The streets in the foreground were demolished by the Bermondsey Borough Council shortly after the photograph was taken, and the Meakin Estate was built in their place.

This view is taken from the factory of one of Bermondsey's most prominent employers, Hartley's Jams in Rothsay Street.

The photograph looks north over typical flat-fronted valley-roofed houses of the 1850s.

Prominent in the middle distance is the Central Hall of the Methodist South London Mission, which opened in 1900.

Behind and to the left are the premises of Barrow, Hepburn & Gale on Long Lane, and further in the background is Tower Bridge.