Brief history of Southwark Cathedral

Southwark cathedral is one of London's oldest Gothic buildings and is one of the few churches in London of the early English style (only other example is the temple church which is of a transitional period). It began life as a priory founded in 1106 by two Norman knights known as St Mary's Overie, The latter part of the name meaning St Mary's over the water (to London). In 1212 there was a devastating fire and the priory was mostly rebuilt in the early English Gothic style. After the dissolution of the monasteries the church was renamed St Saviour and remained royal property until it was bought by a group of merchants in 1611. It was a parish church since the reformation and a cathedral since 1905. 

The new London bridge of the 1830's played a pivotal role in the history of the cathedral. The bridge committee wanted to demolish the entire church and rebuild it smaller further west as London bridge was moved closer to the church. However, after much debate and persuasion the decision was finally taken to restore the church. Despite the church being saved it would lose much of its medieval fabric, first the lady chapel (to the east of the church) was demolished for the new approach to London bridge and also in the 1830's the nave was pronounced unsafe. By the early nineteenth centuey most of the church was in a poor state and at risk of collapse. Its savior was the young George Gwilt who strengthened the tower in 1818 and in 1821 restored the chancel and the retro-quire. The crumbling thirteenth century nave was in dire need of restoration, although it was decided to demolish it instead, using a unorthodox method of demolition they took off the roof leaving it exposed to the elements for 8 years. After the nave had degraded to a ruinous state they blew what remained of it up. They then employed Henry Rose to build a Gothick (not a misspelling) nave which so horrified people no records of its design were kept and it was demolished in less than a century. In 1890 the present nave was completed by Sir Arthur Bloomfield, as a close copy to what once stood for hundreds of years in an early English style. 

The building has fragments from each period of medieval architecture in England. In the wall of the north transept are fragments of the original Norman monastery. The church is dominated by the Early English style which is evident in the chancel and the retro-quire (and the old nave). The two most distinguishing features of the church are the early English retro-quire and the Triforium (pictured left- {the arcade of arches underneath the windows}). It also has some of the Decorated style which is evident in the south transept. The church also displays the late Gothic style of Perpendicular in the tower which was built around 1400 after rebuilding from a small fire in the 1390's. Also in the church is the Victorian Gothic revival style in the nave and extensions on the north and south transepts. Although it does not have the character and age of the medieval fabric the rebuilding on the inside at least has been generally sympathetic. On the outside however, the building has been much more altered, most obviously with the black flit covering which was added in the late nineteenth century restoration. 

The George Inn

The George inn is one of London’s many relics from its medieval past. Although built in the late seventeenth century it is similar in design and function to many Inns which of the medieval city. The George Inn is tucked away off Borough high street south of the river. It was rebuilt in 1676 after a fire destroyed much of the south bank. It remains now the last galleried coaching Inn in London and only one of two coaching inns left. It would have originally stood in an area with many similar Inns on the approach to London however over the years they have been slowly removed mostly by the railway companies who also almost destroyed the George. Although the Inn was not lost like many others, two of the Inns sides and much of the back of the building were taken down to build a goods warehouse leaving only the south side (shown above left) of the inn as authentic. 

The building is listed grade one by English heritage as it is a rare example of the old coaching inns which would have once been common through-out London. The George inn is almost unique in having managed to escape the bulldozers which flattened most of the cities coaching inns. The inn is now maintained and conserved by the National Trust, although it is far from a museum with a lively pub on the ground floor. The best example of a London coaching Inn was the Oxford arms which was sadly demolished in the Victorian era.

Brief history of St Giles Cripplegate

The church of St Giles Cripplegate was first built in 1090 and was dedicated to St Giles the patron saint of Blacksmiths and cripples. The part of the name 'Cripplegate' existed before the church (it was Anglo-Saxon). The site stood just outside the walls and Cripplegate (a large section of wall is visible to the south of the church) in a marshy area known as Moorfields. It was rebuilt in 1390 in a perpendicular style but suffered a major fire in 1545, although after the fire it was rebuilt much as it was before. The church was saved from destruction in the great fire by the city walls which prevented it from spreading further northwards. The top of the tower was rebuilt in brick in 1682 which was also when the wooden cupola was added (although the present one is modern). During the Georgian era as the surrounding area became more habitable and the residents more affluent the church was gentrified with the addition of pews and galleries. In the Victorian era as with many other churches the building underwent a large restoration project. Much was done to the church, the Georgian alterations were torn out and the building was enriched with battlements and a rag stone facing giving the church a more medieval appearance. 

The church was gutted by the bombing during the Second World War which decimated the surrounding area. Until the war the church was surrounded with a maze of lanes and houses, after the war much was destroyed and those which were left were demolished for the new Barbican estate. The church now stands marooned in the centre of the Barbican estate. The image left © shows the destruction war brought in the nave.  

The church was restored relatively sympathetically by Geoffrey Allen in the 1950's and was reopened along with the opening of the Barbican complex. The Image bottom left shows a modern drawing of the church. The image bottom right ©  shows the church within its original context with houses pressed up against it. 

Houses in Three Colt street

This row of seventeenth century houses in east end on Three colt street represent the picturesque appearance of many London's streets at turn of the last century.

The houses were of a basic design with weatherboarding and three of them with  gables. Weatherboarding was a common form of cladding which protected brickwork or a less resilient material from erosion. Each building had a shop on the ground floor and accommodation on the upper floors. For most of their lives they would have been overlooked as architecturally insignificant and were similar to many other buildings in London, once being a common occurrence. It is only now after the demolition of most of these buildings that they seem to be significant, no house such as these with weatherboarding and very few of the same age have survived. They were seen as slums or just old and withered in their time today if they had survived today they would have been conserved and appreciated for their likeness for how much they represented pre-modern London. These buildings which lasted for centuries would no doubt outlived their 1950's replacements if they hadn't been lost. 

 Using evidence from old maps it seems the two buildings highlighted in  red were demolished some time between 1916 and 1919. The other three survived for a few more years as in 1923 there is photographic evidence (bottom) showing the remaining three still  standing although in a extreme state of decay in which two were derelict. Between 1923 and 1947 the remaining buildings disappear from the map. I can only speculate how they were lost as they seemed insignificant and unworthy of recording. They could have been damaged in the war, although its more likely they fell down or were demolished as a dangerous building. From a map of 1947 it can be seen that Lance street was extended, passing through the site of the houses to join up with the street Ropemakers fields. Currently on the site is Padstow house, a bleak 1950's housing block. Lance street no longer exists nor does ropemakers fields opposite the houses, both have been swallowed up by roadless large post-war housing  estates. 

The image above is superimposed on current location with the older image dating to 1900. The older image was used on the front cover of Phillip Davies's 'Lost London'. The image left © shows the row in a advanced state of decay in 1923. They appear to be in a dire state with no windows. 

Aldgate high street

Aldgate high street was once a street leading to one of the eight gates of London and was thus a important travelling route in and out of the city. Due to this the street developed a collection of grand timber framed buildings, of which many used as pubs and inns for travellers. Most of the buildings on the road dated from the seventeenth century, although there were too some of the mid sixteenth century. The great fire of London left the area untouched, it stopped only 50 meters from the street which allowed many of these buildings to survive until the Victorian era.

The image left shows the south side of the street showing an area known as 'the shambles'. One of the most interesting set of buildings on the high street (in my personal opinion) are the two buildings on the right of the photograph. Unlike many ordinary buildings of a similar date (look at those to the left) they seem to be elaborately carved with some interesting fine detail on the woodwork. The work could of course be entirely fake, perhaps a Victorian concoction, but from the photograph there is really no way of knowing. If they are original then it may suggest they were occupied by a wealthier owner and perhaps they were up to their demolition as they look better kept than others in the photograph.

The photograph left shows the Saracen's Head Inn which was also on south side of Aldgate (on the corner with Jewry street) with a name taken from crusades. However, the inn is not as old as might be suspected as there is only evidence for its existence after 1721. The building itself on the other hand is older, perhaps mid-late seventeenth century with rectangular bays, quite similar in design to the Hoop and grapes pub. Through the passage which can be glimpsed when you look to ground level (under the left bay) led to 'poor' Jewry lane. By 1868 the Inn had gone and by 1909 the building was being used as a restaurant (photograph taken in 1880) the building was demolished sometime after 1909. It stood on what is today Jewry street (just off the high street) and there is a plaque marking the site of Saracens head yard.

On the North side of Street were more timber framed buildings, most of them were pubs and inns. Most of the pubs had a coaching Inn attached and a yard to the rear. They were built to serve travellers as accommodation when visiting the city, the street was on route to Aldgate gate (an exit & entrance to the city) hence the large number of coaching inns. The pubs had a variety of names, there was the Black horse pub as well as the Bull yard (image shown left), the strangest name perhaps was the Three nuns yard. The Bull yard left is typical of most of these inns, a pub at the front with a passageway through the ground floor usually leading to accommodation in the lane at the rear. The image was drawn in 1890, and the building must have survived until the late Victorian era, through the passage is Aldgate high street.  

The late Victorian period changed the look of Aldgate drastically. In less than five years most of these buildings mentioned were destroyed. They were demolished as they stood in the way of progress, more specifically the development of London's railway infrastructure. Much of the north side was demolished first to build Aldgate station in 1876, although some of the pubs survived (e.g Bull inn) but they were too demolished later for offices. Most of the south side was then demolished in 1880 to build the south bound extension of the Metropolitan railway to tower hill which was completed in 1882. Today much of the street feels drained of character with many empty gaps on the south side and large modern office buildings on the north. Quite a contrast to the medieval buildings which stood compactly on small pieces of land.

Although much has gone from the medieval built past, there is a small row of buildings still remaining huddled together on a large junction at the east end of the street. The Hoop and Grapes and two adjacent buildings make a row of Sixteenth century timber framed survivors of the destruction of the street. The pub, the Hoop and Grapes was built around 1593 with the other two buildings probably from a similar period some time at the end of the sixteenth century. The building to the right was refaced in the eighteenth century in brick but behind the facade is a sixteenth century core which still survives. There is evidence for the buildings age in the gable on the roof above the parapet. Underneath the pub are a impressive set of thirteenth century cellars from an earlier building on the site. 

The pub has recently reopened after refurbishment, although not as drastic as when it and next door left were completely restored in the 1980's. The 1980's restoration by Lewisham based contractors Wynn involved the very expensive operation of propping up the fragile original timber frame with a specially designed steel frame, at a cost £1.2m. The timber frame was weak and the building had sheared sideways by 18inches, it was in danger of impending collapse and was served a dangerous structure notice. The timber is no longer a structural element to the building, it was stripped back to frame and decaying timbers were replaced with the building being rebuilt to the original design. This restoration has saved the building and the final medieval composition of the street.

There was once a forth building completing the composition which had a gable and a double height bay window. It was demolished sometime after 1908 and stood next to the right brick building where there is now a advertising board on a empty site. 

St Etheldreda

St Etheldreda is a rare medieval Catholic church just off high Holborn in the centre of London. The name originates from the Anglo-Saxon saint who founded the monastery at Ely in 673 by the name of AEthelthryth (or Etheldrea). She was a popular saint at the time of the churches construction and many religious buildings commemorated her. The church was built in the thirteenth century around 1290 as a chapel. built by William De Luda the bishop of Ely on top of an earlier possibly roman structure. From its construction to 1570 it served as the bishop of Ely's town chapel in London, once part of a palace for the bishops of Ely for their visits to the city. The picture bottom left shows the palace complex, with the chapel in red and the Bishops palace below it. The area around the chapel was not damaged by the Great fire in 1666 as it stood some way out of the city walls. In the eighteenth century the bishops were forced by an act of parliament to sell the chapel to the crown. The crown then sold to Charles Cole, an architect and developer who demolished everything on the site but the chapel. He built Ely place which is lined with fine Georgian houses and restored the chapel which was reopened in 1786.

Barely a century later the chapel changed hands again as it was bought in 1874 by the Roman Catholic church. This makes St Etheldreda one of only a few medieval buildings own by the Catholic church. It became a scheduled ancient monument in 1925 by the royal commission on historical monuments who recognising its importance. However, it came under attack from German air raids during the Second World War. It was badly damaged when a bomb tore a hole in the roof, destroying much of the roof and shattering the Victorian stained glass. Thankfully the fine thirteenth century tracery in the west window miraculously survived the bombing unscathed. After the war the church was sensitively restored and remains a interesting piece of history in a quiet corner of the busy centre of London. 

The church consists of two levels, a chapel above and a under croft below, a layout typical in private chapels. The most distinguished feature of the church is its fine thirteenth century early decorated tracery in the west window (the Ely place street side of the chapel). The church is a rare example of the decorated style in the city of London, the tracery being some of the only of this style and date in the city. The west window also claims to be the largest stained glass window in London which seems unlikely but is in fact true.  

Oxford Arms

The Oxford arms was one of London's many seventeenth Century galleried coaching inns. Its demolition in 1876 was as controversial as the demolition of the Euston arch some 85 years later. Like the arch it resulted in a change of public opinion as people finally came to valve historically important buildings. The Inn was one such building. It stood in a courtyard off Warwick Lane near Ludgate hill in the shadow of St Paul's cathedral. The area around it was devastated by fire in the great fire of London but the Inn was rebuilt afterwards bigger and better than before. Its  destruction in 1876 led to the Formation of Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings a year later in 1877 set up among others by William Morris. 

The building itself is a galleried Inn on three or four sides (There is no record showing west side of inn). The East side (shown on the 1875 image consists of three floors with attic windows. The north and South side are of similar design but with one less floor. On the east side the first and second floors have a gallery where when it was used as a inn people would have had a room. In the courtyard below there would have been a stable block and most likely a pub.

The Society of Photographing Relics of old London who took visual records of buildings under threat of demolition (to which we owe the few images of the Inn) tried to lobby the owners to prevent its destruction however they could not save it. The loss galvanised public opinion and became a land mark in the conservation movement. London's most famous coaching inn was redeveloped to be replaced  by warehouses. In reality the Inn could not have been saved, for many years it had been derelict and as can be seen on the photo it was in a dire state of disrepair. In the Victorian era it would not have found another use and would have probably continued to decay until finally being demolished years later. It also would have probably been lost in the Bombings of the Second World War if it had of survived since the whole district around St Paul's was badly damaged. The only one example of a galleried Inn which remains is the George Inn south of the river in Southwark. 

Its present day location is not known but by re-creating the view shown on the picture of 1875 the area in which it once stood can be traced. Note in the picture in the middle above from Google Earth the building in the foreground is not in the same position as the Oxford arms and as it is on the opposite side of the road. The location of this image is just behind Amen corner above the modern St Paul's house. Amen corner consists of a row of seventeenth century houses which I the Oxford arms once stood behind. On the picture of 1875 on the top right corner there are several chimney stacks which I believe to be part of the Seventeenth century row of houses which still remain today. The red circle on the image bottom above shows the approximate location of the former Oxford arms where the modern St Paul's house is today. 

left  an image showing the North east corner of the Inn

All Hallows staining

On Mark street around the corner from Fenchurch Station stands a curious old tower now dwarfed by modern office blocks. The tower belonged to the medieval church of All Hallows staining. The name All hallows staining refers to the stone used in its construction which distinguished itself from the other fourteenth century churches which were predominantly wooden in this area of London. Many churches were still made of wood with only a few made of expensive stone, as London became more prosperous the number of stone churches increased. The church was first mentioned in the twelfth century when it would have most likely had a small nave and primitive tower. The tower was rebuilt around 1320 to the one which we see today and it could be assumed that the nave was also rebuilt around this time. 

The photo top left shows the church in a map of London during King Henry VIII rule (1509 to 1547) with the nave in yellow and the tower to the left. During the Great fire of London the church was not initially destroyed but the nave of the church collapsed a few years later, probably due to the heat of the fire. The nave was rebuilt afterwards in 1674 in a similar form to the old one. The church continued to be used for 200 years with little change until 1870 when the parish of All Hallows Staining and St Olave Hart street were combined. The church became redundant and everything was demolished in 1870 except the tower which was saved by the cloth-workers guild and retained.  

During the war the tower was undamaged but the neighbouring church of St Olave Hart street was left a burnt out shell. A temporary church was set up at the site of all hallows in a new nave constructed from timber. This temporary structure provided the parish with a church until St Olave could be restored which it was after the war in 1954. The churches third nave was demolished leaving the tower to standing alone once again. The tower was partly restored some time after the war in which the large arches at the base were filled in creating a small room inside the tower. This created a usable space so the tower could have more of a use than standing as a redundant ruin. Before the war the ground floor of the tower had been open as can be seen on the photograph of 1941 left ©. The photograph also shows in the background the ruins of the cloth-workers' hall after an air raid. Underneath the tower are the remains of a twelfth century crypt which was preserved by the cloth-workers moved from St James in the wall when it was demolished in 1873. 

From a architectural perspective the tower is underwhelming and has few features of real interest. Most of the windows are of Perpendicular Gothic apart from the west window which is Decorated Gothic. This suggests that most windows were added some years after the tower was built (with exception of west window). The north-west side of the tower is corned by a small octagonal stair turret which like the rest of the tower is topped with castle like castellations. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pervsner had little to say about the tower and summed it up in two lines- 'Pulled down in 1870 except for the small west tower, which now stands against the huge wall of Dunster House'. Despite this it was listed a grade 1 by English heritage in 1950.

A drawing showing the church before the demolition of the nave 

24 Cloth Fair

24 Cloth Fair or the Dick Whittington Inn was a building of the sixteenth century once part of a row of medieval buildings lining the street. It stood at the end of cloth fair with the junction to Kinghorn street. It was a simple three story building once common in the ancient streets of London with an attic gable and slightly jettied (overhang) on the second floor. It was allegedly the oldest Inn in London although it was actually only given a licence in 1848 and there are many pubs in London older than this, one of the oldest is believed to be the Seven Stars on Carey street Holborn. 

The building was acquired by the corporation of London and along with many other medieval houses along cloth fair which had stood for hundreds of years they were demolished in 1916 for 'slum clearance'. On the opposite end of the terrace there is one survivor of the slum clearance (41&42 Cloth fair) which was restored instead of demolished showing that they could all have been retained without too much effort. Today the space is taken by a dull modern building showing that the replacement for this priceless piece of history did not even last one century. Note the Victorian building in the background which has managed to survive mostly unchanged when all other buildings have vanished.

The image below right © from Google maps shows the location of the former Whittington Inn (in red) and around where the picture was taken (in yellow). The image below left © from 1888 shows the Inn in the context of its neighbours where it can be seen to be in a very ancient area of London. 

13 Portsmouth street

13 Portsmouth street or the old curiosity shop as it is known is a modest timber-framed building in Holborn London. It would have been insignificant and overlooked for most of its life, that is until that is it acquired the name ‘the old curiosity shop’. Soon afterwards it became very popular with tourists believing it to have a literature connection. It claims to be the inspiration of Dickens novel by the same name. This unfortunately is not true as It was also only added after the novel was released. It was a hoax by the shop owner who wanted to attract more business. The building has been used for many things over the years, it was a dairy in King Charles II reign, a waste paper merchant in the Victorian era until around 1900, a Antique shop and since 1992 a upmarket shoe shop. When it shut as a antique shop in the 1970's it was founded frozen in time with notes and receipts dating back to the 1920's. 

It was built in 1567 with wood from old sailing ships. It has managed to survive the eighteenth and nineteenth century redevelopment of Holborn and the blitz unscathed. Although the building survived, much of the area around it has been redeveloped with the Holborn new road scheme which means that today the building is dwarfed by much larger and newer buildings. From an architectural point of view there is very little to describe, it is a simple two story timber framed building with an overhanging first floor and hipped roof. It is listed 2 * by English heritage due to its literacy connection with Charles Dickens. 

This was one of the only survivors of the clearances from 1900-1905 for the new Kingsway road which passed straight through the area. Many buildings of similar antiquity were lost especially in the clearance of Wych Street .

Get your very own model of the old curiosity shop at  http://www.englishvillagedesigns.co.uk/sheet-models-1.htm