Various Buildings

Various derelict buildings around London that I have come across during endless long walks

around the capital:

Spitalfields

Fashion Street, E1

Note the shoes hanging from the cables

A number of sinister explanations have been proposed as to why this is done. Some say that shoes

hanging from the wires advertise a local crack house where crack cocaine is used and sold . It can

also relate to a place where Heroin is sold to symbolize the fact that once you take Heroin you can

never 'leave': a reference to the addictive nature of the drug. Others claim that the shoes so thrown

commemorate a gang-related murder, or the death of a gang member, or as a way of marking gang

turf

Shoreditch

Regents Palace Hotel, Soho

The Regent Palace closed on the 31st of December 2006 having first opened in 1915.

During the First World War, a considerable part of the hotel was requisitioned by the British

Government and during the Second World War, 2 separate bombs caused minor damage.

One of these bombs hit the staff Annexe This staff annexe building also contained a

complete laundry service for all of the Strand hotels in London.

In the 1960’s, the hotel developed a less than favourable reputation as a place of ill repute

- a meeting point for ladies of the night to ply their trade.

I found this review on the net by an unhappy guest at the hotel: "Abysmal. Bedbugs in most

beds, filthy rooms with stains all over the walls, disgusting shower and toilet facilities and

very worn and dated decor. Staff were nice enough, manager couldn't care less because

he said the hotel was being closed this December. I am still itching at the thought of my

stay. Our party had to check out after the first night because most people had bites.

I had to show the manager the bodies of the 10 bedbugs I found (whilst just glancing at the

top blanket) before he would believe me and give me a refund. Revolting."

The Crystal Palace - Sydenham

The terraces, stairs and the long colonnade marked the front of the palace & were surrounded by gardens, fountains

and statues.

The Crystal Palace had been the centrepiece of the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park: an international wonder and

a triumph of technology and the ingenuity of its designer, Joseph Paxton. The Palace’s relocation from Hyde Park made

this SE London’s major cultural and entertainment centre.

This sparked a flurry of development, with new transport connections, jobs, housing and churches. The vast new

Palace dominated the tree-lined ridge and was visible from all over London and beyond. It contained arts and

architecture from Ancient Egypt to the enaissance, and exhibits from industry and the natural world. It also hosted

concerts and circuses. . For more than 80 years, the Crystal Palace and its park provided a focus and identity for the

area that took its name.

In 1936, most of the Crystal Palace was destroyed in the country’s biggest peacetime fire of the 20th century. During

World War II the 20-acre hilltop site was used as a dump for bombsite rubble.

Crystal Palace

Tower House, Whitechapel

"A historic doss house's conversion into flats is good news for some -

but not the ever marginalised homeless of London's east end." (THE GUARDIAN)

Writer Jack London called it the "Monster Doss House" in People of the Abyss, his 1902 journey through the poverty of

London. He said it was packed with "life that is degrading and unwholesome".

Joseph Stalin spent a fortnight in a sixpence-a-night cubicle in Tower House in 1907, when he attended the Fifth

Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party across the road in Whitechapel Road, which consolidated

the supremacy of the Bolshevik Party. George Orwell, in Down and Out in Paris and London, published in 1933,

described it as the best of all common-lodging houses, with "excellent bathrooms". Orwell's only objections to the

shilling-a-night rent were the "no cards, no cooking" rules and harsh discipline.Tower House was one of six Rowton

houses built in London by the philanthropist, the first Lord Rowton, who was Disraeli's private secretary. His aim was

to provide cheap and clean accommodation for the tens of thousands of working men who flocked to London and

were forced to live in filthy, disease-ridden common lodging houses. He claimed the houses would be "fit for an

archbishop". The only remaining Roton house still used as a men's hostel is Arlington House in Camden, north

London, also known to its largely Irish population as "The Mickey" or "Dracula's Castle"

Latest News; Tower House has now been restored and converted into apartments. See the "then & now" pics in the

Derelict London book

Elephant & Castle - London Park Hotel

Was an orginal Rowton House - Parkview, Newington Butts - The South London Press reported the opening in 1897 by

saying, ‘The bill of fare would not have shamed a high-class restaurant. A large plate of turkey was to be had for eightpence;

roast beef, sixpence; leg of pork and apple sauce, fourpence; vegetables, one penny; and plum pudding, mince pies, rice

and “college” [small plum pudding], one penny.’ The reading room contained a large variety of engravings representing

scenes from Shakespeare. The smoking room was also decorated with engravings and stags’ heads.It was refurbished to

a tourist class hotel in the early '70s.Apart from the location and it's grubby past - Rowton House being a by-word for "doss

house" - you could see from the tiny prison-like windows that it was never going to work as a hotel!

Tanzanian-born Firoz Kassam (also owner of Oxford Utd FC) owned the London Park hotel at Elephant & Castle. It

had a Home Office contract to house 600 asylum seekers. The Observer carried an article in 2000: "Refugees slam

'hostel from hell' Victims of tyranny talk of violence between ethnic groups, bullying and theft at the sanctuary that

costs council £3m a year...It looks like any other anonymous, run-down inner city building. Its name, the London

Park Hotel, suggests a rural oasis amid urban squalor. But, say residents, it is closer to a prison. .. an atmosphere

of gang violence, intimidation, frustration and petty theft. They told of a world where the strong bully the weak, and

the weak bully the weaker. 'There is much trouble, much fighting. I never feel safe. You cannot even take out a

cigarette because someone will take it from you,' said Mohammed, 31, a student who escaped from one of

Saddam Hussein's jails."

Recently used by the BBC for 26 weeks in the filming of the 2nd series of Hussle the building will be demolished

in 2006 to make way for a major redevelopment plan for the whole Elephant & Castle area.

Monique Dickerson writes: "I had terrifying experience I had when I was staying and the London Park Hotel around

1986 I think. I was a Bar Attendant there for about 3 months and I woke up one night in the early hours of the morning

to this horrible screeching and thumping noise in the corridor. There were at least 5 other witnesses + the

Switchboard operator that experienced this with me. I would really like to hear if you have ever had any other reports

like this, and I’m really interested in the history of the place."

Wessex Studios - Highbury

The studio where Bohemian Rhapsody, Pretty Vacant and a large amount of the Clash's material were recorded is now closed

and is undergoing conversion into (presumably) luxury apartments........

The following quote from an ASH website sums up the legend:

"The musty smell of rock history hangs heavily in the air. It was in this dark recording studio, tucked away in a leafy Highbury side

road, that The Clash first chugged out the opening chords of 'London Calling' . Mere inches away, in the corner of the live room, sits

the timeworn grand piano where the toothy young Freddie Mercury first sat and picked out the intro to 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. When

the Sex Pistols waded in two years later to record 'Never Mind The Bollocks', Johnny Rotten threw up into the very same piano and

his dried vomit had to be painstakingly scraped off each individual string by some luckless teaboy."

Stratford

Bow - Disused Workshop

Another building destined for demolition due to close proximity of the Olympic 2012 site

Shoreditch Town Hall

Shoreditch Town Hall has been on the At Risk Register for several years. Currently undergoing regeneration, it plans to

reopen sometime in 2004

One of the most gruesome events at Shoreditch Town Hall was the Inquest into the last of the "Jack the Ripper" killings -

that of Mary Jane Kelly, found murdered in a squalid lodging house.

The inquest opened on 12th November 1888 and was presided over by the Shoreditch Coroner - in spite of the fact the

murder took place in Whitechapel - because the victim's body had been taken to the Shoreditch mortuary, in the churchyard of

St Leonard's Church; just a stone's throw from the Town Hall.

The squalid details of the killing, the shocking mutilation of her body by the murderer - who was never caught - and the pathetic

picture that emerged of Mary Kelly's margined life caused a sensation. For its duration the proceedings at Shoreditch Town Hall

were given coverage in newspapers throughout the world sent reporters to cover the Inquest.

In the second half of the Twentieth century Shoreditch Town Hall was London's premier boxing venue.

The tragic death of Trinidadian heavy-weight champion Ulric Regis following a bout with Joe Bugner at Shoreditch led to a total

ban on fights in Hackney

Views from both sides

Southwark - Winchester Palace

Winchester Palace, completed in the 1140s, was the London residence of the Bishop of Winchester for over 500 years.

Many important visitors were entertained here – King James I held his wedding banquet at the Palace.

It was used as a prison from 1649 to 1660 and was then leased for housing.

Destroyed by fire in 1814, now only the west wall with its 14th century Rose Window survives.

Crayford - Howbury Tithe Barn

This tithe barn dates back to the 1600's. The water in the right hand corner is a moat which housed a building where

William The Conqueror's half brother lived in the 11th Century!

Vauxhall - Brunswick House

A Georgian mansion house, built in 1758 and listed Grade II. Purchased in 1811 by Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick,

who fled to England after taking part in the battle of Wagram against Napoleon but returned to Brunswick in 1813 and was killed

in battle two years later.

The Vauxhall Society wants the house restored for community use. There has even been talk of moving it to Camberwell,

although conservation bodies unanimously reject this as tantamount to demolishing the building. Everyone from the

Spitalfields Trust and the Georgian Society to the Lambeth councillor responsible for planning, has expressed concern

about the property's deterioration and it has been put on the Buildings At Risk register. It was bought by the London and

South Western Railway in 1850, and was occupied until recently by a railwaymen's social club, was sold at rail privatisation

in 1996. Finding its owner to enforce repairs has led to confusion over how to save Brunswick House.

Brunswick House is being restored by a firm called Lassco who are using the building as a shop selling

architectural antiques & salvage.

Woolwich

Westminster Bridge Roundabout - Island Block

One of London's most infamous derelict buildings due to its prominent location (between Westminster Bridge & Waterloo

though not many people know the storybehind it ... .well there isn't too much to tell you.... a six storey concrete building

constructed in the early 1970s as an extension to the old Greater London Council's County Hall complex. Planners

are seeking to demolish the building & for permission to construct a thirteen-storey, 743-bed hotel. The propsed

development includes 2,553 sq.m of restaurant and cafe provision, 2,398 sq.m of conference facilities and 600 sq.m

of leisure facilities provision, comprising a gym and a swimming pool. The application also includes the provision

of a coach and taxi drop-off area.

This building was voted no.11 by the British public after a poll of 10,000 people for ugliest buildings that people would

most like to see demolished for a Channel 4 programme. This was the only London building that made the chart.

Demolition finally started in May 2006. Its now all gone and the regeneration started. See the "then and now" pics in the

Derelict London book

Hackney - The Old Town Hall (more recently known as HSBC bank)

This building dates from 1802 but was re-fronted in the present baroque style in 1900. This building served as a town

hall until a larger one was built on the present Town Hall Square in the mid 19th century. On this site from Tudor times

stood an irregular brick building known as Church House built by the Rector Christopher Urswick in 1520. It provided

rooms for the parish vestry to meet and housed a charity school and a lock-up for miscreants.

Gallions Hotel undergoing gradual renovation, 2004

and pictured a few years earlier by Derelict London visitor Kirstina Bond

and in 1971 by Derelict London visitor Eric Gold

Gallions Hotel, Gallions Reach, North Woolwich

The P & O company built the Gallions Hotel for first-class steamer passengers.

A stylish survival of the days when the Royal Albert Dock handled liners to the British Empire, the Gallions Hotel was

completed in 1883. Closed in 1972 and empty for many years, the hotel now stands forlorn in the middle of a large

building site, Situated in the Albert Basin, this forms part of the Royal Docks project, which is one of the largest integrated

developments happening in London. Construction work has now started to transform the historic dock and Gallions

Hotel into a stunning new waterside community as part of a £100m project

Liners from the distant ports of the British Empire would stop at Gallions on their way to their final berth upriver, so

that their passengers could disembark and reach the city quicker. It featured underground stables and an underground

passage to the dock.

On 3 September 1878, on the return upriver from a day trip, the steam powered pleasure steamer 'Princess Alice'

collided with the collier 'Bywell Castle' just off Gallion's Reach at Woolwich. In very warm weather the pleasure boat

was packed with between 700 and 900 day-trippers. The 'Alice' was only equipped to take 500. She sank almost

immediately with the loss of approximately 640 lives

Brixton Windmill

The Brixton Windmill was built in 1816 when Brixton Hill was nothing but open fields.

It was still a working mill in the early twentieth century but it eventually fell into disuse.

"London has a chronic land shortage. At the same time, thousands of streets are scarred by empty spaces, abandoned

for years behind temporary hoardings that attract graffiti and flyposting" (Sara McConnell, ""Evening Standard", 23/1/06).

"In a period of rising land prices, a site may change hands a number of times; in a slow market, owners may hold onto land

until they can sell, which can depend on getting the right planning permission."

Hackney Highbury Hackney Wick

Providence Row Refuge & Convent, Spitalfields

The Catholic Sisters of Mercy established a night shelter here in 1860 for 100 women and 20 men of “good character”

The Providence Row Night Refuge and Convent, where Jack the Ripper victim Mary Kelly is alleged to have stayed, is in

the process of being converted into office space. The City of London Corporation Offices opposite are the site of Miller's

Court where Kelly met her gruesome end.

Ladywell Police Station

This Grade 2 listed station was closed in late 2003 as the police moved to their new premises down the road -

Lewisham - rumoured to be the largest police station in Europe which even contains stables for 26 police horses

Ladywell Play Tower

The Council is talking about building a new secondary school on this site (& presumably demolishing this old building?)

Springfield Park, Upper Clapton

It was in this park that a Saxon log boat was discovered. It was used as a ferry on the River Lea over 1000

years ago. The river was over a mile wide in those days. The boat can now be seen at Hackney Museum.

	Borough, SE1
Holloway
	Plaistow YMCA Greengate House was built in 1919 for the YMCA and later used by students when it was owned by the University of East London. A scheme is underway to redevelop the site to create 90 homes for "key" workers such as nurses & teachers. Neil Cooper writes: "When i was a student at the university i was based there it survived largely untouched inside - just the addition of a few plasterboard walls. in the canteen - in the basement is a trap door and when opened reveals a fully tiled victorian swimming pool with a shallow end and a deep end , all marked as such one year in a final 'end of year' show someone had opened the trapdoor and put in a tv monitor showing splashing waves and also played the sound of splashing water - an artistic 'installation' also when you enter up the front steps there is a lift installed servicing all florrs - it's one of those - wire mesh box types - not completely enclosed and from the very top floor you can see the west ham footie ground down the road at boleyn"
Camelot Fashions, Aldgate A remnant from the old Commercial Road rag trade. Another site destined to be demolished to make way for an office block or apartments

Silvertown (Millennium Mills) A huge complex of reinforced concrete granaries erected in the 1930's replacing earlier granaries/mills. Plans are underway for these to be turned into apartments..............More info and pic in the Derelict London book.This building was used in the opening series of Ashes to Ashes pic courtesy of Eric Gold
Homerton	Limehouse	Spitalfields

Elephant & Castle
	Walthamstow
Stratford	Aldgate (Fashion Street)	Shoreditch
Hackney Central	Whitechapel (Commercial Rd)	Shoreditch
Finsbury Pk	Borough Library	Shoreditch
Hornsey	Hornsey	Aldgate (Whitechapel Rd)
	Bank
	Southwark
Kings Cross "The Lighthouse building" Sara writes: "this lovely building was squatted by some dubious friends and i moved in after being evicted from another property at short notice. most of the buildings had fallen into serious disrepair and were not really habitable (missing floors and staircases, no water etc). one night, whilst on the roof behind the old garage builings towards the rear of the complex, we discovered a light well with missing panes. we tied a rope to the railings and lowered ourselves down into the room below, in which we found a set of stairs leading down. following these for a while, we eventually emerged onto an old tube station platform! the line was still in use, but this particular secret stop was not. there is a workmans enrty to it on the end that backs on to the Scala, however i don't think that has been accessed in a long time either."
Shepherds Bush	Bromley By Bow	Bromley By Bow
Whitechapel	Grays Inn Building
East Finchley	Dagenham	Southwark
East Ham - Disused Chemical Factory The Disused factory of Burgoine Burbidges. The building, which was a thriving chemical business, seemed to go into disrepair after the second world war. The council took it over for storage. Then it became empty some time later, when it was padlocked and chained for years, until travellers broke in quite recently , then they were thrown out.
Plaistow	Walworth (old Police Station) known as Carter Street Police station. Had a rough reputation. They moved to a new building in Manor Place in the '80s.	Dagenham (old Post Office)
Belvedere	Spitalfields	Eltham
Brixton	Covent Garden the workshop of Thomas Chippendale and his son, Cabinet Makers, stood at this site 1753-1813.	Brentford

Want present day pics of your old haunts? Researching your family tree and need location pics? Pictures taken to order - low cost - any job considered (not just derelicts!). Much cheaper than professional photographers

Contact: Paul at derelictlondon.com

Brixton - Raleigh Hall

Originally a private house called Effra House, built about 1840 and then used as the Brixton Liberal Club. In the late 19th century it became a public meeting hall, also let out for concerts and dances.

It featured as a crack house in the film, SW9 - "Set amongst the back streets of Brixton, South London, over a 24 hour stretch - a cross section of twenty-something's, with differing agendas, united by anarchy, drugs, money and a gun"

Proposals are currently in place for the hall to be transformed into a Black Cultural Archives Museum. The BCA plans to develop the site for an inter-nationally known centre of black British history.

"The heritage centre aims to become a national and international attraction, drawing in researchers and tourists from all over Britain and overseas - enhancing London's status while raising awareness about the black British contribution to London, Britain and the world."

RAF Hendon - disused control tower

The insignia is of the Grahame-White Aviation Company who bought the land in 1911 and promoted the site as the

London Aerodrome. The RAF & the US used Hendon during WW11. During the Battle of Britain a number of fighter

squadrons used the airfield. Unoccupied since the 1980s when the RAF ceased operations. Approved scheme for

use as a leisure facility within a development scheme has not progressed. New proposals submitted for a high-density

housing development, but these do not include the listed building.

Iain Duncan took the following pics innside the site in approx 2003

Inside the first floor of the control tower

Mural on wall of former theatre bar Office inside Grahame White Hangar

Graham White Hangar (this has now been moved to the RAF Museum site)

Chelsea - Lots Road Power Station

Built between 1902 and 1905, on what was originally waste ground known as 'the Lots'. Its primary

purpose was to provide power to the District Line and three other underground lines run by the

Underground Electric Railway company. It was built to run on coal, conveniently shipped in via the

river (Chelsea Harbour is built on the site of the old wharves). In 1915, with the closure of the

Stockwell power station, Lots Rd also began supplying power to the City and South London Railway

systems. Between 1920 and 1925, the capacity of the station was increased from 63 to 92 megawatts

and in 1928, the Central Line also obtained its power from Lots Rd. Major modernisation took place

in 1963 when the number of chimneys were reduced from four to two and the power station was

converted to run on oil. An adjacent building, on the corner of Lots Road was built to cope with the

additional requirements for more power.In 2000, with power due to be obtained from the National

Grid supply, London Underground decided to sell the power station to developers Circadian.

Redevelopment is pending. www.lotsroadpowerstation.co.uk

Acton Fulham

(old school frontage)

London Bridge Tottenham

Cambridge Heath Dalston

Hoxton Bermondsey

Plumstead - White Hart Road Depot

The council depot worksite contains a former electricity generating station, which is

listed as Grade II. This complex of buildings was originally an early-Edwardian combined

refuse incinerator and electricity generating station supplying both street and domestic

lighting. Power generation ceased in 1923 and incineration in 1965 and it was

subsequently modified to become a council depot.. The interiors of the buildings contain

interesting decorative finishes including doors, door surrounds, fireplaces,stairs and glazing

within the offices and glazed brick interiors and mosaic flooring in the main hall.

Steve writes: "my Dad used to work at this depot from the mid 80's to early 90's as a security guard for

the council, he used to watch for people getting through the fence to nick the batteries out of the rubbish

carts that were parked there over night. I used to visit him some nights on my motor bike at work, where

he would feed the ferile cats, foxes and anything else furry, one night he tripped in the gatehouse

(pictured) hit his head on the weigh bridge equipment, knocked himself out and cut his head open.

Apparently the big building was used as a temporary morgue during WWII."

Bow Plumstead

Tottenham

Fulham - Fulham Wharf Warehouse

Woolwich

Chisenhale Works - Old Ford

Morris Cohen (Veneer Works) built the current Chisenhale Works building (called CHN Veneers) in 1943 to produce

veneer for the construction of Spitfire cockpits and propellers and plywood for Mosquito planes during WW2.In 1972

Chisenhale Works closed and the building is bought by London Borough of Tower Hamlets.In 1980 a group of visual

artists and the X6 Dance collective are forced to relocate from their studio building in Butler’s Wharf in Docklands.

They take over the lease at Chisenhale Works, creating Arts Place Trust. During the winter of 1980-1981, the artists

renovate the derelict building and create 40 studios. X6 Dance establish Chisenhale Dance Space in the derelict

Black Horse Brewery Building adjacent to Chisenhale Works. Much of the old works remain derelict

Soho

Deptford

Stratford Leyton

Wandsworth Shoreditch

(Youngs Brewery)

Deptford

Spitalfields

Just around the corner from the upwardly mobile new Spitalfields regeneration project

Forest Hill

This is where I really need your help - this intriguing building is facing the platform at Forest Hill

Railway Station but I have no idea of what purpose the building served. This entrance is quite

high up and the doorway is only accessed by a metal fire escape style staircase.

Deptford

Interesting shell of a building

Peckham

Waterloo

poster advertising blowdown demolition of flats on Hackney Downs

There is a video of this explosion at: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/index/council/departments/housing/housing-blowdown.htm