Plaque

One of the more 'storied' plaques in the official London plaque scheme. A 'medallion style' bronze tablet to commemorate Joseph Lister, pioneer of antiseptic surgery who had died in 1912, was erected by the London County Council at 12 Park Crescent, Regent's Park on 20 August 1915. Park Crescent was damaged during the 1939-1945 war, and the plaque subsequently went missing.

When the decision was taken by the Crown Estate to rebuild Park Crescent (with every intention of retaining the original Regency period facades by John Nash) plans for a new plaque were drawn up, but an appeal in The Lancet magazine led to the missing one being recovered; following the completion of the rebuild, Lister's plaque was unveiled for the second time in 1966 - the Guardian have a photo.

Unfortunately, during further building work in 2018,the plaque disappeared again. It has not been found, and was removed from the English Heritage list in 2019. Lister was immediately shortlisted for a new plaque, though this was not to be installed at 12 Park Crescent, it having transpired that the house was not as authentic as previously believed. The 'original' façade - listed in 1954 and Grade I listed in February 1970 - was in fact not Nash's, but a facsimile dating from the 1960s rebuild. This discovery made the house ineligible for a memorial under the scheme rules. A new plaque to Lister was affixed to 52 Maple Street, Fitzrovia, where Lister had lived as a student, on 6th September 2024.

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