# London, summer 1940 — sources and limits

This model is an authored historical interpretation of approximately 3.2 km² of central London. It contains 1,122 named places and contextual building plots. It is not a measured reconstruction of every property: secondary street alignments, footprints, materials and ornament remain approximate. Interiors are not included. Generic shop names, pedestrians, vehicles and movable objects are interpretations.

## Architectural evidence

| Element | Evidence used | How represented |
|---|---|---|
| Clock Tower / Big Ben | [UK Parliament facts and figures](https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/facts-figures/) | Approximately 96 m high, four 7 m clock dials; layered shaft, clock stages, belfry and spire. Small carving simplified. |
| Palace towers | [UK Parliament: towers of Parliament](https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palacestructure/towers-of-parliament/) | Distinct Clock Tower, central spire and enriched Victoria Tower; range dimensions are approximate. |
| Parliament Square | [Historic England 1001342](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1001342) | Two lawns separated by an east–west road, before the 1951 remodelling. Later statues excluded. |
| Horse Guards | [Historic England 1066100](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1066100) and historical Photochrom view | Palladian blocks, pavilions, courtyard, pediments and clock cupola. |
| War Office | [UK government Survey of London material](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5db07836ed915d095c89f111/20190121-FOI16069_St_James.pdf) and Newberry postcard | Four corner towers, domed caps, giant orders, arched windows and roof crests. |
| Banqueting House | [Historic England 1357353](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357353) | Seven bays, basement, two orders, window surrounds and parapet. |
| Admiralty Arch | [Historic England 1238982](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1238982) and Roger Dumas, A43150 | Three open carriage arches, orders and faceted concave wings; pedestrian passages are simplified. |
| Trafalgar Square | [Historic England 1001362](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1001362) and Rijksmuseum RP-F-F20139 | Nelson's Column and lions, fountains, National Gallery, Canada House and South Africa House. Layout remains approximate. |
| National Gallery | [National Gallery photograph record NG30/1930/3](https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/research-centre/archive/record/NG30/1930/3) | Central portico and dome, long wings; contextual Hampton's store in place of the later Sainsbury Wing. |
| St Martin-in-the-Fields | [Heritage Gateway listing](https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=19191&uid=80ae27ec-f74f-400b-a100-175f1e1918fd) | Six-column west portico, pediment and stepped steeple. |
| Buckingham Palace | [Historic England 1000795](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000795) and circa-1914 photograph | Aston Webb's 1913 east front, central balcony, orders, pediments, forecourt and memorial. |
| County Hall | [Historic England 1358192](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1358192) and 1930 panorama | Concave 19-bay centre, giant order, attic circles and dormered roof. |
| Westminster Abbey | Rijksmuseum RP-F-F20142 | Twin west towers, tiered portals, glazing, louvres, buttresses and nave elevation. Sculpture is schematic. |
| Transport | [London Bus Museum: AEC Regent I ST 922](https://www.londonbusmuseum.com/what-to-see/double-deck-buses/aec-regent-i-st-922/) | Interwar double-decker inspired by the AEC Regent I. This is not a verified exact fleet vehicle or timetable. |
| Sandbags | [IWM object 205197144](https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205197144), discussed in the IWM volunteers' Whitehall research | Interpreted government-office defence near Great George Street, referring to May 1940. |
| Bomb maps | [The London Archives: Second World War bomb damage maps](https://www.thelondonarchives.org/blog/second-world-war-bomb-damage-maps-of-london) | Used to understand the evidence and its limits. Cumulative 1940–45 damage is not imposed on a summer-1940 scene. |

The London Eye, Portcullis House, modern Sainsbury Wing, post-war Parliament Square statues and modern Blue Bridge are absent. Not all surviving pre-war buildings have individually researched geometry; contextual plots must not be presented as verified addresses.

## Night lighting

[The National Archives](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/home-front-1939-1945-part-one/?show=all) describes covered windows and dimmed street and vehicle lights during the blackout. [Hansard, 23 January 1940](https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1940-01-23/debates/40513d57-42d6-400a-a13e-8229c629390f/CommonsChamber) records debate about restricted street lighting. The scene uses warm lantern glass, selected occupied windows, tungsten-coloured vehicle lamps, road light pools and cool moonlight. The light brightness and visible occupied windows are deliberately enhanced for exploration; this is not a photometric reconstruction of blackout conditions or a claim that unrestricted window lighting was permitted. Monument facades have no floodlights. Lenses and windows use their actual model geometry; headlight beams follow the moving vehicles. Nearby point and spot lights illuminate surfaces, while instanced glows keep distant lights visible on the aerial map and mobile devices.

## Publication content

All archival photographs were removed from the website and publication package at the project owner’s request on 7 September 2026. Building information and historical source links remain as text. The recorded city film shows the authored 3D scene only. Its textures are procedural; sound is synthesized.

## Geometry and film

The Blender/GLB export contains the full authored detail. The browser uses instanced distant volumes and switches to detailed terrace clusters near the walking camera. Historical landmarks keep their separate authored geometry. The first part of the film is a staged construction replay of the completed model, followed by rendered exploration; it is not a contemporaneous screen recording of the coding process.

## Additional street life

The added cars, taxicabs, delivery vans and open tourers are interpreted 1930s silhouettes. Separate mudguards, running boards and tall radiators are informed by the [British Motor Museum collection](https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/online-collections), including its 1936 Morris Eight. They are not exact replicas of particular registrations. Vehicles follow the left side of the modelled roads.

Clothing includes wool suits, coats, felt hats, caps and calf-length skirts. Some pedestrians carry small respirator cases, informed by the [London Museum gas-mask bag record](https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/v/object-89439/case-gas-mask-bag/). Population, placement, movement and traffic density are illustrative. Source photographs are not displayed or distributed.

## Aggregate visit statistics

From the statistics update onward, the site counts page loads and estimates visitors separately each UTC day. It keeps aggregate counters only, with no individual visitor history or stored IP addresses. Internal visits and recognised automation are excluded. The Privacy control provides a free opt-out. The statistical design follows the aggregate-only purpose described in the [ICO storage and access guidance](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/guidance-on-the-use-of-storage-and-access-technologies/what-are-the-exceptions/); the figures are approximate and cannot recover earlier visits.