Before London had any kind of corporate government, and long before the London
Borough had been devised as a convenient administrative unit, local services
(such as they were) had
to be provided by the existing historic bodies.
The parish already existed for spiritual purposes and had a form of
'management' in the form of its
vestry and a mechanism for getting local people together, either in the church or in a nearby
vestry hall. It was to the parish that local administrative responsibility was gradually given
by Parliament. Even
when new statutory bodies were set up to deal with lighting, policing, paving, sewerage and so on,
the parish remained as the local unit capable of raising its local rate or tax. It was therefore
important that people knew what parish they lived in and where the boundaries were. From this
emerged the need for distinctive markers.
Over time, the civil and ecclesiastical duties of parishes diverged, and so far as markers are
concerned we are referring to boundaries of parishes in their civil manifestation (many were
subdivided for ecclesiastical purposes). Boundaries by no means corresponded with other boundaries
in the area, for example the City of London boundary crossed through the middle of several
parishes. Knowledge of where boundaries were and what they were for was vital.
The attached report is the beginning of an attempt to record ALL London's surviving boundary markers.
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To the left is one of the residents of Kensington Gardens guarding a 180 year old boundary marker.
Behind the railings can be seen two markers setting out boundary between St George Bloomsbury and St Pancras. In the foreground may be seen the abrupt change in style of paving at exactly the same spot. The kerbing is certainly Victorian and shows the differing styles adopted by each parish; the paving itself could equally be of similar age. This type of feature change at an ancient boundary is now rather unusual but it shows the significance of these old boundaries.
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