Architecture

Houses of Parliament Destroyed by fire 1834

On 16th October 1834, a group of workmen, working in the Houses of Parliament, were charged with burning two cartloads of old wooden tally sticks. This duty they duly discharged, using the furnaces in the basement of the House of Lords. As the day progressed the wooden floors and panelling became very hot but the…

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St George The Martyr Southwark

The church of St George The Martyr has been documented since 1122 but the present church was built between 1734 and 1736 by the architect, John Price. In the middle ages Borough High Street ran south from London Bridge and at it’s end stood the church of St George with fields lying beyond. In 1951…

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The first railway terminus at Euston 1837

Euston station was the first mainline station to be built in London. In July 1837, the London and Birmingham Railway opened it’s first terminus. It was to have been built at Camden at Chalk Farm but it was proposed that that it should be brought closer to the metropolis and an Act of parliament in…

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The new London Bridge opened 1831

The old London bridge was a bridge like no other bridge in the world. It was a thoroughfare, jammed full of houses and shops and passable only with caution and if you had time to spare. The old bridge was not able to cope with growing demands of an expanding city  A new bridge was…

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1824 Patent for Portland cement

The 1824 patent for portland cement, an immensely important patent that allowed us the docks, the sewers and tunnels under the Thames.The importance of Portland cement in the development of English towns and cities cannot be underestimated.

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