The neighbourhood of The London Archives is Clerkenwell, EC1, nestled in-between the Islington, Farringdon, Barbican and King's Cross areas. Named after Clerk's Well in Turnmill Lane, its streets were for many years from the 10th century busy with farmers taking cattle to Smithfield market. It also housed watchmaking companies, brothels and prisons. Sadler's Wells was one of the many spas enjoyed by Londoners only a short walk from the city.

Today, on its site, is a modern theatre of the same name on Rosebery Avenue. Next door to that is the New River Head complex, the previous headquarters of Thames Water. Near or on Clerkenwell Green you can find St. James' Church, the Marx Memorial Library and the Middlesex Sessions House (home to the London Masonic Centre up to 2013 which has now been reborn as a 'public gathering place': the Old Sessions House, after extensive restoration).

Clerkenwell is nowadays popular with food lovers, architects and designers (notably host to the Clerkenwell Design Week in May). The archive building at Northampton Road housed the Temple Press from 1939 to the end of the 1960s. The Greater London Record Office moved to 40 Northampton Road in 1982 and was renamed London Metropolitan Archives in 1997. In 2024 we changed our name to The London Archives.

This gallery includes a small selection of our historical photographs and prints showing the eclectic mix of buildings and vistas. To discover more, try searching or use the London Picture Map to focus on a location.