London’s Alleys: Corbet Court, EC3This alley has changed a fair bit over the centuries, but the heart of it, a courtyard has been there ever since it was created. It’s also lead a fairly uneventful life, busy, but never notorious.
London’s Alleys: Cleveland Place, SW1This alley in posh St James, originally known as Cleveland Yard was probably laid out as soon as the area started being developed, in the 1670s
London’s Alleys: Seaforth Place, SW1This is a narrow passage now surrounded by offices and hotels that follows an ancient path through fields when all around here was more grass than glass.
London’s Alleys: Greystoke Place, EC4This is a convenient passage that links Fetter Lane and Chancery Lane in the city, and is likely to date from the early urban development of the area.
London’s Alleys: Laurence Pountney Hill, EC4This is a side alley that includes an old church, a Roman palace, and enough stucco carving to fill a small mansion house.
London’s Alleys: Stationers Hall Court, EC4This is a narrow alley off Ludgate Hill that dates back to the Great Fire of London, and leads to one of London’s livery halls.
London’s Alleys: Brydges Place, WC2This is the alley near Trafalgar Square that isn’t the narrowest in London, although it is often claimed to be. It’s also less famous for Queens, of both sorts.
London’s Alleys: Bedford Court, WC2This is an alley that leads off from busy Covent Garden through to a much quieter patch of residential housing.
London’s Alleys: Shoulder of Mutton Alley, E14This is a Limehouse street which crops up regularly on lists of odd street names in London, but it had a more interesting history than that.
London’s Alleys: Plough Court, EC3This is today a wide-open alley covered at both ends leading off the banking heart of Lombard Street.
London’s Alleys: Ball Court, EC3This is an exceptionally busy alley, thanks in part to being part of a cluster of narrow passages, but also because one of its occupants is the legendary Simpsons Tavern.
London’s Alleys: Lime Street Passage, EC3This alley looks as if it’s part of the next door Leadenhall Market, with the same style buildings, but no roof over head.
London’s Alleys: Rupert Court, W1This is a narrow alley in Soho with a famous pub at one end, and — if you know the significance — a famous pizza outlet at the other.
London’s Alleys: Poppin’s Court, EC4This is an ancient lane that used to be much longer but was cut in half thanks to the rebuilding of Farringdon Street next door.
London’s Alleys: Lazenby Court, WC2This is the alley that’s famous for squeezing in a narrow gap underneath an old pub in Covent Garden, and bare-knuckle fights.
London’s Alleys: Conduit Court, WC2This is the most popular of all the alleys to be found in Covent Garden, thanks to recent addition – an “infinity chamber” of mirrors that lines half the passage.
London’s Alleys: Braidwood Passage, EC1This is a narrow dark modern-looking alley that provides the only gap in a wall that gives access to the warren of streets behind a long row of unremitting office blocks.
London’s Alleys: East Passage, EC1This alley is a result of the dissolution of the Monasteries, as it sits within the lands owned by St Bartholomew’s Priory.
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