Return To Long Forgotten London
The six volumes of Walter Thornbury’s London Old & New, filled with richly detailed engravings, prove irresistible to me for compelling visions of a city I barely recognise. Published in the eighteen-seventies, they evoke a London that had passed away at the beginning of the century and contrast this with the recent wonders of the Victorian age which prefigure the city we know today.
Entrance to the Clerkenwell tunnel
Hackney, looking towards the church in 1840
Columbia Market, Bethnal Green
Crown & Sceptre Inn, Greenwich
St Dunstan-in-the-East
Kensington High St in 1860
Primrose Hill in 1780
The Tower subway under the Thames
Bunhill Fields
Red Cow Inn, Hammersmith
Chelsea Bun House in 1810
River Fleet at St Pancras in 1825
Rotunda in Blackfriars Rd, 1820
Somers Town Dust Heaps in 1836
The Old Cock Tavern, Westminster
Seven Sisters in 1830
Highgate Cemetery
Magnetic Clock at Greenwich
Great Equatorial Telescope in the Dome at Greenwich
Searle’s Boatyard at Bankside, 1830
Bridgefoot, Southwark in 1810
Sights of old Hackney 1. Br0ok House 1765 2. Barber’s Barn 1750 3. Shore Place 1736
Izaak Walton’s River Lea 1. Ferry House 2. Tottenham Church from the Lea 3. Tumbling Weir 4. Fishing Cottage 5. Tottenham Lock
Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
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These are very beautiful – I will share. Thank you.
How good to be able to step back in time and see pictures of how familiar places were then. Valerie
Columbia market?
How amazing! Now I understand where these names came from. Seven Sisters, the name of those trees, Primrose Hill so steep I can’t believe that I used to walk up that hill with those grand buildings lined with gorgeous plane trees when I was small. What happened to Columbia market’s building? Kensington High Street so quaint. How I wish I could step back in time to see what London was really like.
Know its a typo but rather fond of Primorose Hill. I’ll never look at it the same way again.
The accuracy of the pictures varies. Unfortunately the very first one contains a representation of something that never existed – the lower locomotive shown in the picture of the “Grid-Irons” just N of Farringdon Station – another site that is still recognisable.
Yes, one or two scenes are still identifyable today, even so ….
The Ferry-Boat crossing of the Lea, St Dunstans & one or two others.
Thankfully High gate cemetery has not changed…apart from the odd lolly paper and swathes of longish grass.
Grand! These engravings are more informative than any photo… Very significant & meaningful!
Love & Peace
ACHIM
I honestly think these Walter Thornbury postings are among my favourite Spitalfields Life postings, there is just SO much detail in them. Beyond lovely. Can we buy the books somewhere?
I’m in the process of doing a refurbishment of 5 of the volumes I have picked up so far. Its great to publish these on line as it brings the books to a much wider audience, they also make fascinating reading.
Thanks Graeme
Fabulous!
I think the date on the picture “Chelsea Bun House in 1810” is wrong. Looking at the men’s fashions I would put the date at around the 1770 – definitely in the 18th Century.
I agree,the bun house 18th c. But what a wonderful collection..thanks very much..