For the first time online here are high quality images of Samuel & Nathaniel Buck's complete sequence of five views of London as...

I recently came across a book containing views of Edwardian London that I hadn't seen before on the net. Three Hundred and Fifty Views -...

"It's as black as Newgate's knocker" is an old phrase that will be familiar to many Londoners. But just how black was the knocker? Well, now you can see for yourself; I believe this is the only image on the net of the door knocker from the infamous Newgate Prison. "As black as Newgate's knocker" - The door knocker from the last Newgate Prison This phrase was known by 1880 and remained popular well into the 20th century. Latterly it seems to have been most commonly used by pa

Claes Visscher's Panorama of London in 1616 is one of the finest views we have of London before the Great Fire. It is over two metres...

In 1830 the area of London formerly known as Battle Bridge acquired a new name, Kings Cross. This is a rare image of the "cross" that led...

Christie's London Sale brings together an amazing range of objects that will be of great interest to any London enthusiast. On September...

This is the handwritten Newgate Prison execution journal of the "Ordinary", or Chaplain, of Newgate, the Rev. Horace Salusbury Cotton. Cotton kept his macabre log throughout his tenure at Newgate, even though he was strictly forbidden from doing so. Between 1814 and 1839 he noted not only the names and crimes of those being executed along with the date of their execution but also his personal observations on any execution that he found particularly interesting. His journal al

This little book is unique. There is only one copy, it is handwritten, it has never been published in print or on-line. It contains a...

In the days before email, messengers provided a vital communication service. But they did far more than just deliver messages; they could...

In 1936 a Bauhaus master turned his attention to London Street Markets. László Moholy-Nagy provided 64 superb images for Mary Benedetta's...

The British Museum have just opened a new, free, exhibition "The Horse: from Arabia to Royal Ascot". The exhibition seeks to demonstrate...

In countless books, guides, apps and websites dealing with “Secret”, “Hidden” and “Curious” London it is asserted with bland confidence that the cellars of the Viaduct Tavern contain cells from old Newgate Prison. This is nonsense but sometimes a picture can help to nail a lie better than dates. This image dates from 1897 and shows the last incarnation of Newgate Prison on the same site, facing the newly built Viaduct Tavern. Newgate Prison and The Viaduct Tavern 1897 Newgate

"The removal of the tides from the London Reaches is, in my opinion, the greatest single measure that can be taken for the benefit of...

In 1930 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries published a report on London Markets. The report described all the principal London...

Less than fifty years after the opening of Charing Cross, there were plans to close the station and replace its rail bridge with a grand...

In June 1893 a grand fundraising bazaar was held in Soho. Partly to serve as a souvenir, partly to help promote the Soho Bazaar, a little...

There are very few photos of Newgate prison on the net. The most commonly reproduced ones come from a late Victorian book, Queen’s London, Anon, Cassell, 1897. But three of the most striking and chilling images from that book, “The Graveyard”, “The Chapel” and “The Central Courtyard” seem to have been forgotten for over 100 years. So here is a full set, all six images together with their original accompanying text. Newgate Prison At the corner Newgate Street and the Old Bail

In 1928 an anonymous writer noted that: "London's annual heat wave is always forgotten by the next year. According to Londoners it rains...

There are countless books on The City of London but a new title improves upon so many that have gone before. "The City of London: A...

In 1880 Herbert Fry published London a handbook for Victorian visitors. The popular book ran to many editions. A major factor for its...