The night of the 10-11 May 1941 was the worst - and last - of the London #Blitz, 80 years ago today. 700 tons of bombs killed 1500, injured another 1800, and started 2200 fires across #London. The sirens began wailing at 11pm. #OTD #Blitz80 Image: Parliamentary Art Collection.

As well as the awful loss of life, there was terrible damage to some of London’s greatest heritage buildings: the British Museum, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. It was exactly a year to the day that #Churchill had become Prime Minister. #OTD #Blitz80

At the BM, the ‘Iron Library’ around the famous reading room caught fire. Harold Plenderleith, head of its conservation lab crawled through the burning space to look. 250,000 books perished that night. He and his assistant salvaged the remainder. Images @npg and @britishmuseum

The roofs of the new Duveen Gallery and the Gallery of Greek and Roman Life also attacked by incendiary bombs which lay hidden until it was too late. Firefighting was led by Sir John Forsdyke, the Museum’s Director, as the fire brigade was occupied with saving life #OTD #Blitz80

Images above: @NPGLondon and @britishmuseum

At Parliament, the @HouseofCommons was hit by a high explosive bomb, devastating the Victorian chamber designed by Charles Barry. In 1943 it was decided to build along the same pattern to designs by modernist Giles Gilbert Scott. #OTD #Blitz80 Images: Parliamentary Art Colln

Churchill wept in the ruins the day after with his aide, Jock Colville. ‘We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us’ he later declared, and the ruined entrance arch into today’s Commons is named after him. Images: @UKParlArchives /Parl Art Colln #OTD #Blitz80

3 people were killed; a UXB plunged down into the floor of the @UKHouseofLords, and scaffolding around the Victoria Tower caught fire. The Lords moved to Church House @wabbey. The Commons meanwhile sat in the repaired Lords, after the bomb was extracted. Images: @UKParlArchives

Across the road at #Westminster Abbey, the Deanery, Cloisters and Little Cloisters were set alight. The wooden lantern over the central crossing caught fire from incendiary bombs and crashed to the floor 130ft below. #OTD #Blitz80 Images: @wabbey

Emerging dazed from an ARP shelter in Whitehall on Sunday 11 May, Churchill’s private secretary Jock Colville walked to morning service @wabbey in the smoke-filled air, with fluttering sheets of burnt paper, ‘falling like leaves on an autumn day’ around him. #OTD #Blitz80

He was turned away by a policeman: ‘There will not be any services in the Abbey today, Sir’. #OTD #Blitz80 Image: @wabbey.

Thanks for reading this thread. If you want to know more about London in the Blitz then I recommend these books, including Colville's diaries, which are some of the best political diaries ever. #OTD #Blitz80