LONDON on the Ground

The Parliament architect honed his Gothic Revival design skills on four Islington churches. Architect Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) is...

An 850 year old document describes a livestock market for swine, cows, oxen and woolly flocks at Smithfield. Smithfield meat market, the...

Islington's Business Design Centre has a history of festive family fairs in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Business Design...

The site’s 800 year history includes housing Jews converted to Christianity, and legal and national records. During London Open House...

The sculpture on the Monument to the Great Fire of London is rich with symbolism . It illustrates the catastrophe that destroyed...

Simple brick arches support one of Victorian London's most elaborate monuments. I recently joined the first ever public tour of the...

The Old Queen's Head, Victorian on the outside and Tudor inside. The popular North London watering hole on Essex Road appears to be like...

Ancient London buildings depicted in the 18th century and today. In June, I posted some of John Thomas Smith's engravings of London,...

From ruined royal residence to magnificent modern mansion. A 15th century gothic great hall, a stunning 20th century Art Deco...

The City of London office block, Richard Rogers and Sir Christopher Wren. Officially 122 Leadenhall Street, or the Leadenhall Building,...

See paintings by William Hogarth and climb the scaffolding to admire the Great Hall's stucco ceiling. The 18th century North Wing of St...

A mosaic at the ancient harbour illustrates London's history since Roman times. Queenhithe is the only remaining inlet of the Thames in...

The challenger to Smithfield closed in 1837 after less than a year. A couple of years ago, at one of the excellent exhibitions at the...

Late 18th century engravings of London buildings that were already old then (spot the few that remain today!). John Thomas Smith captured...

See some of the London that the artist and writer feared was disappearing in the 1960s and 1970s. Best known for his 1962 book The London...

Fire, Air, Water and Earth: stone relief for Lloyd's. The carving, in a hidden City of London alleyway, represents the Four Elements.

Unique, architect-designed plates recognise support for the Architects Benevolent Society. City of London livery companies are known for...

The Bloomsbury structure has proved highly influential, but is it modernism, brutalism or something else? The Brunswick Centre is a...

The North London stadium was unique in football architecture, motivated by an innovative manager and inspiring generations of Arsenal...

Engravings of London of more than 200 years ago. John Thomas Smith was an artist, engraver and writer who captured London in the late...