Left - measuring only 54” by 52” the interior of the wash house at the ground floor rear of the house where the wrapped body of Beryl Evans, and baby Geraldine, were found by police on 2 December 1949.

These bodies would have had to have gone unnoticed for a period of over three and a half weeks, by the Christies, their dog Judy, and the landlord’s builders who had been working at the property (including the wash house itself) during that time, if it were the case that Evans had placed them there on  8th & 10th November 1949 as his second confession made to Notting Hill police had stated.

The National Archives (MEPO 3/3147)

Above - John Reginald Halliday Christie

Above - Christie with wife Ethel

Above - Christie in the uniform of a special constable in the War Reserve Police

(Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)

Left - nos. 1 - 5 Ruston Close on the south side awaiting demolition. The remainder of the terrace, including no. 10 at the far end, has already gone at the upper levels. The picture is dated 8 December 1970 but known to have been taken a week or two prior to that date. The street lamp visible outside no. 1 must be a theatrical prop left from the earlier location filming of 10 Rillington Place  as the Sixties-style concrete posts would have appeared inauthentic.

(Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)

Left - The remnants of nos. 11 - 15 on the north side of Ruston Close as demolition progressed. In the background can be seen a signal, and fencing alongside the railway line together with the overhead lights on the Westway which had opened in July of that year (1970).

(Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)

Left - nos. 16 - 20 Ruston Close. The house in the centre of the picture, no. 19, was occupied by a Mrs Maud Allen whose family had lived there since 1941 - two years before the first known killing by Christie at no. 10. Mrs Allen was among the very last residents to leave the street.

(Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)

Left - a picture taken from the roadway looking south showing what remained of 10 Ruston Close in late 1970. The house is substantially demolished but for the two-storey back addition which remains standing. Above Christie’s ground-floor kitchen can be seen the first-floor kitchen (of Mr Kitchener’s erstwhile flat) where, all accounts agree, Beryl’s body was placed immediately after her murder and prior to removal to the wash house.

Also remaining is part of the front elevation where the entrance door was, to the left of the bay window of Christie’s sitting room.

The pilaster bears the two-tone colouring characteristic of the house during Christie’s occupation but subsequently over-painted. The earlier colouring was restored to give period authenticity for the location shooting of the film 10 Rillington Place  earlier in 1970.

(E E Woods, courtesy of R van Estrik)

Left - evidently taken from a position amidst the rubble and approximately in the location of the back bedroom, this picture looks into the ground-floor kitchen and shows the location of the small alcove to the rear where the bodies of Christie’s final three victims were discovered.

(E E Woods, courtesy of R van Estrik)

Left - this picture shows a close up of the alcove taken from a position either in or nearly in the ground floor kitchen itself. The rear wall of the alcove appears to slope forwards towards the floor which suggests its original purpose may have been the storage of coal. To the left of the picture can be seen the aperture which once contained the kitchen range, with the mantelpiece above.

(E E Woods, courtesy of R van Estrik)

Left - this last montage shows the picture directly above set alongside, and at approximately the same scale as, a police photograph taken in 1953 at the time of the discovery of the three bodies within. The earlier picture shows the door to the alcove open and, presumably, with the concealing wallpaper still adhering to its outer surface.

Left - the location of Christie’s arrest on 31 March 1953 by PC V400 Thomas Ledger. The large building at centre rear is the famous Star & Garter hotel and public house alongside Putney Embankment, just west of Putney Bridge and on the south side of the Thames. In front of the hotel is the single-storey Welcome Cafe outside of which the arrest took place. NB this is a different location from the Thames Embankment (which lies on the north side of the river, running from Battersea Bridge in the west, eastwards via Victoria Embankment to Blackfriars Bridge).

Below - a similar, contemporary view.

J M Temple

(Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)

Above - the old Royalty Cinema at 105 - 109 Lancaster Road. Opened in February 1929, it was taken over by the ABC chain in February 1935 and remained so until its closure in November 1960. Both the Evanses and Christies were quite regular patrons of the cinema and Beryl’s brother, Basil Thorley, worked there as a projectionist for a time. Pictured here in 1970, it had been operated as a bingo club since 1965 before its final demise in the early seventies. After this it stood empty until it was eventually demolished and the land redeveloped as the Royalty Studios which opened in 1986 and continue to occupy the site today. The photographer’s location will have been directly outside the erstwhile San Remo cafe - please see in Contemporary Pictures.