City of London Gallery

St Giles Cripplegate FF003274

The Church of St Giles and the Barbican Estate, City of London, 1962-??4. John Gay (1909-??99), cellulose acetate negative. The Church of St Giles in Cripplegate Ward dates from the 16th century, and it is associated with some of the nation'??s most significant historic figures, including Oliver Cromwell, the author John Bunyan and the poet John Milton. A bombing raid on 29 December 1940 reduced the church to ruins, and the neighbourhood was destroyed by fire. St Giles was restored by 1960 to become the parish church for the high-rise Barbican Estate, designed by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, and built between 1959 and 1982

© Historic England

Oxford Arms Inn AL1827_006_01

Oxford Arms Inn, Oxford Arms Passage, Warwick Lane, City of London. Alfred and John Bool (1850-??1933) of Pimlico photographed the Oxford Arms Inn, an increasingly rare survival of a galleried coaching inn, for the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London when the future of the building was uncertain. The elevated view, capturing the dome and towers of St Paul'??s Cathedral, was taken from a window of the Central Criminal Court. The record value of this photograph and others in the series was realised just three years later when in 1878 the Oxford Arms was demolished, making way for a range of houses built for the Minor Canons of St Paul'??s by the architect Ewan Christian. Carbon print

© Historic England

Finsbury 21765_01

Finsbury, City of London. This picture was taken over Finsbury looking south-east to the square mile of the City. The large rectangular building with the green roof in the centre of the picture is Smithfield's Market. Further toward the river is the familiar dome of St Paul's Cathedral. The commercial heart of the capital employs somewhere in the region of half a million people, of whom only about 8, 000 actually live in the city. Photographed in August 2002

© Historic England Archive