Category: London

King William Street, London

This Anglican church – St. Mary Woolnoth – stands on the corner of Lombard Street and King William Street in the City of London. The church in its current form) was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and work began on it in 1716. The church opened for worship at Easter, 1727.
Roman remains were found under the site during the church’s rebuilding in the 1720s. There was also an Anglo-Saxon ‘wooden structure’. This led to speculation that the site could have been used for worship for some 2,000 years.
The present church on this site follows a Norman church – which lasted until 1445. It was rebuilt and a spire was added in 1485. That version lasted until 1666 when it was badly damaged in London’s Great Fire. Repairs (by Christopher Wren) proved temporary and the structure became unsafe – finally demolished in 1711.
Hawksmoor was fortunate in having a large open area in which to work, as the pre-1666 church had been surrounded by wooden houses and shops.
Changes were made in the latter part of the 19th century and it was actually scheduled for demolition on a number of occasions. The Bank Underground Station was constructed beneath the church at the end of the 19th century. The bones contained in the crypt were removed and reburied in Ilford. Due to the work carried out to reinforce the structure during construction of the underground, it is claimed that the church’s structure is stronger that it was before.
Image: Artist unknown (1840)
The same view of the church in July 2021. The top of the Monument can just be seen – level with the clock on the right-hand side. It is clearer in the older image.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Royal Exchange, London

This image shows a statue of George Peabody (1795-1869) being unveiled near the Royal Exchange in the City of London. The ceremony took place during Peabody’s lifetime – a rare event. Peabody was an American financier and was widely known as a philanthropist. He was born into a poor family in Massachusetts, moving to London in 1837. During his time in London, he helped to establish the USA’s international credit position. He had no children to pass his business on to so, in 1854 he took on Junius Morgan as a partner. After Peabody’s retirement in 1864, the business went on to become J.P. Morgan.
In his later years, Peabody founded the Peabody Trust in the UK, as well as many other charitable initiatives, both in the UK and the USA.
The front of the plinth carries the following words –
George Peabody MDCCCLXIX

Born Danvers, Mass, U.S.A. 18th February 1795. Died London England 4th November 1869.
American philanthropist and great benefactor of the London poor.
Accorded the honorary freedom of the City of London 10th July 1862.
This statue by W. W. Story was unveiled on the 23rd July 1869.

The statue was unveiled by the then Prince of Wales. Peabody was too ill to attend the ceremony and he died three months later. There is a replica of this statue in Baltimore.
Image: Artist unknown
The statue in the same position in July 2021. It can be seen that the artist/engraver took some artistic liberties with the buildings in the background. Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
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Trafalgar Square, London

Allan Hailstone’s photograph of Trafalgar Square in 1955 shows a bustling part of London. A bus can be seen passing in front of the National Gallery. This area was pedestrianised a few years ago. St. Martin-in-the-Fields can be seen on the right-hand side of the photograph.
Image: Allan Hailstone
In October 2020, the effects of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic can be seen with very few people venturing into the area. However, this affords a great view of the Square and the National Gallery beyond. Also, the spire of St. Martin-in-the-Fields can be seen above the trees.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
A merged version of the two photographs. Use the slider in the centre.

Trinity Square, London

The Trinity House was incorporated by a charter granted by Henry VIII in 1514. It is the general lighthouse authority for England, Wales and the Channel Islands, a deep sea pilotage authority. It also administers charitable funds mostly connected with seafarers.
Trinity House started at Deptford before a couple of moves during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1660, Trinity House moved to Water Lane, off Eastcheap. This building was destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire of London, and rebuilt in the same location. Another fire (in 1715) destroyed the building again and it moved to its present location in 1795. The foundation stone was laid in September 1793 by the Prime Minister – William Pitt the Younger.
Trinity House was gutted in 1940 when a German incendiary bomb lodged in the roof of the stairwell. Nothing of the original building survived, except the Trinity Square façade (see above). It was reconstructed using photographs taken from a 1919 edition of Country Life magazine. This photograph was taken in 1943 and shows a Home Guard parade.
Trinity House is Grade I listed, and was refurbished and redecorated in March 1990 – in keeping (where possible) with the 1790s period.
Image: Museum of London, Port of London Authority (1943)
Trinity House is now (October 2021) the 5-star Four Seasons Hotel.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
A merged version of the two photographs. Use the slider in the centre.

Millbank, London

This large, abstract bronze by Henry Moore was cast between 1964 and 1967. It is situated in Millbank – next to the Thames and opposite Tate Britain. Called ‘Locking Piece’, it is set on a concrete plinth and represents Moore’s interest in interlocking forms. This work was based on bone fragments found by Moore in a gravel pit near his home. This was the third cast of the piece and has been displayed here since 1968. Originally set on a hexagonal base (see above), it blown off its base by a very strong wind in 1990 and badly damaged. It was replaced on a new (taller) cylindrical concrete plinth in 2004.
Image: David C Cook (1972)
I took this photograph in October 2021. The MI6 building in Vauxhall (not there in 1972) now dominates the south side of the Thames.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
A merged version of the two photographs. Use the slider in the centre.

Bank, London

‘Bank’ ( a London Underground station) is under the intersection of a number of roads in the City of London – directly in front of the Bank of England. On January 11th 1941, a German bomb made a direct hit on the station and 51 people were killed. The damage necessitated the building of a temporary Bailey bridge to maintain traffic flow.
Image: Museum of London
In March 2019, the area has been (virtually) pedestrianised with no trace of the war damage.
Image: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
A merged version of the two photographs. Use the slider in the centre.

Chingford Road, Walthamstow, London

The Tramway Offices in Walthamstow were located in Chingford Road, next door to a substantial depot which contained 10 tracks in the main building, and 4 tracks leading to a repair shop. The Offices opened in June 1905 and it was merged into the London Transport Passenger Board in 1933. Trams ran out of here until 1937 when it was converted to service trolleybuses. Motor buses took over the routes from 1960. This photograph was taken in the 1950s. In 1991, the site was redeveloped and the sheds were demolished. Credit: Photographer unknown
The tramway offices remained and were still in place in April 2020 when I took this photograph. Although it now houses flats, the words ‘Tramway Offices’ can still be seen on the stonework. Photograph: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)
A merged version of the two images. Use the slider in the centre.