Records of the Tower Hill Improvement Trust, including minutes, accounts, correspondence, plans and photographs. The archive includes records of other organisations (Choral Foundation Appeal, St Katharine's Community Project, Port of London Authority) which may have become part of the Trust's archive because the Secretary or another official of the Trust also had an active role in other organisations.

Records of the Greater London Council, 1810-1988. Papers of the Architect's Department including the Building Regulations Division, Street Naming Section, District Surveyors, Education Division, Maintenance Division, Engineering Division, Structural Engineer, Historic Buildings Division, Housing and Town Development Branch, Technical Publications, Photograph Library, Plan Registry, Special Works Branch and Technical Policy Division; and papers of the GLC London Community Builders.

Papers of the Director-General's Department, including papers of the Administration Division, Finance Division, Personnel Division, Registry and Dispatch Division, Record Office and Library, Director-General's Board, Public Health and Safety Programme Board, Ceremonial Office, Entertainments Licensing Group, Ethnic Minorities Unit, Housing and Technical Services Committees, Industry and Employment Branch, Intelligence Unit and Policy Study Groups, Judicial Services Section, Majority Party Secretariat, Member's Support Unit, Minority Party Secretariat, Police Committee Support Unit, Professional and General Services Committee, Programme Office, Policy and Resources Group, Public Relations Branch, Public Services and Fire Brigade Department, Planning Transport and Industry Group, Scrutiny Committee, Secretariat, Scientific Services Branch, Town Development Committee and Women's Committee Support Unit. Also Committee agendas, minutes and papers, periodicals, and publications of the Council.

Papers of the London Fire Brigade administrative branch. Papers of the Public Health Engineering Department, including the Rivers Branch and the Solid Waste Management Branch. Papers of the Housing Department, including the Controller of Housing and Technical Services, the Directors of Housing, the Development Branch, Management Branch, Professional Services Branch, Renewals Branch and Thamesmead Branch. Papers of the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Department including the Design and Technical Policy Branch and the Maintenance Branch.

Papers of the Medical Adviser's Department including the School Health Division, Health and Housing Division, Inspectorate, Mental Deficiency case files and Slum Clearance case files. Papers of the Recreation and Arts Department including papers of the Director of Development and Controller of Operational Services, papers of the General Landscaping Division, Housing Landscaping Division, Thamesmead Landscaping Division, Planning and Strategy Division, Architectural Design and Construction Division, General Practice Surveying Division, Entertainments and Fairs Division, Information and Publicity Division, Sports Division, Grants Branch, Open Space and Recreation Branch, Horticulture Division, Open Air Entertainments Division and Parks Department.

Papers of the Supply Department. Papers of the Transportation and Development Department, including papers of the Controller of Transportation and Development, papers of the Construction Branch, Statutory Division, Local Plans Division, Land Use Section, Programme Management and Resources Branch, Cycling Project Team, Chief Traffic Engineer, Traffic Control Division, Plan Registry, Traffic Management Section, Transport Planning Branch, Environmental Management Division, and Policy and Projects Division. Also Greater London Development Plan files, photographs, technical publications, and Greater London traffic surveys.

Also papers of individual members of the GLC including Ken Livingstone, GLC Leader 1981-1986; Paul Boateng, Chairman of GLC Police Committee, 1981-1986; Sir Horace Cutler, GLC Leader, 1977-1981; papers of staff clubs and societies and non-GLC publications concerning the Council and its work.

Records of Wandsworth Common Conservators, 1872-1888, including signed minutes; printed reports of the Chairman and of the Conservators; bye-laws made by the Conservators; financial ledgers; petty cash books; and register of mortgages.

Records of the London County Council Parks Department, 1851-1965, including lists of staff; instructions to officers; regulations affecting staff; Parks and Open Spaces staff handbooks; report on the Development of Crystal Palace (1955); pamphlet about the Green Belt; lists of London Squares with information about their status; regulations concerning individual sports and games, including Athletics, Bowls, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Lawn Tennis, Netball, and storage of Games Apparatus; specimen warrants used by the Parks Department Constable; brochures from opening ceremonies; register of small holdings and allotments; copies of Acts of Parliament affecting parks and open spaces; notices and posters for display in parks; example of staff passes; seven picture postcards (undated) of Battersea Park Flower Garden, Beckenham Place Park Golf Course, Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park Lido, Hainault Forest, Parliament Hill Athletic Ground, Ranger's House (Blackheath) and Rookery (Streatham Common); booklets and articles relating to playgrounds; papers relating to Crystal Palace motor sports; general files relating to the formation of the Parks Department, tree planting on Hampstead Heath, recreational facilities in individual parks, Parks regulations, individual medical reports of staff and production of food in parks during the Second World War.

Brochures and publications including "Open Air London - An illustrated guide to some 480 open spaces in and around London (including Green Belt)", published by the LCC (1939); "Green Heritage - An Introduction to the work of the LCC Parks Dept", booklet for new entrants; "Green Islands - The Parks Service of the LCC" (1962); Guide Map (1964); "The Glory of the Garden" (Enjoy Your Parks Brochure No 3); "150,000,000 B.C - The Prehistoric Monsters of Crystal Palace" (Enjoy Your Parks Brochure No 4); "Hainault Forest" (Enjoy Your Parks Brochure No 5); "Parks for Tomorrow", LCC booklet (1964); "Garden Squares in Metropolitan Boroughs", maps prepared in connection with London Squares Preservation Act (1931); golf course regulations.

Minutes and presented papers of meetings of the London County Council, 1889-1965. Also minutes and presented papers of London County Council Committees and Sub-Committees, as follows:

Air Raid Precautions Committee

Appeals Committee

Asylums Committee

Bridges Committee

Building Acts Committee

Central Public Health and Medical Services Committee

Children's Committee

Civil Defence Committee

Contagious Diseases Committee

Corporate Property and Endowments Committee

Education Committee

Emergency Committee

Entertainments Committee

Establishments Committee

Evacuation Committee

Finance Committee

Fire Brigade Committee

General Purposes Committee

Health Committee

Highways Committee

Historical Buildings and Records Committee

Housing Committee

Improvements Committee

Industrial Schools Committee

Inebriates Committee

Local Government Committee

Main Drainage Committee

Midwives Committee

New and Expanding Towns Committee

Parks and Open Spaces Committee

Parks (special entertainments) Committee

Parliamentary Committee

Public Assistance Committee

Public Control Committee

Public Health Committee

Restaurants and Catering Committee

Rivers Committee

Roads Committee

Smallholdings Committee

Stores Committee

Theatres Committee

Town Planning Committee

Water Supply Committee

Welfare Committee

Welfare of the Blind Committee

Works Committee

Please note that copies of these minutes and papers are on open access in the Information Area.

Records of the Epping Forest and Open Spaces Committee, Court of Common Council, including minutes, 1878-2004; committee papers, 1877-1957; subject files relating to specific developments including Jubilee Retreat, Bury Road, Chingford, Essex, 1941-1949, East Ham Civil Defence Centre, Capel Road, Wanstead Flats (including plans), 1952-1956, Western Sewage Works, Chingford Hatch, 1956 and report of Superintendent regarding Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, 1952; letter books, 1879-2001; reports of the Epping Forest Committee to the Court of Common Council, 1882-1949 and annual reports, 1983-1997. Please note that some of these records are closed.

Minute books of the Hampstead Heath Management Committee, Court of Common Council, 1989-2007. Please note these volumes are closed until 2025.

Minutes of the Highgate Wood Joint Consultative Committee, Court of Common Council, 1974-1988. Please note these minutes are closed until 2019.

Illuminated vote of thanks from the Committee of the West Ham Park Preservation Fund to the Corporation of London, for a gift of £10,000 towards the purchase of West Ham Park.

This collection consists of letters to and from officials of the Crystal Palace relating to exhibitions, visits and events.

MBW/1901-1908: Thames Floods (estimate of works required to repair damage caused by floods and estimates of works for defence against future flooding)

MBW/1909-1910: Redistribution Of Vestrymen (cuttings from minutes)

MBW/1911-1913: Water Supply (reports on the metropolis water supply)

MBW/1914-1916: Letters (in-letters, petitions, applications and out-letters)

MBW/1917-1919: Advertisements

MBW/1920-1924: Newspaper Cuttings

MBW/1925-1928: Staff Lists (including duties of officers)

MBW/1929-2309: Finance (including registers of contracts and agreements, salary books and rate books)

MBW/2310-2420: Printed Reports (including annual reports of the Board and Committees, architect's, engineer's and fire brigade reports, papers circulated to Board members, Bills and Acts of Parliament)

MBW/2421-2445: Contracts And Specifications for work on sewers, drains and embankments.

MBW/2446-2653: Plans (plans submitted to Parliament, plans of local improvements arranged by parish, plans of artisan's dwellings, plans of the metropolis water supply, plans of Thames floods, plans of parks and open spaces, plans presented to the Board and to various Committees to accompany reports, memorials and proposals for improvements, creation of parks, drainage, bridges, roads and tunnels, plans of railways)

MBW/2654-2656: District Surveyor (monthly returns and drainage applications)

MBW/2657-2663: Bridges (Accountant's Department papers concerning claims of the bridge companies whose bridges were acquired under the Metropolitan Toll Bridges Act 1877 and the Metropolitan Bridges Act 1883)

MBW/2664-2682: Thames Floods (volumes of duplicate copies of notices served on riparian [situated on the banks of a river] owners under the Metropolis Management (Thames River Prevention of Floods) Amendment Act 1879 and Metropolitan Board of Works (Various Powers) Act, 1882, with associated plans and riverfront elevations)

MBW/2683-2685: Financial Records (Accountant's Department papers)

MBW/2686-2807: Thames Floods (plans and estimates for flood prevention works and plans of river frontage with elevations of riparian [situated on the banks of a river] properties)

MBW/2808-2812: Thames Soundings

MBW/2813-2830: Specifications (volumes of specifications for housing, fire stations, bridges, drainage, parks, embankments and sewers)

MBW/2831-2837: Contract Books and Registers

MBW/2838-2840: Rate Books

MBW/P: Plans

MBW/OW: Office of Works (papers relating to the Chelsea Bridge and Embankment, Westminster Bridge, Battersea Park, Kennington Park and Victoria Park)

MBW/BC: Bridge Company (papers relating to Vauxhall Bridge)

Records of the Committee of Managers of West Ham Park, including minutes, 1874-2004 (closed from 1971 onwards); committee papers, 1873-1957 (papers for 1936-1940 were destroyed by enemy action); letter books, 1927-1996 (closed from 1967 onwards); cash book, 1937-1955; wages sheets, 1951-1957 and handbook containing a short history of the park, abridged conveyance and trust deed and map, 1953.

Letters, press cuttings, notices, memos and plans regarding the agitation over the conversion of Battersea Fields into Battersea Park.

Private notebook and out-letter book of Alexander McKenzie, landscape gardener, relating to his role as Superintendent of open spaces for the Metropolitan Board of Works, including extracts from minutes of the Parks, Commons and Open Spaces Committee, and Works Committee, of the Board; personal memoranda; and draft correspondence, including draft letter of application, accompanied by detailed curriculum vitae for the post of Superintendent of Epping Forest. Also notes relating to his private work as landscape gardener.

Records of the Metropolitan Tower Construction Company, comprising minutes of General Meetings and minutes of Board Meetings.

Records relating to the management of open spaces in and around London, 1703-1999, including issues of Ashtead Common News, 1991-1997; histories and guidebooks, transcriptions of inscriptions, tomb surveys, bills for maintenance work and financial accounts for Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, 1703-1991; guidebooks, photographs, papers on pollard and tree management and newsletters for Burnham Beeches, 1883-1998; issues of West Wickham and Coulsdon Commons newsletter, later renamed Kent and Surrey Commons newsletter, 1989-1997; pamphlets, guidebooks and newsletters for Hampstead Heath, 1990-1999; guidebooks, pamphlets and histories of Highgate Wood, 1974-1986; financial accounts, brochures and photographs for Queen's Park, Kilburn, 1884-1987; reports, administrative papers, histories and list of war staff for West Ham Park, 1901-1991 and general papers regarding open spaces, churchyards and gardens maintained by the Corporation of London, including brochures, guidebooks and 'Britain in Bloom' certificates, 1870-1993.

Photographs of London scenes relating to the government of London and the provision of education, healthcare and welfare services in the 1930s and 1940s. On the backs of the photographs there are typescript captions.

Scenes include the election of the Lord Mayor in the Guildhall; Corporation of London meetings held at Mansion House after Guildhall was burnt out by incendiary bombs; the Lord Mayor's Show; a policeman standing next to Big Ben; Tower Bridge and Pool of London; River Police boarding a coasting steamer moored in the Thames; Covent Garden Market with sacks and baskets stacked outside; County Hall taken from across the Thames; London County Council in session at County Hall; photograph of a sketch map showing location of London County Council housing estates; flats recently completed by London County Council; mains sewer with repair work in progress; map showing open spaces maintained by London County Council; view from Richmond Hill showing stretch of country beside River Thames maintained as an open space by London, Middlesex and Surrey County Councils; babies being weighed at a Child Welfare Centre; exterior view of Honor Oak girls' secondary school maintained by London County Council; cookery class at Carlyle School, Chelsea, a London County Council Girls' secondary school; lunch time at an elementary school; school medical inspection; evacuation of London mothers with children under five, with boy scout assisting; boys in dormitory of a school camp; balconies at the ends of ward blocks, North Eastern Hospital for infectious diseases, later St Ann's Hospital, Tottenham; ward with female patients suffering from tuberculosis at Pinewood Sanatorium, Surrey; verandah of Claybury Hospital, Essex, a London County Council mental hospital; exterior of New Malden Branch Library, Surrey; interior of children's library, New Malden Branch Library, Surrey; women using an ironing machine in a communal laundry.

Also photographs of wartime services including women entering a memorial hall used as a wartime restaurant by the London County Council Londoners' Meals Service; British Restaurant kitchen; Rest Centre for people suddenly made homeless; Air Raid Heavy Rescue Workers in action; patient on stretcher being lifted into London County Council ambulance; London Fire Brigade Headquarters; Fire Service dealing with a fire in Central London caused by incendiary bombs; Fire Service on River Thames fire float provided by the London County Council for dealing with fires in the docks.

Letters to the Keeper of Hampton Court Park from the Office of Works.

Records of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, comprising: minutes, 1882-1972 (Ms 11097, 22284-5); subscription books, 1884-1957 (Ms 11098); financial records, 1884-1965 (Ms 11099-103); correspondence and related papers, [1857?]-1914 (Ms 21670-1); deeds, surveys and plans 1883-1958 (Ms 22286-8); reports and other papers, 1920-51 (Ms 22289-92); financial records relating to the wartime allotment gardens scheme, 1939-43 (Ms 22293-4); and records of London Children's Gardens Fund, 1921-62 (Ms 22295-7). They were catalogued by members of Guildhall Library staff between 1963 and 1987.

Printed posters displaying rules, orders and bye-laws for the preservation and use of Paddington Green; Saint Mary's parish church disused burial ground, and Saint George's Parish Vestry Hall Gardens, Mount Street, Hanover Square, 1890-1894.

Papers of William Strang, 1st Baron Strang, 1909-1925, 1950-1971, comprising papers relating to University College London and the University of London, including official papers relating to Strang's student career; letters; notes and texts of speeches at various University functions; papers relating to the National Parks Commission.

Copies of Bills, Acts of Parliament and statutory instruments relating to the Festival of Britain and the Festival Pleasure Gardens; memorandum and articles of association; alteration of the articles of association by chartered accountants; report by chartered accountants on financial administration; prospectus, brochure and guides to the Festival Pleasure Gardens; signed visitor's book; register of members of the company and books of share certificates; minutes of the Board of Directors; minutes of Committees; minutes of and papers presented at Annual General Meetings; Chairman's report on future of the Gardens; notes of meetings with London County Council representatives; papers on estimates and budgets; notes on investigations into the affairs of the company; leader of London County Council's papers as Director; Finance Officers files including accounting procedures, audit reports, budgets, statistics, fees and estimates; general correspondence files including applications for concessions, circulars, notices, opening day events, publicity and special events; papers regarding construction work and the delay in opening, including the Clerk of Works diaries; papers relating to the winding up of the company including liquidator's papers; contracts with entertainments, entertainers, concessions and catering; statistics, including turnstile takings, rides and shows takings and daily returns; financial accounts including balance sheets, journals, ledgers and summaries; plans of the layout of the gardens and the construction of attractions and charts of financial comparisons.

Chairman and Managing Director's files and correspondence on a variety of topics including the Beer Garden, catering, entertainments pier, maintenance and miniature railways; General Manager's files regarding the Guinness Clock; General Manager's correspondence with businesses including Aerated Bread Company, Floral Crown, Franco British Electrical Signs, National Car Parks, Royal Family Models, Thames Passenger Owners Association and Walls Ice Cream; Secretary's files on a variety of subjects including accident claims, appointment of Directors, attendance figures, Board of Trade, catering, contracts and agreements, correspondence, designers, insurance, London Electricity Board, London County Council, Metropolitan Water Board, North Thames Gas Board, Public Accounts Committee, staffing, and HM Treasury; general files relating to accidents, accounting, art exhibitions, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), catering, British-American Novelty Company, Brylcream, budgets, closing the Gardens, commission and sales, the crown jewels, conditions of employment, flying cars, solicitors, banking, car parks, miniature railway, statistics, wages and salaries, weekly summaries and works orders.

London County Council register of tramway track lengths, recording description and lengths of route, street length, track length and remarks, such as "conversion to trolleybus", "abandoned" and so on, [1912-1952], with enclosures: photocopy of map of tramways in the London County Council area, revised to 1931; and diagrams of track lengths in Leyton and Hammersmith.

Legal papers for the Battersea Park Commissioners, including the purchase of land for the park and leasing of land within the park. The Prince Albert Tavern, Battersea Park, was also owned by the Battersea Park Commissioners and the leases to the landlords are included. There is also a lease of land to Prices Patent Candle Company.