This page contains information about historic streets which were nearby before this area was redeveloped. To read about historic streets in this area included in the James Gray Collection see Upper Bedford Street area.
James Gray: The Inn finally closed for good on 11 August 1971. This photograph was taken on 17 May 1970. jgc_22_031
2018: The entire row of houses and shops was demolished to make way for Hampshire Court which is between Lavender Street and Upper Bedford Street. The building sits away from St James’s Street and has generous front gardens. Hampshire Court is designed around a courtyard with a community hall in the centre. (Photographer: Guy Shanley)
James Gray: Taken from the Upper Bedford Street end [of Laurel Row], which was somewhat wider. Two gas lamps fixed to the wall provided the only artificial light. jgc_22_149
2019: Looking west from Upper Bedford Street; this whole area bounded by Lavender Street, Eastern Road, Upper Bedford Street and Upper St James’s Street has been redeveloped with 1960s and 1970s social housing. Many of the east-west streets and alleys documented by Gray have disappeared, including Laurel Row. (Photographer: Jayne Paulin)
James Gray: Photograph showing the few remaining cottages of this narrow alley in 1950. Many others were removed before the War, and these were demolished in the late 1950s. jgc_22_170
2018: The twitten and few remaining cottages that comprised Bedford Buildings in Gray’s 1950 picture have long gone, to be replaced by Somerset Point. This 13 floor tower block was completed in 1964 and provides retirement accommodation. (Photographer: David Jackson)
James Gray: Tucked away between Warwick Street and Essex Street, with an entrance from Upper Bedford Street, were these ten tiny cottages [Essex Cottages] built during the 1830s. They faced north and got very little sunshine because at the rear was the malthouse, later the Rock Brewery Stores. At the western end All Souls School. The cottages were last occupied in 1929, but the present buildings bear some resemblance to the cottage façades, so perhaps they were gutted internally and put to business use. Year of photographs 1914. Looking west from upper Bedford Street to All Souls School showing the back walls, and the dustbins of Essex Street. jgc_22_177
James Gray: [See caption for jgc_22_177 above.] Half way along Essex Street from Lavender Street, was All Souls Infant School and Lecture Room. Just beyond was this narrow passage which ran under the building and then turned left into Essex Cottages. No trace of this now remains. jgc_22_178
James Gray: This narrow passage [Manchester Row], only seven feet wide, was to be found in Upper Bedford Street, between Bedford Buildings and Crescent Cottages. A squalid row of about a dozen slum houses, it was entered only from Upper Bedford Street, the other end being blocked by a high wall. Facing north, towards Bedford Buildings, no sunshine ever lit up their dingy windows. The photographs are dated March 1912, and the houses were condemned soon afterwards. The 1914-18 War gave them a temporary reprieve and they were still occupied until well into the 1920s. They were demolished in 1925 as part of the Corporation first post-war slum clearance. This view from the east looks towards Upper Bedford Street. jgc_22_186
James Gray: This narrow passage, only seven feet wide, was to be found in Upper Bedford Street, between Bedford Buildings and Crescent Cottages. A squalid row of about a dozen slum houses, it was entered only from Upper Bedford Street, the other end being blocked by a high wall. Facing north, towards Bedford Buildings, no sunshine ever lit up their dingy windows. The photographs [jgc_22_186 to jgc_22_189 see also Montague Place] are dated March 1912, and the houses were condemned soon afterwards. The 1914-18 war gave them a temporary reprieve and they were still occupied until well into the 1920s. They were demolished in 1925 as part of the Corporation first post-war slum clearance. Looking east from Upper Bedford Street. 21 March 1912. jgc_22_187
James Gray: Small cottages looking north to the rear of buildings in Eastern Road, 7 February 1935. Most of these houses were removed in 1936 and now, 30 years later, only five of them remain. jgc_22_196
James Gray: Time moves slowly in the 1980s when it comes to clearing derelict areas and getting on with redevelopment. These eyesores are typical examples, photographed on 24 August 1980. Looking down Upper Bedford Street, from the corner of Eastern Road. In front of the empty buildings, the entrance to the empty Edwin Place. jgc_22_202
James Gray: Looking west to Upper Bedford Street, with a distant view of Essex Street, 22 March 1912. On the left, the backs of the houses in Montague Street. One wonders what rent was being asked for the hovel advertised as To Let? These slum houses were demolished in 1933. jgc_22_179
James Gray: Crescent Cottages, looking from Upper Bedford Street to Montague Place at the same period.
James Gray: The view along this road of council houses in 1959, from Upper Bedford Street towards Montague Place. Built in 1934-35 these houses [Crescent Cottages] had a very short life, being removed for flats in 1965. jgc_22_190
2019: Looking east towards Montague Place from the unnamed service road for the Essex Place tower block.
James Gray: Looking down this street, from the corner of Warwick Street, 17 May 1970. In the centre was the entrance to the long forgotten Laurel Row, swept away in the 1930s. At the junction with Upper St James’s Street can be seen the City of Hereford Inn. All these derelict buildings have since been demolished. jgc_22_191
2018: Everything in the foreground has gone. All the buildings in Gray’s 1970 picture – on the west side of Upper Bedford Street either side of the vanished Laurel Row – have been replaced by a green space used now by dog walkers and table tennis players.
James Gray: Houses remaining in Bedford Buildings after the original clearance scheme. To be removed so that the whole site can be redeveloped. jgc_22_194
2019: Looking north-east from Upper Bedford Street towards Eastern Road; Somerset Street to the right.
James Gray: Two photographs of this narrow passage between Upper Bedford Street and Montague Place, 22 March 1912. This photograph looks eastwards through the entrance by the Stag Inn, which is little changed to this day. jgc_22_197
2019: View east from Upper Bedford Street just south of the junction with Somerset Street. The Stag Inn which stood on this spot was closed and demolished c 2013 and replaced by the current block of flats. See jgc_22_198 on the Montague Place page for the companion James Gray image, looking westwards. (Photographer: Jayne Paulin)