The London Picture Archive

The London Picture Archive (LPA) is our online images platform, providing free online access to over 250,000 images our collections, and those at Guildhall Art Gallery. The material on The London Picture Archive ranges from prints, drawings and paintings to maps, films and photographs and dates from 1450 to the present day. All parts of London (not just the City) are represented, as are the adjoining counties, and over 150,000 historical pictures of London streets are included.

Galleries provide a good introduction to some of the subject areas covered by the London Picture Archive and the Advanced Search function allows you to created a refined search by choosing various criteria. As well as searching the website for images of a street, you can also use the London Picture Map, which provides a unique way to access images of buildings and places which no longer exist, presenting a vision of lost London which allows visitors to view pictures of their neighbourhood from bygone days.

From photographs of the construction of Tower Bridge to images of the Great Fire of 1666, images of a buildings which were never built to promotional posters for the London County Council tramways, the London Picture Archive website presents a fascinating glimpse of nearly 600 years of life in the capital.