91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Other

(lost) Fire Brigade HQ - Southwark

Inscription

This stone relief was located above the main entrance to the former headquarters of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade which stood on this site from 1878 until it was demolished in 1969. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was renamed the London Fire Brigade in 1904 and the buildings on this site remained the Brigade Headquarters until 1937.

To the rear of the monument you will find a fire bell dating from the early 1800’s, this bell hung outside the previous headquarters of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, 68 Watling Street, in the City of London, until 1878. The Watling Street building was originally the headquarters of the London Fire Engine Establishment which was renamed the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in 1865.

B. G. Robinson - Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive, London Fire and Civil Defence Authority - 1995.

Site: Fire Brigade HQ - Southwark (1 memorial)

SE1, Southwark Bridge Road

Our image of the building (bomb-damaged and demolished in the late 1960s) is a zoomed-in section of a photo we found at the excellent .  Above the entrance you can see the decorative stone-work which became the memorial in the bushes.

We took our photo of this memorial in 2017 and planned to come back, hoping to gain access so we could find the mentioned fire bell.  By the time we got back, 2021, at least 4 trees had gone, a 2-storey grey construction was occupying the site of the memorial and the rest of the garden/parking area was behind hoardings. We have to hope that the memorial and bell are safely stored somewhere and will reappear when the works are completed, but for now we have marked them as 'Lost'.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Fire Brigade HQ - Southwark

Subjects commemorated i

Southwark Fire Station, HQ and Training Centre

This location has hosted 4 buildings important to the history of the London F...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

London Fire Brigade

The London Fire Engine Establishment, formed in 1833 under the leadership of ...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Fire Brigade HQ - Southwark

Created by i

B. G. Robinson

Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive, London Fire and Civil Defence Authori...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Nearby Memorials

Margaret Roper - Woolwich Town Hall

Margaret Roper - Woolwich Town Hall

SE18, Wellington Street, Greenwich Town Hall

In 1906 this building replaced the previous, also purpose-built, 1842 Woolwich town hall which still survives, nearby, on the corner of C...

4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Anglo-Swiss friendship

Anglo-Swiss friendship

W1, Coventry Street

Until 2007 the north-east corner of this junction was occupied by the 1968 Swiss Centre. The facade of the building was adorned with an a...

4 subjects commemorated, 4 creators
St Dunstan's House - plasterwork panels

St Dunstan's House - plasterwork panels

EC4, Chancery Lane, Maughan Library of King's College, ex-PRO

This example of architectural reclamation was brought to our attention by Discovering London's Friday elephant. There you can see not jus...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Eagle Tavern - song

Eagle Tavern - song

N1, Shepherdess Place, The Eagle pub

Up and down the City Road In and out the Eagle That's the way the money goes Pop! Goes the weasel.

2 subjects commemorated
Golden Jubilee sundial

Golden Jubilee sundial

SW1, St Margaret Street, Old Palace Yard

This is an analemmatic sundial. A gnomon that moves according to the date makes the time-telling more accurate. In this case the gnomon...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators