Belgravia and Knightsbridge represent the wealthy face of modern London, but it was not always that way. Belgravia did not exist before the 1820s, its site a bleak expanse of open countryside. Knightsbridge was a straggling settlement along the main highway from the west. Proximity to London and the Royal Parks was the key. Grand mansions arose in Knightsbridge and on the ‘Five Fields’ a classical townscape took shape from the 1820s – they called it ‘Belgravia’.
The Victorians welded both districts firmly to the capital, and with the photographs in this book we can follow the story through the Edwardian era and compare what the Edwardians saw and what we see today. Along the way are carriage-filled streets, grand hotels and an array of traders and shopkeepers, the lifeblood of Edwardian London. This unique portrayal of two iconic localities will delight and intrigue Londoners and visitors alike.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
London born Brian Girling’s thirty-years as a social and wedding photographer and postcard dealer mean that he has access to an extensive private archive of historic London images.
Brian is the author of several previous titles including A Century in the City, Eastenders’ Postcards, City of London, Westminster’s Villages and London Colour Archive.
He lives in Harrow.
235 x 165 mm | paperback | 96 pages | sepia and colour illustrations throughout
COVER PRICE £ 14.99
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