West Square Gardens

West Square is one of London's most well-preserved Georgian residential enclaves, hidden away from the busy streets of Southwark and Lambeth. While it looks like a peaceful garden square today, it once served as a high-tech naval communication hub during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1812, the Admiralty installed a semaphore telegraph tower on the roof of house number 36. This allowed the government to send urgent messages between Whitehall and the coastal ports of Kent in a matter of minutes, relaying signals through a network of mechanical arms.