Survey of London

Title page of the first volume, covering Bromley-by-Bow, 1900

The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Arts-and-Crafts designer, architect and social reformer[1] and was motivated by a desire to record and preserve London's ancient monuments. The first volume was published in 1900, but the completion of the series remains far in the future.

The London Survey Committee was initially a volunteer effort, but from 1910 published the surveys jointly with the London County Council (later the Greater London Council, GLC). From 1952, the voluntary committee was disbanded, and all survey work was wholly council-run. Following the abolition of the GLC in 1986, responsibility for the survey was taken over by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME).[2] Since 2013, it has been administered by The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.[3]

The series borrows its title from John Stow's A Survay of London (first edition 1598; revised edition 1603).

  1. ^ Kramer, Elizabeth. "Charles Robert Ashbee". Bloomsbury Design Library. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  2. ^ Hobhouse, H. (1984) London Survey'd, RCHME.
  3. ^ UCL (6 December 2016). "Survey of London". The Bartlett School of Architecture. Retrieved 21 May 2021.