The London Gazetteer
Selected illustrated extracts from Chambers London Gazetteer
Chambers London Gazetteer
The Gazetteer section was the nucleus of the original Hidden London website and still forms its largest part. It takes a look at a variety of the capital’s minor districts and localities, some in the outer boroughs and some tucked away in lesser-known corners of the city centre – focusing mainly on the ways in which they’ve developed and highlighting any special points of interest. If you know London well, you’ll already be familiar with many of the places featured here – but there should still be some you’ve never even heard of.
For a full list of the localities featured on this site, please click here. Despite running to around 350 pages, this online directory includes only a fraction (about a quarter) of the places listed in Chambers London Gazetteer, from which the text here is mostly drawn. If a locality of particular interest to you is missing from this site, please don’t email a complaint! But feel free to check out the printed volume, which is guaranteed to include the place in question – and, also, see the penultimate paragraph below, about images.
The Gazetteer section’s listings are devoted to lesser-known localities of varying sizes, but mostly diminutive. A ‘locality’ is any place (or station) named in one of the London street atlases, or a park or road or estate with a distinct identity of its own.
Each listing generally includes an indication of where the place is and what it is like; perhaps some explanation of how it got its name, especially if this is interesting; a potted history of its development; and, if applicable, a few remarks on notable buildings, natural features, events and former residents, and selected artistic works that feature the place or were produced there.
The relevant postal district or postcode area is appended to each entry. Where there are two or more they are listed in approximate order of predominance (the same rule applies to the identification of parent boroughs). However, few areas in London have clearly defined borders, so this information should not be taken as gospel. For the same reason, a precise description of a locality’s extent is rarely attempted.
Population figures from the 2001 census are cited where one or more ‘output areas’ roughly match the extent of a listed place (updated information from the 2011 census will appear when the relevant details are made available). However, electoral boundaries are frequently drawn so as to include a similar number of voters in each ward within a borough, so the data may not always give a true representation of a place’s magnitude. Demographic highlights are often provided within the text, where these are available and illuminating.
The nearest station, tramstop or riverboat pier is usually given only when it has (or used to have) the same name as the place in question. Underground lines and mainline service providers are shown for each station, together with its fare zone(s).
Suggestions for further reading are given wherever possible and these range from slim pamphlets to multi-volume works. Preference is given to works still in print, when a direct link to Amazon is usually provided. Further reading suggestions should not be assumed to be the source of information on Hidden London, and certainly not the source of any errors in that information! (One grumpy local historian, who shall remain nameless, emailed to complain that Hidden London had sullied his name by making a questionable statement in an article while suggesting his book as ‘further reading’. His book is no longer mentioned here.)
Links are provided to selected relevant websites, especially if they are run as community resources rather than primarily as advertising vehicles. In the absence of a worthwhile community website, links are sometimes included to sites with information on aspects of local history or a district’s key attraction.
Visitors to Hidden London often write to ask why such-and-such a locality isn’t included in the site’s Gazetteer. This is usually because the author doesn’t have a decent picture of the place in question. If you’ve taken a good picture of a locality that you’d like to see included in the Gazetteer section and would be willing for it to be used here, do make contact. Unfortunately, no financial remuneration is possible but you will be credited (assuming you wish) and you will of course retain all rights to your image. In the first instance, please use the contact form to get in touch.
For the most part, the Gazetteer section is no longer being updated with changing information about the areas featured. However, the author will be happy to correct any errors that are drawn to his attention. Again, please use the contact form for this purpose.
