Abstract
AN interesting feature in connexion with the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666 is that, at the outset, “it was decided that the buildings which had existed up to the edge of the River Thames should not be re-erected on the old sites; that no new structure should be built within 40 feet of the river; and also that wharves or quays should be constructed from London Bridge to the Temple”. Mr. Sydney Perks, late Architect and Surveyor to the Corporation of the City of London, with his exceptionally privileged opportunities of consulting old records not generally accessible to the public, has been at considerable pains to investigate how far these proposals were adhered to, and the volume under notice gives a documented account of the result of his researches. There is a certain amount of contradictory evidence which is carefully sifted and the grounds for acceptance or non-acceptance stated. Much of the information has had to be collected from widely different sourcesminutes of committees, survey books, site plans, cash books dealing with coal dues, etc. and pieced together so as to form a connected picture of the course of local events, which, as Mr. Perks laments, failed to engage the attention and recording ability of Pepys, busy as he was with national affairs.
The Water Line of the City of London after the Great Fire
By Sydney Perks. Pp. v + 38 + 13 plates. (London: Taylor and Francis, 1935.) 12s. 6d. net.
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C., B. The Water Line of the City of London after the Great Fire. Nature 137, 642 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137642a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137642a0