The Underground Map

The Underground Map is a project which is creating street histories for the areas of London and surrounding counties lying inside the M25.

Greengrocers, Houghton Street (1906)

While now the location of the London School of Economics, Houghton Street is a mere shadow of its former incarnation leading to Clare Market from the old streets which were swept away by the creation of Aldwych in the first decade of the twentieth century.
Credit: User unknown/public domain

In a series of maps from the 1750s until the 1950s, you can see how London grew from a city which only reached as far as Park Lane into the post war megapolis we know today. There are now over 85 000 articles on all variety of locations including roads, houses, schools, pubs and palaces.

You can begin exploring by choosing a place from the dropdown list at the top.

As maps are displayed, click on the markers to view location articles.

Latest on The Underground Map...

Northumberland Avenue, WC2N

Northumberland Avenue runs from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. In 1608–09, Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton built a house on the eastern side of the former Chapel and Hospital of St. Mary Rounceval, at Charing Cross, including gardens running to the River Thames and adjoining Scotland Yard to the west. The estate became the property of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland when he married Howard’s great-great niece, Lady Elizabeth, in 1642, whereupon it was known as Northumberland House.

In June 1874, the whole of Northumberland House was purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works and demolished to form Northumberland Avenue, which would accommodate hotels. The road was part built on the parallel Northumberland Street.

Contemporary planning permissions forbade hotels to be taller than the width of the road they were on; consequently Northumberland Avenue was built with a wide carriageway. Part of the parallel Northumberland Street was demolished in order to make way for the avenue’s eastern...

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JULY

2022

Houghton Street (1906)
A greengrocer’s on the corner of Houghton Street and Clare Market (behind The Strand) in 1906 just before demolition The thoroughfare known as Clare Market, leading eastwards into Lincoln’s Inn Fields, was so called in honour of the Earl of Clare, who lived "in a princely mansion" adjacent. His name is inscribed as a parishioner of St. Clement Danes in the ratebooks of 1617. In Howell’s "Londinopolis" of 1657 we read: "Then is there, towards Drury Lane, a new market, called Clare Market; then is there a street and palace of the same name, built by the Earl of Clare, who lived there in a princely mansion, having a house, a street, and a market both for flesh and fish, all bearing his name." It is also mentioned by Strype:- "Clare Market, very considerable and well served with provisions, both flesh and fish; for, besides the butchers in the shambles, it is much resorted unto by the country butchers and higglers. The market-days are Wednesdays and Saturdays."

"This market," says Nightingale, in the tenth volume of the Beauties of England and Wales, "stands on what was...
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JULY

2022

The Hare
The Hare is situated at 505 Cambridge Heath Road The Hare has existed on this site since the 1770s. The current building dates from around 1860.
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JULY

2022

Fulham
Fulham is an area in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 (the successor to the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham) Fulham lies on the north bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It was formerly the seat of the diocese of Fulham and Gibraltar, and Fulham Palace served as the former official home of the Bishop of London (now a museum), the grounds of which are now divided between public allotments and an elegant botanical garden.

The area is home to the Fulham Football Club stadium Craven Cottage and the Chelsea Football Club stadium Stamford Bridge and the various flats and entertainment centres built into it.

Famously exclusive sports club, the Hurlingham Club, is also located within Fulham. With members having included British monarchs, the waiting list for membership currently averages over fifteen years.

Fulham Broadway has undergone considerable pedestrianisation and is home to a number of cafes, bars and salons.

Fulham has severa...
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JULY

2022

Hampstead Grove, NW3
Hampstead Grove runs parallel to Heath Street and leads south to Holly Bush Hill The oldest mention of a thoroughfare at what was later Hampstead Grove is that outside ’Ostend’ - the first name for Fenton House which is dated 1693. There was a nearby windmill nearby from the early 1600s. In 1666 Robert Dixon conveyed seven cottages, with land called ’Millhill’, to a brickmaker. Millhill, where there were grants of waste in the 1680s, was presumably Windmill Hill, named in 1709.

The west side of Hampstead Grove is now largely made up of the boundary wall to Fenton House whose entrance faces Windmill Hill. On the east side is the mansion block Heath Mansions. Old Grove House and New Grove House are listed early 18th century houses that back onto The Mount Square.

Admiral’s Walk linking Hampstead Grove to Lower Terrace is dominated by Admiral House at its western end.

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

danny currie William Miller’s Yard Added: 30 Nov 2022 18:39 GMT	dads yard ron currie had a car breaking yard in millers yard back in the 60s good old days Reply
Lynette beardwood Ebury Street, SW1W Added: 29 Nov 2022 20:53 GMT	Spy’s Club Topham’s Hotel at 24-28 Ebury Street was called the Ebury Court Hotel. Its first proprietor was a Mrs Topham. In WW2 it was a favourite watering hole for the various intelligence organisations based in the Pimlico area. The first woman infiltrated into France in 1942, FANY Yvonne Rudellat, was recruited by the Special Operations Executive while working there. She died in Bergen Belsen in April 1945. Reply
Gardnor Road, NW3 Added: 16 Nov 2022 12:39 GMT	The Pearce family lived in Gardnor Road The Pearce family moved into Gardnor Road around 1900 after living in Fairfax walk, my Great grandfather, wife and there children are recorded living in number 4 Gardnor road in the 1911 census, yet I have been told my grand father was born in number 4 in 1902, generations of the Pearce continue living in number 4 as well other houses in the road up until the 1980’s Reply
Gardnor Road, NW3 Added: 16 Nov 2022 12:38 GMT	The Pearce family lived in Gardnor Road The Pearce family moved into Gardnor Road around 1900 after living in Fairfax walk, my Great grandfather, wife and there children are recorded living in number 4 Gardnor road in the 1911 census, yet I have been told my grand father was born in number 4 in 1902, generations of the Pearce continue living in number 4 as well other houses in the road up until the 1980’s Reply
Phil Stubbington Rodenhurst Road, SW4 Added: 14 Nov 2022 16:28 GMT	Numbers 60 to 70 (1901 - 1939) A builder, Robert Maeers (1842-1919), applied to build six houses on plots 134 to 139 on the Lincoln House Estate on 5 October 1901. He received approval on 8 October 1901. These would become numbers 60 to 70 Rodenhurst Road (60 is plot 139). Robert Maeers was born in Northleigh, Devon. In 1901 he was living in 118 Elms Road with his wife Georgina, nee Bagwell. They had four children, Allan, Edwin, Alice, and Harriet, born between 1863 and 1873. Alice Maeers was married to John Rawlins. Harriet Maeers was married to William Street. Three of the six houses first appear on the electoral register in 1904: Daniel Mescal “Ferncroft” William Francis Street “Hillsboro” Henry Elkin “Montrose” By the 1905 electoral register all six are occupied: Daniel Mescal “St Senans” Henry Robert Honeywood “Grasmere” John Rawlins “Iveydene” William Francis Street “Hillsboro” Walter Ernest Manning “St Hilda” Henry Elkin “Montrose” By 1906 house numbers replace names: Daniel Mescal 70 Henry Robert Honeywood 68 John Rawlins 66 William Francis Street 64 Walter Ernest Manning 62 Henry Elkin 60 It’s not clear whether number 70 changed from “Ferncroft” to “St Senans” or possibly Daniel Mescal moved houses. In any event, it can be seen that Robert Maeers’ two daughters are living in numbers 64 and 66, with, according to local information, an interconnecting door. In the 1911 census William Street is shown as a banker’s clerk. John Rawlins is a chartering clerk in shipping. Robert Maeers and his wife are also living at this address, Robert being shown as a retired builder. By 1939 all the houses are in different ownership except number 60, where the Elkins are still in residence. Reply
stephen garraway Treverton Street, W10 Added: 13 Nov 2022 13:56 GMT	Martin Street, Latimer Road I was born at St Charlottes and lived at 14, Martin Street, Latimer Road W10 until I was 4 years old when we moved to the east end. It was my Nan Grant’s House and she was the widow of George Frederick Grant. She had two sons, George and Frederick, and one daughter, my mother Margaret Patricia. The downstairs flat where we lived had two floors, the basement and the ground floor. The upper two floors were rented to a Scot and his family, the Smiths. He had red hair. The lights and cooker were gas and there was one cold tap over a Belfast sink. A tin bath hung on the wall. The toilet was outside in the yard. This was concreted over and faced the the rear of the opposite terraces. All the yards were segregated by high brick walls. The basement had the a "best" room with a large , dark fireplace with two painted metal Alsation ornaments and it was very dark, cold and little used. The street lights were gas and a man came round twice daily to turn them on and off using a large pole with a hook and a lighted torch on the end. I remember men coming round the streets with carts selling hot chestnuts and muffins and also the hurdy gurdy man with his instrument and a monkey in a red jacket. I also remember the first time I saw a black man and my mother pulling me away from him. He had a Trilby and pale Mackintosh so he must of been one of the first of the Windrush people. I seem to recall he had a thin moustache. Uncle George had a small delivery lorry but mum lost touch with him and his family. Uncle Fred went to Peabody Buildings near ST.Pauls. My Nan was moved to a maisonette in White City around 1966, and couldn’t cope with electric lights, cookers and heating and she lost all of her neighbourhood friends. Within six months she had extreme dementia and died in a horrible ward in Tooting Bec hospital a year or so later. An awful way to end her life, being moved out of her lifelong neighbourhood even though it was slums. Reply
Conder Street, E14 Added: 31 Oct 2022 18:47 GMT	Memories I lived at 7 Conder Street in a prefab from roughly 1965 to 1971 approx - happy memories- sad to see it is no more ? Reply
Eve Glover Holmesley Road, WD6 Added: 22 Oct 2022 09:28 GMT	Shenley Road Shenley Road is the main street in Borehamwood where the Job Centre and Blue Arrow were located Reply

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