London Photos | >Re-PHOTO

Grosvenor Canal, Chelsea & Belgravia 1988

Grosvenor Canal, Grosvenor Rd, Chelsea, Westminster, 1988 88-4n-53-positive_2400 — *Grosvenor Canal, Grosvenor Rd, Chelsea, Westminster, 1988 88-4n-53*

The Grosvenor Canal, now only vestigial, is one of London’s least-known canals, opened in 1824 when the Earl of Grosvenor decided to add a lock and turn what had been a tidal creek with a tide mill and feeding reservoirs for drinking water at Chelsea Waterworks (at right in picture) into a short canal, around three quarters of a mile long ending at a large basin, Grosvenor Basin. The lock needed two gates at the end where it connected to the river as the canal level could be higher or lower than the tidal river. The main traffic then on the canal was coal for the many houses in Westminster.

Victoria Station was built on much of this basin site in 1858, and when the station was expanded in 1902, the upper half of the canal was closed and the lower half sold to Westminster City Council who used it for barges carrying refuse. They closed more in 1925 to build the Ebury Bridge estate, but a short section was still in use, with barges taking Westminster’s rubbish onto the Thames, when I made this picture. It was then the last commercial canal in London. It closed in 1995 and has since been redeveloped as Grosvenor Waterside. More on Wikipedia

Savills, Sloane St, Sloane Square, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-61-positive_2400 — *Savills, Sloane St, Sloane Square, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-61*

An estate agent selling the grand houses in the area with offices in a rather grand Grade II listed house on Sloane St, dating from the late 18th century. The listing text notes that the ground floor – reached up eight steps from the pavement – is in commercial use and describes the ground floor windows as wide, “with stucco fan motif lunettes above”.

Bourne St, Belgravia, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-62-positive_2400 — *Bourne St, Belgravia, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-62*

A long white passageway with a charming lamp at the end hanging from wrought iron supports, behind a slightly more prosaic wrought iron gate. I wouldn’t have photographed it, not having a great love of the twee, but for the rather more practical lamp fitting at left with its cable housing leading rather nicely vertically down the wall to the curving shadow on the floor.

Bourne St, Belgravia, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-63-positive_2400 — *Bourne St, Belgravia, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-63*

White fences have had a particular attraction for photographers since an iconic image by Paul Strand at Port Kent in 1916, though I make no suggestion that this is anywhere in the same league. But it did seem an awful lot of white fence in a rather confined space.

Skinner Place, Belgravia, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-64-positive_2400 — Skinner Place, Belgravia, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-64

Skinner Place looked like something from a rather meaner part of London, perhaps somewhere in Bethnal Green mysteriously translocated into Belgravia (which would have increased its price by a large factor.) But it was the huge union flag blocking the end of the street that I really liked, along with the rounded block of flats behind.

Cranley Mews, South Kensington, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4o-15-positive_2400 — *Cranley Mews, South Kensington, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4o-15*

The Henry Smith Charity was established on the death of Henry Smith (1549-1628) who lived and profited through interesting times, lending money to many landed families and amassing large landholdings from their misfortunes. He left detailed instructions for the administration of his estates, and the charity trustees in 1640 bought “a marshy estate of mainly market gardens just outside London, in the parish of Kensington.” According the the charity web site, “Nearly four centuries after we were first established, The Henry Smith Charity is one of the largest grant making charities in Britain; making grants of £39.8 million in 2020.”

Smiths Charity, corruption, Cranley Mews, South Kensington, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4o-14-positive_2400 — *Smiths Charity, corruption, Cranley Mews, South Kensington, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4o-14*

I spent some time reading the notices in this picture, but ended up little the wiser about the eviction of Major Parson in the 1970s, and the corruption alleged to have been involved. Reading a post from David Swarbrick about a 1974 legal case did little to help me but may held my legal friends.

Click on any of the above to see a large version and explore more pictures in my album 1988 London Photos.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Around the Fulham Rd: 1988

Redcliffe Square, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-16-positive_2400 — Redcliffe Square, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-16

Redcliffe Square, part of the Gunter estate in unusual in that the garden in its centre is open to the public. It was given free to the local authority, now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in 1949 with the proviso that the character of this tree-lined space was not changed. It’s a pleasant place to sit in the shade on a hot summer day. The street along its west side, called Redcliffe Gardens was an old north-south track through the area, previously called Walnut Tree Walk.

Robert Gunter employed George and Henry Gunter as surveyors and architects for the estate development, and Redcliffe Square was built to their designs in 1869–76. My picture show the front steps of No 6, as the east corner and houses in the eastern extension of the street towards The Little Boltons. None of the houses in the square are listed – its only listed building is a telephone kiosk. The Gunters came from Bristol and brought the name Redcliffe from there.

The Octagon, St Mark's College, Fulham Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-21-positive_2400 — *The Octagon, St Mark’s College, Fulham Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-21*

The Octagon at 459b Fulham Road was a part of one of the first teacher training colleges in the country. It was founded 1841 with Derwent Coleridge its first principal and Edward Blore its architect, probably responsible for this building in 1843 in what he described as a Byzantine style, but seems to be more Romanesque. It was built as “practising school” for the students with a classroom full of desk, and was originally only a single storey, with the rest being added 5 years later.

The building was converted into a library in 1953. The college merged with various others over the years and moved away in 1973 after its land which extends south to Kings Road was compulsorily purchased for a road building scheme which appears no to have materialised. It was bought by Chelsea College in 1980, and in 1989 after their 1985 merger with King’s College was put on sale. It is now a dwelling.

The Chapel, St Mark's College, Fulham Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-22-positive_2400 — The Chapel, St Mark’s College, Fulham Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-22

The neighbouring chapel at 459a Fulham Road was again by Edward Blore, this time in a Lombardy Romanesque style, and was built to serve both the college and the local community. Permission was granted in 2013 for it to be converted into two private residencies.

Marine Stores, Fulham Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-23-positive_2400 — *Marine Stores, Fulham Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-23*

Unsurprisingly there is no longer a scrap metal dealer occupying this shop on the corner of St Mark’s Grove, but an estate agents. 340 Fulham Rd had been Marine Stores at least since1940, probably rather earlier, but I’ve no idea why it got that name.

The houses were build at St Mark’s Terrace shortly after the land was bought in 1844 with front gardens, which were later converted to these shops. The land was sold by the Equitable Gas Light Company, who had been planning a gas works in the area on the Kensington Canal but changed their mind and built it in Westminster. (British History Online.)

Hollywood Arms, Hollywood Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-26a-positive_2400 — *Hollywood Arms, Hollywood Rd, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-26*

The developers of the Redcliffe estate planned from the start to include shops and adjoining public houses, and the Hollywood Arms first opened in 1866. The pub is Grade II listed. It predates the settlement in California that became synonomous with commercial film. That was apparently named after an earlier estate in Illinois, which was apparently named after a small village in County Wicklow, Ireland and perhaps this street and pub got their name from that same place.

Chapel, Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-33-positive_2400 — *Chapel, Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-33*

Finally for today, three pictures from Brompton Cemetery.

Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-36-positive_2400 — *Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-36*

Photographers tend to spend a lot of time in cemeteries, though I suspect I went there as a quiet place to rest and eat my sandwich lunch.

Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-42-positive_2400 — Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-42

Robert Coombes (1808-1860), though a rather small and light man, was the fastest oarsman of his era and was later trained both Oxford and Cambridge crews for their annual Boat Race. He died in poverty in a lunatic asylum, but friends and admirers paid for a magnificent Grae II listed tomb, on top of which is an upturned boat and the Doggetts Coat and Badge arms. All four oarsmen at the corners have lost their heads.

Brompton: 1988

Brompton Rd, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-51-positive_2400 — *Brompton Rd, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-51*

Estate Agents seemed to be taking over the world and this large Foxton’s seemed to symbolise this. In an article in ‘Property Chronicle‘ in 2020, Dan Channer suggests that Foxtons is the only UK Estate Agent brand “truly differentiated” for several reasons, one of which was that “It spent money on its offices like no other agent.” This building is perhaps an example of this and part of what has made them probably the most hated estate agent by those opposed to gentrification. Perhaps surprisingly this building on the Brompton Rd, though still and estate agents is now a branch of the other contender for that title, Savills.

Egerton Gardens, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-62-positive_2400 — *Egerton Gardens, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-62*

Although the street sign says Egerton Crescent which is the address of the row of Grade II listed houses, I was standing in Egerton Gardens, and the garden with its threes and flowering daffodils is the garden between the two. The street is one of several to have been described in recent years as the “most expensive street in Britain”, with average house prices in 2015 of over £7.5m. (Wikipedia.) Among those who have lived there are broadcaster David Frost and film director Tony Richardson.

These houses were designed by George Basevi and built by in the 1840s as Brompton Crescent by developer James Bonnin, responsible for much of the development in the area (and other parts of London) from 1822 on. Bonnin leased the site in 1843 and some of the houses were occupied by 1845, with the work being completed by 1848. The site had previously been occupied by a mansion named Brompton Grange, which was demolished. The street was renamed Egerton Crescent in 1896 after the Honourable Francis Egerton, one of the trustees of the Smith’s Charity who owned the land.

Egerton Terrace, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-65-positive_2400 — *Egerton Terrace, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-65*

This Grade II listed terrace was also built on land owned by the Smith’s Charity and Basevi may possibly have been involved in its design. This cul-de-sac at the east end of Egerton Gardens was also developed by Bonnin in the 1840s on the land he leased in 1843, and was originally called Michael’s Grove.

Brompton Oratory, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-66-positive_2400 — Brompton Oratory, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-66

Anglicans who followed the lead of John Henry Newman and became Catholics in the middle of the 19th century first established a London Oratory near Charing Cross, but soon purchased a site in Brompton in 1852. They first built an Oratory House and temporary church but in 1874 launched an appeal to build this Italianate Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, more commonly known as the Brompton Oratory. They held a competition for the design, which was won by Herbert Gribble in 1876 and the church was consecrated in 1884, although it was made taller and the cupola added in 1895. (Wikipedia). The church is Grade II* listed.

Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-11-positive_2400 — *Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-11*

This is one I took for the tree, and shows why I liked photographing on London streets in winter when you see the remarkable patterns made by the branches. Of course there is another huge advantage, as in summer you can’t see the houses for the trees in many streets which created an impenetrable green barrier.

Although I find Google’s Streetview extremely useful at times – and check any locations I’m unsure about using it, one extremely annoying feature is that it only seems to have views taken between April and October, many of which are obscured by leaves. That seems a poor decision. The earliest views were taken in 2008, and its often useful to be able to go back to that date; if it had been going in 1988 I might not have thought my long walks necessary, though you often find that it doesn’t allow quite the view you want.

Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-12a-positive_2400 — *Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-12*

Here’s another picture of Harcourt Terrace where you can see some of the houses.

Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-13-positive_2400 — *Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-13*

And walking a little further down the street shows a little more variety.

Land in this area south of Brompton Road was bought up by the builders and consolidated by around 1866 and became the Redcliffe estate. Building continued until around 1876 with over 800 houses and “72 mews premises” (British History Online) The builders, William Corbett and Alexander McClymont, were noted for their modern methods, including the use of steam powered joiner’s machinery and building fire-resistant roofs, but went bankrupt in 1878 with liabilities of around one-and-a-quarter million pounds. William Corbett in his earlier years described himself as an accountant, and the huge debt was possibly a result of the work being based on unconventional “modern” accounting methods. Fortunately most of the building was completed by then.

Redcliffe Mews, Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-14-positive_2400 — *Redcliffe Mews, Harcourt Terrace, Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4n-14*

Redcliffe Mews is behind the houses on the west side of Harcourt Terrace and is one of the few mews in this area. The date of 1869 probably applies to the terraces on the main street as well as the mews behind them.

Click on any of the images to see a larger version in my album 1988 London Photos

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Around Sloane Square & Brompton: 1988

Four Eyes, Opticians, Shop, Sloane Square, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-16-positive_2400 — *For Eyes, Opticians, Shop, Sloane Square, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-16*

I perhaps need an eye test, as when I was captioning this picture to go onto Flickr I called it ‘Four Eyes’, a term of abuse for schoolboy spectacle wearers. But perhaps I was referring to the door at left which has very much a face on it with the two circular panels and a letter box and a know for the nose, panels of facial hair on each side and a lower letter box for a mouth, along with the cut-off face of a man walking into the picture at extreme left.

Or perhaps I just thought ‘Four Eyes’ was a better name for an opticians rather than the prosaic ‘For Eyes’. The shop at 136 Sloane St is long gone, though the building remains and this is now a part of a wider shopfront.

Shop, Cadogan St, Halsey St, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-21-positive_2400 — *Shop, Cadogan St, Halsey St, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-21*

The term ‘corner shop’ conjures up something far to plebian for this location, though this is one of a pair of them on the junction of Cadogan St and Halsey St. One is now an Estate Agents and this one an office for a company advising wealthy clients on their investments.

Cadogan Gardens, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 198888-4m-25-positive_2400 — *Cadogan Gardens, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-25*

Cadogan Gardens, originally Leete St, a part of the Cadogan Estate was rebuilt in 1887 in a Queen Anne Rivival style. No 20 apparently dates from 1891 and was built by Henry John Wright who also built some other houses on Lord Cadogan’s estate. The previously rather poor area was one of speculative building for the growing upper middle classes who often had large families – there were no reliable or widely used methods of contraception and women who survived childbirth continued to produce children until menopause. The house was converted into flats in the 1950s.

Donne Place, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-31-positive_2400 — *Donne Place, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-31*

Donne Place is a “mews Style cul-de-sac with pedestrian through road”, off Draycott Avenue in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The houses were built in the mid 19th century in what was then a poor area and the street was then known as Caroline Place. Other streets in the area have also changed names and when built it was a street off what had been Blacklands Lane, was then Marlborough Road and is now Draycott Avenue. Although sometimes described by estate agents as a mews, the forty or so houses were built as small family homes around the middle of the nineteenth century, along with other similar streets in the area. At the end of the street is the large block of Marlborough Buildings, two large blocks opened in 1890 by the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company to house 500 people.

A high-explosive bomb destroyed some of the area in 1940-41, and some properties and I think part or all of this one, at the corner with Bulls Gardens, a slightly earlier development, is probably one of these. Many of those in the street have been extensively rebuilt behind their facades (and in some cases below ground) in more recent years. Houses built as simple dwellings for the better-off working classes now sell for £2-3million.

Draycott Ave, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-32-positive_2400 — *Draycott Ave, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-32*

I think this building was probably at 163 Draycott Avenue, and though still standing, its frontage has been altered beyound recognition, with no trace of their the Draycott Gallery, Manguette or the subterranean L’escapade.

Milner St, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-42-positive_2400 — *Milner St, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-42*

10 Milner Street still looks much the same apart from a coat of paint and a new front door, and is still next to the entrance to St Catherine’s Mews, now with a less attractive gate that no longer matches the balcony. The shop at right is still an estate agent, but has changed from Lloyds to Stanley.

The house, often known as Stanley House, is Grade II listed as a substantial early mid-19th century house. It was built in 1855 by “Chelsea speculator John Dodd” as his Chelsea Home according to Wikipedia and the many web sites who have copied this information. I think this may be John Todd (1817-1897), the son of George Todd & Ann Beecroft of Durham who were married in 1815 at Bishop Wearmouth, Durham, England and is said to have moved to Middlesex where he became an builder and became rather rich.

Milner St, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-43-positive_2400 — *Milner St, Brompton, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-4m-43*

And these are the doors no longer present on 10 Milner St. The house became the home of famous horologist Courtenay Ilbert and housed his collection of clocks, watches, marine chronometers and sundials. His nephew, Michael Inchbald lived with him from 1945 and after his death refurbished the interiors in a manner that established his reputation as an interior designer. Inchbald’s then wife Jacqueline Ann Duncan founded the Inchbald School of Design, the first interior design school in Europe, in their family home in 1960. (Thanks again Wikipedia and their link to Christies.) It is still going strong but now at 7 Eaton Gate, where somewhere inside they possibly still have these doors.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

More Belgravia – 1988

Pantechnicon, Motcomb St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-14-positive_2400 — *Pantechnicon, Motcomb St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-14*

Until I photographed this building I had no idea of the origin of the word ‘Pantechnicon’, though I had heard it used to describe the large vans used for house removals. Seth Smith, (1791-1860) a vicar’s son from Wiltshire came to London and became one of the leading property developers of the West End in the 1820s, turning what had been a crime-infested lower-class swamp into the fashionable area with more than its fair share of respectable and immensly wealthy criminals we know now.

He filled an awkward triangular site left over by his other developments with a large building with an impressive Greek style facade of Doric columns for selling carriages and storing furniture for the wealthy residents of his new housing, and included an art gallery, coining a new upmarket name for it from the Greek pan (all) and techne (arts). Only this Grade II listed facade remains of the original building, most of which was destroyed by a fire in 1874.

Large furniture for large houses needed large vans to transport it, and the Pantechnicon company produced what were monsters for the age, up to 18ft long and 7 ft wide with a high roof and a lowered floor for extra height and easier loading – and their name large on the sides. Other removal companies were soon making similar large vans and the name ‘pantechnicon’ moved into general use for large furniture removal vans.

Belgrave Square, Grosvenor Crescent, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-31-positive_2400 — *Belgrave Square, Grosvenor Crescent, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-31*

Smith was responsible for much of the development of Mayfair, though most of his work there has been demolished, and also parts of Belgravia, although Belgrave and Eaton Squares were laid out by Thomas Cubitt, working for the Grosvenor Estate, which still owns much of the area, after an 1826 Act of Parliament allowed Lord Grosvenor to drain the infamous ‘Five Fields’ area and raise its level.

St George's Hospital, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-36-positive_2400 — *St George’s Hospital, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-36*

At the back of St George’s Hospital, probably in either Grosvenor Crescent or Lanesborough Place. You can see the building behind – now a hotel – from Grosvenor Crescent. I’m not sure whether this rather bleak looking structure was simply for taxis or was used by ambulances – which now form long queues outside A&E. But for me it seemed like some infernal processing machine, taking in at the left and vomiting out its results at the right.

Belgrave Square, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-42-positive_2400 — *Belgrave Square, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-42*

Belgrave Square is Embassy Country, and in more recent years I’ve photographed protests outside many of them. Bahrain, Brunei, Germany, Ghana, Malaysia, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago and Turkey all have their embassy (or High Commission) in the square and Austria, Italy, Romania, Côte d’Ivoire, Italy, UAE, Spain and probably a few others have embassies, legations or cultural centres within spitting distance. I think there are probably a few more I’ve forgotten too!

Belgrave Square, Halkin St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-43-positive_2400 — *Belgrave Square, Halkin St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-43*

Some other houses are also the official residences of ambassadors – this on the corner with Halkin St is that of the Mexican ambassador. The architect of this grand terrace of houses (Grade I listed) and the others around Belgrave Square was George Basevi.

Wilton St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-54-positive_2400 — *Wilton St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-54*

It’s something of a relief to turn away from the overpowering and grandiose Belgrave Square and walk down Wilton St, where the houses, though still large are on a less grand scale, with stucco only on the ground floor. This house still stands out, though I think has lost its unusual knotted door, as it seems to have slipped down a few feet from the rest in the street, the only one with a few steps leading down to the door.

Upper Belgrave St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-64-positive_2400 — *Upper Belgrave St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-64*

Upper Belgrave St continues the pattern of Belgrave Square, linking it to Eaton Square.

St Peter's, Church, Eaton Square, Upper Belgrave St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-65-positive_2400 — *St Peter’s Church, Eaton Square, Upper Belgrave St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3m-65*

And it leads to St Peter’s Church, built by architect Henry Hakewill in a neoclassical style when the area was being developed in 1824-27. Fortunately his drawings were still available when the building burnt down in 1837 and one of his sons used them to rebuild it. Sir Arthur Blomfield worked his worst on the church, enlarging it in 1875, but fortunately leaving it largely intact on the exterior.

The church was again badly damaged by fire the year before I took this picture and was apparently only a shell, with the interior and roof devastated. The fire was deliberately started by an anti-Catholic arsonist who mistakenly thought it was a Catholic church. I can’t find the details of the case but I think it was started by a 21-year-old man who had also started fires at several other churches, including another London church the previous night. Rebuilding began in 1990 and the church – with a simpler interior – reopened in 1991.

These pictures are from my album 1988 London Photos and clicking on the pictures, which will take you to larger versions in the album from where you can browse other images.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Around Pont St, 1988

Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-01-positive_2400 — *Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-01*

Back in 1988 I seem to have sentenced myself to wander extensively along Pont St, in earlier days one of London’s most fashionable streets and still one of its more expensive, linking Knightsbridge and Belgravia.

Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-55-positive_2400 — *Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-55*

Pont Street gets its name from the bridge over the river Westbourne, probably close to where Cadogan Lane now crosses the street close to its east end. Knightsbridge too was named for its bridge over this river, which flows down from Hampstead Heath to the Thames in Chelsea, passing across Sloane Square Underground Station in a very visible 19th century iron aqueduct. The bridge is still marked on maps from 1830 when the east section of Pont St was first developed but by 1840 the river had disappeared underground.

Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-56-positive_2400 — *Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-56*

Pont Street originally was developed to the east of Sloane St and was only developed to the west in the late 1870s, with building continued in the following decade. Cadogan Square was built between 1877 and 1888.

Cadogan Square, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3j-65-positive_2400 — *Cadogan Square, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3j-65*

‘Pont St’ became a synonym for the snobbish posh, and the architectural style of most the area around Pont St west of Sloane St was called by Osbert Lancaster ‘Pont St Dutch’. In Pevsner and Cherry’s London 3 North West, published in 1991 it is described as “tall sparingly decorated red brick mansions for very wealthy occupants, in the semi-Dutch, semi-Queen Anne manner of Shaw or George & Peto”. It is very handy for both Harrods and Sloane Square.

Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-64-positive_2400 — *Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-64*

A welcome departure from this incredible rash of red-brick is St Columba’s Church, designed by Sir Edward Maule for the Church of Scotland. Completed in 1955 it replaced the orginal 1884 St Columba’s Church on the same site which had been destroyed by bombing in 1941. I think it altogether a more attractive building than Maule’s Guildford Cathedral.

St Columba's Church Of Scotland, church, Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3j-62-positive_2400 — *St Columba’s Church Of Scotland, church, Pont St, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3j-62*

Pont Street has had some famous residents, including Lillie Langtry who lived for five years at No 21. This became a part of the Cadogan Hotel, where famously Oscar Wilde was arrested in 1985.

Hans Place, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-66-positive_2400 — *Hans Place, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3i-66*

All pictures (and more) in my album 1988 London Photos – and you can see a larger version of the images and browse through the album by clicking on any of them.

More Around Belgravia 1988

Flats, Ebury St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-43-positive_2400 — *Flats, Ebury St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-43*

The Cundy Street flats, architect T P Bennett, were built as low cost housing by the Grosvenor Estate in 1950-52. As Pevsner points out, the blocks have curved balconies typical of the 1930s but with upright columns typical of the 1950s. I think this block is probably Stack House.

Flats, Cundy St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-55-positive_2400 — *Flats, Cundy St, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-55*

Cundy St gets its name from a family who were for several generations surveryor, builders and architects to the Grosvenor estate, probably from Thomas Cundy (see below). Planning permission has recently been granted for the demolition of Kylestrome House, Lochmore House, Laxford House, Stack House, Walden House and their replacement by a new estate which will include shops and a new playground. It will include affordable homes and care homes and assisted living for the over-65s but looks rather duller. The plans have upset some of the wealthier residents in surrounding areas because of a loss of light.

Coleshill Flats, Peabody Trust, Pimlico Rd,Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-45-positive_2400 — *Coleshill Flats, Peabody Trust, Pimlico Rd,Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-45*

This Peabody estate close to Sloane Square is made up of two separate blocks, Lumley and Coleshill flats, which were constructed in the 1870s.

National Audit Office, Buckingham Palace Road, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-53-positive_2400 — *National Audit Office, Buckingham Palace Road, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-53*

Built in 1938 as the Empire Air Terminal in a streamlined “moderne” style by architect Albert Lakeman with a sculpture of winged figures above a globe, Wings Over the World by Eric Broadbent. Passengers for Imperial Airways flights could check in here and be taken by special Pullman Trains from a platform on the adjacent Victoria Station to Southampton Water for flying boat services, while those for European destinations were ferried by coach to Croydon Airport. Unfortunately the terminal opened only three months before the war stopped private flights. Imperial Airways became a part of British Overseas Aiways Corportation (BOAC).

National Audit Office, Buckingham Palace Rd, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3h-55-positive_2400 — *National Audit Office, Buckingham Palace Rd, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3h-55*

After the war, the building was reasonably placed for coaches along the A4 to Heathrow and was renamed the BOAC Terminal and later the British Airways Terminal. It closed in 1980, but had earlier been made largely redundant by the opening of the West London Air Terminal in a temporary building on the Cromwell Road in 1957, replace by a purpose built building in 1963. Check-ins there ended in 1974 and in 1980 both this and the British Airways Terminal were sold. This was listed in 1981 and became the home of the National Audit Office in 1983, though after extensive restoration in 2009, large parts are now rented out. The West London Air Terminal was demolished and the site became a Sainsbury’s supermarket.

Eaton Square, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-65-positive_2400 — *Eaton Square, Belgravia, Westminster, 1988 88-3g-65*

66 Eaton Square is described in its Grade II listing test as a part of a grand terrace of houses from the mid 19th century, though I’ve chosen to turn away from most of its grander features and look away down the street and across Eaton Gate.

In 1821, Thomas Cundy became surveyor of the Grosvenor Estate and adapted earlier plans for the area before selling building leases from 1825, mainly to Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855). The ground was rather marshy, and Cubitt brought earth he was then digging out at St Katherine’s Dock to raise it. Work began on Eaton Square, named after the Duke of Westminster’s Cheshire Eaton Hall, in 1827, with the planting of the gardens, but it took longer to complete the houses around the square, though these, probably by Cubitt, were apparently completed by 1843. But the whole square was only finished by another builder in the 1850s.

Eaton Square is not a square, but a rather elongated rectangle around 500 metres long. Even including the mews behind the grand houses it is less than 200 m wide.

Cadogan Gate, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3h-22-positive_2400 — *Cadogan Gate, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3h-22*

This house at 6 Cadogan Gate on the corner of Pavilion Rd stands out among the taller red-brick mansions and is more a continuation of the mews buildings in Pavilion Rd, but with a rather less usual architecture, with those circular ground floor windows, rather ecclesiastical tall oval-arched sash window on the first floor and its mansard roof. It probably dates from around 1879.

This is an address mentioned in the Panama Papers, the giant 2016 leak of more than 11.5 million financial and legal records exposing a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing, hidden by secretive offshore companies, though of course the activities with which this address is connected could be entirely legal.

Cadogan Square, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3h-23-positive_2400 — *Cadogan Square, Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3h-23*

I think this is 59 Cadogan Square, where a large second floor flat was recently on offer for £7m. Cadogan Square is one of the most expensive residential streets in the United Kingdom, with all but around three houses converted into flats, and these houses are estimated to be worth £25m.

The large tall houses were built between 1877 and 1888 for the Cadogan Estate in Flemish inspired red brick which I find overpowering, but in the centre of the square there is a residents’ only garden where they can sit and, at least in summer the red-brick hell is largely hidden by trees.

More from my Flickr Album 1988 London Photos in later posts.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Around Kensal Green, 1988

Tropical Palace, Chamberlayne Rd, Kensal Green, Brent, 1988 88-3c-13-positive_2400 — *Tropical Palace, Chamberlayne Rd, Kensal Green, Brent, 1988*

The Tropical Palace Theatre in Chamberlayne Road, close to the junction with Kilburn Lane was in the 1980s a major reggae venue. It had begun as The Acme Picture Theatre in October 1913, but with a change of management became Kings Picture Palace three months later. In 1931 a new company greatly enlarged and remodelled the building in an Art Deco style with architects John Stanley Beard and A. Douglas Clare and decorative work by by W.R. Bennett to seat 1600 – over 5 times its original capacity – with the old theatre forming the foyer of the renamed ‘New Palace Theatre’, and the rear of the building stretched to Kilburn Lane. Taken over by ABC in 1935 it became simply the Palace Theatre, and in 1970 it became the ABC and was converted into a bingo hall in 1974, but closed soon after to become a nightclub. It was completely demolished and replaced by housing shortly after I made this picture. The building on the left has also been replaced, but Chamberlayne Mansions at right are still there

Harrow Rd, Brent, 1988 88-3c-21-positive_2400 — *Advert, Shop, Felixstowe Rd, Harrow Rd, Brent, 1988*

The distinctive frontages of the shops at the extreme right of this picture enable me to positively identify this washing machine advert as being on the side of the shop on the corner of Felixstowe Rd and Harrow Road in College Park at the west of Kensal Green, close to St Mary’s Cemetery.

Kensal Green Cemetery Works, 758 Harrow Rd, Brent, 1988 88-3c-22-positive_2400 — *Kensal Green Cemetery Works, 758 Harrow Rd, Brent, 1988*

Kensal Green Cemetery, which is immediately to the east of St Mary’s Cemetery is rather better known and is worth visiting for some of its fine Victorian monuments. There are plenty to choose from, with over 65,000 burials there since the cemetery was opened in 1833 by the The General Cemetery Company, who were inspired by Paris’s Père Lachaise Cemetery. The Grade I listed cemetery is still in use and well worth a visit and there are often guided tours – and on another occasion I visited the catacombs

Gate, Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Rd, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-3c-23-positive_2400 — *Gate, Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Rd, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988*

Three London Boroughs meet around here, and Kensal Green Cemetery and its gates are in Kensington & Chelsea, while the opposite side of the road is in Brent, and the neighbouring Roman Catholic St Mary’s is in Hammersmith & Fulham. Kensal Green. Kensal Green was the first of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ private cemeteries around the city’s then outskirts and was, as Wikipedia points out, ‘immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton’s poem “The Rolling English Road” from his book The Flying Inn: “For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green.” ‘Paradise by way of Kensal Green’ is now the name of a pub on Kilburn Lane.

J S Farley, Kensal Green Cemetery Works, 758 Harrow Rd, Brent, 1988 88-3c-25-positive_2400 — *J S Farley, Kensal Green Cemetery Works, 758 Harrow Rd, Brent, 1988*

I don’t know what proportion of the monuments in Kensal Green Cemetery were produced in these works opposite the entrance gates, and set up in the same year, but they works now been demolished and replaced. There is still another monumental masons just a short walk away.

Waldo Rd, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988 88-3c-31-positive_2400 — *Waldo Rd, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988*

Further west along the Harrow Rd just before Scrubs Lane was a small industrial area in Waldo Rd and Trenmar Gardens. Rather to my surprise this small industrial building and its similar neighbour at Waldo Works have survived, though I think some of the area behind is now housing.

Trenmar Gardens, Waldo Rd, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988 88-3c-46-positive_2400 — *Trenmar Gardens, Waldo Rd, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988*

The large garage at the left of the picture has been demolished and replaced by housing.

Trenmar Gardens, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988 v88-3c-33-positive_2400 — *Trenmar Gardens, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988*

Trenmar Gardens, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988 v88-3c-34-positive_2400 — *Trenmar Gardens, College Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1988*

All of these pictures (and a few more) are from my Flickr album 1988 London Photos and were taken in March 1988. Clicking on any of the images will open a larger version in the album from where you can browse forwards or backward in the album.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Maida Hill & Elgin, 1988

Prince of Wales Cinema, Bingo Hall, 331 Harrow Rd, Westbourne Park, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-12-positive_2400 — *Prince of Wales Cinema, Bingo Hall, 331 Harrow Rd, Westbourne Green, Westminster, 1988*

Although most Londoners will have heard of Maida Vale, few will have heard of Maida Hill, and those that have will probably – like me – be very unsure of where it changes to Westbourne Green or West Kilburn. Many of the old London district names have more or less disappeared, and estate agents take remarkable liberties with the boundaries of areas they feel are currently more upmarket.

Harrow Rd, Westbourne Park, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-13-positive_2400 — *Harrow Rd, Westbourne Green, Westminster, 1988*

Part of the reason for this is increased mobililty, particularly in those areas of London were many live in private rented accomodation, often with short-term leases or where for various reasons tenants often move very frequently. Most of the inner London boroughs were developed by before the First World War, and grew up first around the old named village centres – and later around the railway stations, underground stations and tram routes.

Shops, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-43-positive_2400 — *Shops, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988*

People know Maida Vale mainly because it has an Underground Station – something Maida Hill lacks. And most – including myself – tend to forget that the area is Westbourne Green and call it after its station, Westbourne Park. The ease of travel – by rail, bus and bike, and later by car loosened the links of people to their native villages and of course many more came into the new houses in London from other parts of the country, and later the world.

Walterton Rd, Elgin Ave, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988 88-3b-66-positive_2400 — *Walterton Rd, Elgin Ave, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988*

I grew up in the town on the edge of London where my father had been born in 1899. He’d worked elsewhere – including a couple of years when the army and air force took him to France and Germany, but had also commuted to various jobs in towns and areas around, including Kew, Guildford and Harrow thanks to buses or a motorbike. But back in the 1950s when I walked down the main road with him he would still be greeting almost everyone we met by name.

Walterton Rd, Elgin Ave, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-16-positive_2400 — *Walterton Rd, Elgin Ave, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988*

Captioning my photographs, even those where I know exactly where they were taken, I often have difficulty in deciding the name of the district in which they were taken. Sometimes I come back to one later and change my mind. Deciding which London Borough they are in is generally easier – the borough boundaries are marked by lines on maps, although sometimes, particularly where the boundary runs down the centre of a road I give both if I’m unsure what side of the road it is on. A minor confusion is that some London boroughs share a name with a district which is a part of them. I could write things like Camden, Camden, but it seems redundant to repeat it.

The Elgin Estate is possibly in Paddington, North Paddington or in Maida Hill, though the area is also sometimes simply referred to by the major road it is close to, the Harrow Road. When I put these pictures on-line I chose Maida Hill, simply because this was printed closer on the street map I was using.

Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-21-positive_2400 — *Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988*

The triangle between Harrow Road, Elgin Avenue, and Chippenham Road contained some of the areas worst housing and the Greater London Council demolished these and built 300 maisonettes and flats in what was originally called the Walterton Road estate but later renamed the Elgin Estate. Started in 1966, the first tenants moved in in 1968.

It included two 22-storey tower blocks, Chantry Point and Hermes Point. A survey in 1983 found them and the rest of the estate in very poor condition and the GLC began a full-scale process of repairs. Unfortunately once work began it was brought to a halt when dangerous asbestos was found in the two tower blocks, which by then had been transferred to Westminster Council, though the GLC was still responsible for major works.

Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-11-positive_2400 — *Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988*

Westminster stopped letting the blocks to new tenants though some lettings continued on short-term licences and other flats were squatted and the properties rapidly deteriorated. When the GLC was abolished in 1986 full responsibility passed to Westminster Council who secretly decided to sell the whole estate to private developers who intended to demolish the lot and rebuild at twice the density with one of the towers becoming a hotel.

Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-24-positive_2400 — *Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988*

When the plans leaked, residents formed an action group demanding the council drop the plans and setting up their own proposals to save the homes. The council wanted to get rid of social tenants and replace them by wealthier home owners, to increase the Tory vote in the area, part of a process of exporting Westminster homeless families to boroughs on the edge of London and outside to places such as Staines. The Elgin estate – despite being known as having an asbestos health risk – was also used as a dumping ground for council tenants who were moved out of marginal wards. It was a policy that in 1997 was found by the High Court to be unlawful. The council appealed and won, but then lost in the House of Lords in 2001 when Lady Porter, leader of the council from 1983 to 1991 was ordered to pay a surcharge (including interest) of £43.3 million. She moved most of her money to Israel and to other family members and pleaded poverty, but eventually settled with a payment of £12.3 millioon.

Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988 88-3a-44-positive_2400 — *Elgin Estate, Elgin Ave, Harrow Rd, Maida Hill, Westminster, 1988*

By 1988 when I made these pictures around a third of properties on the estate were empty with doors and windows blocked by steel sheets to keep out squatters who already occupied many of the flats in the two towers. But the 1988 Housing Act gave the remaining residents the chance to form a housing association, Walterton and Elgin Community Homes, which was then able to hold a ballot and acquire the homes from Westminster Council. In March 1989 WECH became the first ‘Tenants’ Choice’ landlord to be approved by the Housing Corporation, and despite various dirty tricks by the council, in 1991 was not only given the properties free of charge, but also awarded the maximum possible amount from the council of £77.5 million to cover the cost of repair (though this was only around a half of what was thought to be needed.

A vote by residents was 72% in favour of the transfer to WECH which was made in April 1992. Redevelopment of the area was carried out with extensive consultation with them, and involved an expensive demolition of the two towers in 1994, replaced by low rise housing.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Richmond and Clapham

Oak House, Old Palace Place, King St, Richmond, 1988 88-1a-53-positive_2400 — *Oak House, Old Palace Place, King St, Richmond, 1988*

I went to Richmond fairly often fairly in my youth some 25 years or so before I took these pictures, sometimes on my bike, on the 37 bus from Hounslow Garage or by car with a friend from school who had a part-time job and could afford to run a Morris Minor. On the bike I would generally ride around Richmond Park, and I took my first cassette of black and white film mainly of the trees there, sending them away to be processed and getting back 36 crinkle-edged black and white enprints. D & P cost something like 17s11d (around 90p) and it was several years before I could afford to take another film. The prints were a dull grey, with no trace of either white or black, but even well-printed they would have been of no great interest.

Flooding, River Thames, Richmond, 1988 88-1a-62-positive_2400 — *Flooding, River Thames, Richmond, 1988*

When we went together in my mate’s car, often with a third friend, it was to sit with a cup of coffee on the terrace of a coffee bar, watching the girls go by while our coffee cooled. I doubt we could ever afford more than a single cup, and certainly none of us had the nerve to talk to any of those passing girls. Richmond at the time was full of young foreign au-pairs, all rather older than us.

Flooding, River Thames, Richmond, 1988 88-1a-02-positive_2400 — *Flooding, River Thames, Richmond, 1988*

I think most of my bus journeys were made on my own, visiting the Palm Court Hotel to listen to jazz in the bar there, standing making a pint of bitter (probably Red Barrel or Worthington E – I then knew no better) last and last as I couldn’t afford another. It was always a rather lonely evening, with little conversation – though occasionally some older man would attempt to pick me up but I wasn’t interested. But there was some truly great music from the likes of Bobby Wellins.

Flooding, River Thames, Richmond, 1988 88-1a-01-positive_2400 — *Flooding, River Thames, Richmond, 1988*

Later, in my thirties, I would visit Richmond regularly, having joined the photographic society there and made a few friends who shared some of my photographic interests. Club photography was in general tired and formulaic and had little to offer, but became used to doing my own thing often to the derision of the majority of the members. I still remember the frisson of revulsion when a visiting judge for an inter-club competion not only praised my entry but awarded it one of the prizes.

Flooding is frequent at Richmond, where the Thames is still tidal (though a half-lock prevents it draining out completely at low tide) and there are always motorists who ignore the warning notices. I think it comes up over parts of the towpath most months during Spring Tides. These pictures were taken in March when I had probably come on one of my regular visits to a couple of second-hand bookshops that often had decent photographic books in stock at a time when these were rare. Many were review copies, probably never reviewed but sold to the dealers as one of the perks of a poorly-paid job. I decided if ever I became a book reviewer (which eventually I did) I would never sell copies, and I didn’t though there were some I gave away, but many more I refused to take.

Heath Terrace, Wandsworth Rd, Silverthorne Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1988 88-3a-01-positive_2400 — *Heath Terrace, Wandsworth Rd, Silverthorne Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1988*

Once a month we came to visit friends in Kennington, arriving for lunch on a Sunday, and I would often travel up earlier than the rest of my family and spend some time walking around and taking pictures, and I think this may have been taken on one of those mornings. I think I will have chosen this angle on the ornamented Heath Terrace carefully, not just to show the 4 white chimneys of Battersea Power Station at left, but also the rather Lego-like tower block at right, and choosing to put a concrete post at the right edge.

Heath Terrace is still there, though I think now entirely residential, and I’m not sure you can still see the power station, certainly not in summer when Streetview is on its rounds, as that small tree has grown considerably. The concrete post, which I assume was a lamp post as well as holding some other sign has disappeared.

Clapham Manor St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1988 88-3a-04-positive_2400 — *Clapham Manor St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1988*

This Grade II listed building at 42 Clapham Manor St is now home to the London Russian Ballet School and Kids Love Lambeth. It was built in 1854, architect by James Thomas Knowles Snr, as the Clapham General Dispensary for the ‘The Clapham Sick Poor Fund’ formed in 1849 and provided free medical and surgical services for almost a century, closing in the early 1950s.

In 1959 the building was used by the London County Council for industrial training for people with special needs. It later became a pre-school playground and adult education centre, which I think it was at the time of my photograph. Shortly after in 1989 it became empty and suffered some fire damage which led to considerable internal rebuilding. Still owned by Lambeth council, it became a taxi training school until 2005-6 when the council sold the building and its considerable premises at the rear. For some years it was in illegal use as ballet studios, with this being made legal in 2013.

James Thomas Knowles Snr (1806-1884) designed the building free of charge and it was paid for by public subscription. As well as its architectural merit is is listed as one of the earliest provident dispensaries to survive in London.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.