Bonus point if you can guess name of the street.

by bonfido

47 comments

  2. Exit assembly for early HP Page wide printer, circa 1940s 🖨️🤓

  3. These were to stop people squatting and shitting on St. Paul’s 

  4. Hostile architecture; prevents people sleeping/ toileting in the areas with the spikes 

  5. Parmasan cheese grater. In the old days, continental hard cheeses were expensive and a sign of sophistication. No-one had graters in their home, and grating cheese at the public grater was a form of conspicuous consumption.

    After the 1950s, most people’s houses were equipped with domestic technology (fridge, washing machine, cheese grater) and the public facilities were mostly removed.

    Good spot, OP

  10. Looks like a good way to get mud off your boots before stepping inside, although hostile architecture makes more sense as I just saw a very similar design using longer spikes atop a fence being used to discourage climbing over that fence somewhere very close to Victoria Station. Much like where an American would put barbed wire, only it was what looked like massive spurs off the back of an old cowboy boot. Definitely sends a message.

  12. I use them to remove the squirrels from the soles of my doc Martenz after a sesh

  19. They’re boot cleaners from the Victorianish era….

  21. It’s so that if Peter Mandelson pisses on it, the spikes make his stream splash back on his shoes.

  22. They were installed to prevent break-ins. A window once stood in this recess, but it has since been boarded over. Victorian and Edwardian houses and theatres often included small sunken window wells, known as “areas,” which provided light and access to basement rooms. These wells were vulnerable points in a building’s security and therefore attractive to burglars. Spiked iron bars were fitted to stop anyone from climbing down into them.

  24. Back massagers for rough slerpers, really nice touch

  26. My guess was going to be some kind of flood defence thing if the Thames flooded then debris would get stopped there instead of flooding into the property. So Richmond or somewhere like that, but I’ve never seen them before.

  28. i’d imagine anti climb? but anti poop is a possibility

  34. It’s where you skewer rats, as a warning to other rats.

  37. Classic London move, right? Gotta protect the historic spots from all kids of trouble.

  39. Shiatsu foot massager, I’ve got one under my desk, they’re lovely at getting your pressure points.

  40. Shouldn’t this be in the sub DontPutThatInYourAss

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