Eastcheap, South side

A street scene along Eastcheap, south side, including in the entrance to Pudding Lane where the Great Fire of 1666 started. The Monument, built to commemorate the Great Fire can be seen in the distance. In these photographs, Reid aimed to record an extended walk through the cities of Westminster and London. To take the photographs he used a wooden whole-plate stand camera and a handcart and stepladder which allowed him to photograph from an elevated standpoint. By the time of his death in 1933, Reid had made over 700 photographs for the project, organised into albums. He wrote two manuscripts in rhyme called ‘The Route Ornate’ to accompany his images.