Survey of London

The Survey of London, founded in the 1890s, is the nearest thing there is to an official history of London's buildings. This series provides detailed architectural and topographical studies of the capital's built environment.
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Survey of London: Volume 23, Lambeth: South Bank and Vauxhall
Published to coincide with the Festival of Britain Exhibition of 1951, this volume covers the northern, riverside portion of Lambeth, between Waterloo and Vauxhall Bridges. As well as giving the history of the Festival site itself, the book focuses on the venerable buildings and monuments then scattered among the mostly nineteenth-century houses, dwellings and factories. Chief of these is the Archbishop of Canterbury's residence, Lambeth Palace, which is described and illustrated in detail. Other buildings covered include the Church of St John, Waterloo Road, and some of the eighteenth-century terrace-houses in Kennington Road and Lambeth Road.
Survey of London: Volume 26, Lambeth: Southern Area
Volume 26 completes the Survey's study of Lambeth parish, taking in Kennington, Vauxhall, Stockwell and Brixton, and the outlying districts of Denmark Hill, Herne Hill, Tulse Hill and West Norwood. Much of this area is classic suburbia of the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - late-Georgian terraces in Kennington; detached and semi-detached villas in Brixton, Denmark Hill and Herne Hill. There are two interesting planned estates: Stockwell Park, a Regency 'rus in urbe', and Angell Town, with its heavier, early Victorian manner. As well as houses, the volume also describes many public buildings, churches and chapels, including three Greek-Revival 'Waterloo' churches in Brixton (St Matthew's), Kennington (St Mark's) and Norwood (St Luke's).
Survey of London: Volume 27, Spitalfields and Mile End New Town
Spitalfields is well known for the handsome silk-weavers' houses in and around Spital Square, Fournier Street and Elder Street, with their distinctive weavers' garret workshops. The greater part of this volume is devoted to a detailed account of these houses. The area's principle monument (Nicholas Hawksmoor's masterpiece, Christ Church, Spitalfields (1714-29)) is also studied in detail, and its complex building history explained, making use of the then recently discovered archives of the Commissioners for Building Fifty New Churches. In addition, the volume takes in the adjoining suburb of Mile End New Town, an area of eighteenth-century origin, largely rebuilt in the late nineteenth century, and at the time of writing undergoing extensive redevelopment for public housing. Spitalfields Market, and the well-known brewery of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton and Company, are also described.
Survey of London: Volume 28, Brooke House, Hackney
An account of Brooke House in the parish of Hackney. Built in the fifteenth century, it was held by, amongst others, Thomas Cromwell. Used as an asylum between 1759 and 1940, it was demolished as a result of bomb damage in 1954-5.
Survey of London: Volumes 29 and 30, St James Westminster, Part 1
These volumes cover the part of the parish of St James which lies south of Piccadilly, between Haymarket and Green Park. St James's was post-Restoration London's Court suburb, laid out during the reign of Charles II. The story of its development is fully explored, with accounts of Wren's parish church, the aristocratic houses in St James's Square, the theatres on the west side of Haymarket, the gentlemen's clubs of Pall Mall, and some of the West End's most prestigious private palaces, including Spencer House and Bridgwater House.
Survey of London: Volumes 31 and 32, St James Westminster, Part 2
These volumes complete the Survey's study of St James, describing the northern part of the parish, between Piccadilly and Oxford Street. This is a varied area, lying astride Regent Street, embracing tightly-packed streets in Soho and more orderly developments in the Savile Row area. The principal monument here is Burlington House, which is dealt with in some detail; there are also accounts of the streets of Lord Burlington's adjacent estate. East of Regent Street, the coverage includes Golden Square, the later history of the Piccadilly Circus area, and the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue. The history of James Wyatt's Pantheon, of 1772, is also given. (Note: Regent Street itself is not included, though there is a short account of the rebuilding of the Regent Street Quadrant in 1905-28.)
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