Old Father Thames and the Bells of Old London, 2017

Old Father Thames and the Bells of Old London, 2017, is a hand drawn map of central London showing the locations of the church bells mentioned in the famous nursery rhyme Oranges & Lemons. This map celebrates all the bells from the earlier and longer version of the rhyme. It also includes a few other churches such as St Giles’-in-the-Field with its Resurrection Gate, as well as other landmark buildings.

The course of the River Fleet splits the map down the middle into its east & west districts, as it merges into Old Father Thames at Blackfriars in the bottom of the image. Its course then flows up to Kings Cross on its way towards Camden. This illustrates the rhyme’s focus on The City of London and further east; a focus that has moved westward over successive centuries and once again eastwards in recent times. The map also shows the course of the Walbrook stream and many of the area place names.