Society for Photographing Relics of Old London



The Society for Photographing Relics of Old London was founded in 1875 in London, England, initially with the purpose of recording the Oxford Arms, a traditional galleried public house on Warwick Lane that was to be demolished as part of the redevelopment of the Old Bailey.

Alfred & John Bool took the photographs, and when the project was announced in a letter to The Times, the news received such a positive response that the society's work was continued, with a total of twelve issues being produced over twelve years, containing a total of 120 photographs.

The photographs were commissioned to preserve an architectural record of buildings, some of which were built before the Great Fire of London in 1666, and which were scheduled for demolition as part of the city's urban redevelopment measures at the end of the 19th century. It was important to choose a photographic technique that would last for generations.

In 1870, the pigment printing process was invented. Society member Henry Dixon mastered the process, and the photographic images are still of excellent technical quality today. The group continued to document the old buildings of London threatened with demolition until its dissolution in 1886.

List of photographs
The 120 photographs published by the group over its lifetime were titled:
 * 1) Entrance of the 'Oxford Arms' Inn
 * 2) 'Oxford Arms' Inn
 * 3) Entrance of the 'Oxford Arms' Inn
 * 4) Upper Gallery of the 'Oxford Arms' Inn
 * 5) One of the staircases at the 'Oxford Arms' Inn
 * 6) General view of the galleries at the 'Oxford Arms' Inn (originally issued 1875)
 * 7) Old houses in Wych Street
 * 8) Old houses in Wych Street
 * 9) Old houses in Drury Lane
 * 10) Old houses in Drury Lane
 * 11) Lincoln's Inn Gate House
 * 12) Lincoln's Inn: Old Square (originally issued 1876)
 * 13) Churchyard of St Bartholomew, Smithfield, London
 * 14) Churchyard of St Bartholomew, Smithfield
 * 15) Green Churchyard, St Bartholomew, Smithfield
 * 16) Window at the east end of St Bartholomew, Smithfield
 * 17) North side and 'Poors Churchyard' at St Bartholomew, Smithfield
 * 18) North side and 'Poors Churchyard' at St Bartholomew, Smithfield (originally issued 1877)
 * 19) Temple Bar
 * 20) 102 Leadenhall Street
 * 21) Old houses in Gray's Inn Road
 * 22) Shop in Brewer Street, Soho
 * 23) The Sir Paul Pindar, Bishopsgate Street
 * 24) Old house in Holborn / Staple Inn, Holborn front (originally issued 1878)
 * 25) Canonbury Tower
 * 26) Canonbury Tower
 * 27) Barnard's Inn
 * 28) Barnard's Inn
 * 29) Barnard's Inn
 * 30) Old houses in Aldergate Street
 * 31) Old houses in Aldergate Street
 * 32) Shaftesbury House, Aldersgate Street
 * 33) Christ's Hospital
 * 34) Christ's Hospital
 * 35) Churchyard of St.Lawrence Pountney
 * 36) Old houses in Great Queen Street (originally issued 1879)
 * 37) General view from Charterhouse Square
 * 38) Charterhouse: Washhouse Court
 * 39) Charterhouse: Washhouse Court
 * 40) Charterhouse: The Cloisters
 * 41) Charterhouse: The Great Hall
 * 42) Charterhouse: The Great Hall
 * 43) Charterhouse: The Great Hall
 * 44) Charterhouse: The Great Hall
 * 45) Charterhouse: The Grand Staircase
 * 46) Charterhouse: The Governor's Room
 * 47) Charterhouse: Entrance to the Chapel
 * 48) Charterhouse: Founder's Tomb (originally issued 1880)
 * 49) King's Head Inn yard
 * 50) King's Head Inn yard
 * 51) White Hart Inn yard
 * 52) White Hart Inn yard
 * 53) George Inn yard
 * 54) Queen's Head Inn yard
 * 55) Queen's Head Inn yard
 * 56) Old houses in Borough High Street, Southwark
 * 57) St Mary Overy's Dock
 * 58) Old houses in Bermondsey Street
 * 59) Sion College, London Wall
 * 60) Oxford Market  (originally issued 1881)
 * 61) Little Dean's Yard
 * 62) Ashburnham House: Exterior
 * 63) Ashburnham House: The Staircase
 * 64) Ashburnham House: The Staircase
 * 65) Ashburnham House: The Ante-room
 * 66) Ashburnham House: The Dining Room
 * 67) Ashburnham House: The Garden
 * 68) Banqueting House, Whitehall
 * 69) The Water Gate of York House
 * 70) Lincoln's Inn Fields
 * 71) Lincoln's Inn Fields
 * 72) Lincoln's Inn Fields (originally issued 1882)
 * 73) Lambeth Palace: The Gate House
 * 74) Lambeth Palace: The Great Hall
 * 75) Lambeth Palace: The Lollards' Tower
 * 76) Old House, Palace Yard, Lambeth
 * 77) Old houses, Aldgate
 * 78) Old houses, Aldgate
 * 79) 'The Golden Axe', St Mary Axe
 * 80) No.37 Cheapside
 * 81) No.73 Cheapside
 * 82) Old house, Great Ormond Street
 * 83) Old house, Queen Square, Bloomsbury
 * 84) Shop, Macclesfield Street, Soho (originally issued 1883)
 * 85) Old houses, Fleet Street
 * 86) The 'Old Bell', Holborn
 * 87) The 'Old Bell', Holborn
 * 88) St Giles, Cripplegate
 * 89) Old house, Fore Street
 * 90) Old house, Great Winchester Street
 * 91) Austin Friars
 * 92) Staircase of Austin-Friars
 * 93) Doorways, Laurence Pountney Hill
 * 94) College Street
 * 95) Innholders' Hall
 * 96) Doorway, College Hill (issued 1884)
 * 97) Inner Temple
 * 98) Inner Temple
 * 99) Inner Temple
 * 100) Middle Temple
 * 101) Middle Temple
 * 102) Middle Temple
 * 103) Gray's Inn
 * 104) Gray's Inn
 * 105) Clement's Inn: Garden House
 * 106) Clifford's Inn
 * 107) Staple Inn Hall
 * 108) Six small subjects (originally issued 1885)
 * 109) St John's Gate, Clerkenwell
 * 110) Old houses in The Strand
 * 111) Great St Helen's, Bishopsgate Street
 * 112) Tennis Court, James Street, Haymarket
 * 113) Emanuel Hospital, Westminster
 * 114) Queen Anne's Gate
 * 115) Chimney-piece, Sessions House, Clerkenwell
 * 116) Chimney-piece, Court House, St Andrew's, Holborn
 * 117) Chimney-piece, Tallow Chandler's Hall
 * 118) Court room, New River Company
 * 119) Three doorways
 * 120) Five small subjects (missing) (issued 1886)