Site: Devon Mansions bombing (1 memorial)
SE1, Tooley Street, Devon Mansions, Block 12
This five building complex was prone to being hit by German bombers during The Blitz, because of its proximity to the docks. The severity of the raid on the 29th December 1940, caused it to be named the Second Great Fire of London.
Built by the Southwark-born architect/developer James Hartnoll (1854 - 1900), an early example of social housing, these tenement blocks were originally named the Hanover Buildings but were renamed Devon Buildings (later Devon Mansions) around WW1 to remove the German connotation. From Lyons Family: "... he named all his first four projects after German towns: but they were all renamed in 1917 when his only son, James, was killed in military service."
Wikipedia has the build date as 1875 but Hartnoll would have been only 21. Bermondsey Street Back Stories gives "early 1880s" - a more believable date.
Sources: British History Online, Bermondsey Street Back Stories, Lyons Family and Wikipedia.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of plaquesoflondon.co.uk
