Marylebone, 1889in 3D · Holmes Hub

What is 3D?

This is Marylebone as it stood around 1889, rebuilt house by house. 21,535 buildings are traced one by one from the Ordnance Survey’s 1:2500 town plans of 1869–1880; the lights are the 44 places Doyle names here.

The survey drew footprints, not heights. Heights are estimated from the size of each building and exaggerated 1.8×, so the street pattern reads at a glance. 53 buildings have a photo on Wikimedia Commons that names them; they glow gold.

Press ▶ demo on the map and it tells one of the stories set in Marylebone, stop by stop, with Doyle’s words at every halt.

The maps

Two maps from Doyle’s own time lie under the buildings (the flat map has four to choose from). Press K to cycle through them, and use the sliders to fade them in and out.

Charles Booth, 1889

Every street coloured by the means of the people who lived in it, from gold for the wealthy to black for the poorest. Seen from above it shows where rich and poor lived, often only a turning apart.

The Ordnance Survey, 1869–1880

The surveyors’ sheets at 1:2500, the source of every building here. Close up they are exact to the house: the 3D footprints sit on the lines of the sheet.

The demo switches between the two as it goes: the Ordnance Survey when it flies close to a street, Booth when it pulls back.

Legend & keys

Keys and mouse