By the end of the 19th century, London was not just a bustling, world-class city. It was also the center of Britain’s Empire.People living in London had access to goods from around the world… if they could afford them, that is. Not everyone could afford them, however, since London was also a city of contrasts.

 London by Alfred Buckham, pioneer of aerial photography.

Eighteenth century houses at Borough Market by William Whiffin

Bunhill Fields

Promoted content plane tree in Che

apside

Dirty Dick’s in Bishopsgate

Book stalls in the Farringdon Rd by Walter Benington

Roman galley discovered during the construction of County Hall in 1910

The garden at the Bank of England that was lost in the reconstruction

Bridge House in George Row, Bermondsey – constructed over a creek at Jacob’s Island

Penny for the Guy!

Hoop & Grapes in Aldgate by Donald McLeish

Houndsditch Old Clothes Market by William Whiffin

In Huggin Lane between Victoria St and Lower Thames St by Andrew Paterson

Inigo Jones’ gate at Chiswick House at the time it was in use as a private mental hospital

The Langbourne Club for women who work in the City of London

Leadenhall Poultry Market by Donald McLeish

Liverpool St Station at nine o’clock six mornings a week

Old signs in Lombard St by William Whiffin

The London Stone by Donald McLeish

Figureheads of fighting ships in the Grosvenor Rd by William Whiffin

Old houses in the Strand

Puddledock Blackfriars

Piccadilly Circus in the eighteen-eighties

Poplar Almshouses by William Whiffin

Punch & Judy show at Putney

On the deck of a Thames Sailing Barge by Walter Benington

The Grapes at Limehouse

Wapping Old Stairs by William Whiffin