Unveiling the Lee Miller and Sir Roland Penrose Blue Plaque.Blue plaques, erected in London since 1867, are among the most familiar features of the capital’s streetscape. They adorn the façades of buildings in areas as different as Primrose Hill, Soho and Wimbledon; some of these buildings are grand, others look very ordinary, but all are connected by the fact that a remarkable person lived or worked there at some point in history.
 
Blue plaques celebrate great figures of the past and the buildings that they inhabited. They open a window into another time by showing us where the great and the good have penned their masterpieces, developed new technologies, lived or died. Actors, authors, politicians, painters, scientists, sportsmen, campaigners and reformers – people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds – have all been commemorated in this way.
 
The London blue plaques scheme has been run by English Heritage since 1986, and continues to grow at a rate of around 10-15 plaques each year. In their full range, totalling over 800, the capital’s plaques build up a fascinating picture of the varied activities of different ages and the achievements of London’s myriad residents.
 
A pilot extension of the blue plaques scheme on a national basis took place in 1998-2005; in these years, plaques were erected in Liverpool & Merseyside, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Click on a letter to find the plaque you require: