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.

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...

Yiewsley

Yiewsley is a large suburban village in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Yiewsley’s transition from an agrarian community began when the Grand Junction Canal was opened. Construction started in May 1793 and connected the area to the Thames at Brentford, passing through Yiewsley on its way north following the River Colne. An aqueduct was built at Cowley Lock to cross the Fray’s River. In 1794, the canal opened between the Thames and Uxbridge, and in 1795, the aqueduct over the Fray’s River was likely completed.

The following year, in 1796, Colham Wharf, Yiewsley’s first dock, was established near Colham Bridge. In 1801, the Paddington Arm of the canal opened, connecting the area to national trade routes.

The canal played a vital role in transporting Cowley stock bricks, which were made from the abundant brick-earth in Yiewsley. The bricks were transported mainly along the Grand Junction Canal and the Regent’s Canal to supply the demand for building materials in Victorian London.

By t...

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NOVEMBER

2023

South Harrow
South Harrow originally spread south and west from the hamlet of Roxeth as a result of easier access from Central London by rail In the 1890s, the Metropolitan District Railway, which later became the District Line but was operating as an independent company at the time, recognised the inadequate service to Uxbridge and Harrow. To address this, they proposed the construction of a railway line towards both towns, and this led to the formation of the Ealing & South Harrow Railway. The railway line was intended to extend to South Harrow, which was then a rural area located to the south of Roxeth.

Construction of the railway line was completed by 1899, but the District Line faced financial difficulties that delayed its opening until 1903. Consequently, South Harrow became the terminus of a line extending from Park Royal & Twyford Abbey. The location around Northolt Road subsequently developed into South Harrow’s own commercial and residential hub.

The original station building was approximately 170 metres south of the present-day station. This extension marked a significant miles...
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SEPTEMBER

2023

Great Portland Street
Great Portland Street is a London Underground station near Regent’s Park Great Portland Street station was opened on 10 January 1863 as Portland Road, renamed Great Portland Street and Regents Park in 1923 and changed to its present name on 1 March 1917.

The station’s present structure, constructed in 1930, is situated on a traffic island at the intersection of Marylebone Road, Great Portland Street and Albany Street. This building features a steel-framed design with a cream terracotta exterior. The station’s perimeter also houses shops and, in the past, included a car showroom with office spaces above it. Notably, Great Portland Street was a significant sales location for the motor industry. The station’s architectural design, credited to C.W. Fowler, earned it a Grade II listing in January 1987.

The area around Great Portland Street station offers various points of interest. Regent’s Park and the iconic BT Tower are nearby attractions. Additionally, the station’s proximity to Regen...
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SEPTEMBER

2023

Courtfield Gardens, SW5
Courtfield Gardens is named after the field beneath it, cultivated until the 19th century According to 16th-century records, Courtfield Gardens was built on a vast open meadow known as Great Courtfield. This meadow was surrounded by fertile land and small farms and was part of a large area of land that extended from Cromwell Road to The Old Brompton Road in one direction, and from Gloucester Road to Earl’s Court Road in the other direction. Great Courtfield was included in the Earl’s Court ’manor’.

During the 18th century, Earl’s Court House, a grand manor house, was constructed on the land that is now the western terrace of Barkston Gardens. This building replaced an extensive dwelling that was described in 1705 as having fountains, a marble-tiled dairy, engines for water, and impressive gates at its entrance.

In the 19th century, the area surrounding Courtfield Gardens was developed with rows of terraced houses, as the demand for housing in London grew. Earl’s Court House was demolished in the middle of th...
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JUNE

2023

Alba Place, W11
Alba Place is part of the Colville Conservation Area Originally the stable house accommodation for the main houses on Lancaster Road, the primary purpose of the Mews properties is now residential.

Alba Place is located on the site of an original Mews but has been redeveloped to a degree that it no longer contains any surviving Mews properties. It is a gated cul-de-sac off Portobello Road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, almost opposite Hayden’s Place (another redeveloped Mews). It contains 16 properties used for residential purposes.

Alba Place was Albion Place until 1937, one of the many patriotic names dating from the period immediately following the Crimean War.
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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Eileen Brecknock Road, N7 Added: 10 Nov 2023 09:42 GMT	Brecknock Road Pleating Company My great grandparents ran the Brecknock Road pleating Company around 1910 to 1920 and my Grandmother worked there as a pleater until she was 16. I should like to know more about this. I know they had a beautiful Victorian house in Islington as I have photos of it & of them in their garden. Source: Family history Reply
Squirrel’s Lane, IG9 Added: 6 Nov 2023 16:59 GMT	061123 Why do Thames Water not collect the 15 . Three meter lengths of blue plastic fencing, and old pipes etc. They left here for the last TWO Years, these cause an obstruction,as they halfway lying in the road,as no footpath down this road, and the cars going and exiting the park are getting damaged, also the public are in Grave Danger when trying to avoid your rubbish and the danger of your fences. Source: Squirrels Lane. Buckhurst Hill, Essex. IG9. I want some action ,now, not Excuses.MK. Reply
Christian Cornwall Road, W11 Added: 31 Oct 2023 10:34 GMT	Cornwall Road, W11 Photo shows William Richard Hoare’s chemist shop at 121 Cornwall Road. Reply
Vik Oaks Road, TW6 Added: 30 Oct 2023 18:48 GMT	Old pub sign from the Rising Sun Hi I have no connection to the area except that for the last 30+ years we’ve had an old pub sign hanging on our kitchen wall from the Rising Sun, Stanwell, which I believe was / is on the Oaks Rd. Happy to upload a photo if anyone can tell me how or where to do that! Reply
Phillip Martin Ashburnham Place, SE10 Added: 16 Oct 2023 06:25 GMT	16 Ashburnham Road On 15 October 1874 George Frederick Martin was born in 16 Ashburnham Road Greenwich to George Henry Martin, a painter, and Mary Martin, formerly Southern. Reply
Christine Bithrey Holly Park, N4 Added: 15 Oct 2023 15:20 GMT	The Hollies (1860 - 1900) I lived in Holly Park Estate from 1969 I was 8 years old when we moved in until I left to get married, my mother still lives there now 84. I am wondering if there was ever a cemetery within The Hollies? And if so where? Was it near to the Blythwood Road end or much nearer to the old Methodist Church which is still standing although rather old looking. We spent most of our childhood playing along the old dis-used railway that run directly along Blythwood Road and opposite Holly Park Estate - top end which is where we live/ed. We now walk my mothers dog there twice a day. An elderly gentleman once told me when I was a child that there used to be a cemetery but I am not sure if he was trying to scare us children! I only thought about this recently when walking past the old Methodist Church and seeing the flag stone in the side of the wall with the inscription of when it was built late 1880 If anyone has any answers please email me [email protected] Reply
Chris hutchison Broadhurst Gardens, NW6 Added: 15 Oct 2023 03:04 GMT	35 broadhurst gardens. 35 Broadhurst gardens was owned by famous opera singer Mr Herman “Simmy”Simberg. He had transformed it into a film and recording complex. There was a film and animation studio on the ground floor. The recording facilities were on the next two floors. I arrived in London from Australia in 1966 and worked in the studio as the tea boy and trainee recording engineer from Christmas 1966 for one year. The facility was leased by an American advertising company called Moreno Films. Mr Simbergs company Vox Humana used the studio for their own projects as well. I worked for both of them. I was so lucky. The manager was another wonderful gentleman called Jack Price who went on to create numerous songs for many famous singers of the day and also assisted the careers of Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. “Simmy” let me live in the bedsit,upper right hand window. Jack was also busy with projects with The Troggs,Bill Wyman,Peter Frampton. We did some great sessions with Manfred Mann and Alan Price. The Cream did some demos but that was before my time. We did lots of voice over work. Warren Mitchell and Ronnie Corbett were favourites. I went back in 1978 and “Simmy “ had removed all of the studio and it was now his home. His lounge room was still our studio in my minds eye!! Reply
Sue L Battersea Added: 13 Oct 2023 17:21 GMT	Duffield Street, Battersea I’ve been looking for ages for a photo of Duffield Street without any luck. My mother and grandfather lived there during the war. It was the first property he was able to buy but sadly after only a few months they were bombed out. My mother told the story that one night they were aware of a train stopping above them in the embankment. It was full of soldiers who threw out cigarettes and sweets at about four in the morning. They were returning from Dunkirk though of course my mother had no idea at the time. I have heard the same story from a different source too. Reply

Click here to explore another London street
We now have 628 completed street histories and 46872 partial histories

APRIL

2018

Kenilworth Drive, WD6
Kenilworth Drive was one of the roads built for the proposed Laing’s Estate. The John Laing Company had big plans for pre-war Borehamwood. By 1937 they has laid out some of the key roads of their estate which would have been a high-prestige area of housing - modelled on Hollywood. The Laings roads were the main arterial ones - Manor Way, Cranes Way, Ripon Way, Bullhead Road and Balmoral Drive.

After the Second World War, with housing needs to the fore, Laings were bought out and a very different estate was built instead.
»read full article

APRIL

2018

Starrock Lane, CR5
Starrock Lane lies near Chipstead, on the edge of the metropolis. The road seems to have been named after a cetain "Rocious de Storocke" who lived here in 1265 – this name might mean someone who lived by a high rock.

Starrock Farm had land on both sides of Starrock Lane.
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APRIL

2018

City Temple
The City Temple is a Nonconformist church on Holborn Viaduct. It is the only English Free Church still worshipping in its own building every Sunday in the City of London. The current Minister is Rev Dr Rodney Woods. The church is part of the Thames North Synod of the United Reformed Church and is a member of the Evangelical Alliance.

The City Temple is most famous as the preaching place of the 20th century liberal theologian Leslie Weatherhead. Other notable preachers have included R. J. Campbell, Joseph Fort Newton, Thomas Goodwin and Joseph Parker.

The first church building on the present site was built in 1874. The congregation was founded much earlier; the traditional date is 1640 but some evidence suggests it was founded as early as the 1560s by the Puritans. Destroyed by bombing during the Second World War, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1958.

Read the City Temple (London) entry on the Wikipedia...
»read full article

APRIL

2018

Vallance Road, E1
Vallance Road is a significant road running north-south from Bethnal Green Road to Whitechapel Road. Its southernmost section was called Baker’s Row as far as the junction with Hanbury Street. It then continued northwards as Charles Street, New Charles Street, Wellington Street and White Street. Charles Street was later incorporated into Baker’s Row when the latter was widened in the late 19th Century.

Eventually, all the streets were renumbered and renamed Vallance Road on 21 January 1896. It was named after W. Vallance, clerk to the Metropolitan Board of Guardians.

It was the site of the Whitechapel Union Infirmary (on its eastern side) which eventually became St. Peter’s Hospital in 1924 and was demolished in the 1950s.

Nearby Hughes Mansions (built 1929) were partially demolished by a V2 rocket on 27th March 1945. It was the last explosive device of the war to fall on London and resulted in 134 deaths.

East End gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray lived with their family at 178 Vallance Road from 1939 (the house is now demolished).
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APRIL

2018

St Anns Road, N15
St Anns Road was once a country lane called Hangar Lane. Hangar Lane was rechristened St Ann’s Road in 1872.

Charlotte Riddell (September 30, 1832 - September 24, 1906) was a one of the most popular and influential writers of the Victorian period lived in St John’s Lodge on the site of St Ann’s Hosptal - opposite Blackboy Lane. She used to describe herself as living on "Green Lanes, near Harringay House".

She wrote in 1874:

Sixteen years ago... As for Hanger Lane, no one had yet dreamed of the evil days to come, when mushroom villas should be built upon the ground that not long before was regarded as an irreclaimable morass—when at first a tavern and then a church (the two invariable pioneers of that which, for some unknown reason, we call civilisation) appeared on the scene, and brought London following at their heels . . . when, in a word, Hanger Lane should be improved off the face of the earth and in the interest of speculative builders . . called, as it is at present, St. Ann’s ...
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APRIL
24
2018

Hardinge Road, NW10
Hardinge Road was named after Lord Hardinge, Viceroy of India. It was quite late in its development - moving from fields to houses only in the 1930s.
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APRIL
23
2018

Upper Addison Gardens, W14
Upper Addison Gardens runs between Holland Road and Holland Villas Road. Nos. 2-13 and 30-43 Upper Addison Gardens were built by James Hall over several years from 1857. These are terraced houses with three storeys above a semi-basements and a 25 foot frontage. They were built using yellow brick with stucco dressings, and are crowned with an elaborate modillioned cornice.

James Hall built about 120 houses in the estate in the 1850s. He also built extensively in the Chepstow Villas and Pembridge Place area.
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APRIL
22
2018

St Paul’s Churchyard, EC4M
By the beginning of the sixteenth century, St. Paul’s Churchyard was the chief centre of the book trade, not only for London, but for the whole country. Parts of the cathedral and its surrounding areas had been used as markets since the fourteenth century. By 1597, St. Paul’s was used not only as a church - it had become the bookshop of London.

Booksellers on Paternoster Row became a source of competition in the latter half of the century, eventually winning the prominent position in London bookselling, but St. Paul’s maintained its supremacy well into the seventeenth century.

The bookshops were populated largely by foreign booksellers in the sixteenth century. England did not have its own printing press until the 1490s, and in 1484 Richard III had passed an Act of exemption to foreign printers, encouraging them to bring their trade to London. The central settling point for these booksellers was St. Paul’s Churchyard.

The Rev. Dr. Croby, in his ’Life of George IV.,’ tells us that Queen Charlotte was in the habit of paying visits, in company with some lady-in-waiting, to Holywell S...
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APRIL
21
2018

Hillside
Hillside was the childhood home of Sir Richard Burton. Hillside was previously known as both ’Clockhouse’ and ’Barham House’.

William Putland built the adjacent Coach House (still standing as two semi detached houses) in 1789. Barham House was built sometime between that date and 1820 for it was, in the 1820s, the home of a Samuel Baker. He was the grandfather of Richard Burton, a renowned Victorian explorer. Richard Burton was born in Torquay (Devon) in 1821 but christened at St Nicholas Church, Elstree. He spent a lot of his boyhood at the house.

The newsletter of the Elstree and Borehamwood Museum noted in 2014:

"Richard Burton became an Oxford scholar, explorer, archaeologist, diplomat, writer, translator, linguist (he could speak 25 languages in later years), and expert swordsman. He was always looking for new experiences to escape from what he termed ’The slavery of civilisation’. He had the looks to match his adventurous spirit, being 6 foot tall and...
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APRIL
20
2018

Arsenal
Arsenal tube station is a Piccadilly Line station. Meanwhile, Arsenal is maybe a football club too... Arsenal tube station is a Piccadilly Line station. Originally known as Gillespie Road, it was renamed in 1932 after Arsenal Football Club, who at the time played at the nearby Arsenal Stadium. It is the only Tube station named directly after a football club.

Arsenal tube station was opened by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR) as Gillespie Road on 15 December 1906. The GNP&BR later renamed the Piccadilly line after the consolidation & nationalisation of the Tube network as London Underground. The original station building and ticket hall were red terracotta-clad buildings designed by Leslie Green, similar to neighbouring Holloway Road and Caledonian Road stations.

At the time of Gillespie Road’s construction, it served a residential area and a local divinity college. In 1913, Arsenal Football Club moved to Highbury on the site of the college’s playing fields, and the club’s presence there eventually led to a campaign for a ...
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APRIL
19
2018

Chelsea
Chelsea is an affluent area, bounded to the south by the River Thames. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above Sloane Square tube station. The modern eastern boundary is Chelsea Bridge Road and the lower half of Sloane Street, including Sloane Square, along with parts of Belgravia. To the north and northwest, the area fades into Knightsbridge and South Kensington, but it is safe to say that the area north of King’s Road as far northwest as Fulham Road is part of Chelsea.

The word Chelsea originates from the Old English term for chalk and landing place on the river. The first record of the Manor of Chelsea precedes the Domesday Book and records the fact that Thurstan, governor of the King’s Palace during the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042–1066), gave the land to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster. Abbot Gervace subsequently assigned the manor to his mother, and it passed into private ownership. The modern-day Chelsea hosted the Synod of Chelsea in 787 AD....
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APRIL
18
2018

The Rifle
The Rifle was a public house on Fulham Palace Road. It was established at 7 Compton Terrace by 1874.

The pub was managed for about forty years by the Mancini brothers- - Toni and Alfred - alongside their father. With their interest in boxing, they renamed the pub the "Golden Gloves". It became the "Suffolk Punch" in 1996 and later "The Old Suffolk Punch".
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APRIL
17
2018

Coleherne House
Coleherne House once stood on the corner of Brompton Lane (later Brompton Road) and Walnut Tree Lane (now Redcliffe Gardens). Coleherne House dates from the 1600s and might have originally been known as Cold Barn House. There were many owners over the years including the poet Richard Blackmore lived there in 1700s. By the time of the turn of the nineteenth century, it was in the hands of William Bolton who also may have rebuilt the house.

Certainly the following owner, Philip Gilbert built another property in the grounds of Coleherne House in 1815, called it 'Hereford House' and went off to live in it until he left in 1838.

James Gunter bought both Coleherne House and Hereford House in 1864, leasing Coleherne to Edmund Tattersall, an auctioneer, from 1865. Tattersall fell ill at Newmarket races in 1898.

After his death, both Coleherne House and Hereford House were demolished.

In their place, Coleherne Court - a large apartment block, was built. This was the final home of Lady Diana Spencer before she married Prince Charles in 1981.
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APRIL
15
2018

Egerton Crescent, SW3
Egerton Crescent was described in 2013 as "the most expensive street in Britain". The street runs roughly north to south in a curve, with both ends forming t-junctions on Egerton Gardens, which in turn runs roughly north to south between Egerton Terrace and Brompton Road.

The houses were designed by George Basevi and built by James Bonnin in the 1840s, when it was called Brompton Crescent, but was renamed Egerton Crescent in 1896 in honour of Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.

In 2013, property here cost more than 74 times the price of the average home in the UK.

By December 2015, it had been demoted to be the second most expensive street in England, with an average property price of £7,550,000, according to research from Lloyds Bank, based on Land Registry data..
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APRIL
14
2018

Sands End
Sands End was a close knit working class community. Once a rural backwater called Sandy End, it became the industrial heart of Fulham with its gas works, power station and petrol depot providing work for generations of local families.

A property boom beginning in the 1970s coupled with the advent of oil fueled processing of North Sea oil led to an inexorable process of gentrification with offices and studio businesses and flats on the market for more than £2.4 million.

On the bank of the Thames is Hurlingham Retail Park, which includes Currys and PC World. There is also a business enterprise centre in the Sulivan district. Across the other side of Townmead Road there is a large Sainsbury’s, and Imperial Wharf, a brownfield development of the former Imperial Gasworks which is growing to include a mixture of affordable housing, both private and public, shops, a park and a new railway station.
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APRIL
13
2018

Nicoll Farm
Nicoll Farm is one of the earliest locations recorded in the Borehamwood area. Nicoll (Nicholl) Farm was built on land owned by Lord Aldenham. The farmhouse was built c.1500 with a crosswing added a century later. There was an early and mid eighteenth century extension, and 19th and 20th century additions.

The farm was interesting geologically as it occupied land suitable for growing crops whereas the surrounding area was mostly clay. Later in its life, it had an equestrian speciality.

By 1908, the farm was tenanted out to Joseph Still. Later the tenancy went to Douglas Dalton who was known for both his pigsty and his sausages.

Despite being green belt, a housing development was built on the site in the 2010s.
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APRIL
12
2018

The Fascination of Chelsea
The Fascination of Chelsea was a book published in 1902. It was written by Geraldine E. Mitton. It was part of the "Fascination of London" series edited by Walter Besant and published posthumously in 1902 following his death the previous year.

The original publishers were Adam & Charles Black (London).

The Spectator published the following contemporary review: "The Fascination of London : Chelsea. By G. E. Mitten. Edited by Sir W. Besant. (A. and C. Black. ls. 6d. net.)—This volitme, one of four on the same scale and with substantially the same author; ship, Mr. Mitten collaborating with Sir W. Besant, or having his work supervised by him, is an earnest of the great work on the Metropolis which Sir W. Besant contemplated. Each parish was to be perambulated and made the subject of a small book, Chelsea being chosen as a specimen, with . Hampstead, Westminster, and the Strand district. This is a very pleasant little book, the work of.a competent observer, who knows what to look for and how to deal with what be ...
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APRIL
11
2018

Abchurch Yard, EC4N
First mentioned in 1732, Abchurch Yard was built on the St Mary Abchurch churchyard. Although not one of the City’s most secluded byways, it is ideally situated at the side of a tiny lane – an antique area that has changed little in layout since the 12th century.

The bulk of Abchurch Yard, a paved square lying to the south of St Mary Abchurch, was once the graveyard to this outstanding church, and now, during the summer months, is prettily decked with tubs of colourful flowers. From the seats arranged along the church wall you can take time out to watch the scurrying lunchtime herds. Leading from the ‘square’, along the west side of Wren’s red bricked church, is the old churchyard path, now formed as a narrow lane but retaining, through its name, a link with centuries past.

The present church was built in 1681 after its predecessor was destroyed on the 3rd September 1666, a victim of the Great Fire. Although it is one of the smallest of Wren’s City churches, the almost square interior is made to appear spacious by the great do...
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APRIL
10
2018

St Mary Mounthaw
St Mary Mounthaw or Mounthaut was a parish church in Old Fish Street Hill. The church was originally built as a chapel for the house of the Mounthaunt family, from Norfolk, from whom the church took its name. In around 1234 the house and the patronage of the church were bought by Ralph de Maydenstone, Bishop of Hereford. He left it to his successors as bishop, who used the house as their London residence. One of them, John Skypp, personal chaplain to (and champion of) Anne Boleyn, was buried in the church.

The church was enlarged and partly rebuilt in 1609, partly at the cost of Robert Bennet, Bishop of Hereford. The next year new glass was installed, at the cost of Thomas Tyler and Richard Tichburne.

Along with the majority of the 97 parish churches in the City of London, St Mary Mounthaw was destroyed by the Great Fire in September 1666. In 1670 a Rebuilding Act was passed and a committee set up under Sir Christopher Wren to decide which would be rebuilt. St Mary Mounthaw was not one of those chosen; instead the parish was uni...
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APRIL
8
2018

Marlow Workshops, E2
Marlow Workshops is a Victorian block containing a mixture of residential and commercial use. They consist of a terrace of Grade II listed industrial workshops and were built in 1899

The residential part of the block is accessed via a private forecourt.
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APRIL
7
2018

York Way, WD6
York Way is the remnant of a service road which used to serve the MGM studios. with the demise of the MGM Borehamwood studios in the early 1970s, the studio was vacant for a while before Christian Salveson - a Scottish logistics company - moved there. Salveson demolished the backlot and built storage facilities. However they retained the distinctive MGM tower and added their logo.

When Salveson in turn moved out, the chance was taken to develop an industrial estate. This meant the demolition of the last MGM buildings.
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APRIL
6
2018

Haydon Street, EC3N
Haydon Street heads east from the Minories. The earliest mention of Haydon Street seems to be on Greenwood’s map, 1827. Earlier forms of the streetname were "Heydons Yard" (1677). "Heydon Yard" (Rocque, 1746). "Haydon Yard" (Horwood, 1799).

The name is derived from the family of Heydon, who were well known in the district. Captain John Heydon occupied the Minories officially as Master of the Ordnance 1627-1642, and took a great interest in the precinct.
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APRIL
5
2018

Haydon Street, E1
The eastern end of Haydon Street was called Mansell Passage. It was known by this name as a railway cut off the greater part of Haydon Street to the west. When the railway disappeared the two parts of Haydon Street were combined.
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APRIL
4
2018

America Square, EC3N
America Square is a street and small square, built in about 1760 and dedicated to the American colonies. America Square was developed as part of plans by George Dance the Younger in 1768-1774.

Nathan Meyer Rothschild lived at No. 14 in the 19th century. The square was bombed in 1941, and Rothschild’s house was demolished.

Today, America Square is occupied by offices, restaurants and a gym.
»read full article

APRIL
2
2018

Petticoat Lane Market
Petticoat Lane Market is a fashion and clothing market in the East End. It consists of two adjacent street markets. Wentworth Street Market is open six days a week and Middlesex Street Market is open on Sunday only.

It is one of a number of traditional markets located to the east of the City of London. A few hundred yards to the north is Old Spitalfields Market, which has been refurbished, and across Commercial Street, to the east, lies Brick Lane Market. A half mile further east is the Columbia Road Flower Market. Petticoat Lane Market was not formally recognised until an Act of Parliament in 1936, but its long history as an informal market makes it possibly one of the oldest surviving markets in Britain.

The name Petticoat Lane came from not only the sale of petticoats but from the fable that "they would steal your petticoat at one end of the market and sell it back to you at the other."

In Tudor times, Middlesex Street was known as Hogs Lane, a pleasant lane lined by hedgerows and elms. It is thought city ba...
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APRIL
1
2018

Holy Trinity, Minories
Holy Trinity, Minories was a Church of England parish church outside the eastern boundaries of the City of London, but within the Liberties of the Tower of London. The parish covered an area previously occupied by the precincts of the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate, founded by Edmund Crouchback, in 1293, for a group of Spanish nuns of the Order of St. Clare who arrived with his wife. The nuns were also known as the Minoresses – which came to be adapted as the name for the district, Minories. The nunnery was surrendered to the Crown in 1539, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the buildings, excluding the chapel, were used as an armory for the Tower of London, and later, as a workhouse. Some of the abbey buildings survived until their destruction by fire in 1797.

The liberty was incorporated in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney in 1899, and today is within the City of London.

The nuns’ chapel became a parish church. Considerable changes were made to the building: all the ancient monuments were removed, a gallery, a new pulpit and pews were installed, and a steeple was built...
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