London’s heritage crops up in the unlikeliest of places. When the present London Bridge was constructed, its predecessor was taken to Arizona and rebuilt, stone by stone, at Lake Havasu City. But the great London Bridge of nursery rhyme fame suffered a more inglorious fate. On its demise, the stones were scattered far and wide and most have now disappeared without trace. But a handful of relics remain visible in London today. The garden wall shown below is partly built from the stones of old London Bridge, and so is one of the houses in the same street. The wall stretches the length of several properties, although one ignorant householder has demolished his section and replaced it with new brickwork. Wandsworth council should hang its head in shame for having allowed such desecration.

Not far away, hidden in the grounds of a cluster of low-rise flat blocks, is an even rarer find. An alcove, originally designed to provide shelter for pedestrians, has been preserved intact. Again, few residents have any idea that their garden ornament comes from old London Bridge. The alcove is the only surviving feature from the gardens of a mansion that stood here until the 1930s.