historic street on the site of Churchill Square
Comparison map: Historic streets alongside 2019 layout of Churchill Square
James Gray: A group of children in the playground of St Paul’s School, about 1925. The school was hidden away behind the Church. Opened in 1850, it was demolished in the 1960s. jgc_07_019
2020: The site of St Paul’s School in West Street is now occupied by a variety of modern buildings. St Paul’s School is now located in St Nicholas Road. (Photographer: Chris Nichols)
James Gray: This photograph shows the old flint houses of Russell Place, at the rear of St Paul’s Church, photographed in 1906. These old houses were demolished in 1936. jgc_07_023
2019: St Paul’s Church remains standing but nothing else from the 1906 photograph is in place. Russell Place is overshadowed by the back of the Debenhams department store on its western side. (Photographer: Clare Hughes)
James Gray: After the removal of the old houses in 1936 and the extension of St Paul’s School playground, the tidied up area remained as seen here for more than 25 years. Its chief use was as a short cut from Russell Street. Photographed in 1960, the scene has been completely changed by the removal of the School and the Churchill Square Redevelopment. jgc_29_164
2018: Until the 1960s, Russell Place ran east-west behind St Paul’s Church. It stopped at the church but was at right angles to West Street. Today, a street named Russell Place is a small cul-de-sac running north-south, parallel to West Street. The white car is parked in the tiny vestige of the original Russell Place. See also the image for jgc_29_200 below, taken from further west along Russell Place in 1935. (Photographer: Suzanne Hinton)
James Gray: View of St Paul’s Church School from Russell Place, 29 April 1962. This was probably built in the 1870s and will be demolished in a few years time as part of the West Street redevelopment scheme. Also seen is the old cottage, 42 Russell Street. Formerly this was almost hidden from view by two other cottages, 40 and 41, the rear wall of which abutted on to the front of 42, leaving just a few feet of this cottage visible. jgc_29_181
James Gray: A photograph of Russell Place and the St Paul’s Church of England Primary School. This is almost identical with the previous photograph [jgc_29_181] of the same period but it shows some children and bears the exact date 21 November 1961. Further comment is unnecessary. jgc_29_182
James Gray: This [Russell Place] comprised eight cottages on the north side (left) and four on the south. On the right is a view of the small area at the rear of the south cottages [see bottom left image] abutting onto the walls of St Paul’s Church School. They were already here when St Paul’s Church was built in 1848. Photographed January 1935, the houses were demolished in 1936 and part of the cleared site added to the school playground. The entire area now awaits redevelopment. jgc_29_200 and jgc_29_201
2018: The white van on the left (north) is standing in the vestige of Russell Mews. The other cars are standing on the former site of St Paul’s School. See also the 2018 text for jgc_29_164 above. (Photographer: Suzanne Hinton)