The ‘Southwark Needle’ and the Grisly History of London Bridge

12/01/2026 donbrown 0

Why the great long stone spike at the Southwark end of London Bridge might not mean what you think it does.

ribbons on a red metal gate. The shard in the background

Cross Bones Graveyard and the Outcast Dead

09/01/2026 donbrown 0

Across Southwark Street, a few hundred metres from the insanely busy Borough Market, is a little oasis of calm and mortality called the Crossbones Graveyard. […]

The stuffaboutlondon Review of 2025

01/01/2026 donbrown 0

The top posts from last year’s blogging on StuffAboutLondon. Some old faithfuls, some new entries and one or two surprises.

buxton memorial fountain in the foreground, victoria tower in the background

More Neo-Gothic Splendour: the Buxton Memorial

15/12/2025 donbrown 0

In Victoria Tower Gardens, the little public park that runs from Parliament to Lambeth Bridge, stands a very ornate Victorian drinking fountain (now, sadly, disconnected […]

two of the four bronze lions by edwin landseer in trafalgar square

Landseer’s Lions in Trafalgar Square

09/12/2025 donbrown 0

Just as everyone ignores the warning on packets of cotton buds not to stick them in your ear, so the signs forbidding climbing on the […]

snip from the agas map of london with the london stone marked

Myths and Legends of the London Stone

07/12/2025 donbrown 0

Embedded into the wall of 111 Cannon Street, just over the road from the railway station, is a portland stone receptacle around a metre and […]

Days Out: Getting Anglo-Saxon at Sutton Hoo

22/11/2025 donbrown 0

To Suffolk! the county about 80 miles NE of the metropolis, birthplace of John Constable, Benjamin Britten and George Orwell. Full of flat lands, fat […]

the outside walls of rochester castle with the stone keep visible

Days Out: Rochester – the Castle and Cathedral

21/11/2025 donbrown 0

To Kent! on the coldest day of the year as an icy blast off the River Medway cuts through five layers of clothing and my […]

the guards chapel from birdcage walk

The Guards Chapel and its Post War Rebuilding

14/11/2025 donbrown 0

Officially known as the Royal Military Chapel, but generally just as The Guards Chapel, this building stands within the Wellington Barracks at the top end […]

Thank you for your donations!

10/11/2025 donbrown 0

Those of you who signed up for my recent online talk raised £462 to be split between Prostate Cancer UK and the Brain Tumour Charity.