The Forgotten Corners of Old London
Who knows what you might find lurking in the forgotten corners of old London? Like this lonely old waxwork of Charles II who once adorned a side aisle of Westminster Abbey, peering out through a haze of graffiti engraved upon his pane by mischievous tourists with diamond rings.
As one with a pathological devotion to walking through London’s sidestreets and byways, seeking to avoid the main roads wherever possible, these glass slides of the forgotten corners of London – used long ago by the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society for magic lantern shows at the Bishopsgate Institute – hold a special appeal for me. I have elaborate routes across the city which permit me to walk from one side to the other exclusively by way of the back streets and I discover all manner of delights neglected by those who solely inhabit the broad thoroughfares.
And so it is with many of these extraordinary pictures that show us the things which usually nobody bothers to photograph. There are a lot of glass slides of the exterior of Buckingham Palace in the collection but, personally, I am much more interested in the roof space above Richard III’s palace of Crosby Hall that once stood in Bishopsgate, and in the unlikely paraphernalia which accumulated in the crypt of the Carmelite Monastery or the Cow Shed at the Tower of London, a hundred years ago. These pictures satisfy my perverse curiosity to visit the spaces closed off to visitors at historic buildings, in preference to seeing the public rooms.
Within these forgotten corners, there are always further mysteries to be explored. I wonder who pitched a teepee in the undergrowth next to the moat at Fulham Palace in 192o. I wonder if that is a cannon or a chimney pot abandoned in the crypt at the Carmelite monastery. I wonder why that man had a bucket, a piece of string and a plank inside the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. I wonder what those fat books were next to the stove in the Worshipful Company of Apothecaries’ shop. I wonder who was pulling that girl out of the photograph in Woolwich Gardens. I wonder who put that dish in the roof of Crosby Hall. I wonder why Charles II had no legs. The pictures set me wondering.
It is what we cannot know that endows these photographs with such poignancy. Like errant pieces from lost jigsaws, they inspire us to imagine the full picture that we shall never be party to.
Tiltyard Gate, Eltham Palace, c. 1930
Refuse collecting at London Zoo, c. 1910
Passage in Highgate, c. 1910
Westminster Dust Carts, c. 1910
The Jewel Tower, Westminster, 1921
Fifteenth century brickwork at Charterhouse Wash House, c1910
Middle Temple Lane, c. 1910
Carmelite monastery crypt, c. 1910
The Moat at Fulham Palace, c. 1920
Clifford’s Inn, c. 1910
Top of inner dome at St Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1920
Apothecaries’ Hall Quadrangle, c. 1920
Worshipful Company of Apothecaries’ Shop, c.1920
Unidentified destroyed building near St Paul’s, c. 1940
Merchant Taylors’ Hall, c. 1920
Crouch End Old Baptist Chapel, c. 1900
Woolwich Gardens, c. 1910
The roof of Crosby Hall, Richard III’s palace in Bishopsgate , c. 1910
Refreshment stall in St James’ Park, c. 1910
River Wandle at Wandsworth, c. 1920
Corridor at Battersea Rise House, c. 1900
Tram emerging from the Kingsway Tunnel, c. 1920
Between the interior and exterior domes at St Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1920
Fossilised tree trunk on Tooting Common, c. 1920
St Dunstan-in-the-East, 1911
Cow shed at the Queen’s House, Tower of London, c. 1910
Boundary marks for St Benet Gracechurch, St Andrew Hubbard and St Dionis Backchurch in Talbot Court, c. 1910
Lincoln’s Inn gateway seen from Old Hall, c. 1910
St Bride’s Fleet St, c. 1920
Glass slides copyright © Bishopsgate Institute
You may also like to take a look at
The High Days & Holidays of Old London
middle temple lane looks like diagon alley. And it’s reassuring to know that there once was a place where a cow could get a cup of tea. Fascinating to see the hidden parts of London, some so countrified. As the buildings grow, the ancient and the green are gradually lost. These photos are a valuable reminder of the old fabric of this wonderful city.
Thank you for posting these wonderful photos.
You are so right in that it’s what we can never know about them which lends them poignancy. Each one contains the ghosts of so many stories.
Got my morning smile from the self-serve (?) refreshment stall.
Hello from Spain
I just came to your blog and tell you I have fascinated. Congratulations for the quality and so well done that mixture of past and present.
It gives me an event every time I go to your blog.
Thank you.
Wonderful pictures, gives a real sense of old London
I agree with you G.A , it is the overlooked , the spaces inbetween ,the mysterious and magical that interest me too and thank you for sharing these glorious overlooked moments in time with us, they indeed are very rewarding.
One can only imagine the delight you feel in the Bishopgate Institute library.
By the way,on a rare enough trip back to London, I spent a glorious hour and a half in the fine company of Mr P.Gardner (market sundriesman and purveyor of gentleness and kindness) what a sanctuary !………..,itself much much more than a sum of its parts.
An absolute gem of a post. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Simply wonderful. Thank you again for digging up such treasures and sharing them with us.
Wonderful to have you back Gentle Author. I’ve missed your daily blogs.
Love this post. Thanks GA.
Great evocative photographs. Strange banner on the right in the Kingsway Tunnel tram photo which appears to say “SEE IF THE MIDLAND FURNISHES…..” (what I wonder?). Couldn’t help but notice St Brides slide was printed in reverse……but doesn’t really matter. Thanks & welcome back GA.
Thank you for sharing these really fascinating and evocative photographs!
Those two domes leave me breathless.
The photo for the ‘Bar at a Livery Company, c.1920′ is in fact a shop for the Worshipful company of Apothecaries, it would have sold all manner of apothecaries’ medicines and ingredients.
Thanks for sharing, very enjoyable.
Hello, I m from India ( Bombay ).
The pics are fascinating…..I was surprised that details in some of the pics are very similar to those in old buldings / streets of Bombay.
Oh Wow! Such treasures.
I used to work up the City, in the 60’s.
I was always fascinated by the lanes,
passages and ancient buildings. Still
am.
Thank you for such wonderful photo’s.
Amazing as always thank you. I am always struck by the buildings so black from soot. London of my childhood with no pristine stone and brickwork like today. Tickled by the MYO (milk your own) stall in St James’s park and the legless Charles II – I think he often was!
I fell in love with London on the first day I set foot there. My enthrallment increased with each of my 13 subsequent visits. Alas I fear I have now reached an age when another trip is impossible but I want you to know that whenever I need to escape the time and place I’m in, I can always depend on your messages to transport me back. Thank you for all the words and pictures which never fail to fascinate and inform. I hope you continue these wonderful contributions for at least another 20 years. Many thanks from a grateful old lady in the USA.