Old Maps of London

view maps of twentieth century London

 

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Old London Maps

View old maps of London as it was in the early twentieth century, pre World War 2. The map below shows the greater London area, divided into a grid of over 100 squares, each numbered on the map and linked to a page showing detailed large scale street maps of the area within the grid square, including detailed maps of Central London. The areas are also listed in the index below the map. Clicking on a name in the list will also take you to the page of maps of that part of London. Each map shows large scale detail of London, its streets and buildings as they were in 1940. Although the London scene as shown on the maps will have changed over the past half century, many of the streets and major buildings remain virtually unchanged.

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To view a detailed street map of any part of London, as it was in 1940, click on a numbered square on the map below.

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Watford Aldenham Elstree Barnet New Barnet Enfield Enfield Lock City of London Epping Forest Theydon Bois Hobbs Cross Oxhey Bushey Arkley Totteridge East barnet Southgate Edmonton Chingford Loughton Abridge Pinner Harrow Weald Edgeware Finchley Friern Barnet Wood Green Chapel End Woodford Grange Hill Chigwell Row Ruislip Harrow Brent Golders Green Highgate Finsbury Walthamstow Wanstead Barking Chadwell Heath Northolt Sudbury Wembley Willesden Hampstead Highbury Hackney Stratford Ilford Dagenham Southall Ealing Acton Nottinghill Marylebone Finsbury Bethnal Green West Ham East Ham Rippleside Cranford Brentford Chiswick Hammersmith Chelsea Lambeth Bermondsey Greenwich Woolwich Erith Hounslow Twickenham Richmond Putney Clapham Peckham Lewisham Kidbrooke Eltham Bexleyheath Teddington Hanworth Richmond Park Wimbledon Tooting Norwood Sydenham Catford Sidcup Bexley Molesey Kingston New Malden Merton Mitcham Thornton Heath Beckenham Bromley Chiselhurst Foots Cray Esher Hook Malden Cheam Carshalton Croydon Shirley Hayes Orpington Crockenhill Oxshott Chessington Epsom Sutton Wallington Sanderstead Richmond Park Tottenham Tottenham Map of London

The maps on this website have been reproduced with the permission of Collins Bartholomew

 Historical Background to London Maps

The maps on this website are derived from old maps of London published in 1940 by John Bartholomew and Son Ltd of Edinburgh and London. The printed maps of the whole of the Greater London area were on a scale of four inches to the mile, with additional maps of the city of London on a larger scale of ten inches to the mile, showing great detail of the inner London streets, buildings and landmarks of the time, i.e. in the very early stages of the Second World War, just prior to the sustained bombing of London during the Blitz, when, beginning on September 7, 1940, London was bombed by the German Luftwaffe for 57 consecutive nights, resulting in the destruction of more than one million London houses and around 20,000 civilian deaths in London alone. So the maps shown here represent pre-war London. During the war and in the post-war period, many changes have taken place, great developments in industry, housing and communications. Old heavy industry has largely been replaced by new service and technological industries and the whole of Greater London has seen the expansion of built up areas. On the other hand, despite the effects of the blitz, many of London's historic buildings and streets remain much as they were, and much of our great architectural heritage has been preserved and the essential traditional character of central London retained. So while some areas will have changed greatly in the intervening years, other areas, particularly in the City of London and the inner city, are still fairly well represented by the old maps.

 

London Map Index

Below is an index of the old maps of London displayed on this website, derived from the detailed maps published in 1940 by John Bartholomew and Son. Each map shows approximately five square miles of a London district. Each map shows detail of streets, main railway lines and underground railways, along with tramways, borough and county boundaries and electric transmission lines. Other features marked on the maps include heaths and commons, public parks, public buildings and postal districts.

10   Watford 49   Chadwell Heath 88   Eltham
11   Aldenham 50   Northolt 89   Bexleyheath
12   Elstree 51   Sudbury 90   Teddington
13   Barnet 52   Wembley 91   Hanworth
14   New Barnet 53   Willesden 92   Richmond Park
15   Enfield 54   Hampstead 93   Wimbledon
16   Enfield Lock 55   Highbury 94   Tooting
17   Epping Forest 56   Hackney 95   Norwood
18   Theydon Bois 57   Stratford 96   Sydenham
19   Hobbs Cross 58   Ilford 97   Catford
20   Oxhey 59   Dagenham 98    Sidcup
21   Bushey 60   Southall 99    Bexley
22   Arkley 61   Ealing 100  Molesey
23   Totteridge 62   Acton 101  Kingston
24   East Barnet 63   Nottinghill 102  New Malden
25   Southgate 64   Marylebone 103  Merton
26   Edmonton 65   Finsbury 104  Mitcham
27   Chingford 66   Bethnal Green 105  Thornton Heath
28   Loughton 67   West Ham 106  Beckenham
29   Abridge 68   East ham 107  Bromley
30   Pinner 69   Rippleside 108  Chiselhurst
31   Harrow Weald 70   Cranford 109  Foots Cray
32   Edgeware 71   Brentford 110  Esher
33   Finchley 72   Chiswick 111  Hook
34   Friern Barnet 73   Hammersmith 112  Malden
35   Wood Green 74   Chelsea 113  Cheam
36   Chapel End 75   Lambeth 114  Carshalton
37   Woodford 76   Bermondsey 115  Croydon
38   Grange Hill 77   Greenwich 116  Shirley
39   Chigwell Row 78   Woolwich 117  Hayes
40   Ruislip 79   Erith 118  Orpington
41   Harrow 80   Hounslow 119  Crockenhill
42   Brent 81   Twickenham 120  Oxshott
43   Golders Green 82   Richmond 121  Chessington
44   Highgate 83   Putney 122  Epsom
45   Tottenham 84   Clapham 123  Sutton
46   Walthamstow 85   Peckham 124  Wallington
47   Wanstead 86   Lewisham 125  Sanderstead
48   Barking 87   Kidbrooke 126  City of London
 
 
 

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