‘I used to think they were public toilets,’ says shelter keeper Katie Simmonds, of the green-painted huts that hide scattered in plain sight across central London. These Grade II-listed buildings are, in fact, cabmen’s shelters.
From a peak of 47 open at one time, today 13 of the ornate little structures remain. They were built with support from the Cabmen’s Shelter Fund, set up in 1875 by Captain George Armstrong, editor of The Globe newspaper. During an era when the Temperance movement was influential in British society, Captain Armstrong’s quest was to provide London’s 4,600 hansom-cab drivers with an alternative to the pub when they were seeking refuge from thirst, hunger and the elements.