The first telephone boxes, a porter’s rest from 1861 or a street lamp powered by sewage - just a few of the things we walk past every day in London without often noticing them. Have you ever seen the smallest Listed building in London?
Street Furniture 1 2
Milestone
Here’s a reminder of how small London used to be - and how quickly it has grown. Standing outside the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington Gore, it shows London is a mile away. Nowadays, we think of Kensington as the heart of London.
Kensington Gore SW8
Tube: South Kensington
Patent Sewer
Ventilating Lamp
This is one of the last remnants of the remarkable ingenuity of the Victorian era. Around 100 years old, it was designed to burn off methane from the sewers, while providing light, and masking any unpleasant smells for guests at the Savoy Hotel.
Carting Lane WC2
Tube: Charing Cross
K2 Phone Boxes
Just inside the gates of the Royal Academy are these two Listed red phone boxes. They are the original 1926 wooden K2 design and cast iron prototype by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott that evolved into the more familiar K6 box in 1935. Scott also designed Waterloo Bridge and Battersea and Bankside power stations.
Burlington House, Piccadilly W1
Tube: Green Park
Police Call Box
Long before the days of radios or mobile phones, London’s police on the beat - or members of the public in need - were linked to police stations by a chain of phones, either in blue boxes, like Dr Who’s famous Tardis, or in simpler structures such as this one. It is just outside Postman’s Park.
St Martins le Grand EC1
Tube: St Paul’s
Sand Bin
Used to keep the streets clean of manure, or deaden the sounds of iron-shod cart-wheels outside the home of the sickly, these boxes were a common fixture in the horse-drawn 19th-century. This last surviving example was restored in 1945 - some sources say after being hit by a bomb in World War II.
Temple Place WC2
Tube: Temple
Any comments - or a suggestion? Please e-mail me.
Porter’s Rest
‘At The Suggestion Of R.A. Slaney Esq. Who For 20 Years Represented Shrewsbury In Parliament This Porter's Rest Was Erected In 1861 By The Vestry Of St. George Hanover Square For The Benefit Of Porters And Others Carrying Burdens.’
opp 128 Piccadilly W1
Tube: Hyde Park Corner
