# Has any damaged/destroyed part of London not been rebuilt since the Blitz? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392 "2015-05-19T23:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dave.B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dave.B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave.B)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/21 "2015-05-20T16:38:47Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I understand they’re still finding and removing unexploded ordnance. Yes, any construction project in a city centre location will routinely screen for unexploded ordnance as part of the design process. Bombs are still being found semi-regularly around the South West UK (I don’t know about other parts). A German WWII bomb was found under the floorboards of the main hall of my primary school during renovation work when I was there (30 years ago). Only a few weeks ago a trawler dragged one up off the sea bed in Torbay. The Royal Navy are responsible for disposing of them. [QUOTE=amanset] And why Coventry is a mess of concrete, it was largely rebuilt cheaply in the 50s and 60s. [/QUOTE] The same is true for Plymouth, which was almost completely obliterated in 1941, then rebuilt in the 50s. Exeter suffered similarly, but was, for the most part, more sympathetically reconstructed. A lot of the 1950s era concrete eyesores in both cities have only just been replaced with 2010s era steel and glass eyesores though. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/22 "2015-05-20T17:15:04Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [The Victoria and Albert Museum still has bomb damage visible.](http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/v-and-a-at-war-1939-45/) That photo has so much sun-and-shadow contrast it’s hard to see anything. It’s my understanding that East Germany had whole blocks of destruction until the time the wall fell or after… but enclosed in false building facades, so it couldn’t be seen. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/23 "2015-05-20T17:33:38Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [The Victoria and Albert Museum still has bomb damage visible.](http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/v-and-a-at-war-1939-45/) I thought something terrible had happened to the Albert Memorial as well, but apparently it’s supposed to look like that. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/24 "2015-05-20T17:33:46Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > That photo has so much sun-and-shadow contrast it’s hard to see anything. > > It’s my understanding that East Germany had whole blocks of destruction until the time the wall fell or after… but enclosed in false building facades, so it couldn’t be seen. Well, [here’s](http://cl.ly/image/3N31300J2M3P) one I took last fall. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/25 "2015-05-20T20:54:42Z")
There was the case of a bomb site in Soho, just a few minutes’ walk from Piccadilly Circus, [which remained undeveloped until 2009](http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/chelsea-barracks-new-list-200909253534.html) and [where the redevelopment was only completed last year](http://londontheinside.com/2014/04/04/opening-news-ham-yard-hotel/). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/26 "2015-05-21T02:32:50Z")
> [@APB](#): > > There was the case of a bomb site in Soho, just a few minutes’ walk from Piccadilly Circus, [which remained undeveloped until 2009](http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/chelsea-barracks-new-list-200909253534.html) and [where the redevelopment was only completed last year](http://londontheinside.com/2014/04/04/opening-news-ham-yard-hotel/). And a German investment firm was involved! Mmmm. That’s good irony. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/27 "2015-05-21T03:56:22Z")
Or reparations? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/28 "2015-05-21T06:28:43Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > That photo has so much sun-and-shadow contrast it’s hard to see anything. Here it is on Streetview: https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211sbg4XIhCI7BuKTcVpfrCguQ%212m2%211d51.496613%212d-0.173744%213f105.03%214f8.243%215f0.75 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/29 "2015-05-21T14:59:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > It’s my understanding that East Germany had whole blocks of destruction until the time the wall fell or after… but enclosed in false building facades, so it couldn’t be seen. I was in Berlin weeks after the wall fell. There were quite a few abandoned buildings with battle damage in or near no mans land. I probably have some pictures somewhere. In 2001 when I went back the same area was filled with Bugatti dealers, high end jewelry stores and other places I didn’t make enough money to even look inside. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/30 "2015-05-21T15:09:42Z")
Bugatti did not have a dealer network in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/31 "2015-05-21T15:13:20Z")
East Germany had a thriving black market. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dave.B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dave.B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave.B)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/32 "2015-05-22T10:30:40Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I understand they’re still finding and removing unexploded ordnance. An unexploded bomb was discovered yesterday near Wembley Stadium, and is currently being defused. Thankfully it seems to have disrupted rehearsals for Britain’s Got Talent. > **[The Army is defusing an unexploded WWII bomb near Wembley Stadium](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wembley-bomb-army-warns-of-genuine-risk-to-life-posed-by-london-second-world-war-bomb-10269214.html)** > > Experts were defusing it on Friday so it could be safely exploded ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392/33 "2015-05-24T04:17:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I was in Berlin weeks after the wall fell. There were quite a few abandoned buildings with battle damage in or near no mans land. I probably have some pictures somewhere. In 2001 when I went back the same area was filled with Bugatti dealers, high end jewelry stores and other places I didn’t make enough money to even look inside. Their is a church left in West Berlin as a kind of memorial. I think that there is another less iconic one in East Berlin, but I don’t find a picture of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-damaged-destroyed-part-of-london-not-been-rebuilt-since-the-blitz/720392.md?page=1)