Survey of London

The Survey of London is a long-running series of volumes documenting the buildings of London past and present, their development, architecture, history and associations.

It began in 1894 as a high-minded attempt to list and record all London’s surviving historic buildings and monuments. That proved over-ambitious, but the project’s area-by-area approach and focus on timely publication allowed it to evolve. From the earliest volumes, dealing with relatively few buildings in each area covered, it has developed into a detailed, diverse and inclusive work of urban and architectural history.

Volumes are the outcome of intensive documentary research and on-site investigation, and are profusely illustrated with measured drawings, maps, archive images and specially commissioned photographs.

Internationally acknowledged for its authority and accessibility, the Survey of London has no parallel in any other world city.

Areas covered

The Survey’s focus is the former County of London, which covers the whole of central London and many of the inner suburbs. The main series covers defined areas, usually one of the historic parishes that have coalesced into the present London Boroughs, while a shorter monograph series deals with individual sites and buildings not covered by these volumes.

Areas covered to date include much of the historic West End, the whole of Kensington and Knightsbridge, Clerkenwell, the Docklands district of Poplar, and Lambeth, Woolwich and Battersea in South London. Recent volumes are South-East Marylebone (2017) and Oxford Street (2020). Whitechapel is due for publication later in 2022, and South-West Marylebone is currently in progress. In the monograph series, the most recent is The Charterhouse (2010), and there are plans for a monograph on University College London to mark the university’s bicentenary in 2026.

Survey of London volumes are listed on our map. Online versions of all but the most recent publications on Battersea, South-East Marylebone and Oxford Street are available from British History Online. The volume on Woolwich is available to read and download from this website. Please refer to our online catalogue for links to freely accessible online versions of each volume.

Contact

Copyright enquiries
Send an email to Colin Thom

Dr Sarah Dowding
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Helen Jones
Architectural Illustrator
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Dr Emily Mann
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Dr Aileen Reid
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Dr Amy Spencer 
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Philip Temple
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Colin Thom
Director
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