cock Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so.
Westminster - heart of government.
While the underground station dates from 1868, Westminster itself is almost as old as London itself. It has a large concentration of London’s historic and prestigious landmarks and visitor attractions, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.
Historically part of the parish of St Margaret in the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex, the name Westminster was the ancient description for the area around Westminster Abbey – the West Minster, or monastery church, that gave the area its name – which has been the seat of the government of England (and later the British government) for almost a thousand years.
Westminster is the location of the Palace of Westminster, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which houses the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The area has been the seat of the government of England for almost a thousand years. Westminster is thus often used as a metonym for Parliament and the political community of the United Kingdom generally. The civil service is similarly referred to by the area it inhabits, Whitehall, and Westminster is consequently also used in reference to the ’Westminster System’, the parliamentary model of democratic government that has evolved in the United Kingdom.
The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built. The Abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England. The nearby Palace of Westminster came to be the principal royal residence after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and later housed the developing Parliament and law courts of England. It can be said that London thus has developed two distinct focal points: an economic one in the City of London; and a political and cultural one in Westminster, where the Royal Court had its home. This division is still very apparent today.
The monarchy later moved to the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east. The law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice, close to the border of the City of London.
The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex. The ancient parish was St Margaret; after 1727 split into the parishes of St Margaret and St John. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by—but not part of—either parish. Until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John (also known as the Westminster District Board of Works from 1855 to 1887), which was based at Westminster City Hall on Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields and several other parishes and places. Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction. The area was transferred from Middlesex to the County of London in 1889 and the local government of Westminster was reformed in 1900 when the court of burgesses and parish vestries were abolished, to be replaced with a metropolitan borough council. The council was given city status, allowing it to be known as Westminster City Council.
The underground station was opened as Westminster Bridge on 24 December 1868 by the steam-operated Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) (now the District line) when the railway opened the first section of its line from South Kensington. It was originally the eastern terminus of the MDR and the station cutting ended at a concrete wall buffered by timber sleepers. The approach to the station from the west runs in cut and cover tunnel under the roadway of Broad Sanctuary and diagonally under Parliament Square. In Broad Sanctuary the tunnel is close to Westminster Abbey and St Margaret’s church and care was required to avoid undermining their foundations when excavating in the poor ground found there.
The station was completely rebuilt to incorporate new deep-level platforms for the Jubilee line when it was extended to the London Docklands in the 1990s. During the works, the level of the sub-surface platforms was lowered to enable ground level access to Portcullis House. This was achieved in small increments carried out when the line was closed at night.
