By David Blackwell A popular form of aristocratic entertainment in mid-18th-century London was to stroll round the city’s ornamental pleasure gardens, both those at Vauxhall (launched in 1732 with a masked gala) and its more fashionable rival, Ranelagh Gardens (opened in 1742 and now the site of the annual Chelsea Flower Show).

The architecture around Smith Square in London is predominantly Georgian, featuring elegant 18th-century townhouses characterized by symmetrical facades, sash windows, and decorative ironwork. These brick buildings often have white stucco accents and classical doorways with fanlights and pilasters. The square’s centerpiece, St John’s, Smith Square, is a Baroque-style church designed by Thomas Archer, with its striking four-corner towers. The area showcases typical Georgian urban planning…

In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London

The grand terraces of London. Handsome houses all, but finished with the bare London brick or the stuccoed white and cream of the late Georgian/ early Victorian period. Which do you prefer? - #london #georgianarchitecture #victorianarchitecture #housesofinstagram #historicarchitecture

MAPCO Map And Plan Collection Online : Senex's Plan Of London 1720.

Georgian London was the epicenter of urban pleasure culture. Harlots leveraged their assets, rakes indulged in licentious sex, and brothels, molly-houses, taverns and bawdy houses were scattered al…

Trafalgar Square is one of the most recognisable London landmarks, a major tourist destination redolent with history, yet it is a relatively modern feature, only about 175 years old. If Jane Austen were to find herself in Trafalgar Square today, I wondered, would she recognise anything at all? There are, in fact, only two landmarks…

As one of the most atmospheric areas of London, Princelet Street has aesthetic charm as well as a long history, but it’s not often you actually get to explore behind the Georgian doors. I was lucky enough to join the London Historians recently...

Interior of the pub on 44 Essex Road, the pub is a Grade II listed building.