Oh, bliss, someone has written a book about the City of London bollards.
Odd as it may seem, I’ve always wanted to know more about them and now my curiosity has been satisfied by this wonderful book, Bollardology, by Dr Cathy Ross, the historian and former Director of Collections at the Museum of London.
To suggest that this is just a book about street furniture is not to do it justice. It’s a combination of a fascinating history of the City itself, beautifully written, along with what I can only describe as a bollard love affair. I promise that, if you read this book, you will never look at the humble bollard the same way again. For example, you’ll trace its development from the 18th century to the present day, from when it protected us from rampant coach and horse traffic to when it helps to protect us now from the actions of terrorists. To say I learnt a lot would be an understatement.
If you can, do what I did and pop in to the Guildhall Art Gallery and purchase it at their little shop, or buy it online here – they tell me it’s their current bestseller. It’s an absolute bargain at £12:99. I read it at one sitting and then set out with my camera to track down some examples.
There is a little platoon of bollard soldiers gathered in Idol Lane alongside the beautiful ruined church and garden of St Dunstan in the East …
And surely this one is their commanding officer. Look at the striking City emblem and the 1886 date …
And, the most extraordinary feature of all, it’s hollow …
Here’s the story of this remarkable little artefact as told in Cathy Ross’s book along with extracts from the excellent Look up London blog by Katie Wignall.
Cathy’s sleuthing revealed that in October 1886 the City of London Corporation unveiled a new public urinal at the corner of Gracechurch Street and Eastcheap. This was the original site of the hollow bollard where it formed part of the ventilation system. Here are the loos today – all locked up …
It was hard to find any 19th century images of the public toilet, but you can see the urinal (circled in yellow) on the 1893-96 OS map below.
To further visualise it, there’s a description detailed in Bollardology. It comes from William Haywood, an Engineer and Surveyor who was the City of London’s Commissioner of Sewers (think of him as the Joseph Bazalgette, specifically for the City). He was an extraordinary man and one of the pleasures of this book is finding out more about him (along with his somewhat ‘unconventional’ personal life).
In his report in 1887 he notes there is a ‘large five light lamp standard placed at the centre of the refuge, the base of which forms a ventilating shaft… The other lamp standards and dwarf posts [bollards] placed near the footway curbs are so designed to assist the ventilation.’
Although Katie couldn’t find any 19th century images of the five light lamp standard, she guesses it was similar to the remaining one by the public toilets outside the Royal Courts of Justice …
Today only the base of the original large lamp remains and it’s still an attractive bit of street furniture, now painted black and cream …
No record seems to exist as to how the Idol Lane bollard ended up where it is now, about five minutes walk away.
Here’s my personal bollard collection, starting with this semi-circle of 36 lumps of granite installed in 1874 around the west end of St Paul’s Cathedral. They were not called bollards at the time – The Times described them as ‘dwarf, ornamental granite posts’. This part of the Cathedal precinct had previously been closed off by iron railings and the stones marked the new and porous boundary between public and private land – a modernising ‘improvement’ …
The tops of some bollards remind me of a lemon squeezer …
Outside St Margaret Pattens, this is one of a pair dated 1817 …
In the courtyard of St Helen’s Bishopsgate is what is often claimed to be the oldest bollard in the City. Experts identify this as the ‘cascable’ end of an 18th century French naval cannon …
These skinny versions date from 1993 and apparently were often positioned in the spot where parking meters once stood before they were removed …
Some show a fair bit of wear and tear …
From the 1990s onwards the City started taking branding really seriously and the bollards reinforced the fact that you were in a very special part of London …
Moveable versions …
There’s a positive invasion taking place at Bank Junction …
I was surprised to find some wooden versions. These are outside St Mary-le-Bow and date from the 1990s …
These are on Paternoster Row near the entrance to St Paul’s Churchyard …
Unfortunately wooden varieties are very prone to damage …
Standing guard at the entrance to St Paul’s Churchyard, these are probably HVMs (Hostile Vehicle Mitigation bollards) helping to keep us safe …
These HVMs are a bit more obvious …
I think they’re really sinister. They reminded me of the alien robot in the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Watch the terrific trailer here …
Here colour is used to create a more friendly appearance …
These versions aim to be both decorative and informative …
On a more jolly note, some bollards have been colourfully dressed up to promote the City’s Culture Mile …
Finally, how about this quote from the City of London Corporation Street Scene Manual 2005. The writer gets carried away and waxes lyrical as to how bollards positively added to the gaity of City life :
In parts of the City rush hour ‘bollard ballet’ is performed as office workers dodge both each other and the forest of bollards on their way to and from work.
Bollard ballet indeed!
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