The stones of Clerkenwell

I can't wait to have a thumb through the two latest volumes of The Survey of London. Published last month by English Heritage as part of their epic project to map the architecture and topography of London, they're going to be the definitive historical guide to Clerkenwell, unravelling the stones like Ruskin did for Venice.

Volume 46: South and East Clerkenwell focuses on the more historic area, centred on the Green and Clerkenwell Close, tracing its history from medieval monastic stronghold to modern loft-land.

Volume 47: Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville, on the other hand, explores the 18th- and 19th-century planned developments from Exmouth Market and Rosebery Avenue north to Pentonville, the Angel and Islington High Street.

Coming in at a hefty 800 pages, they're not exactly beach reading, but they do have hundreds of black-and-white and colour photographs to leaven the scholarliness.

If, like me, you can't (won't) stump up £135 for the pair, try the local history section of the library or hang on until later this year, when the whole series will be available online.