Hand in Hand Fire Office Insurance Mark, 1701
From 1684 fire insurance marks were put on the outside walls of houses to show which company insured them. Each mark had the insurance policy number on it. The Hand in Hand Fire Office was set up in 1696 in Tom's Coffee House near Charing Cross. This mark was placed on Thomas Bowles's house near St Paul's Cathedral. It is one of the earliest surviving Hand in Hand marks in the country.
[Museum of London]
In the War, Plague and Fire gallery
Taken during the last night of the Museum of London, on the second of its "Greatest Weekends". The museum opened 10am on Saturday 3 December, stayed open all night and closed its doors for good at 5pm on Sunday 4 December.
The collection will be removed, and the museum will reopen in 2026 as the London Museum in its new Smithfield location.
The museum came about from a decision to merge the Guildhall Museum (founded 1826) and the London Museum (founded 1912); proposed in 1960 and formalised by Act of Parliament in 1965, to be funded by the Government, the City of London Corporation, and the then Greater London Council.
The architects were Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, designing the site to incorporate it into the Barbican estate. Construction began 1971, and the site was opened at the end of 1976.
Hand in Hand Fire Office Insurance Mark, 1701
From 1684 fire insurance marks were put on the outside walls of houses to show which company insured them. Each mark had the insurance policy number on it. The Hand in Hand Fire Office was set up in 1696 in Tom's Coffee House near Charing Cross. This mark was placed on Thomas Bowles's house near St Paul's Cathedral. It is one of the earliest surviving Hand in Hand marks in the country.
[Museum of London]
In the War, Plague and Fire gallery
Taken during the last night of the Museum of London, on the second of its "Greatest Weekends". The museum opened 10am on Saturday 3 December, stayed open all night and closed its doors for good at 5pm on Sunday 4 December.
The collection will be removed, and the museum will reopen in 2026 as the London Museum in its new Smithfield location.
The museum came about from a decision to merge the Guildhall Museum (founded 1826) and the London Museum (founded 1912); proposed in 1960 and formalised by Act of Parliament in 1965, to be funded by the Government, the City of London Corporation, and the then Greater London Council.
The architects were Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, designing the site to incorporate it into the Barbican estate. Construction began 1971, and the site was opened at the end of 1976.