HISTORY MUSEUMS
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DEDICATION
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This Book is Dedicated to My mother Elizabeth.
Whose support has been invaluable.
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I would also like thank ‘Wikepedia.org’ without whose own research, I would probably have been unable to write this book.
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INTRODUCTION
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Like most cities, London is blessed with a fine cross-section of both art galleries and museums, a collusion of interest which, in devoting themselves to the preservation of the capital’s past, have, amongst all other aspects of Britain’s infrastructure, been extensively researched and recorded.
It may, in fact, seem like a pointless exercise in tautology to add yet further testament to such a massive litany, everything that can be written upon the topic of London’s museums has already been revised and repeated many times over, indeed the possibility of misinterpretation in this respect contrarily runs the risk of being counterproductive, one would sooner choose to leave the capital’s history unsullied by sleights of judgement and typographical error than attempt to transcribe it’s history again.
As with preserving the sequential chronologies of the capital’s great archives, it’s histories of war and cultural discovery, writing a book is a slow and methodical process, a painstaking exercise which, in attempting to convey old ideas in a fresh and appealing form, learns to appreciate the many details which combinatively constitute it’s compass.
Indeed, what would London’s history be without it’s museums and the archives of material that are devoted to them ? A momentary technopolis risen from some immemorial and uncertain point in the past, a psychosematic phantasm attributable only to the predilections of subjective confidence ?
It is human nature to ask what things are and from whence they originate, questions which museums almost uniquely attempt to answer, a pursuit that, in countenancing the pnemonic passion for novelty which many epochs including that of the Victorians entertained, itself runs the risk of re-interpreting history, were it not that such predilections “were” history, a statement of events as they once appeared.
There may never be an adequate solution to such things, the die having been cast long ago amidst the prudence, pre-conception and popularism of eons which we have long since forsaken. All we really have is history as it currently stands, the investiture of intelligent men who are willing to make informed deductions about it’s detail.
There are resultingly things considered both very true across the vast spans of time which museum’s attempt to qauntify and things of a more frivolrous nature that, although perhaps equally correct, are subject to enquiry, an instance in which, as a race, are blessed with the history that we receive and correspondingly enjoined to make of it what we will. It is a slow and methodical process. We pass it to our children as it is passed to us, and, yet, in mischance, we nonetheless expect it’s platitudes to remain true.
The past might have been a history of kings, of feudal disputes and torture chambers, of knights in shining armour and damsels in distress or it may have been more sedentary, a civilian community playing with it’s buildings, clothing and food much as modern man is inclined to do. Who can tell how different the scheme of past event may once have been from the present, we have not lived long enough to verify the wider sweep of the brush ?
We are invited to reminisce at leisure upon the issue, presently untroubled by the augur of death and it’s diabolical ultimatum, safe in the knowledge that we have advanced. It is ‘Thomas Moore’s’ ‘Utopia’, a fragile surety graced to mock the meat that it feeds on. Who knows what the past may have hidden from us and what the future may yet hold in store?
“History Museums, an Index Of London’s Public Galleries”, is, as a comprehensive list of the capital’s public archives, exhibition halls, historic houses and art galleries, designed to relay the truth of the London’s heritage as it presently appears, a term beneath which it is fortunately capable of charting with, what must be considered a limited degree of accuracy, the city’s growth from the sixteenth century through to the present, for this book is, in effect, largely attributable to the Parliament that saw fit to preside over the country’s affairs throughout that time, an interest that, upon having retained accounts of the capital’s building projects, ship building concerns and tea monopolies throughout the ‘Georgian’ era, was observed to have remained more diligent than most with regards to the keeping of historic records.
“History Museums, An Index Of Londons Public Galleries” is resultingly allocated about five hundred years of history, a cornucopia of event thematically divided into distinct categories by the many museums which currently exist within the capital, a catalogue of institutions and facilities that succeed in presenting the city in an irresistably pallatable form, celebrating the many events which constitute it’s past.
From the gunpowder mills of Waltham Abbey to the fresh water springs of Epsom, from the aircraft hangars of Northolt to the steam pumps of Erith, a cross-section of public displays which, in including the great exhibition halls of both Kensington and Bloomsbury within it’s compass, also features a horde of lesser known but eqaully exquisite sites. “History Museums, An Index of London’s Public Galleries” is intended to serve as a useful auxiliary for those wishing to explore the capital and discover something of it’s past.
Also including a selection of art galleries and public libraries within it’s scheme, “History Museums, An Index Of London’s Pub;ic Galleries”, is further designed to serve, in a purely recreational sense, as a guide to some of the most interesting and novel attractions currently on display in Britain’s largest city.
Covering a diverse selection of libraries, public exhibition halls, art galleries and museums, “History Museums, An Index of London’s Public Galleries” strives to chart the origins of the many public display halls which combinatively retain the character of London’s cultural heritage.
Incorporating the celebrated public reliquaries of both Kensington and Bloomsbury into it’s scheme “History Musems, An Index Of London’s Public Galleries”, further extends to include accounts of the great art galleries of Trafalgar Sqaure, Millbank and Bankside, locations which, in having justifiably achieved public recognition, are presently amongst the finest examples of their type on earth.
Investigating the compliment of medical, army and police archives currently located in capital, “History Museums, An Index Of London’s Public Galleries”, proceeds to examine the industrial and administrative heritage which serves to distinguish London’s past, charting the beginning of the national health service with the Norman hospices of St. John’s, St. Bartholomews and St. Stephen’s, the origins of the modern military at the corn mills of the Lea Valley and the conception of the modern police force from it’s foundation as a protector of river trade in the Thames estuary.
Featuring a number of restored Victorian steam engines, aircraft hangars, gunpowder mills, orphanages and work houses within it’s index, the plot of “History Museums, An Index Of London’s Public Galleries” further extends it’s include a number of intriguing historic houses once occupied by a host of celebrated authors, musicians, scientists and diplomats, men who, in having, shaped the evolution of the capital, remain commemorated to this day.
For those interested in London’s past or even those, who in suffering ennui, wish to visit somwhere interesting, then “History Museums, An Index Of London’s Public Galleries”, is intended to provide an accessible guide to both the capital’s premier attractions and noteworthy locations.
Yours sincerely Tom Scrow.
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CONTENTS
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DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
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HISTORY MUSEUMS, AN INDEX OF LONDON’S MUSEUMS
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2 TEMPLE PLACE
2 WILLOW ROAD
7 HAMMERSMITH TERRACE
18 STAFFORD TERRACE
40 BEECHES AVENUE
575 WANDSWORTH ROAD
A
ALEXANDRA PALACE
ANESTHESIA HERITAGE CENTRE
APSLEY HOUSE
ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB MUSEUM
ARTS DEPOT
ARTS IN PERPETUITY TRUST
AVENUE HOUSE
B
BADEN POWELL HOUSE
BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM
BANKSIDE GALLERY
BANQUETING HOUSE WHITEHALL
BAPS SHRI SWAMINARYAN TEMPLE
BARBICAN ARTS CENTRE
BARNET CENTRE
BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL MUSEUM
BATTLE OF BRITAIN BUNKER
BEN URI GALLERY
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S HOUSE
BENTLEY PRIORY
BETHLEM MUSEUM OF THE MIND
BLACK CULTURAL ARCHIVES
BOROUGH ROAD GALLERY
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
BOURNE HALL MUSEUM
BOW STREET POLICE MUSEUM
BRENT MUSEUM
BRITISH AIRWAYS HERITAGE CENTRE
BRITISH DENTAL ASSOCIATION
BRITISH LIBRARY
BRITISH MUSEUM
BRITISH MUSIC EXPERIENCE
BRITISH OPTICAL ASSOCIATION MUSEUM
BRITISH POSTAL MUSEUM
BRITISH RED CROSS MUSEUM
BRITISH VINTAGE WIRELESS MUSEUM
BROMLEY MUSEUM
BROOKLANDS MUSEUM OF MOTORSPORT AND AVIATION
BRUCE CASTLE
BRUNEI GALLERY
BRUNEL MUSEUM
BUCKINGHAM PALACE
BUILDING CENTRE
BURGH HOUSE
C
C4RD (CENTRE FOR RECENT DRAWING)
CALVERT 22
CAMDEN ARTS CENTRE
CAMPBELL WORKS
CANADA HOUSE GALLERY
CARLYSLE HOUSE
CARTOON MUSEUM
CENOTAPH
CENTRE OF THE CELL
CHARLES DICKENS MUSEUM
CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE MUSEUM
CHEAPSIDE
CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB MUSEUM
CHISENHALE GALLERY
CHURCHILL WAR ROOMS
CINEMA MUSEM
CITY OF LONDON POLICE MUSEUM
CLARENCE HOUSE
CLERKENWELL CATACOMBS
CLINK MUSEUM
CLOWNS GALLERY MUSEUM
COUPER COLLECTION
COURTAULD GALLERY
CRIME MUSEUM
CROFTON ROMAN VILLAS
CROSS NESS PUMPING STATION
CUBITT GALLERY
CUMING MUSEUM
CUTTY SARK
D
DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT MUSEUM
DELFINA PROJECT SPACE
DESIGN MUSEUM
DENIS SEVER’S HOUSE
DOCTOR JOHNSON’S HOUSE
DORICH HOUSE
DOWN HOUSE
DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY
E
EARL’S COURT
ESTORICK COLLECTION OF MODERN ITALIAN ART
F
FAN MUSEUM
FARADAY MUSEUM
FENTON HOUSE
FASHION AND TEXTILE MUSEUM
FIREPOWER, THE RORAL MILITARY MUSEUM
FLEMING COLLECTION
FLEMING MUSEUM
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE MUSEUM
FORTY HALL
FOUNDLING MUSEUM
FRANCIS SKARYNA BELLRUSSIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
FREUD MUSEUM
FUSION ART CENTRE
G
GALTON COLLECTION
GASWORKS GALLERY
GEFFRYE MUSEUM
GOLDEN HIND
GOLDSMITH’S CENTRE
GORDON MUSEUM OF PATHOLOGY
THE GRANT MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
GRAYS INN
GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL MUSEUM AND ARCHIVE
GUARDS MUSEUM
GUILDHALL
H
H.M.S BELFAST
HACKNEY MUSEUM
HALL PLACE GARDENS
HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM
HARD ROCK CAFE VAULTS
HAVERING MUSEUM
HAYWARD GALLERY
HEATHAM HOUSE
HOGARTH HOUSE
HONEYWOOD MUSEUM
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY MUSEUM
HORNIMAN MUSEUM
HOUSE OF ILLUSTRATIONS GALLERY
HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY MUSEUM
HUNTERIAN MUSEUM
I
ICANDO
IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
INNS OF COURT AND CITY YEOMANRY MUSEUM
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM
ISLAND TRUST
ISLINGTON MUSEUM
IVORY MANSION
J
JACK THE RIPPER MUSEUM
JEWEL HOUSE
JEWEL TOWER
JEWISH MILITARY MUSEUM
K
KEATS’ HOUSE
KELMSCOTT HOUSE
KEMPTON GREAT ENGINE MUSEUM
KENNEL CLUB DOG ART GALLERY
KINGSTON MUSEUM
KIRKALDY TESTING MUSEUM
L
L-13 LIGHT INDUSTRIAL WORKSHOP
LAMBETH PALACE
LANDMARK ARTS CENTRE
LANGDON DOWN MUSEUM FOR LEARNING DISABILITY
LETHABY GALLERY
LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF FREEMASONRY
LIEGHTON HOUSE
L’INSTITUT FRANCAIS DE ROYAUME UNI
LONDON CANAL MUSEUM
LONDON FILM MUSEUM
LONDON FIRE BRIGADE MUSEUM
LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S LIBRARY
LONDON MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM
LONDON MOTOR MUSEUM
LONDON MUSEUM OF WATER AND STEAM
LONDON SCOTTISH REGIMENTAL MUSEUM
LONDON SEWING MACHINE MUSEUM
LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM
M
MADAME TUSSAUDS
MAGIC CIRCLE MUSEUM
MALL GALLERIES
MANSION HOUSE
MARKFIELD BEAM ENGINE MUSEUM
MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND LENIN ROOM PRINT COLLECTION
MCC MUSEUM
MET COLLECTION
MOCA
MORLEY GALLERY
MUSEUM OF ASIAN MUSIC
MUSEUM OF BRAND PACKAGING AND ADVERTISING
MUSEUM OF COMEDY
MUSEUM OF CROYDON
MUSEUM OF DOMESTIC DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
MUSEUM OF GARDEN HISTORY
MUSEUM OF IMMIGRATION AND DIVERSITY
MUSEUM OF LONDON
MUSEUM OF MILITARY MUSIC
MUSEUM OF RICHMOND
MUSEUM OF THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN
MUSEUM OF WIMBLEDON
MUSEUM OF WORLD RUGBY
MUSICAL MUSEUM
N
NATIONAL ARCHIVE
NATIONAL GALLERY
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
NEHRU CENTRE
O
OLD OPERATING THEATRE AND HERB GARRET
OLD SPEAKING ROOM AND GALLERY, HARROW SCHOOL
OLYMPIA CONFERENCE EXHIBITION HALL
P
PARASOL UNIT FOUNDATION FOR CONREMPORARY ART
PECKHAM PLATFORM
PERCEVAL DAVID COLLECTION OF CHINESE ART
PETRIE MUSEUM OF EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY
PHOTOGRAPHER’S GALLERY
POLISH INSTITUTE AND SKIKORSKI MUSEUM
POLISH WAR MUSEUM
POLLOCK’S TOY MUSEUM
PUSHKIN HOUSE
Q
QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND CONFERENCE CENTRE
R
RAGGED SCHOOL MUSEUM
REDBRIDGE MUSEUM
RED HOUSE
RED MANSION FOUNDATION
RICH MIX CULTURAL FOUNDATION
RIVERSIDE GALLERY
RIVINGTON PLACE
ROSE THEATRE EXHIBITION
ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL HALL
ROYAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM
ROYAL ARMORIES
ROYAL BRITISH LEGION POPPY FACTORY
ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS MUSEUM
ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS
ROYAL LONDON HOSPITAL MUSEUM
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
ROYAL PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
S
SAATCHI GALLERY
SALVATION ARMY HERITAGE CENTRE
SCIENCE MUSEUM
SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE
SHERLOCK HOLMES MUSEUM
SHOWROOM
SIR JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM
SMYTHSON STATIONARY MUSEUM
SOMERSET HOUSE
SOSEKI MUSEUM
SOUTH LONDON GALLERY
STEPHEN WRIGHT’S HOUSE OF DREAMS
STUDIO VOLTAIRE
SUTTON HOUSE
T
TATE BRITAIN
TATE MODERN
THAMES POLICE MUSEUM
TOWER BRIDGE
TOWER OF LONDON
TWICKENHAM MUSEUM
TWINING MUSEUM
TYPE MUSEUM
U
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON ART MUSEUM
UNIVERSITY COLLEHGE LONDON GEOLOGY COLLECTION
V
VESTRY HOUSE MUSEUM
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD
VIKTOR WYND MUSEUM OF CURIOSITIES
W
WALTHAMSTOW PUMP HOUSE MUSEUM
WANDLE INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM
WANDSWORTH MUSEUM
WEINER LIBRARY
WELLCOME COLLECTION
WEMBLEY
WESLEY’S CHAPEL OF METHODISM
WESTMINSTER ABBEY MUSEUM
WESTMINSTER DRAGOONS MUSEUM
WHITECHAPEL GALLERY
WHITE HALL
WHITEWEBBS MUSEUM OF TRANSPORT
WIMBLEDON LAWN TENNIS MUSEUM
WIMBLEDON MUSEUM
WINSTON CHURCHILL’S BRITAiN AT WAR EXPERIENCE
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HISTORY MUSEUM AN INDEX OF LONDON’S PUBLIC GALLERIES
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2 TEMPLE PLACE
Embankment
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Constructed on the Victoria Embankment in 1895 by John Loughbourough Pearson for the founder of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, William Waldorf Astor, Two Temple Place is a magnificent Victorian Gothic style building which, in being finished in Portland lime with a magnificent crenellated tower surmounted by a cast iron weather vane known as the “Caravat Santa Maria”, is perhaps one of the finest example of it’s type in London.
Originally called Astor House, the interior of Two Temple Place, is distinguished by it’s lavish interior decorations, a scheme which, in depicting a host of fictional literary characters, was designed to reflect William Waldorf Astor’s passion for collecting books.
Containing a number architectural features drafted by William Silver Frith and Thomas Nicholls, Two Temple Place also possesses a number of fine Alexandrian style marble floors laid out by Robert Davison, pencil cedar wall panelling made by George Frampton, and a set of massive mahogany ceiling towers built by Nathaniel Hitch, a man who was also responsible for crafting the elaborate friezes in the building’s main hall
Occupied by “Sun Life Canada” in 1919, a period during which the premises were known as both Sun and Canada House, Two Temple Place was acquired in 1928 by the “Incorporated Accounts and Auditors Vestibule” a tenure during which the building was recorded to have been badly damaged during the bomb strikes of the Blitz.
Purchased by “Smith and Nephew” in 1960, Two Temple Place was subsequently opened to the public as a museum, an establishment which, in featuring an exhibition devoted to the eighteenth century property millionaire and founder of New York Public library “John Jacob Astor”, provides an interesting pretext for the building’s many interior designs.
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2 WILLOW ROAD
Hampstead
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Devoted to the work of the Hungarian born architect Erno Goldfinger, the small museum at “2 Willow Road” in Camden, affords an intriguing insight into the events which were to culminate in the modern architectural scheme of the capital.
Although perhaps most renowned for pioneering the imposing brutalist style of building which was to distinguish London throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, being responsible for the construction of the Trellick Tower in Kensington and both the Baffron Tower and Carradine House in Tower Hamlets, Erno Goldfinger’s influence upon modern architecture is witnessed to have been both wide-ranging and diverse, encompassing a catalogue of projects which, in extending to include, the design of Alexander Fleming House for the Ministry of Health, the construction of the British Communist party Headquarters and the offices of the Daily Worker, also includes both the interior and exterior decoration of Two Willow Road.
Designed in the 1939 as Goldfinger’s private residence, a project which, in demolishing two neighbouring properties, was notably criticised by the conservative Home secretary Henry Brook, an affair which was thought to have served as the inspiration for the character “Auric Goldfinger” in Ian Fleming’s popular novel “Goldfinger”, the rooms of “2 Willow Road” are distinguished by a number of novel features including moveable partitions, folding doors, a collection of innovative bespoke furniture and a spiral staircase designed by the Danish engineer “Ove Arup”.
Popular with a number of Hampstead intellectuals including Barbera Hepworth and Ben Nicholson during the 1930’s, “2 Willow Road” boasts a fine collection of modern art which, in being composed of work from such notable individuals as Henry Moore, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp and Bridget Riley, is perfectly thematised by the building’s angular day lit interior.
Occupied by Erno Goldfinger through to 1987, “2 Willow Road” was, in 1995, placed beneath the management of the National Trust and, largely unchanged since it’s construction, remains one of only two modernist houses currently open to the public in London.
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7 HAMMERSMITH TERRACE
Hammersmith
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Constructed in 1755, Seven Hammersmith Terrace, is an immaculately preserved Georgian town-house in South West London.
Occupied by such notable individuals as the actor F.G Stephens and the Calligrapher Edward Johnston, during the nineteenth century, “7 Hammersmith Terrace” was, in 1903, purchased by the celebrated English engraver and printer “Emmery Walker”, a period during which the building was decorated with a number of patterned tapestries, flat weave rugs and linoleum surfaces in the arts and crafts style.
A close friend of William Morris, an association through which with the “Kelmscott Press” was founded, Emmery Walker was acquainted with many of the figures generally considered responsible for defining the Victorian arts and crafts movement, being upon amicable terms with both the painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti and the artist Philip Webb.
Housing a small art collection, including an oil painting by Neville Bulwer Lytton, the third earl of Lytton, a picture by Anna Hornby, two paintings by Samuel Butler, and the original proof of William Morris’ “Earthly Paradise”, “7 Hammersmith Terrace”, is also notable for possessing a collection of letters from the celebrated author Rudyard Kipling.
Currently preserved by the Emmery Walker trust as a public museum devoted to the engraver’s life, seven Hammersmith Terrace, is, in being one of the last authentic arts and crafts interiors in Britain, a fascinating time capsule of early Edwardian cultural convention.
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18 STAFFORD TERRACE
Holland Park
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Situated upon what was once the Philimore estate in Kensington, eighteen Stafford Terrace is a fine classical Italianate town house, which, in having been occupied by the cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne during the nineteenth century, remains preserved to this day as a museum devoted to the artist’s life.
Employed between 1867 and 1910 alongside such notable individuals as John Leach, Charles Keane, George Du Maurier, Philip May and John Tenniel to illustrate the popular satirical magazine Punch, Edward Linley Sambourne became well known throughout the Victorian era for his sketches of French women and street vendors, a period during which the artist also drafted pictures for the first editions of Charles Kingsley’s Water Babies and Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales.
Decorated with stained glass windows, Victorian rugs, patterned wallpaper and ebonised furniture, eighteen Stafford Terrace boasts both a fine collection of oriental porcelain and an extensive catalogue of Victorian photographs, the museum also exhibiting the Sambourne diaries, a daily record of event held by both Edward and Marion Linley Sambourne during the late nineteenth century.
Inherited by Edward’s son Roy Sambourne in the early twentieth century, 18 Stafford terrace was passed by Roy’s sister Maud Messel for a time before being occupied by Anne Messel “Countess of Russia”, a propriertorship beneath which the Victorian Society was founded to preserve the house and it’s contents, an organisation that, in 1989, collaborated with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to restore the property to it’s present condition.
Open to the public upon Saturdays and Sundays, 18 Stafford Terrace, remains one of the best examples of late Victorian domesticity in the capital, affording an intriguing insight into the era directly before the first world war.
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40 BEECHES AVENUE
Carshalton
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Located in Carshalton in South West London, 40 beeches Avenue, a property sometimes referred to as Little Holland House represents an interesting example of the shift in architectural tastes which occurred between the late Victorian era and the early 1920's.
Designed in the art deco style by Frank Reginald Dickinson in 1904, a venture through which many practises applied to modern D.I.Y were pioneered, 40 Beeches Avenue, features an extensive collection of both paintings and hand made metal objects inspired by the great proponents of the Victorian arts and crafts movement.
Occupied by Dickinson through until 1961, 40 beeches Avenue was officially opened in 1974, a term beneath which the premises presently remain accessible to the public on the first Sunday of every month.
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575 WANDSWORTH ROAD
Clapham
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Occupied by squatters in the 1970’s, “575 Wandsworth Road” is superficially a fairly urbane terraced house, a building which one could easily confuse with many others of similar extraction located in the capital, however, upon closer inspection, it may be observed that the interior of the building has been lavishly crafted with intricate fablieus of Moorish Fretwork throughout it’s entirety, a motif that recurs in lush profusion within every room of the building, adorning radiators, light switches, fireplaces, book cases and cupboards, a theme which, in extending to include both hand crafted trellised tables and lamp-shades, serves to distinguish the property from others of like origin.
Acquired in 1981 by the Kenyan civil servant and author of both “The Calabash of Life” and “The Latecomer”, ‘Hadambi Asalache’, “575 Wandsworth Road” was subsequently transformed into a mystical realm of the imagination.
Initially handcrafted from boxes and doors with a pad saw in efforts to insulate the basement of the property from persistent damp, the interior decoration of 575 Wandsworth Road, expanded over twenty years to encompass a multitude of Mozarabic reticulars inspired by Great Mosque of Cordoba, the Generalife of Granada, the Alhambra, the African wilderness, the cultures of Zanzibar and Damascus, the waterside houses of Yali in Istanbul, and what are termed “Horror Vacuii” or representations of the void, an inventory which, in extending to include effigies of Pocahontas, Madame De Pompadour and Anna Pavlova amongst it’s catalogue of images, entirely covers the interior of the house.
Acquired by the National trust in 2009 following Asalache’s death in 2006, “575 Wandsworth Road” is currently open to the public and represents an incredible testament to individual ingenuity and craftsmanship.
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ALEXANDRA PALACE
Muswell Hill
____________________
Alexandra Palace, an entertainment venue opened in 1863 following the success of Kensington’s International Exhibition remains, despite partial destruction during the Second World War, a popular concert hall to this day.
Widely considered to be North London’s counterpart to Crystal palace, Alexandra Palace was devised to commemorate Princess Alexandra of Denmark’s marriage to Prince Edward.
Originally equipped with a horse racing circuit known as “the frying pan”, a deer park, a Japanese village, a swimming pool, a “switch-back” ride, Alexandra Palace was constructed between 1865 and 1873 by John Johnson and Alfred Meeson for the Great Northern Palace Company, a project assisted by a building firm known as the Lucas brothers which was commissioned to build the Royal Albert Hall at approximately the same time,
Unfortunately damaged in a fire only sixteen days after completion, Alexandra Palace was re-built in 1875 as a “people’s palace”, a project which included an extensive selection of exhibition halls, a fine Willis organ and a large theatre equipped with hoists and trap-doors, a period during which the theatre was leased to Gracie Fields’ husband Archie Pitt and the palace affectionately re-named “Allie Pallie”.
Used as an internment camp for Austrian and German civilians during the First World War, Alexandra palace was leased in 1935 to the British Broadcasting Corporation, a period after which it served as both a television and radio station, a capacity in which it was rumored to have jammed radar guidance systems throughout the Second World War.
Badly damaged during the air-strikes of the Blitz, Alexandra palace was acquired by the Greater London council in 1967, a tenure beneath which it suffered further fire damage leading to a costly refurbishment which included the construction of an ice-rink in the park.
Regularly staging fireworks displays and music concerts featuring performances by groups such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin the Grateful Dead, the Squeeze and Blur, Alexandra Palace remains a popular and fashionable entertainment forum to this day.
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ANESTHESIA HERITAGE CENTRE
Fitzrovia
___________________________
Situated somewhat Unobtrusively within the centre of London, “The Anesthesia Heritage Centre” is a small museum devoted to the history of Medical anesthesia in Britain.
Initially conceived in 1953 after the donation of Charles A. King’s medical collection to Doctor Henry Featherstone’s “Association of Anesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland”, an organisation that, through collaboration with the National Health Service, itself led to the foundation of “The Royal College of Anesthetists” in the 1940’s, “The Anesthetic Heritage Centre”, possesses a wide variety of medical artefacts amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits, a list which, in including, early examples of the usage of mandrake root as a painkiller extends to encompass, a collection of pharmaceutical mortars, a rare eighteenth century resuscitation kit, a number of items pertaining to Doctor Johnson’s usage of chloroform, a display devoted to the work of Joseph Lister, an example of Morton’s ether inhalation demonstration set and a selection of appliances used in modern dentistry to administer nitrous oxide.
Originally situated on Charles A. King’s premises in Central London, “The Anesthesia Heritage Centre”, was, in 1966, transferred to the offices of The Royal College of Surgeons of England for display purposes before being moved in 1986 to Bedford Square, a period after which the size of the collection was greatly increased and the museum was re-housed at it’s present address in Portland Place.
Boasting an extensive library that features, among other works, an original copy of the “The British Journal of Anesthesia”, “The Anesthesia Heritage Centre” represents an intriguing foray into the pre-history of many modern medical practises and their influence upon subsequent advance.
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APSLEY HOUSE
Hyde Park Corner
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Apsely House, a magnificent Georgian mansion frequently referred to as “№1 London”, is situated not far from the memorials at the west end of Green park.
Constructed by Robert Adam for Lord Apsley, earl of Bathurst between 1771 and 1778 upon the site of a Jacobean manor house, the building contains many of the neo-classical features which one would expect from Adam’s work.
Purchased in 1807 by Richard Wellesly, the first marquess of Wellesly, who sold the property to his brother, Sir Arthur Wellesly, the duke of Wellington in 1817, the house remains one of the finest example of Georgian architecture in West London.
Arthur Wellesly who became the prime minister of England in 1828, commissioned Benjamin Dean-Wyatt to renovate the property adding the Waterloo gallery, a collection of two hundred paintings acquired from the French after Joseph Boneparte’s defeat at the battle of Vitoria and installing iron shutters over the building’s windows, a precaution through which Wellesly became known as the Iron Duke.
In 1947 Gerald Wellesly, the seventh Duke of Wellington, opened Apsley to the public, and it remains possible to see the family’s extensive art collection at the Wellington museum to this day.
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ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB MUSEUM
Holloway
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Transferred in 2006 from the North bowl of Highbury stadium to the Northern Triangle Building near the Emirates stadium in Holloway, “the Arsenal Football Club Museum”, is solitarily devoted to the history of the Arsenal football club, a team which, in being based in Woolwich between 1890 and 1913 is, through association with the military heritage of North East London, still frequently known as “The Gunners”.
Rallying beneath the slogan “Victoria Concordia Crescit” or Victory from Harmony, a motto devised by Harry Homer “ after a string of successful matches during the 1940’s, the Arsenal football team became renowned throughout the twentieth century for it’s striking red kit, a uniform which still bears the Woolwich crest to this day.
Possessing a collection of medals shirts and caps including items from the 1971 F.A . Cup Final, the 1988 “Anfield” match against Liverpool and the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners Final, “The Arsenal Football Club Museum” also houses “The Legends Theatre”, an interactive display in which visitors can participate.
Open daily, “The Arsenal Football Club Museum”, is especially popular on match days, being within walking distance from the Arsenal stadium, the venue providing both a fascinating and informative insight into one of London’s greatest football clubs.
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ARTS DEPOT
Finchley
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Situated on Tally Ho Corner in North Finchley, The Arts Depot, was initially conceived in 1996 at an art conference in Barnet, the venue opening eight years later in 2004 as a multi-cultural centre designed to cater for the performing arts.
Composed of two exhibition spaces, “The Portland theatre” and “The Studio theatre”, “The Arts Depot” regular stages live music performances, comedy shows, dances and children’s events, all of which may be viewed by the public, the venue also possesses a small cafeteria in which visitors can meet.
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ARTS IN PERPETUITY TRUST
Deptford
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Established in 1995 at Deptford Creek in East London, The Arts in Perpetuity Trust is a small art gallery dedicated to preserving exhibition space for both students and artists.
Situated upon the premises of a former barge chandlery, a building later used by a light engineering company, The Arts In Perpetuity Trust possesses thirty seven affordable studios which can be used as both workshops and display areas for sculptures and paintings.
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AVENUE HOUSE
Finchley
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Recorded to have been inhabited by Reverend Edward Coqier during the mid-nineteenth century, Avenue House was, in 1874, both purchased and renovated by the inventor of blue black writing fluid, Doctor Henry “inky” Stephens, a period of occupation during which the successful greenhouse designer Robert Marnock was commissioned to build both a number of castellated follies and a Moorish walled garden known as “the Bothy” upon the premises.
Designed to be self-sufficient, the Bothy eventually extended to include a dairy, a fishpond, an abattoir, a dovecot and a number of Gothic revival stables amongst it’s catalogue of features, the grounds of Avenue house, being further landscaped with a bog garden, a rockery and a waterfall during the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Used as both a voluntary aid detachment hospital and an R.A.F. central hospital during the early twentieth century, Avenue House was opened to the public as a library in 1928, a period during which the premises were also used as offices by Finchley Borough Council.
Damaged by fire in 1989, Avenue House was renovated during the late twentieth century and presently serves as the location of “the Stephens Collection”, a small museum devoted to the history of writing and the development of writing fluid.
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BADEN POWELL HOUSE
South Kensington
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Located in South Kensington, “Baden Powell House” is, alongside “Gilwell Park in East London, one of Britain’s foremost centres for Scouting.
Built by Ralph Tubbs in 1956, a man who was also responsible for designing the Dome of Discovery for the Festival of Britain in Waterloo during the 1950’s, Baden Powell House was formally opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1961 as a tribute to Lord Alexander Baden Powell, the founder of the Scouts.
Used as the Headquarters of the Scout Association between 1974 and 2001, a period during which the building was substantially extended, “Baden Powell House”, later collaborated with the Youth Hostel Association and the Meininger City Hostel organisation to provide affordable lodging for both Scouts and members of the general public upon it’s premises.
Housing a small museum which, in including both several first editions of Lord Baden Powell’s book “Last Message To Scouts, Laws For When I Am Old” and a portrait of Baden Powell painted by David Jagger amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits, features a number of exhibits devoted to traditional scouting skills. “Baden Powell House”, also possesses a small cafeteria, a restaurant, an auditorium and bedroom accommodation for up to one hundred and eighty people.
Refurbished in 1997 with a Starbucks Coffee shop and a roof garden, “Baden Powell House” is presently open to the public and remains an important scouting venue to this day.
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THE BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM
City
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Located in The Bank of England along Threadneedle Street, “The Bank Of England Museum
currently affords both an informative and fascinating insight into the history of the British banking establishment.
Originally located at Mercers Hall in Cheapside, The Bank of England was recorded to have been founded by Royal Charter in 1694 with a loan scheme devised by William Paterson to fund a war with France during the glorious rebellion of the late seventeenth century, a transaction which, in incorporating subscribers as governors of the bank, licensed such men to themselves grant loans and collect debts.
Subsequently re-located to Grocer’s Hall in Prince Street, “The Bank Of England” was, in 1734, moved to it’s present site along Threadneedle Street, a location to which it presently owes the sobriquet “The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street”.
Dramatically extended during the late eighteenth century by Sir John Soane, a period during which, a vast curtain wall was erected around the establishment and the premises became known as “the stock office”, “The Bank Of England”, remains potentially one of the most forbidding structures in the capital to this day.
Opened as a museum in 1988, “The Bank Of England Museum” currently features an intriguing list of exhibits including a collection of pikes and muskets that were once used to defend the bank from attack, a horde of thirteen kilogramme gold ingots which may be freely handled by visitors, and a catalogue of original bank notes, coins and documents including records pertaining to both the musician Frederick Handel’s financial transactions and the author of Kenneth Grahame’s resignation after having worked at the bank for almost thirty years.
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BANKSIDE GALLERY
Southwark
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Located between Blackfriars Bridge and the Tate modern art gallery upon the South bank of the Thames, The Bankside Gallery is the current headquarters of the Royal watercolour society, an organisation which, in being founded over two hundred years ago, retains the tradition of electing paintings for display through the usage of a committee of judges selected from it’s membership.
Opened by Queen Elizabeth the second in 1980, the Bankside gallery possesses an extensive library which includes a number of stock books on watercolour painting and print making within it’s catalogue the gallery also regularly staging both guided tours and talks hosted by artists.
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BANQUETING HOUSE, WHITEHALL
Whitehall
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Once the location of York Place, a building which, in having been owned by the Roman Catholic cardinal, Thomas Wolsey in the sixteenth century, was defaced and re-named the Palace of Whitehall during the reign of Henry the Eighth, the first Banqueting House of Whitehall was recorded to have been occupied for a number of years by the Tudor monarchy, a period of tenure which, in circumstancing the death of Henry’s son “Edward the Seventh”, led to the building’s abandonment in favour of Nonsuch Palace in Cheam during the late sixteenth century.
Recorded to have been inhabited in the late sixteenth century by a man named Gilles De Noailles, Whitehall Palace was subsequently occupied by James the First, a period during which the building’s vaulted undercroft was rumoured to have been used as a drinking den by the king, the site notably being employed as a lottery hall after James’ death.
Radically re-reconstructed in a neo-classical style between 1619 and 1622 by Inigo Jones, the building presently known as Whitehall Banqueting House earned notoriety for staging the execution of Charles the First in 1649, a bust commemorating James The First commissioned by Charles still standing upon the premises from this era.
Finished with a number of distinctive features and decorative friezes, the ceiling of The Whitehall Banqueting house’s main hall represents the only example of an interior design painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens still in situ, the establishment also boasting two large canvases painted by the artist in it’s art gallery.
Employed as an entertainment palace and ambassadorial reception during the reign of James the Second, a period during which a number of masked balls which included poetry and propaganda recitals amongst their repertoire were staged upon the premises, Whitehall Banqueting House became renowned for it’s riotous feasts in which tables laden with food were noted to have been upset after musical performances.
Recorded to have been the location in which William of Orange was read the Bill of Rights by Parliament before accepting the crown in 1689, much of Whitehall Palace suffered extensive fire damage during the latter years of the seventeenth century, a ruination which, in leaving The Banqueting House comparatively unscathed, led to the re-construction of the surrounding area by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor during the early eighteenth century.
Neglected in favour of Hampton Court by William of Orange, The Whitehall Banqueting House primarily served as a Chapel Royal through until 1893 when the premises were granted to “The Royal United Services Institute” by Queen Victoria, a period after which the building was turned into a museum devoted to the history of military commanders, an establishment which, in being closed during the 1960’s, was notable for possessing a skeleton of Napoleon’s horse amongst it’s list of exhibits.
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THE BAPS SHRI SWAMINARYAN MANDIR TEMPLE
Neasden
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Located in Neasden, the Baps Shri Swaninaryan Mandir Temple, is, in being constructed in accordance with traditional Vedic architectural principles which incorporate cosmological ideas, mandalas and sophisticated systems of measurement into their scheme. perhaps one of the capital’s most incredible buildings.
Composed from five thousand tonnes of Italian Carrera marble and Indian Ambaji Murdie the Baps Shri Swaminaryan Mandir Temple radiates outwards from a sacrificial altar pit into an elaborate inner sanctum known as the “Garb Gruh”, a centre which, in itself being housed within a larger structure distinguished by examples of seventeenth Century Havel woodcraft, represents a truly magnificent architectural space reminiscent of the Alhambra in Spain.
Composed of three styles of architecture, the Nagara style, the Dravida style and the Vesiara style, The Baps Shri Swaminarya Mandir Temple, is notably constructed entirely without metal, an apparel beneath which it resembles many of the Coptic churches built in England during the medieval era.
Presently managed by His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, The Baps Shri Swaminaryan Mandir Temple is presently open to the public and comes highly recommended for those interested in both episcopal architecture and Aryan history.
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BARBICAN ARTS CENTRE
Barbican
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Located upon the site of the Barbican housing complex in central London, an area which, in sustaining extensive bomb damage throughout the second world war was restored for usage as an arts centre in the brutalist style by Chamberlain, Powell and Bond during the mid-twentieth century, the Barbican Centre was officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1982 .
Modified in 1994 with the addition of echo control and sound absorption features to the building’s concert hall, “the Barbican Arts Centre” is currently the headquarters of both the London Symphony orchestra and the B.B C symphony orchestra, a capacity in which the venue also serves as the base for London’s Royal Shakespeare Company.
Possessing a theatre, an art gallery, a cinema, a concert hall, three restaurants, seven conference halls, two trade exhibition halls, six informal performance centres and a roof-top conservatory, “The Barbican Centre” regularly stages music concerts, theatre performances, art screenings and public exhibitions, a distinction through which it is both presently the largest performing arts centre in Europe and stands alongside London’s South Bank centre as the foremost exponent of the performing arts in the capital.
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BARNET CENTRE
Barnet
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Located in a fine Georgian house in High Barnet, the Barnet Centre, offers an intriguing and informative insight into the history of North London.
Founded in 1938 by a local history society, the Barnet Centre features amongst others exhibits a number of displays devoted to the Wars of the Roses, specifically the battle of Barnet, a confrontation which, in being commemorated by Hadley high stone in Barnet, was recorded to have secured the throne of England for the house of York against the Lancastrian forces of Richard Neville the sixteenth Earl of Warwick in the late fifteenth century.
Possessing an extensive collection of medieval weapons, which serve to qualify the character of the disputes that frequented Barnet during the medieval era, The Barnet Centre has also recently collaborated with the university of the third age to conduct a survey of the shops and houses which distinguished Barnet during the late nineteenth century, a study which, in including copies of Kelly’s directory, press cuttings, maps, books and Victorian manuscripts amongst it’s catalogue of resources, provides a fairly comprehensive appraisal of Barnet’s immediate past.
Open on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and at weekends, The Barnet Centre regularly performs guided tours local schools and remains an interesting location to visit for people of all ages.
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BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL MUSEUM
Moorgate
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Located in West Smithfield, Bartholomew’s Hospital is, alongside St. Stephens Hospital slightly further east, perhaps the oldest medical institution in London,
Thought to have been associated with the Norman priory of St. Bartholomew in the eleventh century, Batholomew’s hospital was officially founded in 1123 by a courtier of Henry the First named “Rahere”, a period after which many of the establishment’s practises were recorded to have been revised during the reign of Henry the eighth.
Thought to have been the location in which William Harvey conducted his pioneering research into the human circulatory system during the seventeenth century, a series of demonstrations which, in being presented before audience, proved educative to many medical practitioners, St. Bartholomews hospital was also the location in which Percivall Pott and John Abertheny were recorded to have re-defined surgery and a woman named Mrs. Bedford Fenwick was observed to have revolutionised modern nursing.
Situated about the circumference of a square designed by James Gibbs in 1730, The North Wing of St. Bartholomew’s hospital boasts a fine selection of biblically inspired murals painted in 1732 by William Hogarth.
Possessing extensive records of fatality throughout the Victorian era, a detail through which Tuberculosis was, although observed to have been the greatest cause of death by disease between 1839 and 1872, statistically superseded by the incident of surgical trauma or physical injury, Bartholomew’s Hospital, provides an invaluable insight into the factors that threatened London during the mid nineteenth century.
The site of a medical college in 1843, an interest established to train doctors in the treatment of injury, Batholomew’s Hospital was also recorded to have possessed a museum during the Victorian era, an establishment which, in counting the Hardwicke family amongst it’s list of beneficiaries, possessed an extensive collection of surgical instruments.
Inaugurated into the National Health Service in 1948, both Bartholomew’s Hospital and it’s museum remain operative to this day, a premium beneath which the museum’s collection presently extends to encompass a fine art gallery which, in including a number of works by William Hogarth, serves to pretextualise the hospital’s association with London’s history.
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BATTLE OF BRITAIN BUNKER
Hillingdon
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Constructed in 1939 by Sir Robert Macalpine, the Battle Of Britain bunker in Hillingdon, stands as one of the most remarkable achievements of the second world war.
Entrenched within a metre of re-enforced concrete sixty feet below ground level, “the Battle of Britain Bunker”, was designed to withstand the barrage of air-strikes which devastated London during the early 1940's.
Home of the fighter Command №11 group between 1939 and 1958, a period throughout which the bunker was notable for employing “air chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding’s” integrated defence system to defend British air-space, “The Battle of Britain Bunker”, proved integral to many operations during the co-ordination of both the Battle of Britain and the D day landings.
Recorded to have been visited by amongst others Rex Harrison, President Eisenhower and Winston Churchill, a tenure to which the quotation “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed to so many” is legendarily ascribed, “The Battle of Britain Bunker”, earned renown for preserving English skies from the Luftwaffe during the Blitz, using barrage balloons and chain home radio direction finders to track enemy planes.
Operational through to 1958 before being commandeered for usage by the South East Signal Centre, “The battle of Britain Bunker” was restored in 1974 to it’s war-time condition, being fitted with plotting room containing a map of South East England, a gallery of seats and a switchboard of Bakelite telephones.
Transformed into a museum in 1994 by Chris Wren, the Battle of Britain Bunker currently features a fairly extensive inventory of exhibits including a slang booklet, a pair of R.A.F knickers, a bronze bust of Hitler and a selection of medical morphine syringes, the bunker also serving as a force development and public engagement asset in conjunction with the army.
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BEN URI GALLERY
Whitechapel
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Originally called the Jewish Museum of Decorative Arts Association, The Ben Uri Gallery or London Jewish Museum of Art was originally established in 1915 upon the grounds of Gradel’s restaurant in Whitechapel to provide an arts venue for Jewish immigrant artists and craftsmen.
Formed through a collaboration between the Russian emigre artist Lazar Berson and the Belazel school in Jerusalem, the Ben Uri gallery owes it name to “Belazel Ben Uri” the man to whom the construction of the Arc of the Covenant is credited in the bible.
Directed by the renowned polish painter Leopold Pilchowski between 1926 and 1933, the Ben Uri Gallery moved to Bloomsbury in the 1930’s before moving to Dean street in Soho during the 1990’s, a location in which the gallery’s manager was notoriously strangled, finally acquiring it’s present premises in St. John’s Wood in 2002.
Currently affiliated with the Jewish museum in Frankfurt, the Ben Uri Gallery regularly displays work drafted by the “Whitechapel boys group” and features a number of pictures painted by celebrated Jewish artists including David Bomberg and Mark Gertler amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits.
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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S HOUSE
Westminster
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Built in 1730 upon Craven Street in central London, Benjamin Franklin’s House, was, during the eighteenth century recorded to have been occupied by the scientist diplomat, philosopher and founding father of the United States constitution, “Doctor Benjamin Franklin”, a period of tenure during which the great statesman was thought to have served as a post master for the colonies.
Renowned for having devised a number of ingenious inventions including a selection of hydrodynamic machines, air baths, lightning rods, inoculative therapies and cures for colds, Benjamin Franklin was, throughout his life-time, noted to have been a gifted scientist, a dispensation reflected in the scheme of his house, the building possessing a discovery room in which young children can learn about science, a demonstration room in which Franklin’s experiments are regularly re-enacted, and a student science centre in which scholars can participate in re-creations of the statesman’s work, the museum also housing an extensive collection of Franklin’s papers, a catalogue comprehensively complied by Yale university for research purposes.
Featuring a state of the art light projection display devoted to Polly Hewson, a woman who, in serving as the diplomat’s landlady throughout his period of tenure upon the premises, was herself recorded to have taught children in the practise of many sciences, “Benjamin Franklin’s House”, boasts a fine musical history room which, amongst other exhibits, displays a unique “glass armonica” for which Bach, Beethoven and Mozart were recorded to have composed.
Currently administrated by the Anglo-American investment banker John Stuuzinski, Benjamin Franklin’s house represents an intriguing foray into an era in which National Service had yet to truly exist and currency was subject to legal restrictions.
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BENTLEY PRIORY
Stanmore
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Bentley Priory, an ancient medieval manor founded in 1117 by Ranulf De Glanvil, justiciar to Henry the Second was, during the Norman era, recorded to have been the location in which the Stanmore Magma a tribune conducted by William the First’s half-brother, the Count of Mortain, was held.
Once occupied the Augustinian Canons of Harrow Weald, Bentley priory was, between the fourteenth century and sixteenth century, part of St. Gregory’s Priory, a period during which it was known to have been dedicated to Mary Magdalene by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Occupied by the Archbishop Cranmer in the mid-sixteenth century, Bentley Priory was granted for a time to Henry Needham and William Sacheverell, a period after which the estate was acquired by the wealthy businessman and army contractor, James Duberly, a man who, in 1775, commissioned the popular Georgian architect Sir john Soane to build a house upon the land, a building extended in 1788 by Soane for John Hamilton, the first Marquis of Abercorn, a patron who was known to have received Sir Walter Scott upon the estate at this time.
Acquired by Queen Adelaide, the consort of William the Fourth during the nineteenth century, Bentley Priory was bought in 1863 by, the Victorian engineer, Sir John Kelk, a period of occupation in which a picture gallery, an orangery, a library and a clock-tower were added to the house, the garden being planted with a number of cedar trees and used as a deer park at this time.
Sold, in 1882, to a man named Frederick Gordon, a patron who turned the house into a hotel, Bentley Priory was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force in 1926, a tenure beneath which the house acted as the headquarters of the Fighter Command squadron beneath Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding during the Battle of Britain, a period throughout which the integrated defence of radar raid plotting and a number of radio communications operations were choreographed upon the estate,
The location of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force War Rooms throughout the Second World War, a period throughout which the house was painted in military camouflage, Bentley Priory was notable for playing host to both George the Fourth and Sir Winston Churchill during it’s period of operation, the site being used as an Air Force administration block through until 2008.
Transformed into a museum in 2013, Bentley priory remains distinguished by Sir Hugh Dowding’s offices, an authentic officer’s mess hall and an education centre, the estate’s grounds being maintained as a nature reserve, an expanse which remains distinguished by a number of fine sculpted italianate gardens to this day.
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BETHLEM MUSEUM OF THE MIND
Beckenham
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Located along Monks Orchard road in Beckenham, The “Bethlem Museum of The Mind” is devoted to the history of the Bethlem Royal Hospital, an organisation which, in being founded in 1247, was, when operational, possibly the most well established institutions of it’s type in London.
Notorious for employing brutality as a therapy during the medieval era, “The Bethlem Royal Hospital” was, in specialising in the treatment of the mentally ill, recorded to have shackled patients down and beat them with leather straps and iron instruments, a practise outlawed in 1853 with the passing of the Lunacy Act, a measure which served to regulate the practises of county pauper asylums and private mad-houses.
Recorded to have conducted research into delusions, hallucinations, food poisoning phobias, beliefs in super-powers and incidents of depression throughout the nineteenth century, a period during which the hospital was managed by medical officers known as “alienists”, Bethlem Royal Hospital, largely served to define Georgian attitudes towards madness
Currently run by the Maudsley National Health Service Trust, an organisation that still administers out-patient care, the Bethlem Museum of The Mind, boasts an extensive library of committee minutes, clinical documents, correspondences, private papers, financial charters, administrative records, reports and photographs extracted from the archives of both the Maudsley and Warlingham Park Hospitals amongst it’s catalogue.
Located in a fine art deco building, distinguished by two sculptures depicting raving and melancholy madness which were recorded to have been crafted during the late seventeenth century by Caius Gabriel Cibber “The Bethlem Museum of the Mind” was, in 1997, equipped with an art gallery, a venue which, in exhibiting a number of historical objects and drawings includes an extensive collection of Richard Dadd’s charming fairy pictures amongst it’s horde.
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BLACK CULTURAL ARCHIVES
Brixton
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Originally recorded to have been founded in 1981 along ‘Coldharbour Lane’ by ‘Len Garrison’, the ‘Black Cultural Archives’ was initially conceived to celebrate the history of London’s many ‘Afro Caribbean’ communities, a pretext beneath which, in including a wide selection of personal testaments presented by black families currently living in the city among it’s catalogue of displays, it was, among other things, perceived to have confronted the issue of both racism and the struggle for equal rights which were noted to have blighted race relations throughout much of the early twentieth century.
Relocated to it’s present site upon the premise of ‘Raliegh House’ in ‘Brixton’ ‘in 2014, the ‘Black Cultural Archives’, is, in presently being observed to retain much of the contemporary appeal which served to distinguish it’s forebear also noted to have collaborated with ‘Kensington’s’ Victoria and Albert Museum’ in efforts to collate a collection of historic documents pertaining to the themes placed before it’s investigation, a pretext beneath which, in including a number of ‘Georgian’ portraits and ‘Victorian’ photographs relating to the general sense of exoticism that was was once witnessed to have been espoused towards the topics of both sea faring and intercontinental trade in England, it seeks to redress the cultural significance of Black communities within the wider scheme of history.
Including a number of exhibits devoted to both ‘Rastafarianism’ and the exploits of the ‘Ethiopian’ emperor Hailie Selassi The First’ within it’s catalogue of displays, ‘The Black Archives’ provides a fairly diverse cross section of information relating to matters of both an ‘English’ and ‘African’ persuasion.
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BOROUGH ROAD GALLERY
Southwark
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Opened along Borough Road in 2012, “the Borough Road Gallery”, primarily serves as a showcase for the work of the early twentieth century artist David Bomberg.
Operating in correspondence with the Southbank University, an establishment for which Bomberg taught when it was a polytechnic in the 1940’s and 1950’s, The Borough Road Gallery currently exhibits an extensive catalogue of pictures including, the “Sarah Rose Collection” and the “David Bomberg Legacy”, a show-case which. in featuring, a number of works painted by Bomberg’s former pupils including Dennis Creffield, Cliff Holden, Edna Mann, Dorothy Mead and Miles Richmond serves to pretextualise the character of the gallery.
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BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Boston Manor
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Boston Manor, a stretch of land which runs from Hanwell to Brentford in South West London is potentially one of the oldest Manor estates in Middlesex, it’s heritage dating back to a period which precedes the Roman occupation of London by some years, an assertion deduced from the hoard of Bronze age relics unearthed whilst culverting the River Brent during the construction of the Grand Union Canal in the area during the eighteenth century.
In the 1170’s the manor was owned by a man named Ralph de Brito who built a chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence upon it’s grounds, a free-hold which was subsequently granted to the priory of St. Helens of Bishopsgate by King Edward the First in 1280, a convent abolished in 1539 by Henry the Eighth during the dissolution of the monasteries.
In 1547, the estate was owned by Edward Seymour, the first Duke of Somerset for a time before being handed to Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, by Elizabeth the First, a tenure that was eventually succeeded by Sir Thomas Gresham, a man renowned for both founding the Royal Exchange and erecting Osterley House not far from the Manor.
After Gresham’s occupation, the estate passed to Sir William Reade the husband of Lady Mary Goldsmith who later married Edward Spencer of Althorp, a loyal supporter of Prince Rupert of the Rhine during the Commonwealth and it is to this period of occupation that many of the building’s more novel features can be ascribed, the ceilings being painted with reliefs, the walls with false bannisters and pictures describing the virtues and senses, the cellar, a sizeable catacomb, being decorated with a biblically inspired portrait of Abraham’s salvation from sacrificial obligation by the archangel Gabriel.
The Manor was returned to the Goldsmith family after this time, being handed to John Goldsmith in 1622 before eventually falling into the possession of James Clitherow in the late seventeenth century, a time at which the estate, then called “The Manor of New Brentford”, was recorded to have consisted of 230 acres of land.
Boston manor remained with the Clitherow family for 250 years, it’s last occupant from this line of descent, being a man named, “John Bourcher Stacey Clitherow”, who remained in residence until 1923 whereupon the estate was sold to the council for recreational purposes.
The phantom of “young master Clitherow”, the spectre of a child drowned in a bath upon the premise is rumored to haunt the estate, but sightings are infrequent and the myth has yet to be substantiated.
The house was badly damaged by a bomb strike during the second world war and a monstrously oppressive motorway fly-over was constructed through the estate’s grounds, however there are a number of well established Cedar trees, a resource frequently burned as incense, still growing upon the land.
The front of the house was once decorated with an archaic electric light, a device potentially installed during the period in which Thomas Edison was first experimenting with electricity, and there was clearly a point in time when this remarkable feature artificially illuminated the building’s premises.
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BOURNE HALL MUSEUM
Epsom
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Located at Bourne Hall in Epsom, a fine property which, in being situated within landscaped grounds by the headsprings of the river Hogsmill, betokens reference to Epsom’s heritage as a producer of mineral water during the seventeenth century, The Bourne Hall Museum, is a pleasantly situated family oriented public archive.
Housing a horde of local historical objects which in charting Epsom’s past from pre-history through to the present features displays devoted to both Nonsuch Palace and the Horton Cluster of mental hospitals, the Bourne Hall Museum exhibits an extensive collection of artefacts which, in including fragments of Roman archeology, items of Derby memorabilia and examples of seventeenth century wallpaper within it’s scheme, extends to encompass both Lord Roseberry’s hansom cab and a nineteenth century fire engine,
Featuring a number of displays devoted to Epsom municipal baths an interest which, in being founded in 1936 pioneered the cyclical purification of water with sulphates and chlorine gas for which swimming pools have subsequently become renowned, The Bourne Hall Museum recants the rising popularity of public bathing in the Epsom area during the mid twentieth century, a period throughout which Epsom Municipal baths notably became a boxing and dancing and venue, staging concerts by both the Rolling Stones and Genesis.
Closed in 1989, Epsom Municipal Baths were ultimately demolished and replaced with Epsom’s Rainbow Leisure Centre, a venue which alongside the Bourne Hall Museum serves to venerate the traditions of water purification for which Epsom was once renowned.
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BOW STREET POLICE MUSEUM
Covent Garden
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Located opposite the ‘Royal Opera House’ upon the site of the original ‘Bow Street Police Station’, a marvellousely atmospheric neo-classical building which, in having been constructed in 1881 to serve as a base of operations for the ‘Bow Street Runners’, is still noted to contain many of the features which once served in it’s distinction, including both an original Georgian Magistrate’s court dock and a sizable holding cell called ‘the Tank’, the ‘Bow Street Police Museum’ attempts to chart the history of London’s first formally recognised police force.
Recorded to have been assembled in 1740 approximatey seventy years before the city’s present ‘Metropolitan Police Force’ came into being, the ‘Bow Street Runners’ were, in this instance, initially noted to have been constituted from a body of men selected by local Magistrates to maintain order in central ‘London’, a pretext beneath which they earned a semi heroic reputation for taking both drunkeness and disorderliness off the streets and holding them in custody.
Recorded to have incarcerated such notable figures as ‘Oscar Wilde’, ‘Doctor Crippen’ the ‘Kray’ twins, ‘Augustus Pinochet’ and James Earl Ray‘ throughout it’s history, ‘the Bow Street Police Museum, is currently observed to house a collection of items taken from the Police force’s earliest years, including a diverse assortment of ‘beat books’, ‘truncheons’ and ‘courtroom sketches’ of convicts awaiting trial, a selection of items which, upon presenting some insight into how order was maintained in London during the early ‘Georgian’ era, serves to pretextualise the later evolution of civil enforcement throughout the ‘Victorian’ era.
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BRENT MUSEUM
Brent
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Based upon a collection of artefacts bequeathed to the Borough of Brent during the 1930’s by the owner of Express Dairies and eminent antiquarian, George Titus Barham, “Brent Museum” was initially opened, in 1977 as “The Grange Museum Of Community History”, a period throughout which the establishment earned renown for exhibiting a variety of oil paintings, flapper dresses, tool boxes and toys.
Re-located to Willesden Green Library in North West London during the early twenty first century, “Brent Museum” retains much of it’s original collection, including a number of interesting references to Willeseden usage as a place of pilgrimage, accounts of an imitation Eiffel Tower built in Wembley and small collection of pictures of Irish London taken by the Victorian photographer Paddy Fahey amongst it’s catalogue of displays.
Further augmented with the inclusion of a number of historical maps, council minutes, building plans, street directions and electoral registers to it’s collection, “Brent Museum” offers a fairly concise account of Brent’s history from 1850 through to the present and remains an interesting location to this day.
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BRITISH AIRWAYS HERITAGE CENTRE
Hatton
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Located in British Airways head office along Waterside Speedbird way in Harmondsworth, The British Airways Heritage Centre is devoted to the history of the British Airways Company.
Possessing an extensive library of documents and photographs housed in the basement of the premises, the British Airways Heritage centre charts a time line which, in covering both the first commercial flying venture undertaken in the Heathrow area in 1919 and the creation of Imperial Airways in 1924, extends to encompass the activities of the company during war-time, a period throughout which B.A was recorded to have been a transport auxiliary, a civilian body that, in flying both aircraft and Jewish ball bearings between factories and airfields was notably granted a squadron of fighter jets to deter German strafing attacks during the second world war.
Boasting a small display devoted to Concorde and the mass transport of the 1980’s, The British Airways Heritage Centre features, amongst other things, a collection of 400 uniforms from the 1930’s through to the present, a comprehensive selection of 1960’s aviation posters and a number of small aircraft models describing the many types of aeroplane that British airways has, throughout it’s history, manufactured.
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BRITISH DENTAL ASSOCIATION MUSEUM
Westminster
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Located along Wimpole Street in Westminster, The British Dental Association Museum, is devoted to the establishment of the British Dental Association, an organisation which, in being regulated during the 1870’s by Sir John Tomes and Edwin Saunders, served to standardise modern dentistry.
Opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1967, “The British Dental Association Museum” currently possesses one of the largest inventories of dental material in Britain, a reliquary which, in being, based upon a collection donated to the association by England’s first female dentist “Lilian Lindsay” in 1919, ultimately extended to encompass a selection of photographs, public health information films, posters, dental instruments and articles of furniture amongst it’s horde.
Featuring a number of surprisingly antiquated artefacts within it’s catalogue of exhibits, including “Waterloo teeth” a predecessor of modern dentures and a number of early dentist’s spectacles, “The Dental Association Museum” represents an intriguing foray into what, for many, may represent one of the most painful ordeals imaginable.
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BRITISH LIBRARY
Saint Pancras
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Located in St. Pancras, The British Library, is without doubt the most extensive catalogue of written information in the United Kingdom
Originally situated in the round reading room of the British Museum in Bloomsbury, a site from which it was separated in 1973, The British Library moved to it’s present premises in 1997, a modern building which, in being designed by Colin St. John Wilson during the late twentieth century, is recorded to be the largest public structure in Britain.
Boasting an archive of forty four million books, an inventory which, in originally being composed from the collections of Sir Robert Cotton, Sir Hans Sloane, Robert Harley and the Royal libraries of both George the Second and George the Third, extended, throughout the nineteenth century, to include “the Thomason Tract”, a selection of eighteenth century newsprints, “the Burnley Collection” of eighteenth and nineteenth century documents and the “Tapling” philatelic collection of stamps, “the British Library”, also houses a large research and development faculty, a resource acquired in 1973 from “the National Lending Library of Science and Technology”.
Also featuring the Sir John Ritblat Gallery, a magnificent collection of ancient tomes which, in including the Magna Carta, the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Gutenburg Bible, Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebook, Shakespeare’s first folio and a rare version of Aesop’s fables amongst it’s inventory, extends to encompass a number of early examples of work by Lewis Carrol, Jane Austen, The Bronte Sisters and Virginia Woolf, the British Library presently houses a fascinating combination of both historic and contemporary literary influences.
Granted the right to receive a free copy of every book published in Britain during the twentieth century, The British Library presently encompasses an immense cross-section of work which, in dating back two thousand years before Christ, paradoxically includes a vast quantity of electronically stored information, an extensive sound archive of tapes and discs and a large amount of film footage within it’s catalogue.
Equipped with a business training centre in 2006, The British Library, currently operates as a public body sponsored by the department of culture, media and sport, a capacity in which it’s records remain freely accessible to anyone who needs to read them.
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BRITISH MUSEUM
Bloomsbury
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Boasting a collection of almost eight million artefacts, the British Museum in central London remains one of the most well established and best public archives in Britain.
Founded during 1759 at Montagu House in Bloomsbury, The British museum was initially conceived as an exhibition hall in which to display a collection of natural curiosities bequeathed to George the Second by the successful Ulster doctor, Sir Hans Sloane, an archive which, in being extended to encompass a number of artefacts transported from the South seas by Captain James Cook, rapidly grew to become one of the most comprehensive resources of it’s type in Britain.
Celebrated for it’s vast collection of Greek and Roman artefacts, including the Elgin marbles, a series of friezes removed from the Parthenon by Thomas Bruce the seventh Earl of Elgin, the British Museum’s reliquary was, during the early nineteenth century, further extended with the acquisition of both Sir Robert Cotton’s library and the library of the Earls of Oxford.
Radically re-designed by Sir Robert Smirke in 1831, a period during which Montagu house was demolished and replaced by the Kings Library Gallery, The British Museum became increasingly devoted to archeology throughout the mid-nineteenth century, acquiring fragments of both the legendary pre-Christian mausoleum of Halikarnassos and a number of cuneiform tablets taken from the Assyrian ruler, “Ashurbanipal’s”, library, a period during which both a round reading room and a number of infill galleries were added to the premises by the architect Sydney Smirke.
Increasingly restricted by an absence of exhibition space many of the items from the Museum’s collection including those donated by Sir Hans Sloane were, in 1887, moved to the Museum of Natural History in South Kensington, a period after which the archive became almost entirely devoted to the display of classical artefacts, acquiring fragments of the temple of Artemis of Ephesos and an extensive catalogue of both Roman and Persian relics.
Notorious for it’s association with Egyptology, the British Museum, gained world-wide renown in 1972 for the display of Tutankhamun’s tomb, an exhibition that, in both attracting over a million people and drawing attention to the curse of the Phara0hs, remains the most popular example of it’s type ever staged.
Still overwhelmed by spatial restrictions, The British Museum moved much of it’s literary archive to the British Library at St Pancras in 1997, a period after which the building’s central courtyard was extensively modified with an intricately cross hatched glass roof, a firmament beneath which a number of small cafeterias and stalls can currently be accessed freely by the public.
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THE BRITISH MUSIC EXPERIENCE
Discontinued.. Now in Liverpool
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Initially located on the Isle of Dogs the British Music Experience is unfortunately no longer based in London, the archive having been re-located to the Cunard building in Liverpool,
Originally opened by Harvey Goldsmith in 2009 at the O2 Arena in Greenwich as “the Museum of Popular Music”, the British Music Experience, was when operational, devoted to preserving the heritage of modern rock and pop music, featuring an interactive software timeline which, in displaying a horde of images and video clips, charted music’s political and historical influence back to 1945.
Exhibiting a collection of six hundred stage outfits including David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust costume, the jacket worn by Roger Daltrey at the Woodstock festival, Elton John’s spectacles and items of clothing worn by David Byrne, the Spice Girls and Amy Winehouse, The British Music Experience also housed an extensive collection of instruments played by contemporary performers such as Humphrey Lyttleton, Kieth Richards, Bill Wyman, Pete Townshend, Brian May, Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher and Jamie Cook.
Recorded to have staged exhibitions devoted to both Bob Marley and Rihanna when operational, The British Music Experience also organised a series of master classes conducted by performers such as Bon Jovi, the Faces, Frank Turner, Imogen Keap and Daniel Kramer, tutorials beneath which it was possible for young musicians to learn how to play popular melodies.
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BRITISH OPTICAL ASSOCIATION MUSEUM
Charing Cross
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Located in the College of Optometrists at the end of Craven street in Charing Cross, The British Optical Association Museum, was initially conceived in 1896 when the formulation of England’s first professional examinative in optics provided a secretariat for the country’s many optical bodies.
Situated in Piccadilly throughout the early twentieth century, a site upon which the celebrated Victorian optometrists Matthew Bergle and Jesse Ramsden were recorded to have practised, the British Optical Association Museum moved to Cliffords Inn Hall in 1914, a period during which it’s collection was substantially extended, the museum being temporarily transferred to Brook Street in 1934 before finally acquiring it’s present premises along Craven Street during the mid twentieth century.
Founded by John H. Sutcliffe in 1901 as a collection of historic spectacles and visual aids, “the British Optical Association Museum” is presently the oldest optical museum in Britain, an establishment which, in including a horde of porcelain eye butts and contact lenses amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits, also possesses a number of rare spyglass fans, a unique pair of eighteenth century “Scarlet Temple” spectacles, a selection of rimless “Waldstein” monocles which earned renown for featuring in the Gillray cartoons of the Victorian era and a small display devoted to Doctor Johnson and C.P. Snow, who, in pioneering optical science long before it achieved main-stream recognition, must have represented something of an intrigue during their life-times, the museum also houses a collection of spectacles worn by modern celebrities including items worn by the popular comedians Ronnie Corbett and Barry Humphries.
Featuring a collection of paintings, sculpture and printed articles devoted to optometry amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits, The British Optical Association Museum was, during the mid twentieth century responsible for the publication of both the “Dioptric Review” and the “British Journal of Physiological Optics”, items published upon a regular basis by the association’s own press.
Entrusted to the College of Optometrists in 1980 following the disbandment of the British Optical Association, “The British Optical Association Museum” currently operates in conjunction with both the “Worshipful Company of spectacle makers” and the “Scottish Association” of opticians, a collaboration beneath which the museum remains one of the most eminent proponents of optical science in Britain.
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BRITISH POSTAL MUSEUM
Mount Pleasant
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Located in Phoenix place near the Mount Pleasant general sorting office, the origins of the British Postal Museum refer back to the Public Rewards Act of 1838, an edict which, in formalising both government and civil service archives, ultimately resulted in the foundation of the Royal mail archive.
Established as a museum upon the premises of the King Edwards Building in central London during the 1950’s, “The British Postal Museum”, was formally opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1969,
Transferred to Mount Pleasant in 1998, a period during which The Postal Heritage Trust was formed, “The British Postal Museum” boasts one of the most extensive hordes of rare stamps in Britain, a collection which, in featuring a number of priceless first editions of the Victorian Penny Black, also includes a diverse selection of legislative seals within it’s catalogue.
Due to be enlarged with the inclusion of the “Mail Rail” a one kilometer long train line which, in featuring the world’s first driverless electric transmission system, will be open to those visiting the museum, “The British Postal Museum”, currently constitutes one of the most comprehensive postal archives in Britain.
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BRITISH RED CROSS MUSEUM
Moorgate
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Situated along Moorfields in Moorgate, the British Red Cross Museum, is devoted to the history of the British Red Cross, an organisation which, in having been engaged in the performance of humanitarian work since 1863 is presently one of Britain’s most well established medical organisations.
Housing the central registry files for both the first and second world wars, The British Red Cross Museum’s collection presently extends to encompass a horde of service equipment, uniforms, medals and badges, an inventory of items which, in featuring a number of emergency food relief parcels, examples of blood transfusion apparatus and a first world war “Changi” quilt, also includes an extensive poster collection and a large video library within it’s catalogue,
Largely devoted to the lives of the organisation’s beneficiaries, “The British Red Cross Museum”, possesses a small art gallery which exhibits a number of paintings pertaining to the second world war, a collection which, in, including a harrowing picture painted by Doris Zinkeisen whilst interned at Belsen concentration camp, provides a stark reminiscence upon the gruelling realities of conflict.
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THE BRITISH VINTAGE WIRELESS MUSEUM
Dulwich
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Located in West Dulwich, The British Vintage Wireless Museum is devoted to the preservation of antique wireless radios and broadcasting apparatus.
Originally opened as a museum by Alfred Rickard Taylor between 1908 and 1914, The British Vintage wireless Museum was purchased in the mid twentieth century by the radio enthusiast and technical prodigy Frank Wells, a period during which it’s collection featured in a number of radio and television programmes
Ultimately passed to Lloyd Gerald Wells, Frank Wells’ son, a man who in, possessing a profound technical understanding of radios, earned the sobriquet “valveman”, The British Vintage Wireless Museum houses an extensive selection of antique radios, televisions, speakers, radiograms and valve radios.
Patronised by the presenter of Question Time, “David Dimbleby”, after Lloyd Gerald Wells death in 2014, the British Vintage Wireless Museum is unfortunately no longer open to the public although it still remains possible to view the collection by appointment.
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BROMLEY MUSEUM
Orpington
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Currently situated in Orpington Priory, a thirteenth century pre-reformation rectory, Bromley Museum represents an intriguing foray into the history of South East London.
Boasting, amongst it’s catalogue of displays, “The Avebury gallery”, a collection of paintings dedicated to the astronomer John Lubbock with an amount of temporary exhibition space reserved for various other displays, Bromley Museum is primarily concerned with detailing the history of Bromley from pre-history through to the second world war, exhibiting a number of interesting local artefacts for public display.
Opened to the public in 1965, Bromley Museum is presently due to be moved to Bromley Central Library, a location which, in improving the venue’s accessibility, should retain most of the archive’s initial scheme.
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THE BROOKLANDS MUSEUM OF BRITISH MOTORSPORT AND AVIATION
Weybridge
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Observed to be the oldest motor racing museum in the world, the Brooklands Museum of Motorsport and Aviation in Weybridge is situated upon the grounds of a race track laid in 1907 by the automobile enthusiast Hugh F. King.
Recorded to be the location in which A.V. Rule made his first manned flight trials, an event which pretextualised the occupation of the site by a flight ticket office in 1911, the Brooklands Museum of Motorsport and Aviation is further distinguished by the remnant fragments of a 1937 Campbell race track, a circuit which, in being used for competitive motorsport during the 1930’s, earned Brooklands the sobriquet “the Ascot of Motorsport”.
Transformed into an aircraft production facility in 1939, a period during which Tommy Sopwith was recorded to have built both the Pup and the Camel aeroplanes upon the premises the Brooklands Museum of Motorsport and Aviation, was, throughout the second world war, notable for having been instrumental in the production of a number of aircraft including De Havilland’s, Vickers’, Wellingtons and Hawker Hurricanes, a period during which it was observed to have been involved with the exploits of the Dam Busters.
Used as an aeroplane factory through until 1987 the Brooklands Museum of Motorsport and Aviation retains an original 1940’s Bellman aircraft hangar within it’s bounds, a building which, in containing a comprehensive collection of Vickers, Hawker and B.A.C aircraft, includes both a second world war Wellington bomber and an example of Concorde amongst it’s catalogue.
Displaying a fine selection of vintage Napier, Mercedes, Bugatti, Delacy and Bentley racing cars, a collection which, in being maintained in an operative condition, is frequently exhibited at motorsport festivals, The Brookland Museum of Motorsport and Aviation was, in 2011, further amalgamated with the Cobham Bus Museum, a term beneath which it presently also serves as the London Bus Museum.
Currently open to the public, the Brooklands Museum of Motorsport and Aviation, provides a fascinating insight into the history of motorised transport and comes highly recommended to those interested in the evolution of the industry from it’s origins in sport to it’s many subsequent commercial applications.
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BRUCE CASTLE
Tottenham
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Situated along Lordship Lane in Tottenham, Bruce castle occupies a fairly extensive 20 acre stretch of North East London parkland.
Rumored to be one of the oldest surviving brick houses in England, “Bruce Castle” was recorded to have been held by the Scottish Bruce family during the thirteenth century, a period during which the celebrated land holders also owned almost a third of Tottenham.
Granted to Richard Spigur Nell and Thomas Hethe in 1306 when Robert the First of Scotland forfeited his lands, Bruce Castle was, during the fifteenth century, recorded to have been occupied by the Gedeny family, a period during which the estate was substantially extended with the addition of a semi- subterranean Tudor round-house to it’s grounds.
Occupied by Sir William Compton in the sixteenth century, a man who, in holding the office of a “groom of stool” for King Henry the Eighth, built a new house upon the premises, Bruce Castle was, in 1684, granted to the Barons Coleraine, an era during which the property was largely re-constructed, being re-named both “Lordship Manor” and “The House of Bruce”.
The ghost of the second baron’s first wife “Constantia” Duchess of Somerset, is legendarily rumoured to haunt the castle’s grounds from this era to this day.
Occupied by John Earley Wilmot at the turn of the nineteenth century, Bruce Castle was, in 1827, granted to the “Hill School”, an establishment which, in being run by the head of the General post office, “Rowland Hill”, earned renown, through association with Thomas Paine and Joseph Priestley for it’s radical managerial style.
Formally opened as “Bruce Castle Park” in 1892, “Bruce Castle” was, in 1906, transformed into a museum for local history, an establishment which, in holding many archival documents pertaining to the London Borough of Haringey, an exhibition of postal memorabilia dedicated to Rowland Hill and an extensive early photograph collection, also includes a section devoted to the history of the Tottenham Hotspur football club amongst it’s catalogue.
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BRUNEI GALLERY
Bloomsbury
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Based close to the British Museum upon the University of London college campus in Russell Square, The Brunei Gallery affords an intriguing insight into the many disciplines of far Eastern art.
Originally part of the school of Oriental and African studies an academy which, in being founded at Finsbury Circus in 1916, established it’s own Japanese language courses in Bedford during 1942, The Brunei Gallery was, much like Bletchley Park initially conceived as a Government code of cypher school.
Purchased by the Sultan of Brunei Dar Es Salam in the late twentieth century, a proprietorship beneath which the gallery was extended to include an exhibition space, a lecture theatre, a book-shop and a number of conference and teaching halls amongst it’s facilities, The Brunei gallery, was in 1988, modified to exhibit a permanent display entitled “Objects Of Instruction, Treasures Of The School Of Oriental And African Studies”.
Equipped with a Japanese roof garden in 2001, the Brunei Gallery presently houses an extensive inventory of Asian, African and Middle Eastern Art, a collection which, including “The Foyle Special Collection Gallery” within it’s catalogue, is currently one of the most comprehensive examples of it’s type in Britain.
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BRUNEL MUSEUM
Rotherhithe
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Situated in the Brunel Engine House at Rotherhithe, The Brunel Museum is devoted to the industrial achievements of the Brunel family, an interest that, in constructing the Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol, the Wharnecliffe viaduct in West London, the original water towers of the Crystal Palace, the Rotherhithe shaft and a number of steam ships including the celebrated “Great Eastern”, were, throughout the Victorian era, perhaps the most well known engineering concern in England.
Constructed in the mid nineteenth century by Sir marc Isambard Brunel, The Brunel museum is located at the mouth of the Thames tunnel, a concourse which in, once permitting passage beneath the Thames at Rotherhithe, was during it’s period of operation considered the eighth wonder of the world.
Excavated beneath appalling conditions in four hour shifts, the Thames tunnel was bought in 1865 by the East London Railway Company a period after which the tunnel achieved further renown for being one of the first underground railway lines in Britain.
Opened in 1961 as a museum equipped with a battery of fully operational steam pumps, designed to extract accumulations of subterranean water, The Brunel museum was, in 2010, annexed to the shelf of the Thames tunnel itself granting the public access into the shaft’s original bore hole, a feature which, in being turned into an exhibition space, offers an intriguing insight into one of the great engineering achievements of the Victorian era.
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BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Westminster
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Potentially the most recognisable stately home in London, Buckingham Palace, remains one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture still standing in the capital, a magnificently ostentatious expression of style and craftsmanship internally decorated with scagliolia and lapis.
Rumored to have been occupied by Edward the Confessor and the Queen Consort Edith of Wessex during the early medieval era, the grounds of Buckingham Palace were recorded to have been situated upon the banks of the river Tyburn by the Saxon village of Eye Cross in the Manor of Ebury throughout a period in which the region was affiliated with the first cathedral of St. Pauls.
Granted to Geoffrey De Mandeville during the Norman conquests a patron who subsequently bequeathed the land to the monks of Westminster Abbey, the grounds of Buckingham Palace were, throughout the medieval era, registered to have been occupied by the leper Hospital of St. James, an establishment passed to Henry the Eighth in 1531 by Eton college shortly before the king acquired the neighbouring Manor of Ebury and Whitehall Palace was constructed in the area.
Recorded to have been the site of a four acre Mulberry plantation founded by James the First to produce silk in the early seventeenth century, the grounds of Buckingham Palace were subsequently inherited by the property tycoon Sir Hugh Audley and the heiress Maryon Davies.
Occupied by Sir William Blake In 1624, a period during which a large house was constructed upon the premises, the grounds of Buckingham palace were later acquired by Lord Goring, who laid out a formal garden and extended the property, re-naming it “Goring house”.
Briefly inhabited by Henry Bennet the first Earl of Arlington, Goring house was burnt down in 1674, an event after which Arlington house was constructed upon the site, a building which presently constitutes the Southern end of the modern Palace.
Acquired by John Sheffield Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1698, Arlington house was, in 1703, accompanied by Buckingham House upon the estate, a larger property designed for the Duke by William Windle.
Ultimately sold in 1761 by Charles Sheffield to George the Third as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, Buckingham Palace was extensively re-modelled throughout the latter part of the eighteenth century a period during which Queen’s House was established upon the premises.
In 1826 George the Third commissioned John Nash to turn Buckingham house into a palace, a vast undertaking to which many of the building’s more novel attributes may be ascribed, however the extravagance of the project proved too costly and ultimately led to Nash’s dismissal, the house remaining unfinished through until the reign of William the Fourth when Edward Blore was comissioned to complete the building.
Listed as the official residence of Queen Victoria in 1837, Buckingham Palace continued to increase in size throughout the nineteenth century, a period during which Thomas Cubitt was commissioned to add a new wing to the property and James Pennethorne was hired to equip the premise with a ball room, a huge chamber in which both Felix Mendelssohn and Johann Strauss were recorded to have performed.
Despite such preliminaries, Queen Victoria was recorded to have left Buckingham Palace in 1861, preferring the comparative isolation of Osborne House, Windsor castle and Balmoral castle, a period during which the house succumbed largely to neglect, although the building was recorded to have been re-occupied in 1901 by Edward the Seventh and Queen Alexandra, an era throughout which the estate notably played host to “The Marlborough House Set”,
Further extended by Sir Aston Webb during the reign of George The Fifth, a period during which the building’s East front was modified, Buckingham Palace was recorded to have been bombed seven times during the Second World War, a barrage which, in destroying the estate’s chapel, left most of the house’s structure intact.
Restored by John Mowlem and Co. during the mid-twentieth century, Buckingham Palace, is currently one of the most impressive buildings in the capital possessing nineteen state rooms and a fine art gallery, located in the building’s chapel, a venue which in boasting work from a number of old masters including such notable individuals as Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Rubens and Vermeer, was opened to the public in 1962.
Largely used for official engagements such as investitures, state banquets, court balls and presentations, much of Buckingham Palace remains closed to the public although the changing of the Guard can still be observed daily during Summer months upon the building’s forecourt.
Situated in the largest private garden in London, a forty acre expanse which, in being used for public engagements, open air parties and Jubilees, includes a Royal Mews designed in 1825 by John Nash, a Mall designed by Sir Aston Webb and a helicopter landing area within it’s bounds, Buckingham Palace is, without doubt, one of the most familiar and distinctive land marks in the city.
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BUILDING CENTRE
Fitzrovia
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Situated along Store Street in Fitzrovia, The Building Centre was established in 1932 by “The Associated Built environment Trust” to cater for the twin disciplines of architecture and construction.
Based around a series of showrooms furnished with modern building products, The Building centre represents a show case for many innovative new designs, items which in being common within domestic environments, have been adapted to novel effect.
Equipped with a conference hall, The building Centre offers consultation services for market research training programmes and possesses an excellent information centre from which a wide range of catalogues and brochures can be obtained.
Featuring amongst other things, a scale model of Central London and a number of three dimensional integrated films depicting to the architectural evolution of the capital, The Building Centre is open from nine o’clock to six o’clock during the week and from nine o’clock to five o’clock on Saturdays.
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BURGH HOUSE
Hampstead
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Established in the early eighteenth century when Hampstead Wells was the location of a fresh water spring, Burgh House was recorded to have been occupied in 1704 by the successful spa physician, Doctor William Gibbons, a proprietorship beneath the house was substantially extended.
Acquired by the upholsterer Israel Lewis in 1858, Burgh House was briefly requisitioned by “The Royal East Militia” in the 1880’s before being returned back to domestic usage in 1884.
Occupied in 1906 by the Victorian art expert “Doctor George Williamson”, a period during which Gertrude Jeckyll was commissioned to landscape the gardens, Burgh House was recorded to have been purchased in 1925 by the director of Lloyd’s bank “Captain Constantine Evelyn Benson” a period of tenure after which the property was sold to Hampstead council for usage as a community centre and citizen’s advice Bureau in 1946.
Subsequently left derelict for a number of years, Burgh House was again restored by Hampstead council in 1979, the building finally being opened to the public as a museum of local history beneath the management of Christine and Diana Wade.
Possessing an extensive art gallery which, includes amongst it’s catalogue, the largest collection of Helen Allingham’s work in Britain, Burgh House, is currently equipped with excellent amenities for visitors, boasting both a fine basement cafeteria and a pleasant garden seating area, the museum also being renowned for staging public exhibitions and concerts upon it’s grounds during summer months.
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C4RD, (Centre For Recent Drawing)
Islington
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Located in Highbury station, C4rd was founded by Andrew Hewish in 2004 as a non commercial centre for recent drawings.
Conceived in a small art studio owned by Hewish in Bethnal Green during the early twenty first century, C4rd provides exhibition space for both students and non-commercial artists staging a range of holistic and therapeutic art themed events in which members of the public can become involved.
Influenced by both the Saatchi and Whitechapel galleries “C4rd”, regularly exhibits a selection of pottery items and paintings created by new artists and represents an interesting forum for contemporary arts.
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CALVERT 22
Shoreditch
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Located in two floors of a converted warehouse along Calvert Avenue in Shoreditch, Calvert 22 is a small art gallery devoted to the artistic cultures of central Russia, The Balkans and Eastern Europe.
Established in 2009 by Nona Materkova, The Calvert 22 gallery regularly stages exhibitions, film shows and public screenings featuring a number of significant modern Russian artists including Sanja Ivekovic, Alexander Brodsky, Nieve Slowenheisse Kunst, and Olga Chernysheva.
Operating in collaboration with the Smolny College Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at St. Petersburg State University since 2012, Calvert 22, both established the Calvert forum, a creative think tank for forthcoming artistic projects and began publishing The Calvert Journal, an online magazine, in 2013.
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CAMDEN ARTS CENTRE
Hampstead
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Initially located upon the premises the Hampstead Central Library, an establishment which, in being designed by Arnold Taylor in 1896, was notably supported by the founder of the Prudential Insurance Company Sir Henry Harben, The Camden Arts Centre originates from the Hampstead Arts Centre, a venue founded in the library during the 1960’s following the removal of much of it’s stock to Swiss Cottage.
Devoted to life drawing pottery, printing and design, the Camden Arts Centre was, beneath the direction of Jenni Lomax, granted a curatorial term by Nicholas Serota through association with the Whitechapel Art Gallery in the 1990’s and presently exhibits the work of a number of contemporary artists including Salvatore Arancio, David Raymond Courcy and Caroline Achaintre.
Equipped with both a cafeteria and a roof garden, The Camden Arts Centre currently stages a lively programme of talks, discussions, live performances and exhibitions and comes firmly recommended for those interested in contemporary art.
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CAMPBELL WORKS
Stoke Newington
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Initially Founded as a collaborative arts venue upon the grounds of the old ‘Stoke Newington’ brewery by ‘Neill Taylor’ and ‘Harriet Murray’ in 2004, ‘Campbell Works’ is observed to provide a diverse cross section of artists, musicians and scientists with a space in which to both create and display a diverse range of audio visual projects.
Being recorded to publish it’s own newsletter which is noted to be freely distributed about the limbs of London’s Museum circuit, ‘Campbell Works’ is, among other things, noted to both stage live music performances and screen films upon it’s premises.
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CANADA HOUSE GALLERY
Trafalgar Square
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Once situated upon the premises of the Canadian High Commission building in Trafalgar Square, a fine Victorian building which, in being designed by the architect of the British museum Sir Robert Smirke, was recorded to have served as both a union club and a meeting hall for the Royal college of Physicians before being acquired by the High Commission in 1925.
Employed as a consular faculty for renewing Canadian Passports during the early twentieth century The Canada House Gallery was opened in 1974 as a forum for Contemporary Canadian arts, a venue which, in featuring the work of artists such as Jeff Wall, represented a counterfoil for the neighbouring National Portrait Gallery.
Unfortunately no longer operational as an art gallery, having been converted into a block of residential flats, the Canada House Gallery, remains an interesting building within the centre of London’s exhibition district.
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CARLYLE HOUSE
Chelsea
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Constructed in 1708, an era in which Chelsea was still a comparatively isolated rural suburb, Carlyle house remains, although surrounded by an encroaching urban scheme, a fine Jacobean building to this day.
Rented in 1834 by the celebrated historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, a man who, in originating from the moors of Scotland wished for a small house in which to raise a family with his wife Jane, “Carlyle House” is furnished with a sound proofed attic designed by Carlyle himself for usage as a study and contains a comprehensive collection of the author’s books, the property also possessing an extensive art collection which includes a number of portraits painted by James Abbott Macneill Whistler and Helen Allingham within it’s scheme.
Possessing a fine walled garden, which, in boasting a fig tree within it’s bounds, retains many of it’s Jacobean aspects, Carlyle House was opened to the public in 1895, an interest which, in being curated by the theatre producer and biographer of Carlyle’s life “Stanford Holme” during the mid twentieth century, affords a fascinating insight into the author’s career.
Renowned for devising the “Carlyle circle” a complex quadratic equation during the early nineteenth century, Thomas Carlyle also achieved recognition for writing “The French Revolution, a History”, a book which, in being reputed to have inspired Charles Dickens popular novel “A Tale Of Two Cities”, led to the author’s affiliation with London’s socialist and fascist movements.
Recorded to have been acquainted with a number of eminent Victorian writers including Charles Dickens, Robert Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Makepeace Thackray, John Ruskin and Charles Darwin during his life time, “Thomas Carlyle” was largely responsible for devising the formula of the modern heroic narrative, a convention beneath which heroes were revered and villains reviled.
Instrumental in establishing “the London Library” during the 1840’s, a private subscription archive devised to counter what was observed to be lack of seating at the British Museum library, Thomas Carlyle was, throughout his life-time, paradoxically both a scholar and a puritan, a polymath who, in desiring to retain an ascetic detachment from his study, died in poverty.
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CARTOON MUSEUM
Bloomsbury
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Consisting of three galleries located along Little Russel Street in Bloomsbury, The cartoon Museum is devoted to the history of cartoons and satirical drawings from the era of William Hogarth through to the present.
Conceived in 1988 by the Cartoon Art Trust, a group of comic enthusiasts and collectors who, in sharing a common interest in cartoons, organised a number of small scale exhibitions in the early twenty first century, The Cartoon Museum was opened in 2006 as a venue for graphic art.
Possessing a vast archive of material which, in including over 5,000 books, 4,000 comics and a number of short animated films within it’s inventory, features examples of work drafted by contemporary cartoonists such as Ronald Searle, Mike Williams, Mel Calman, Frank Dickens, Norman Thelwell and William Heath Robinson, the Cartoon Museum’s collection extends to encompass a host of immediately recognisable images such as Dan Dare, Dennis the Menace, Korky the Cat, Minnie the Minx and Desperate Dan within it’s catalogue.
Presently involved in the presentation of the young cartoonist of the year award, The Cartoon Museum, currently stands as one of the capital’s foremost authorities on comic book art and provides both a fascinating and informative insight into the genre to this day.
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CENOTAPH
Whitehall
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Situated within the proximity of both Downing Street and Parliament Street in West London, The Cenotaph is, largely recognised for hosting the military Remembrance Sunday services held in commemoration of those that died during the first and second world wars,
Located upon grounds formerly occupied by both the Tudor Palace of Whitehall and the Scotland Yard Police Station, The Cenotaph annually serves as a repository for an innumerable selection of both wreaths and poppies, a term beneath which the site colludes with many of London’s military museum’s to confirm Britain’s military past.
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CENTRE OF THE CELL
Whitechapel
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Located along Turner Street on the Whitechapel campus of Queen Mary’s University, an establishment which, in being founded in 1887 was, like many other buildings of it’s era, initially conceived as a people’s palace, “Centre of the Cell”, was established in 2012 as a centre for public engagement, a venue which, in being located within a bio-medical laboratory, avows a scientific theme.
Associated with the Blizard Institute on Newark Street, “Centre of the Cell” is unusually based inside a suspended orange pod, a chamber which, in containing both a laboratory and an education centre, invites visitors to “grow cells” to assist experts in bio-medical research.
Covering a variety of topics pertaining to the study of stem cells, cancer cells and burn treatments, Centre of the Cell, is currently open to the public and provides an informative account of the many applications to which cells can presently be put.
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CHARLES DICKENS MUSEUM
Holborn
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Situated in a small Georgian terraced House along Doughty Street in Holborn, an address which the celebrated author Charles Dickens was recorded to have occupied between 1837 and 1839, The Charles Dickens museum is devoted to the life and work of a man who, for many, is the greatest novelist which England has ever produced.
Reputedly the location in which Dickens wrote the Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickelby, Oliver Twist and the beginning of Barnaby Rudge, The Charles Dickens Museum was saved from demolition by the Dickens fellowship in 1923 and opened to public as a museum in 1925.
Furnished in the traditional Victorian style, The Charles Dickens Museum is recorded to have been the location in which three of the author’s ten children were borne and attempts to capture the elements of nineteenth century domestic life which pretextualised much of the novelist’s work.
Possessing an extensive collection of rare manuscripts penned by the author, and a number of paintings including the celebrated picture “Dicken’s Dream” by the original illustrator of the Pickwick papers “R.W Buss”, “The Charles Dickens Museum” offers an intriguing insight into Dicken’s life and the events which served to inspire his novels.
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CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE MUSEUM
Aldermansbury
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Located in Aldermansbury, The Chartered Insurance institute Museum is devoted to the history of chartered insurance, underwriting and pensions.
Possessing an extensive collection of artefacts, The Charted insurance Institute was established in 1873 to protect property against fire damage, a theme which, in encompassing the history of fire fighting beneath it’s aegis, includes a number of documents pertaining to the Great Fire of London within it’s catalogue.
Distinguished by a selection of seventeenth century fire marks, items displayed outside the building “to prove insurance”, “The Chartered Insurance Institute Museum”, is presently one of the capital’s foremost authorities in the field of Chartered Insurance and provides an informative account of it’s evolution over the past three hundred years.
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CHEAPSIDE
Cheapside
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Occupying the North bank of the Thames between Saint Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London, Cheapside is without doubt the oldest part of the capital.
Legendarily occupied by the Romans during the seventh century, an era in which the first cathedral of St. Paul was erected in London, Cheapside was subsequently inhabited by the Normans, a presence that, in 1087, substantially extended the cathedral to it’s present dimensions, the Norman church of St. Paul being devoted to the Roman Goddess Diana rather than the practise of Christian worship at this time, a pretext which, in later years has frequently served to confuse the legacy of Norman culture with those which may have preceded it.
Although the original cathedral of St Paul no longer exists, having been destroyed by fire in 1136 and 1666, a period in which it was both extensively re-constructed and utterly demolished, many small chapels from the Norman era still stand in Cheap, a collection of buildings which, in themselves having suffered to fire, were painstakingly renovated by Sir Christopher Wren and George Dance during the eighteenth century.
Combinatively constituting the “Deanery of the City of London”, the huddle of churches situated both in and around Cheap have, throughout history, played host to, amongst other things, the sermons of John Donne, the biblical translations of William Tyndale, the organ recitals of Thomas Tallis and the religious devotion of both Benjamin Franklin and Ben Johnson.
“The church of All Hallows” dedicated to St. Mary the virgin also remains standing in it’s original form along Byward street to the East of Cheap, a building which, in once having acted as a temporary graveyard for those that were executed at the Tower of London, has played host to the burial of many significant individuals including William Laud, John Fisher and Thomas More, an agenda which paradoxically extended to encompass the staging of marriage ceremonies in later years, hosting the matrimony of the American president John Quincy Adams amongst other notable betrothals.
Although damaged both in 1650 when a cache of gun-powder exploded in it’s cellar and in 1940 during the air strikes of the blitz, the church of All Hallows still boasts an extensive reliquary of historic artefacts including, a twelfth century chapel, an altar salvaged from the Castle of Athlit in the holy land during the crusades, a magnificent sixteenth century pipe organ and a seventeenth century baptismal font carved by Grinling Gibbons.
Despite the historic importance of the many small churches located in Cheap, by far the most impressive building in the area is the present Cathedral of St Paul, a vast edifice constructed from Portland stone in the late renaissance style between 1669 and 1701 by the architect Sir Christopher Wren.
Based upon St. Peters Basilica in Rome and possessing three sizeable galleries, the long gallery, the Stone gallery and the Golden gallery, St. Paul’s cathedral also boasts a collection of some of the largest church bells in England, “Great Paul” cast in 1881 by Taylor’s bell foundry weighing over sixteen tonnes, a colossus accompanied by two equally impressive quarter jacks tuned in A flat and E flat.
Housing an American Memorial chapel dedicated to the United States Air Force rocket launches of the Second World War and a number of tombs including those of Joshua Reynolds, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Lord Kitchener, Lord Nelson, Sir Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington, Charles Cornwallis, Sir Alexander Fleming, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Samuel Johnson, John Donne, Henry Moore, J. M.W Turner, and Baroness Thatcher, the current incarnation of St. Paul’s Cathedral must stand as one of the most impressive buildings in England.
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CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB MUSEUM
Chelsea
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Located at the Stamford Bridge Stadium in Chelsea the Chelsea Football Club Museum is devoted to the history of the Chelsea football team, an interest which in being nick-named “the Blues” was recorded to have been founded in 1905.
Offering guided tours of the club’s dressing room, press room and it’s television room, the Chelsea Football Club Museum also grants visitors access to both the player’s tunnel and a number of dug out areas around the stadium.
Equipped with a restaurant named “Frankie’s Diner” which serves sports themed American style food, the Chelsea Football Club museum is presently open to the public and, for those interested in the capital’s sporting heritage, comes highly recommended.
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CHISENHALE GALLERY
Tower Hamlets
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Located upon the premises of a 1930’s veneer factory along Chisenhale Road in London’s East End, The Chisenhale Gallery was founded in the 1980’s to stage exhibitions for college graduates.
Recorded to have managed “the Propellor” youth forum between 2011 and 2014, the Chisenhale Gallery proceeded to organise “Stop, Play, Record” in 2015, a venue which in, screening short of films made by college graduates, received a degree of critical acclaim.
Featuring the work of artists such as Rachel Whitread, Cornelia Parker, Samuel Taylor Wood and Wolfgang Tillmus, the Chisenhale Gallery presently exhibits an interesting cross-section of contemporary art.
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CHURCHILL WAR ROOMS
Whitehall
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Entrenched many feet beneath the treasury of Whitehall, in what was once the basement of the New Public Office, The Churchill war rooms were recorded to have served as the subterranean base of British government Command during the second world war.
Constructed in 1938 by Sir Hastings Ismay and Sir Lesley Hollis, The Churchill War Rooms were conceived during a period in which many offices were, following predictions of German air strikes, being moved from central London to suburban locations.
Operational between 1939 and 1945, a period during which the subterranean complex was equipped with a transatlantic telephone exchange that was recorded to have permitted communication between Winston Churchill and America’s President Roosevelt , The Churchill War Rooms, were abandoned after the surrender of the Japanese at the end of the second world war.
Possessing a “Map room” displaying a map of England and a “Cabinet room” which, in serving as the prime minister’s office and bedroom, was recorded to be the location from which Churchill directed the war, “The Churchill War Rooms”, remain, although restricted, an intriguing achievement to this day.
Opened to the public by Margaret Thatcher on behalf of the Imperial War Museum in 1984, “the Churchill War Rooms” were officially preserved as a museum in 2005, a venue which, in being sound proofed, ventilated and equipped with broadcasting apparatus, presently features both an interactive table upon which digitalised material from the Churchill archive can be accessed, and a novel electronic filing cabinet amongst it catalogue of exhibits.
Equipped with a new entrance designed by the clash architects Price and Myers in 2012, the Churchill war rooms remain, like the Battle of Britain bunker in Hillingdon, a testament to an era which will, as time progresses, soon cease to fall within the realm of living memory.
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CINEMA MUSEUM
Brixton
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Originally situated upon the premises of Raliegh Hall in Brixton, The Cinema Museum was initially compiled from the private collections of Ronald Grant and Martin Humphries in 1986.
Re-located to “The Masters House” in Kennington in 1989, a large art deco building which, in once having served as a work house, was recorded to have been the location in which the silent film comedian Charlie Chaplin spent much of his childhood, “The Cinema Museum” exhibits an extensive collection of posters, art-deco cinema chairs, pop-corn cartons and mid twentieth century ushers uniforms.
Possessing an example of every gauge of film projector ever produced, the Cinema Museum also houses both a large catalogue of items relating to film production and a vast library of film books.
Currently open to the Public through advance booking, the Cinema Museum offers both an informative and enlightening insight into the history of the moving image and remains an ideal destination for family outings to this day.
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CITY OF LONDON POLICE MUSEUM
City
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Located upon the premises of the old Wood Street Police station in central London, a site which, in itself being constructed upon the remains of a Roman fortress, boasts a fairly extensive history in it’s own right, “The City of London Police Museum”, is, much like the Black Museum located by the London Wall, devoted to the history of London’s Territorial Police Force.
Responsible for maintaining order around the Inner and Middle temple areas of the capital during the nineteenth century, “the Territorial Police Force” was, in 1839, recorded to have been composed of uniformed officers, who, alongside Alderman’s officers and Ward Beadles, were assigned to perform both a day and a night watch over the city.
Featuring a catalogue of exhibits pertaining to a number criminal cases, “The City of London Police Museum”, covers a wide range of incidents including the first usage of fingerprint identification to convict crime with the arrest of Henry Jackson in 1902, the murder of three policemen in Houndsditch in 1910, The Suffragette bombings of the early twentieth century and a list of items relating to the villainies of both Jack the Ripper and the Latvian revolutionary “Peter the Painter”.
Possessing an extensive collection of police artefacts including uniforms and communication devices, “the City of London Police Museum”, also displays a number of exhibits devoted to both the London police box, an object which, in being designed to facilitate policing upon the streets of the capital during the early twentieth century subsequently found fame in the Doctor Who television series, and the Territorial Police Force’s involvement in the 1908 Olympic Games “Tug of War” competition.
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CLARENCE HOUSE
Pall Mall
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Measuring four stories in height and finished in pale stucco, Clarence House is amongst the finest examples of the early Victorian architecture in the capital.
Designed by John Nash between 1825 and 1827 for the Duke of Clarence, Clarence House was, during the late nineteenth century, recorded to have been passed to Princess Augustus Sophia Saxe-Coburg Saalfield, an era after which it served as the residence of Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.
Adapted for usage as the headquarters of St. John’s Ambulance Brigade and the Red Cross during the Second World War, little of Nash’s original building still remains intact, having been extensively re-modelled following bomb damage.
Granted to Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Elizabeth shortly before Elizabeth’s coronation as Queen, Clarence House was, in being the birthplace of Princess Anne, and temporarily the home of Princess Margaret, registered to have been the official residence of the Queen Mother between 1953 and 2002.
Handed to Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cambridge, during the early twenty first century a proprietorship beneath which Robert Kine was commissioned to re-wire the property, Clarence House is also currently the official residence of both Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Open to the public for a month a year during late Summer when there is no royalty present upon the premises, Clarence House neighbours many of the capital’s more immediately familiar land marks and remains a significant location to this day.
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CLERKENWELL CATACOMBS
Clerkenwell
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Almost directly beneath Gray’s Inn lie the Clerkenwell catacombs, a vast network of subterranean passageways which extend down towards the Thames at London Bridge.
Rumored to have been established by the order of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John in the thirteenth century, The Clerkenwell catacombs were extensively enlarged during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a period throughout which they were used as holding cells by both “Clerkenwell Bridewell Prison” and “New Prison”.
Besieged during the Gordon riots of 1780, targeted by Fenian bomb squads in 1867 and partially demolished in 1890, the Clerkenwell catacombs were, throughout the nineteenth century, notorious for admitting up to ten thousand people into their precinct almost every year, a period in which they were known to have held the celebrated rogue Jack Sheppard amongst their number.
Purchased in 1893 by “The Hugh Myddleton School”, the top three stories of the Clerkenwell catacombs no longer exist although the labyrinth’s underlying structure replete with Victorian ventilation tunnels, fumigation areas and transportation cells remains otherwise intact.
Requisitioned for usage as an air-raid shelter throughout the Second World War, the Clerkenwell catacombs temporarily served as a museum of local history before eventually being closed to the public at the turn of the twenty first century.
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CLINK PRISON MUSEUM
Southwark
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Located in Clink Street upon the site of the former Clink Prison, an institution which, in functioning as a penitentiary between 1144 and 1780 was, when operational, perhaps the most well established example of it’s type in London, the Clink Prison Museum, represents an intriguing foray into the very earliest epochs of London’s history.
Recorded to have been the site of a number of single roomed priests colleges and primitive holding cells since 860 A.D, a period during which the prison was possibly associated with the construction of London Bridge, the Clink Prison was recorded to have conducted capital punishment in 1076 long before similar practises were ascribed to the Tower of London.
Acquired by Henry of Blois in 1129, a man who, in both being the grand son of William the First and King Stephen’s broker, was invested with the title Bishop of Winchester, the grounds of the Clink Prison served, in 1144, as the site of Winchester Palace, an establishment which, in containing two prisons devoted respectively to male and female convicts, was commissioned by Henry to act as a penitentiary.
Subject to “The Laws of Liberty or Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester” and “The Liberty of the See of Winchester” during the Norman era, a term beneath which the penitentiary was licensed to house prostitutes, becoming synonymous with the many brothels and stew houses of the medieval era, The Palace of Winchester did not become known as “the Clink” until the fourteenth century, an expression which, in being derived from the Flemish word for latch, was adopted by many of the Capital’s prisons at this time.
Although originally the punishments for which the Clink became renowned were recorded to have been fairly moderate, being restricted to the practise of “Screening and Roos” or solitary confinement nourished upon a diet of stale bread and water, they were observed to have become worse during the thirteenth century, a period throughout which the “Stock”, a variety of fixed wooden manacle, the “Oubliette”, a permanently neglected holding cell and the “Cuckling stool”, a pole attached to a seat which was lowered into a cold stream, were used to inflict cruelty, a selection of practises which was recorded to have led to the payment of gaolers to make people’s internments more tolerable by circles of a given convict’s friends that remained un-arrested beyond the prison walls.
Destroyed during the Peasant’s Rebellion of 1381, an incident during which all the prison’s convicts were released and the prison was burned to the ground, “The Clink Prison” was rebuilt and, in 1386 established laws against trespass, consolidating further laws against prostitution in 1400.
Also sacked during Jack Cade’s Rebellion of 1450, an incident which, in being known as “the Statutes of Labourers”, was recorded to have both murdered clerics for collecting tax and similarly released the Clink’s convicts burning the prison to the ground, “the Clink Prison” was re-built a second time and proceeded to establish further laws against “Catholic Heresy” during the sixteenth century, a rule which, by 1600, also extended to encompass “Jesuite Heresy”, a period during which political prisoners were recorded to have been forced to “beg at the grates”.
Notorious for incarcerating debtors, heretics, drunkards, harlots and religious adversaries, The Clink Prison’s catalogue of internments extended to encompass such notable individuals as Sir Thomas Wyatt, for staging a rebellion against “Bloody Mary”, John Rogers, a translator of the bible from Latin into English during Bloody Mary’s reign, those implicated in the Babbington or gunpowder Plot during the early sixteenth century, Royalist supporters throughout the Civil war and many of the Puritans that were to become the Pilgrim fathers who colonised America during the seventeenth century.
Finally closed following the Gordon riots of the eighteenth century, a series of disputes in which Lord George Gordon, dissatisfied with the favours granted to Catholics following the American War of Independence, decided to rally in support of Protestantism, the Clink Prison, was subsequently turned into a museum of local history.
Situated in the original fifteenth century two story house re-constructed after Jack Cade’s Rebellion, The Clink Prison Museum presently stands beside a section of the original wall of Winchester Palace along Southwark waterfront, an establishment that, in boasting a number of gory displays, many of which are perhaps unsuitable for young children, is potentially one of the most historically interesting archives in London,
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CLOWNS GALLERY MUSEUM
Pentonville
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Conceived when the circus owner “Billy Smart” arranged for an annual gathering of clowns to attend Joseph Grimaldi’s Grave in St.James churchyard along Pentonville Road, The Clowns Gallery museum owes it’s origins to the foundation of the International Circus Clowns Club by Stan butt in 1946.
Counting such notable individuals as “Edward Graves”, “Harold Rainbow White Lung”, “Trevor Tommy Bale” and “Chesterfield” amongst it’s number during the mid twentieth century, The International Circus Clowns Club was, as a result of flagging membership, re-named Clowns International by Tommy Keele in 1978, a period during which the organisation began publishing a quarterly magazine named “The Joey”.
Collated from a display of clown memorabilia preserved at Gerry Cottle’s “Wookie Hole” entertainment centre in Somerset, The Clowns Gallery Museum currently exhibits an extensive collection of photographs, costumes, comedy props and eggs decorated with clowns faces.
Supported by the popular film actor “Ron Moody”, a man who was notably made the organisation’s life patron, the Clowns Gallery Museum is presently open to the public and provides an informative insight into the history of circus entertainment.
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THE COUPER COLLECTION
Battersea
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Founded by Max Couper Nee Lovegrove in 1979 through association with a sculpture exhibition in Battersea Park, The Couper Collection is notably located aboard a barge moored upon the banks of the Thames.
Recorded to have played Subject to controversy during the late twentieth century when both Norman Foster and Hutchison Whampoa issued a request for the barge’s removal from it’s riverside location, the Couper Collection was fortunately saved from abandonment by the leader of the Greater London Council, Ken Livingstone.
Launched as a charity by the home secretary Jack Straw in 1999, The Couper Collection presently specialises in exhibitions of children’s art, a term beneath which it is recorded to have collaborated with Dame Judy Dench and the Regal Opera House.
Currently associated with Couper’s Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, the Sprenger Museum in Hanover and the Lehmbruck Museum of Sculpture in Disburg, The Couper Collection was notably visited in 2006 by the Thames whale, a small bottle nosed whale which, in being rescued from the Thames by a group of conservationists, unfortunately died of convulsions.
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COURTAULD GALLERY
Strand
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Currently one of the most prestigious art colleges in the world, The Courtauld Institute of Art was founded in 1932 through the combined efforts of the philanthropist, industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld, the diplomat Lord Lee of Fareham and the art historian Robert Witt,
Officially a self governing branch of the University of London, the Courtauld Institute of Art was, transferred in 1989 from a town house designed by Robert Adam in Portland Square, to it’s present location in Somerset House, a magnificent eighteenth century building which, in being designed by Sir William Chambers, once served as the premises for the Royal Academy of Art.
Boasting an extensive selection of early renaissance paintings, The Courtauld Institute of Art, also exhibits a number of impressionist and post-impressionist pictures including works by such notable individuals as Monet, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Manet, Degas and Seurat, an inventory which, in extending to encompass the largest collection of Paul Cezanne’s work in Britain, charts the evolution of artistic taste from the sixteenth century through to the present.
Possessing two libraries, the Witt library named after sir Robert Witt and the Conway library named after Lord Martin Conway, the Courtauld Institute of Art also houses a horde of architectural drawings, illuminated manuscripts, engravings and books, an archive which, in including a film library and an information technology suite within it’s compass, provides an excellent resource for artistic study.
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CRIME MUSEUM
Westminster
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Founded at Scotland Yard in 1874 by an Inspector Neame and a Police Constable Randall, the Crime Museum, was originally conceived to display “kept proofing property gathered under the authority of the prisoners property act”, a term beneath which the confiscated property of convicted men was exhibited for show.
Christened “The Black Museum” by a reporter from the Observer who had been granted access across it’s threshold in 1877, the macabre pretext which the Crime Museum represented proved a popular formula, being visited by a number of civil dignitaries throughout the late nineteenth century, a term beneath which the archive became synonymous with the Tower of London, an establishment which, in itself having served as a state prison between 1l00 and 1952, had, by the nineteenth century, achieved an equally dark reputation for itself.
Transferred, in 1890 from Scotland yard to “Room 101” at New Scotland Yard, a building which, in being designed by Norman Shaw on the Thames Embankment, was recorded to have been constructed from granite quarried by convicts based in Dartmoor, The Crime Museum was initially only open to members of the police force and invited guests.
Featured in a popular Radio show produced by Harry Alan Towers and hosted by Orson Wells throughout the 1930’s, The Crime Museum, achieved the status of an urban myth during the early twentieth century, although the establishment was recorded to have been closed during the second world war at the height of it’s fame.
Moved from Room 101 to Victoria Street in the 1980’s, much of the Crime Museum’s archive was recently opened for public display at the Museum of London, a location in which it remains possible to see much of it’s collection.
Possessing a large catalogue of criminal artefacts filed under the titles, “hostages and hi-jackings”, “famous murders”, “notorious poisoners”, “murders of police officers”, “royalty”, “bank robbers”, “espionage” and “sieges”, the Crime Museum houses a wide range of nineteenth century artefacts many of which are preserved at a constant temperature of 62 degrees centigrade to retain their physical integrity, an inventory which, in extending to include a brace of hang man’s nooses, a number of death masks worn by those sentenced to be executed at Newgate jail, a host of melee weapons used in serious assaults, an arsenal of shotguns disguised as umbrellas and a selection of swords concealed inside walking sticks, also features displays devoted to particularly prolific Victorian criminals such as “Jack the Ripper”, “Charlie Peace” and the notorious counterfeiter “Charles Black”,
Also exhibiting a large reliquary of artefacts pertaining to twentieth century crime including an example of 1940’s forensic apparatus, a horde of instruments used by Doctor Crippen, a list of articles relating to the conviction of Ruth Ellis, a selection of objects concerning the exploits of John Christie, a number of items regarding the arrest of Craig Bentley, a gauntlet of poison syringes employed by the Kray twins, the Ricin pellet which killed the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov, Denis Nilsen’s stove, a haul of fake De Beers diamonds from the millennium Dome heist and a list of items relating to both the I.R.A and Al Qaeda bombings, the Crime Museum’s collection further extends to encompass a number of displays relating to non-criminal concerns, including the plays of Gilbert and Sullivan, the stage tricks of Harry Houdini, the films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the affairs of the Edwardian Royal family.
Covering a period of approximately two hundred years, The Crime museum currently offers a truly fascinating insight into both the criminal heritage of the capital and the extent to which the criminal mind will persevere in efforts to perpetrate offence.
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CROFTON ROMAN VILLAS
Orpington
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Located on the Crofton road in Orpington, the Crofton Roman Villa, is, like the Lullingston Villa in Kent, a remnant from an era about which very little is known.
Extending across an area of approximately 500 acres, the Crofton Roman Villa was recorded to have been continuously occupied for a period of about 260 years between 140 and 400 A.D, a tenure throughout which the structure was observed to have been substantially altered.
Initially discovered in 1926, the Crofton Roman Villa was not fully acknowledged as a site of historic interest until 1988, an observation which led to it’s preservation by a Kentish archeological reserve unit.
Consisting of twenty rooms containing “Opus Signinum” floors which cover tessellated hypocaust heating chambers similar to those constructed beneath the Church of All Hallows by the Tower in Cheapside, The Crofton Roman Villa, is, indicative of the ingenuity that the Romans employed to survive adversity throughout the first millennium.
With ten of the building’s rooms presently open to the public, the Crofton Roman Villa features a number of graphic displays and exhibits a horde of replica objects, the venue also performing both guided tours in which it is possible to handle genuine Roman objects and organising formal courses in mosaic making for children.
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CROSS NESS PUMPING STATION
Cross Ness
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Located at the Eastern end of the Southern outfall sewer in Bexley along Balzagette Way, The Cross Ness pumping station stands as one of the most stunning examples of Victorian engineering prowess ever constructed, a project which, in earning the sobriquet “The Cathedral Of The Marsh”, remains the largest example of it’s type ever built.
Recorded to have been inspired in 1834 by a recommendation from the celebrated biblical apocalypse artist John Martin to construct two intersecting sewers along the banks of the Thames during a period in which the river was, in being freely employed as an open
sewer, also used as a source of drinking water, the concept of the Cross Ness Pumping Station in East London was further supported by Edmund Chadwick who observed that Cholera was potentially caused by contaminated drinking water, a concern later realised by both an outbreak of the disease upon London’s streets in 1853 and “The Great Stink of 1858”.
Placed before a consortium which included amongst it’s membership the engineer George Stephenson and the architect William Cubitt, the propositions for the Cross Ness Pumping Station were eventually finalised by Joseph Bazalgette during the mid-nineteenth century.
Constructed between 1859 and 1865 by the Metropolitan Board Of Works assisted by the architect Charles Henry Driver, The Cross Ness Pumping Station was officially opened by Edward Prince of Wales in 1865, a scheme which, in consisting of four engines built by James Watt and Company, was and still is of unparalleled magnitude.
Affectionately named “Victoria”, “Prince Consort”, “Albert Edward” and “Alexandra” the battery of steam powered rotating beam engines at Cross Ness were, in possessing fly wheels weighing fifty two tonnes, thought to have pumped six tonnes of sewage per stroke out to sea when operational, a process through which solid matter was recorded to have been separated from it’s fluid content and dropped from barges assigned to the purpose of waste disposal.
Operative through until the mid twentieth century, an era during which new pumps were added to the station and diesel engines were installed upon it’s premises, The Cross Ness Pumping Station was finally de-commissioned in 1956, a period after which much of the fabulous cast iron work which distinguished the establishment was left in situ to rust.
Re-opened as a museum devoted to the “The Great Stink” in the early twenty first century, a term beneath which “The Prince Consort” Engine was restored to full working order, The Cross Ness Pumping Station remains an extraordinary feat of Victorian craftsmanship reminiscent of many of Kensington’s public exhibition halls.
Situated on the Erith marshlands, the Northern extent of the Cross Ness Pumping station is currently devoted to wild-life conservation, a location from which one can observe many estuarine species including an assortment of gulls and water-foul .
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CUBITT GALLERY
Finsbury
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Initially founded in 1991 by a group of arts council funded artists along Gooseway in King’s Cross, The Cubitt gallery was temporarily re-located to Cubitt Street in 1993, a tenure to which the gallery owes it’s name, before moving to Caledonia Street in 1994.
Acquiring to it’s present premises along Angel Mews in 2001, the Cubitt Gallery, provides work space for up to thirty artists and regularly stages a variety of exhibitions screenings, performances and symposia for members of the public
Also hosting talks presented by a selection of artists, curators and critics, the Cubitt Gallery began collaborating with Goldsmith’s College in 2016, an association beneath which many of the galleries exhibits are presently directed towards art students.
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CUMING MUSEUM
Walworth
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Situated in Walworth Town Hall on the Borough High Street, the Cuming Museum offers an intriguing insight into the history of Southwark.
Located beside Southwark Local History Library, an establishment which having been the birth place of the celebrated Victorian mechanical computer engineer “Charles Babbage”, presently serves as museum’s the sister organisation, the Cuming Museum was initially constituted from the collection of Henry Syer Cuming, a patron who, in being descended from a family of antiquaries, bequeathed a horde of artefacts to the people and Parish of Mary Newington in 1902.
Opened to the public as a cabinet of curiosities by Lord Rothschild in 1906, the Cuming Museum’s archive extends to encompass a large art gallery and a number of rare archeological and ethnological artefacts purchased from the celebrated Leverian museum by Richard Cuming in 1806, a horde which, in extending to encompass Edward Lovett’s collection of London Superstitions, provides a fine cross-section of both Georgian and Victorian oddities.
Renovated in 1951 after having been damaged by a bomb strike during the air raids of the blitz. the Cuming museum suffered further fire damage in 2013, an event which, in resulting in to the establishment’s closure through until 2019, unfortunately renders it impossible to visit the archive at present.
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CUTTY SARK
Greenwich
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Commissioned by the ship owner John Willis during the late nineteenth century, an era which, in coinciding with both the opening of the Suez canal in the middle East and the increasing popularity of steam powered ships, witnessed the wide-scale abandonment of sailing as a means of transport, the Cutty Sark was, although a fine example of the mariner’s craft, amongst the last ships of it’s type ever built.
Built upon the banks of the river Leven in Dumbarton in 1869, by the Scott and Linton ship building firm, the Cutty Sark was initially conceived as a “clipper”, a expression which, in meaning “quick” in Australian slang, betokened it’s role in the transportation of tea from China to England.
Recorded to have been named after a beautiful witch who legendarily could not cross running water in Robert Burns poem “Tam o’Shanter”, a term which, in Scottish, is also used to distinguish a variety of low land dress, The Cutty Sark was, in being constructed with a copper plated hull, a remarkably slight vessel designed for rapid transit.
Manned by a crew consisting of “ A Master” who, in being responsible for the vessel and it’s cargo operations was quartered in the “Liverpool house”, an ostentatiously furnished mahogany trimmed cabin, “A First Mate” who was placed second in command of the ship, “A Second Mate” who was third in command, “A Steward”, who was responsible for serving meals and maintaining quarters, a petty officer known as “A Botswain” who, in residing in “The Aft Deck House”, was responsible for general maintenance, “A Cook” who prepared meals, “A Carpenter” who repaired the ship’s hull, “A sailmaker” who repaired rigging alongside a number of “Apprentices”, “Able Sea-men” and “Ordinary Seamen” who occupied “The Forward Deck House”, “The Cutty Sark” was, when operational, the common concern of a close community of sea-farers.
Recorded to have first set sail in 1870 beneath the Captaincy of George Moodie, a period of service during which the vessel was recorded to have lost a race with it’s sister ship “The Thermopylae”, “The Cutty Sark” was observed to have transported an assortment of items ranging from Japanese coal and Australian Jute Castor oil to pianos, beer, hops, candles, anvils and straw hats during the late nineteenth century.
Subject to controversy in 1880. when the ship’s captain was recorded to have committed suicide after having caused a strike by refusing to arrest a sailor who had killed one of his crew mates, The Cutty Sark, fell prey further ignominy in 1882 when it’s captain was suspended for negligence.
Despite such short-comings the cutty Sark gained an enviable reputation for being the fastest clipper on earth during a series of wool runs to Australia between 1885 and 1895 beneath the command of Captain Woodget, a man who also notably earned renown for breeding Border Collies.
Sold to the Portuguese shipping firm Ferreira and Company in 1895, a proprietorship beneath which the vessel was recorded to have carried whale oil, pitch pine and cocoa beans, the Cutty Sark was ultimately purchased and returned to England in 1922 by Captain Wilfred Dowman, a patronage beneath which the ship was restored and used as a training vessel.
Presented to The Incorporated Thames Nautical Training College in 1938. The Cutty Sark fell subject to the attentions of the Cutty Sark preservation society in 1953, an interest that eventually led to the ship’s re-assignment as a museum piece.
Opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1957, the Cutty Sark was further restored and mounted beneath glass beside the Royal Maritime Museum at Greenwich between 2006 and 2012, a location in which it remains to this day.
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DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT MUSEUM
Colney
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Located upon the premises of Salisbury Hall in Colney, a building which, in being commissioned in 1668 by the banker James Hoare, was during the early twentieth century, recorded to have been occupied by both Lady Randolph Churchill the mother of the celebrated British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Nigel Gresley the designer of the Mallard steam locomotive, The De Havilland Aircraft Museum charts the evolution of the De Havilland aircraft company during the second world war..
Conceived by Walter Goldsmith, an ex-army major, who, in acquiring Salisbury Hall during the 1950’s, discovered that De Havilland had, in leaving the premises derelict, once used the site to perfect the prototype for it’s Mosquito aircraft, The De Havilland Aircraft Museum, arose from Walter Goldsmith’s fascination with aeroplanes, an interest which ultimately resulted in De Havilland’s return to Salisbury Hall in 1959.
Subsequently transformed into a museum, an establishment which, in being devoted to the work of a single company, is recorded to be the largest example of it’s type on earth, Salisbury Hall, presently exhibits an extensive catalogue of De Havilland aircraft, a collection which, in including a number of Mosquitos, Sea Vixens, Vampires, Venoms, Chipmunks and Doves also features an example of the De Havilland Comet, the world’s first jet airliner.
Currently open to the public The De Havilland Museum, provides an intriguing insight into the history of aircraft manufacture and it’s origins in the mass production of fighter bombers during the second world war.
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DELFINA PROJECT SPACE
Bermondsey
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Established in 1988 by Delfina Entrcanales upon the premises of a former jeans factory in Stratford, The Delfina project Space is, through association with the Delfina Studio Trust, devoted to providing studio space for visual artists.
Subsequently re-located to Bermondsey Street, a location which, in being extensively renovated by Digby Squires in 1992, was formerly occupied by a chocolate factory, the Delfina Project Space, was until 2006, the largest international residency programme in the United Kingdom, a term beneath which it was recorded to have contributed greatly to the artistic development of the Bermondsey area.
Presently open to the public, The Delfina Project Space regularly stages a number of interesting exhibitions and comes highly recommended to those interested in contemporary European art.
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DENIS SEVER’S HOUSE
Spitalfields
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Located next to Spitalfields Market, Number 18 Folgate Street is remarkable for having been painstakingly rendered into the likeness of a traditional eighteenth century terraced house, a property which although long since vacated presents the impression of having been recently occupied.
Envisioned by the American entrepreneur Denis Severs as a time capsule, depicting the interior dynamic of a working eighteenth century household, Denis Sever’s House, represents something of a dichotomy for in bearing the attribute of a museum, it appears almost parochially informal as though to satirise the indiscretions of it’s occupancy.
Containing ten rooms meticulously furnished in a traditional eighteenth century style, replete with cob-webs, spilled wine glasses and half expired candles, Denis Sever’s House is presented as the property of the fictional Jervis family, an example of the Huguenot silk weaving concern. that would, in accordance with the history of East London, almost certainly have occupied Folgate Street during the early eighteenth century,
Adopting the motto “Aut visum aut non”, “You either see it or you don’t”, to qualify the anomaly that the house represents, Denis Sever ultimately bequeathed the property to the Spitalfields historic buildings trust as an architectural preservation charity, a proprietorship beneath which building was opened to the public.
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DESIGN MUSEUM
Holland Park
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Founded in 1989 by Sir Terence Conran upon the premises of a converted banana warehouse in Shad Thames, The Design Museum is devoted to contemporary industrial graphic fashion and architectural design.
Recorded to be the site of the Swarovski Foundation, The Design Museum, earned recognition throughout the first years of it’s operation for staging a number of exhibitions featuring the designs of both Manolo Blahnik and Peter Saville, a pretext beneath which the museum was also noted to have hosted the designer of the year award.
Closed in 2016 pending re-location to the Commonwealth institute in Kensington, a building which in having first been first opened to the public in 1893 as the “Imperial Institute”, achieved renown for staging a number of illuminated dioramas during the 1920', The Design Museum is presently, situated upon premises which, in possessing an unusual parabolic roof, are themselves architecturally interesting.
Containing three exhibition halls designed by John Pawson through collaboration with Wilmot Dixon, “The Design Museum”, is presently equipped with excellent amenities including a library, a cafeteria, a restaurant and number of design workshops and learning spaces.
Currently open to the public beneath terms of paid admission, The Design museum, presently exhibits a diverse selection of novel artefacts and comes highly recommended to those interested in the evolution of contemporary aesthetics.
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DOCTOR JOHNSON’S HOUSE
City
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Constructed in 1730 by a wool merchant named Richard Gough, “Number 17 Gough Street” was, throughout the eighteenth century, most notable for serving as the residence of the eminent lexicographer Doctor Samuel Johnson.
Recorded to have been occupied by the physician sometime between 1748 and 1759, a period during which Johnson was thought to have written his celebrated “Dictionary of the English Language”, “Doctor Johnson’s House” was notable for being the location in which the physician employed the African slave Frances Barber to perform domestic duties.
Visited during the eighteenth century by the celebrated actor manager David Garrick, “Doctor Johnson’s house” acted throughout the eighteenth century, as a meeting place for many of the physicians friends and acquaintances.
Recorded to have served as both a hotel and the premises for the Waller and Baines general printing firm during the nineteenth century, “Doctor johnson’s House” was purchased in a dilapidated condition by the newspaper magnate and minister of Parliament Cecil Harmsworth in 1911, a proprietorship beneath which the building was restored and opened to the public.
Used as an auxiliary club for firemen throughout the second world war, a period during which the building was damaged by an incendiary bomb, “Doctor Johnson’s House” is currently run by the Doctor Johnson Charitable Trust in collaboration with the National Trust.
Decorated in an authentic eighteenth century manner with panelled walls and pine storage facilities, “Doctor Johnson’s House”, is distinguished by a considerable amount of period furniture, and a number of Georgian portraits and prints.
Possessing an extensive reliquary, which in featuring a number of re-prints of Doctor Johnson’s Dictionary extends to encompass a tea set once owned by the successful London brewer Hester Thrale and a brick from the great wall of China, “Doctor Johnson’s House”, affords a fascinating insight into the life of a man who, for many existed long before his time.
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DORICH HOUSE
Richmond
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Located near Richmond Park along Kingston Vale, Dorich House, was, during the mid twentieth century, recorded to have been occupied by both the acclaimed Russian sculptress “Dora Gordine” and her husband “Richard Hare”, a man who, in being the son of the Fourth Earl of Listowell was noted to have been an eminent scholar of Russian literature
Completed during the 1930’s in accordance with Gordine’s design’s, Dorich House, was, throughout the mid twentieth century recorded to have been used to store an extensive collection of Russian art, a site which, in also serving as a working studio, was the location in which many of Dora Gordine’s sculptures were prepared for exhibition at Paris salons.
Bequeathed to Kingston University in 1991, Dorich House consists of three floors which, in being divided into a plaster studio, a modelling studio and a gallery, serve as the show-case for the largest collection of Dora Gordine’s work on earth.
Also possessing a fine roof terrace which overlooks Richmond Park, Dorich House, is presently open to the public and, for those interested in sculpture, currently represents one of the finest collections of sculpted art in London.
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DOWN HOUSE
Orpington
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Situated 14 miles from central London, “Down House”, remains, though isolated, an interesting and historically important location, having once been the residence of the celebrated Victorian naturalist Charles Darwin.
Passed by Thomas Manning to John Know in 1651, “Down House” was, during the mid eighteenth century, recorded to have been occupied by The Bartholomew family, a period after which the property was briefly occupied by a man named Charles Hayes before being acquired in 1778 by the businessman Charles Butler, a proprietorship beneath which the house was both substantially renovated and enlarged.
Occupied during the early nineteenth century by the Reverend James Drummond, “Down House” was, in 1842 purchased by Charles Darwin, a period during which the great naturalist was noted to have made extensive alterations to both the house and it’s grounds, adding an angled bay to the building and establishing a tennis court upon the premises.
Notable for being the location in which Charles Darwin wrote “The Origin Of The Species”, the grounds of Down House were remarkable for having once served as an out-door laboratory, being distinguished by both a large green house constructed in 1863 for the purpose of cultivating rare orchids and a circuitous sand-walk which the naturalist once patrolled whilst pondering upon issues of ecological significance.
Situated within the proximity of the astronomer Sir John William Lubbock’s home, “Down House” was also notably the location in which Darwin and Lubbock engaged in discourse upon scientific matters.
Purchased during the early twentieth century by the Down School For Girls, “Down House” was, in 1988 renovated with funds raised by Kensington’s Natural History Museum and opened to the public, the property being further restored in 1996 by English Heritage.
Currently the site of a museum devoted to Darwin’s life, “Down House” remains open to the public between April and October and affords an intriguing insight into the events that were to result in the formulation of modern naturalism.
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DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY
Dulwich
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Upon the outskirts of Peckham lies Dulwich Park, a 76 acre expanse of landscaped parkland which was throughout the middle-ages thought to have been situated in the medieval Manor of Dulwich.
Recorded to have been purchased in 1605 by the successful Elizabethan actor and entrepreneur Edward Alleyn, a patron who also founded Dulwich College upon the land, the grounds of Dulwich Park, were throughout the nineteenth century, notable for being the location of Dulwich Picture Gallery, an establishment founded during the eighteenth century with the assignment of Noel Desenfans and Sir Francis Bourgeois to house the art collection of the Lithuanian King “Stanislaus Augustus” pending the monarch’s abdication from the Polish throne.
Opened to the public by the Royal Academy of Arts following Bourgeois’s death in 1815, a distinction through which the exhibition hall is recorded to be amongst the first example of it’s type in England, Dulwich Picture Gallery, was notably designed by Sir John Soane as a mausoleum to house the bodies of it’s founders, a scheme through which the architect also constructed a number of alms houses upon the premises, a collection of buildings subsequently annexed to the gallery by Charles Barry in 1880.
Substantially enlarged with the addition of William Linley’s family portraits in 1835, Dulwich picture gallery accrued an extensive collection of paintings throughout the nineteenth century, a selection which, in including works by such notable artists as Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Cuyp and Poussin remains one of the finest examples of it’s type in London.
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EARL’S COURT
Earl’s Court
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Constructed upon farmland in Earl’s Court Manor by John Robinson Whitley during the 1880’s, The Earl’s Court Exhibition centre, was initially conceived as an auxiliary to the Kensington Olympia exhibition hall.
Recorded to have staged a number of national events during it’s first years of operation, The Earls Court Exhibition centre achieved renown through association with the American trick shooter “Buffalo Bill Cody” throughout the late nineteenth century, a period during which the arena was re-furbished in the art moderne style of London’s White City stadium for Imre Kiralfey’s Empire of India Exhibition, a scheme which, in being designed to resemble the mid-Western city of Chicago, notably included a Ferris wheel amongst it’s list of attractions.
Equipped with stables for the Royal tournament, a festival which, in being feted as Britain’s oldest and largest military tattoo, was recorded to have displayed an extensive selection of artillery vehicles amongst it’s catalogue of attractions, The Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre was recorded to have contained a sizeable pool area, a feature which, in being drained when unused, was employed in conjunction with the London boat show.
Renowned for organising a number of exhibitions through association with the Kensington Olympia stadium during the mid-twentieth century, a list which, in extending to include the Crufts dog show, the Ideal Home exhibition and the Annual Motor Show, The Earls Court Exhibition Hall was also a popular concert venue, a capacity in which it was recorded to have staged both a number of operas and the Brit musical awards.
Closed for demolition in 2014, The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is, although bequeathing it’s name to the area which it once occupied, unfortunately no longer open to the public a term beneath which only it’s memory remains.
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THE ESTORICK COLLECTION OF MODERN ITALIAN ART
Islington
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Founded by the American socialist and author “Erik Estorick”, The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, currently represents one of the finest displays of contemporary Italian art in London.
Recorded to have been inspired to collect Italian art after having read a book about Umberto Bocciaenii, Erik Estorick met a number of notable Italian artists including the acclaimed futurist painter “Mario Sirona” whilst touring Italy in the 1950's,
Amassing a sizeable collection of Italian art which, in 1956 was exhibited at London’s Tate Gallery, Erik Estorick achieved renown as a professional art dealer during the 1960’s establishing the Grosvenor gallery in 1980, an interest subsequently sold to the film stars Lauren Bacall, Burt Lancaster and Billy Wilder.
Instrumental in founding the Erick and Salome Estorick Foundation in 1998, an organisation which, in being based upon the premises of Sir Basil Spence’s former home at Northumberland lodge in Canonbury Square, provides an excellent forum for public exhibitions, Erik Estorick formed the basis for what was to become the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art.
Presently displaying an extensive selection of futurist paintings including works by Giacomo Balla, Carrio Carre, Zoran Music and F.T, Marineth, The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, is currently open to the public and comes highly recommended to those interested in Continental stylism.
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FAN MUSEUM
Greenwich
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Opened in 1991 uopn the premises of two fine Georgian houses in Greenwich, The Fan museum is devoted to the history of the hand-held fan, a device which, in traditionally being fashioned from paper was frequently used as medium for art.
Situated within a fine Georgian orangery decorated with murals, the fan museum houses an extensive reliquary of exhibits which, in including the Helen Alexander collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century hand held fans, extends to encompass a rare tenth century fan, a fan designed with an ear trumpet and a number of fans painted by the celebrated Victorian artists Walter Sickert and Paul Gaughin.
Possessing a fine Japanese garden with a distinctive fan shaped parterre, the Fan museum is presently open to the public and regularly stages a number of group activities including organised fan-making classes.
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FARADAY MUSEUM
Mayfair
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Located at the Royal Institute along Albermarle Street in Mayfair, The Faraday Museum, is devoted to the life of the great Victorian electrical pioneer Sir Michael Faraday and the history of the Royal institute, an establishment which, in being founded in 1799 by a consortium of eminent scientists including Henry Cavendish and George Finch the Ninth Earl of Winchelsea, subsequently achieved acclaim for devising what was to become the modern periodic table of chemical elements.
Housing a lecture room which, in annually staging televised Christmas seminars, was recorded to have been founded by Sir Michael Faraday himself, The Faraday Museum, consists of three floors which, in displaying a number of interesting exhibits, including both a reconstruction of Faraday’s magnetic library and an example of a modern nano-technology lab, chart the history of electrical understanding from the nineteenth century through to the present.
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FASHION AND TEXTILE MUSEUM
Bermondsey
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Founded in 2003 along Bermondsey High Street by the celebrated fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, The Fashion and Textile Museum, charts the history of fabric production and clothing design from 1947 through to the present.
Situated in a brightly coloured warehouse adapted for exhibition purposes by Ricardo Legoretta, the Fashion and Textile Museum presently houses an operative textile studio, a print workshop and a number of private and residential quarters.
Exhibiting a number of displays featuring the work of contemporary fashion designers such as Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Biba, Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood, The Fashion and Textile Museum also houses a wide selection of paper patterns, textiles and related ephemera.
Recorded to have toured Britain Europe, Asia and America during the early twenty first century, The Fashion sand Textile Museum was acquired by Newham College in 2006, an organisation which, in currently managing the museum, maintains it’s primary objectives.
Possessing both a cafeteria and a shop, the Fashion and Textiles Museum, is presently open to the public and offers a diverse range of attractions for those interested in contemporary clothing.
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FENTON HOUSE
Hampstead
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Situated upon Wild Mill Hill in Hampstead, Fenton House, affords an excellent example of the suburban parkland which typifies much of North London, possessing both a fine walled garden distinguished by a three hundred year old apple orchard and a number of immaculately topiaried hedges.
Constructed as merchant’s house in the seventeenth century, Fenton House was bequeathed in 1952 to the National Trust by Lady Katherine Binning, a period after which the property was turned into a museum celebrating local history.
Boasting an extensive collection of Kangxi period porcelain and an art gallery devoted to the work of the Camden Town group, Fenton House also possesses an assortment of early key board instruments, many of which are still played upon the premises and can be heard when visiting the museum.
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FIREPOWER, THE ROYAL MILITARY MUSEUM
Woolwich
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Located at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, “Fire Power, The Royal Military Museum”, was initially established as a “training collection” to preserve the history of the royal artillery.
Dating back to the sixteenth century, the Royal Arsenal was originally located at a building called Tower house situated in an area known as the Warren, a period during which Henry the Eighth was recorded to have stored Ordnance, including guns captured by Sir Francis Drake at Woolwich dockyards.
The location of a sixty gun stockaded fort constructed by Prince Rupert of Denmark to deter Dutch attacks during the sixteenth century, the Royal arsenal was reputed to have been employed as a testing ground during the 1650's.
The site of the Royal Laboratories in 1696, a facility which in being transferred from Greenwich Palace during the construction of Greenwich Hospital, was already fairly well established, the Royal Arsenal, was, in 1715, recorded to have become the largest gun repository in Britain. a distinction which, through association with the Duke of Marlborough, ultimately led to the establishment of a military academy at Tower Place in 1720.
Renowned for being the origin of the word snooker, a term which, in being derived from the French expression “Les Neux” was applied to young cadets, the military Academy rapidly expanded throughout the eighteenth century to became a concern of national significance.
The recipient of a Royal Warrant in 1741, a license which in being observed to have been issued to William Congreve by George the third, sanctioned the manufacture of arms, The Royal Arsenal was formally classified as a military suppository in 1778.
Recorded to have been ravaged by fire in 1802, an incident which, in resulting in the storage of many items at the Old Royal Military Academy, led to the transference of the Hyde Park Rotunda to Woolwich Common for usage as a holding depot in 1820
Active throughout the Crimean war of the 1850’s, The Royal Arsenal also played a role in the Zulu attacks of 1879, a series of disputes which were thought to have been caused by gun usage in South Africa.
Recorded to have occupied almost 1,300 acres of land in 1907, the Royal Arsenal earned renown during the first world war for it’s community of “Canary Girls”, a term applied to female labourers whose skin had been dyed yellow whilst manufacturing Trinototoluene shells.
Although Officially a state secret between the early seventeenth and early twentieth, a pretext beneath which the establishment did not appear on maps until 1967, the Royal Arsenal was perversely turned into a museum during the late twentieth century, an interest which, in having been operational for some years, was unfortunately closed in 2016 pending re-location to Wiltshire.
Originally exhibiting a vast collection of military artefacts including a rare fourteenth century Chinese “T’ung”, a Bodlam mortar constructed in 1500, and a host of more recent weapons and explosives, the Royal Arsenal’s “Fire Power” Museum initially consisted of five exhibition halls, “The Mordern Gallery”, “The Fields of Fire display”, “The Gunnery Hall”, “The History Gallery” and “The Medal gallery”, a resource which, in covering all aspects of Britain’s military heritage, was. when operational, one of the most comprehensive examples of it’s type in the country.
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FLEMING COLLECTION
City
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Founded in 1965 by the Scottish banker Robert Fleming and Company, The Fleming Collection is devoted solitarily to the presentation of Scottish art.
Situated upon premises decorated by David Donaldson in Corsby Square within the heart of the city during the mid twentieth century, The Fleming collection was, in being relocated to Copthall Avenue, recorded to have been purchased by Chase Manhattan bank in 2000, a transaction through which the “Fleming Wyfold collection” remained in the possession of the gallery’s founders,
Moved to Berkley Street, at the turn of the twenty first century, a location in which a second gallery was opened in 2010, The Fleming Collection presently exhibits one of the finest hordes of Scottish art on earth, a selection which, in including works by Allan Ramsay, Henry Raeburn, Jacob More, Sir David Wilkie and William Mctaggart, extends to encompass a number of notable representions of the highland communes such as “The Last of the Clan” by Thomas Faed and “Lochnagar no More” by John Watson Nicol.
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FLEMING MUSEUM
Paddington
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Situated upon the premises of St. Mary’s Hospital on Praed street, The Fleming Museum is recorded to be both the location in which Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin and in which the formula for the powerful enalgesic “heroine” was perfected.
Founded in 1845 the Fleming museum was, in 1999 designated as an historical chemical land-mark by both the American Chemical society and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Presently managed by the Imperial College Health Care National Health Service Trust, The Fleming Museum currently affords a fascinating insight into the history of modern pharmacology and it’s effect on contemporary culture.
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FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE MUSEUM
Westminster
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Situated, facing the Palace of Westminster along Lambeth Palace Road The Florence Nightingale Museum is located upon the premises of St. Thomas’ Hospital, an establishment which in, once having occupied the grounds of the Old operating theatre in Southwark, dates back to the medieval era, having been founded in 1215, by a mixed order of Benedictine and Augustinian monks as a tribute to St. Thomas a Becket.
Recorded to be the location from which Miles Coverdale issued an early sixteenth century translation of the bible, the first incarnation of St. Thomas’ Hospital was noted to have been branded a bawdy house and closed during the dissolution of the monasteries before being re-opened beneath a number of administrative provisions during the reign of Edward the sixth,
Largely re-built by Thomas Cartwright in 1822, a period during which the establishment was observed to have solitarily attended the medical needs of poor women during an era in which the wealthy were treated at home, St. Thomas’ Hospital was recorded to have been transferred to it’s present location by the Charing Cross Railway Company in 1882, a move taken upon the recommendation of Florence Nightingale, who, after having returned from the Crimean and established the Nightingale Training School for Nurses upon the hospital’s original premises, required better facilities.
Primarily devoted to the events of Florence Nightingale’s life, a woman who, in also being known as “The lady with the lamp” is generally considered to be the founder of modern nursing “The Florence Nightingale Museum”, charts the history of medicine and nursing throughout the Victorian era.
Possessing an extensive array of displays including a “gilded cage exhibition” that, in featuring a commentary delivered through a selection of plug-in stethoscope given to visitors as they arrive, is devoted to the privileged childhood of many soldiers and nurses during the Victorian era, The Florence Nightingale Museum’s collection extends to encompass a register of nurses that served beneath Florence Nightingale in Turkey, a medicine chest from the Crimean war, the writing slate that Florence Nightingale used when young and “Athena” her pet stuffed owl.
For those interested in the many paradoxes that the medical treatment of soldiers may be presumed to represent then the Florence Nightingale Museum comes highly recommended.
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FORTY HALL
Enfield
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Located upon what were once the grounds of the Tudor Palace of Elsyng on Forty Hill in Enfield, Forty Hall remains a fairly extensive 26 acre stretch of North East London parkland bounded by the original course of the New River.
Recorded to have been the location of a Manor House in the 1620’s, a period during which the property was thought to have been occupied by a man named “Sir Hugh Fortee”, Forty Hall was, in 1629 acquired by the wealthy London haberdasher “Sir Nicholas Raynton”, a patron who, in both purchasing and demolishing the neighbouring Palace of Elsyng, constructed much of the current hall upon the land.
Granted, in 1696 to John Wolsteholme, Forty Hall was, in 1740, acquired by a man named Eliab Breton, a period during which the ground floor of the building was extensively remodelled before eventually being sold to Edmund Armstrong in the late eighteenth century,
Passed to the Meyer family in 1799, an interest responsible for constructing a church upon the premises, Forty Hall was finally acquired in 1894 by the Minister of Parliament “Henry Carrington Bowles”, a patron who substantially enlarged the house before ultimately selling the estate to the Municipal Borough of Enfield in 1851 for usage as a museum.
Primarily devoted to the life of Sir Nicholas Raynton, the Forty Hall Museum, includes a number of Roman and Tudor artefacts excavated from the remains of Elsyng Palace amongst it’s catalogue of displays, and, set within a fine formal garden, remains an interesting location to this day.
Within the vicinity of Forty Hall lies the Dugdale Centre, an interest which, in serving as both an art gallery and a public archive, is devoted to the preservation of Enfield’s local history.
Originally situated upon the premises of Enfield town library, a location in which it fell beneath the jurisdiction of the Forty Hall Estate Administration, The Dugdale Centre was, in 2011 recorded to have been moved to the Millfields Arts Centre in Edmonton, a venue which, in having previously achieved renown for it’s jazz, comedy, mime and puppetry performances was deemed ideally suited to the display of public exhibitions.
Equipped with both a conference room and a studio theatre in the early twenty first century, The Dugdale Centre also presently houses the reliquary of the Museum of Enfield, a term beneath which the venue currently provides an interesting insight into the local history of both Forty Hall and the Enfield area.
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FOUNDLING MUSEUM
Saint Pancras
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Not far from Gray’s Inn lies Coram’s field, a relatively sizeable expanse of urban scrubland in St. Pancras.
Once known as Lamb’s Conduit field, a name presumably derived from it’s usage as grazing land, Coram’s Field was purchased in 1739 by Thomas Coram who built a foundling hospital upon the premises, an establishment which, in being supported by both “William Hogarth” and George “Frederick Handel” accumulated a fine selection of paintings and musical artefacts, a collection that, in being presented for public display during the mid-eighteenth century, earned distinction as England’s first public art gallery. The hospital was also known to have been supported by the celebrated author Charles Dickens who once occupied a house on Doughty Street within it’s vicinity.
Demolished in 1926, when the Foundling Hospital was moved out of London, the history of Coram’s Fields is preserved by a Foundling Museum located nearby in Brunswick Square, an establishment which, in maintaining both the original hospital’s art gallery and a fine collection of Handel memorabilia, remains open to the public to this day.
Transformed into a small park during the 1930’s, the grounds of the Foundling Hospital were re-named Coram’s Fields and opened to the public by the Harmsworth printing family in the mid twentieth century, a period during which both an animal enclosure and a playing field were established upon the premises.
Currently little more than a concrete courtyard surrounded by a ring of diminutive chalets, Coram’s Fields remains a surprisingly secluded stretch of urban parkland situated within walking distance from central London.
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FRANCIS SKARYNA BELARUSSIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Finchley
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Situated in north Finchley, the Francis Skaryna Belarussian library and Museum, is solitarily devoted to the preservation of books published in the Russian, Polish and Belarussian languages.
Initially compiled from the library of a Belarussian Catholic Mission which, in being operative in Finchley during the 1940’s, once served as a meeting place for the “Zyccio” and “Run” student organisations, “The Francis Skaryna Belaussian Library and Museum” was originally constituted from a collection of texts preserved for the mission by a man named Ceslaus Sipovic.
Substantially enlarged in 1958 with the addition of the collection of the Greek catholic Priest Leo Garudyka to it’s catalogue, a collaboration through which the archive, then known as, the “Biblioteca Alboruthena”, became the largest collection of Belarussian work in Western Europe, “The Frances Skaryna Belarussian Library and Museum”, was eventually opened as a public library upon the premises of St. Cyril’s school along Holden Road in 1971, a period after which the archive was re-named in homage of the East Slavonic and Belarussian publishing pioneer “Francis Skaryna”,
Possessing a horde of over thirty thousand books, some of which were printed in the seventeenth century, The Francis Skaryna Belarussian Library and Museum’s collection presently extends to encompass a vast amount of literature from the Belarussian Democratic Republic, a selection of Belarussian religious periodicals and a number of rare eighteenth and nineteenth century church records.
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FREUD MUSEUM
Hampstead
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Situated upon the premises of 20 Maresfield Gardens in Hampstead, a location in which the great twentieth century psycho-analyst Sigmund Freud was recorded to have lived after having escaped the Nazi annexation of Austria during the second world war, The Freud museum is devoted to Sigmund Freud and the modern psycho-analytic method.
Recorded to have been inhabited by Freud in the late 1930’s, a period during which he wrote “Muses and Monotheism” the premises of the Freud Museum continued to be occupied by the psycho-analyst’s daughter “Anna” through until 1982, a woman who, in herself being a successful child therapy pioneer, wished to preserve the house as a museum,
Exhibiting an extensive catalogue of Freud memorabilia, a collection which, in including a reliuqary of antiques, contemporary art and painted furniture, extends to encompass both a portrait of the psycho-analyst painted by Salvador Dali and the couch upon which Freud practised his celebrated “free association” technique, The Freud museum represents, alongside, a sister museum devoted to the psycho-analyst in Vienna, a worthy tribute to a man who many would consider to be the founder of modern of psychology.
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FUSION ARTS CENTRE
Kingston
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Founded in 2004 by Janie Harcand, the Fusion Arts Centre was initially conceived to compensate for the absence of public arts spaces in the Kingston area.
Recorded to have collaborated with Kingston University upon a number of projects, The Fusion Arts Centre was, during the early twenty first century, offered premises on Eden Street in Kingston, a location in which it should fulfill it’s potential as an arts venue.
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GALTON COLLECTION
UCL
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Located upon the campus of University College London along Gower Street, The Galton Collection is devoted to the life of Sir Francis Galton, a man who, in being recorded to have been Charles Darwin’s cousin was also notably a child prodigy in his own right.
Instrumental in pioneering many aspects of meteorological and forensic science throughout the late nineteenth century, Sir Francis Galton was recorded to have established the Eugenics Record Office in 1904, a facility, which, in subsequently being re-named “Galton’s Eugenics Laboratory” beneath the direction of Karl Pearson in 1907, served as the pretext for the Galton Collection.
Primarily concerned with the science of eugenics and the theory of genetic inheritance, a discipline through which it was deemed possible to perfect the human race, The Galton Collection, refers back to an era in which what were considered to be physiological deficiencies in the human model were deemed soluble.
Observed to have collaborated with both Karl Pearson and Sir William Flinders Petrie, during the early twentieth century, Sir Francis Galton was recorded to have been Knighted in 1909 shortly before bequeathing his collection to medical science in 1911.
Recorded to have published both the Annals of Eugenics and the Annals of Human Genetics in 1925, The Galton Collection continued to be administrated by Karl Pearson after Galton’s death throughout the early twentieth century before falling beneath the jurisdiction of a number of different professors through until 1996 when the collection became part of University College London.
Placed beneath the direction of Nick Wood in 2009, The Galton Collection is currently open to the public and presently offers an intriguing insight into the hopes and aspirations of the pre-war era.
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GASWORKS GALLERY
Kennington
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Established in 1994 within the proximity of the Oval Cricket ground along Vauxhall Street, The Gasworks Gallery is devoted to the exhibition of contemporary international art.
Part of the Triangle Network, a consortium of thirty arts groups which, through collaboration with both Africa and the Soviet Union, currently presents a wide set of opportunities for young artists, The Gasworks Gallery presently houses fifteen artists studios and a number of residences for both local and international usage, a pretext beneath which the establishment maintains a cosmopolitan ideal.
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GEFFRYE MUSEUM
Shoreditch
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Situated along Kingsland Road in Shoreditch, The Geffrye Museum represents an intriguing foray into the more familiar aspects of London’s cultural history.
Based around a series of restored iron mongers almshouses which were recorded to have been commissioned by the former Lord mayor of London Sir Robert Geffrye in 1714, the Geffrye Museum is devoted to the history of domestic conventions from the seventeenth century through to the present era, being composed of eleven rooms dedicated to different periods of London’s history.
Opened in 1914, as a museum of the home, The Geffrye Museum was extended in 1998 by the Branson Coates architectural firm, a period during which a number of novel features were added to the premises.
Located within an extensive garden, which, like the museum is devoted to different periods of history, The Geffrye museum remains a fine location to visit during summer months and has also earned renown for staging excellent Christmas exhibitions during the winter period.
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GOLDEN HIND
Southwark
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Originally called the Pelican , the Golden Hind was, when operational, a traditional timber hulled sixteenth century English galleon.
Commissioned by Queen Elizabeth the First to sail to South America beneath the command of Sir Francis Drake in 1577, an assignment during which Drake achieved acclaim for both circumnavigating the world and discovering Nova Albion in North America, The Golden Hind served as the epitome of high adventure and profiteering for countless subsequent generations of naval enthusiasts.
Re-named in honour of Sir Christopher Hatton by Drake during the sixteenth century, The Golden Hind earned notoriety for capturing and robbing a Spanish galleon named the “Neustra Senora De La Concepcion” in 1579, an escapade after which Queen Elizabeth was recorded to have boarded the ship as it lay moored at Deptford and bestowed a knighthood upon Drake, an incident which, in being immortalised with the epithet “He gave her treason to pay for the national debt”, led to the vessel’s retirement and usage for public display at Deptford throughout the seventeenth century.
Although the original ship has long since succumbed to decay, a number of replicas of the celebrated sixteenth century vessel have subsequently been constructed, a list of examples which, in extending to include a version made for the Adventure Island Theme Park in Southend on Sea during the 1940’s and one built in Devon during the mid-twentieth century, ultimately resulted in the re-construction presently on display at Pickford’s Wharf in Southwark.
Riding upon an underframe made in Devon by by J.Hinkson and Son, the replica of the Golden Hind currently on display in Southwark was meticulously fashioned in accordance with authentic sixteenth century records by Loring Christiansen Norgarrd, Albert Elledge and Art Blum in 1968, a term beneath which the vessel undertook a full sea voyage from Plymouth to San Francisco before eventually being moored at St. Mary Overie dock in 1996.
For those fascinated by the naval heritage of England and the many sea-faring traditions maintained by the English throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries then an inspection of the Golden Hind comes highly recommended.
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GOLDSMITH’S CENTRE
Clerkenwell
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Founded upon the premises of a Victorian boarding school in Clerkenwell’s design quarter by the Goldsmith’s Company during the early twenty first century, the Goldsmith’s Centre was officially opened to the public by Princess Alexandra in 2012.
Housing a lively bench cafeteria and staging a number of public exhibitions events, The Goldsmiths Centre also organises training courses for crafting gold and setting jewellery, tutorials which, in referring back to the practise of apprenticeship which the Goldsmith’s company was recorded to have conducted in the fourteenth century, grants an authoritative insight into the metallurgist’s art.
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GORDON MUSEUM OF PATHOLOGY
Whitechapel
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Situated in two wood panelled rectangular rooms upon the premises of Guy’s Hospital in Whitechapel, The Gordon Museum of Pathology, originates from a collection of artefacts which, in being recorded to have been present at the hospital since 1802, were incorporated into the scheme of a small museum by the medical curator and lecturer in morbid anatomy for Guy’s medical school, “Thomas Hodgkin” in 1826
Substantially enlarged in 1905 with a donation from Robert Gordon, the governor of Guy’s Hospital, The Gordon Museum of Pathology, rapidly accumulated a horde of interesting pathological and surgical items, a lists of articles which, in including a number of kidneys, adrenal glands and lymph nodes preserved as specimen by Thomas Hodgkin, Thomas Addison, Richard Bright and Sir Astley Paston Cooper, extends to encompass both an original example of Joseph Lister’s antiseptic spray, the Joseph Towne collection of Anatomical and Dermatological Wax Models and a number of paintings by the anatomical artist Eleanor Crook.
Recently reorganised by a panel of Doctors and Directors, The Gordon Museum of Pathology presently features a number of new exhibits devoted to both D.N.A sampling and M.R.I usage in the diagnosis of Malaria, a series of displays which, in extending to encompass the “Lamp Qau” pre-operative tumour paintings, charts the many advances that have been made by medicine throughout the twentieth century.
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GRANT MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
UCL
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Situated along Gower Street, The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy was initially established in 1828 by Robert Edward Grant as a teaching college of zoological specimen and material dissection.
Informally curated since 1850, The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy was bequeathed as a Museum by Grant in 1875, an event after which the establishment’s collection was substantially extended by Edwin Ray Lancaster.
Displaying a vast collection of items which in, featuring a catalogue of rare and unique specimen donated by The Imperial College, Queen Mary University and London Zoo, amongst it’s inventory, includes a horde of items once owned by the great Victorian intellectual Thomas Huxley, The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy’s collection presently extends to encompass the taxidermological remains of number of extinct species such as “the Thylacine”, “the Qaugga”, “the Tasmanian Tiger” and “the Dodo”.
Once situated in the Darwin Building on the University College of London’s campus, The Grant Museum of Zoology And Comparative Anatomy was subsequently moved to the Thomas Lewis Room in the University’s Rockerfeller building. a location in which it remains open to the public to this day.
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GRAYS INN
Lincoln’s Inn
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Within walking distance of Lincoln’s Inn in Holborn lies Gray’s Inn, a fourteenth century court of chancery situated in the medieval manor of Portpoole.
Established by Baron Grey of Wilton during the reign of Edward the Third, Gray’s Inn was, like Lincoln’s Inn, occupied by lawyers who had migrated into Bloomsbury from the city after the abolition of legal education in London, a period after which the court was acquired by Sheen priory, an interest which fell beneath the jurisdiction of Henry the Eighth during the dissolution of the monasteries.
Patronised by Elizabeth the First in the sixteenth century, an era in which the manor house was extended and the garden extensively modified by Sir Francis Bacon, Gray’s Inn was notable for having staged a number of William Shakespeare’s plays during the playwrite’s life-time, a venue which also included a fine production of “The Misfortunes of Arthur”, by Thomas Hughes and a series of masked balls for the feast of the epiphany held annually upon the premises.
A place of post-graduate study for Oxford and Cambridge pupils during the seventeenth century, Gray’s Inn prospered beneath the Stuart monarchy but unfortunately suffered under the Commonwealth, experiencing a plague throughout the “Caroline era” of the 1630's.
Divided between “Readers”, “Ancients” and “Benchers” the hierarchy of Grey’s Inn bears many attributes in common with that of Lincoln’s inn which also employs a tri-partite system of “Clerks”, “Fellows” and “Benchers”, these degrees of distinction effectively representing a form of meritocracy run by “Pensions” that respectively qualify and disqualify the disciplines of tutelage, practise and study.
Possessing an extensive library constructed in 1555 to house Lord Bacon’s books, a structure renovated in 1958 by Sir Edward Maufe after having sustained damage during the blitz, Grey’s Inn boasts an archive of more than 11,000 volumes including, “Lord Bacon’s books”, and a fine collection of wood-engravings and paintings, including a vestibule carved from the hull of a Spanish galleon and a portrait of Queen Elizabeth the first.
Once the work-place of such notable individuals as Samuel Pepys and Charles Dickens, Gray’s Inn has, throughout it’s history, always been associated with the English literary tradition, having acted as an editorial suite to legal practioners ever since the Elizabethan era.
Although Gray’s Inn is presently inaccessible to the public without residential permission, an exhibition of mosaics, murals and sculptures known as the Calthorpe project remains open in the area and can be inspected freely by the public.
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GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL MUSEUM AND ARCHIVE
Camden
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Conceived by Charles West in 1848 through association with the publication of a series of lectures upon the topic of how to tend of sick children, Great Ormond Street Hospital was officially founded in 1852, a period during in which the young were widely considered disposable and medical care for children was unobtainable.
Recorded to have employed a woman named Mrs. Francis Willey as it’s first Matron, Great Ormond Street Hospital was notably supported by Charles Dickens throughout the first years of it’s foundation, a period during which the celebrated Victorian author presented a public reading of his book “A Christmas Carol” before an audience of sick children upon the premises.
Extended, in 1869, with the acquisition of Cromwell House, a large seventeenth Century Mansion on Highgate Hill which, in being used as both a convalescent home and student lecture hall, notably served as the training college for Princess T’samai the daughter of the Ethiopian emperor Haille Selasie, Great Ormond Street Hospital, was first opened in it’s present location in 1875, an event swiftly followed by the foundation of a nursing school upon the premises.
Recorded to have provided nursing services for private houses during the late nineteenth century, Great Ormond Street Hospital was, in 1888, further improved with the establishment of a medical school upon it’s premises, an interest which, in being distinguished with the description of a host of debilitating diseases by a number of eminent practitioners, was notably the location in which princess Mary trained as a nurse,
Equipped with a radiography unit in 1903, Great Ormond Street Hospital was, during the early twentieth century, instrumental in the invention of a number of medical aids including both the fireproof orthopedic splint and “the top hat”, a cylindrical vessel for administering anesthetics.
Responsible for the foundation of a second convalescent home at Tadworth Court in 1927, an interest which was observed to have staged donkey rides for children, Great Ormond Street Hospital was, in 1929 notably granted the rights to J.M Barry’s popular fiction novel Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, a gift donated by the author in recognition of the hospital’s role in supporting children.
Substantially extended with the opening of the Southwood building in 1938, Great Ormond Street Hospital suffered a degree of bomb damage during the air-raids of the blitz, although the establishment continued to operate throughout the war, being partnered with the University College of London’s Institute of Child Health in 1946.
Responsible for performing an amount of research into Leukemia during the 1950’s, Great Ormond Street Hospital was also instrumental in pioneering both heart and lung by-pass surgery during the mid twentieth century, a programme which in being conducted through association with the development of a shunt valve for hydrocephalus, a project notably assisted by the popular children’s author Roald Dahl, was ultimately to result in the creation of the “Berlin heart”, a completely artificial human circulatory organ in 2004.
Equipped with a state of the art CT Scanner during the mid 1970’s, a device designed to facilitate the diagnosis of ailments by presenting detailed images of the body’s internal scheme, Great Ormond Street Hospital, continued to further the understanding of many common ailments throughout the late twentieth century.
Substantially extended in 2004 with the construction of Weston House, Great Ormond Street Hospital was further enlarged with the addition of the “Octav Botnar Wing”, “a Birth Defects Centre” and “the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building” to it’s scheme during the early twenty first century.
Currently the site of a museum devoted to the treatment of children’s illnesses, Great Ormond Street Hospital is presently open to the public and provides a diverse cross-section of information upon medicine’s many advances in the field of child care.
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GAURDS MUSEUM
Westminster
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Located in the Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk, the Guards Museum serves as the quarters of five regiments of foot guards, “the Grenadier guards”, “the Cold-Stream Guards”, “the Scots guards”, “the Irish guards” and “the Welsh guards”.
Assigned to protect the queen at Royal Palaces, the guards are traditionally clothed in red uniforms and bearskin hats and remain a familiar sight in London where they may frequently be observed patrolling about the periphery St. James’ Palace.
Opened in 1988, The Guards Museum, provides an interesting insight into the history of the Royal guards and their role in protecting the Queen.
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GUILDHALL
Barbican
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Reputed to have been the site of an ancient Roman amphitheatre owned by Brutus of Troy in the first millennium Anno Domini, an era during which the giants Gog and Magog were legendarily tethered to it’s gates, “Guildhall” situated upon Gresham Street in central London, remains one of the most well established locations in the capital.
Recorded to have been occupied by the Saxons between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period throughout which a number of buildings were built upon the site, the current Guildhall replete with a library and an assortment of medieval crypts and print rooms was constructed in it’s present form during the fifteenth century, a pretext beneath which the premises were registered to have been used to conduct affairs of state since 1502.
Notable for staging legal trials, notably those pertaining to the gunpowder plot and those relating to a number of protests waged against taxation by American colonists, much of Guildhall was, alongside many other buildings in the capital, damaged during the great fire of London, a period after which the architect George Dance was commissioned to renovate the structure’s grand entrance hall in a Hindoostani Gothic style.
Renovated in the mid-nineteenth century by the city of London architect Sir Horace Jones, Guildhall suffered further damage during the bomb-strikes of the blitz, a period after which the premises were extensively restored by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
Boasting a Clockmaker’s museum, an old library devoted to preservation of company records and a fine art gallery established in 1885 to house the collection of the City of London Corporation, the great square of Guildhall can be patrolled freely by the public and remains an intriguing and historically important location to this day.
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H.M.S BELFAST
Southwark
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Constructed in 1936 by Harland and Wolff as a Royal Navy Light Cruiser, The H.M.S Belfast, was, together with it’s sister ships the H.M.S Southampton and the H.M.S Newcastle named in homage to a coastal city.
Powered by four three drum oil-fired Admiralty water tube boilers and a battery of Parsons geared steam turbines, The H.M.S. Belfast was, in being armed with fifteen six inch guns and capable of launching two “Supermarine Walrus” amphibious bi-planes into the air, initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany.
Assigned to the Scapa flow in 1939, the H.M.S Belfast was re-conditioned as a Second Town Class Cruiser in 1942 after having been damaged by a mine, a period after which, beneath the captaincy of G.A Scott, the vessel was assigned to intercept German ships returning from Normandy.
Recorded to have both participated in the Normandy landings during operation Overlord and assisted in the destruction of the German warship “Scharnhorst” at the battle of North Cape, the H.M.S Belfast was, in 1943, assigned to escort Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union, a process through which the vessel both became engaged in number of voyages to the far East and witnessed further action during the Korean war before finally being retired from service in 1963,
Acquired by a consortium consisting of the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Ministry of defence in 1971, the H.M.S Belfast was subsequently moored by Queen’s walk in the Pool of London and opened to the public as a museum ship.
Currently sentried by an assortment of mannequins dressed in naval clothing, The H.M.S Belfast, presently represents both an interesting and informative interpretation of naval life during the second world war .
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HACKNEY MUSEUM
Hackney
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Located at 1 Reading Lane in Hackney, The Hackney Museum is devoted to the people and history of Hackney.
Classified as a technology and learning centre, The Hackney museum, was, during the 1980’s drawn into collaboration with the Paul Hamlyn foundation, an organisation which, in being established to grant opportunities to the disadvantaged, was ultimately recorded to have been bequeathed to the museum in 2001.
Displaying a fine collection of exhibits which in including a host of modern domestic items extends to encompass an authentic Victorian fireplace, “the Hackney Hoard” a cache of American dollars discovered in a local garden, Rulzbacker’s flint, a fire lighting device from Nazi Germany, a 1,000 year old Viking log boat and the celebrated author Daniel Defoe’s tomb-stone, The Hackney Museum also possesses an extensive library, which amongst other things, contains a comprehensive selection of both first world war propaganda posters and old photographs.
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HALL PLACE GARDENS
Erith
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Situated upon the grounds of a fine Tudor mansion built from the bricks of neighbouring Lesnes Abbey for the former Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Champney, Hall Place Gardens in South East London, remains a fairly well preserved 65 acre country estate to this day.
Sold in 1649 by the High Sheriff of Kent, Sir John Austen, a period during which a second wing was added to the house, Hall place Gardens, was, in 1772, acquired by Sir Francis Dashwood, a member of the notorious “Hellfire Club”, a group of eighteenth century occultists initially conceived by Philip, Duke of Wharton as “The Order Of The Friars Of St. Francis Of Wycombe”, a period during which Dashwood was also recorded to have commissioned Nicholas Revett to renovate the thirteenth century Cistercian Abbey of Medmenham in High Wycombe with a number of subterranean vaults for the performance of Greek rituals and Black masses.
Counting both John Montagu and Benjamin Franklin amongst it’s membership and adopting the slogan “Do What thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law”, a standard taken from Francois Rabelais’ references to the fictional Abbey of “Theleme”, the Hellfire Club, became implicated in devil worship, black magic, prostitution and vice throughout the late eighteenth century, a reputation which, in attracting criticism from Robert Walpole added to the club’s allure.
Used as a boarding school through to the nineteenth century, Hall Place Gardens is situated within beautifully land-scaped grounds, a plot which includes an immaculate topiary lawn planted in 1935 by Lady Limerick to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second amongst it’s catalogue.
Used as an American Army Communications Centre during the Second World War, Hall Place gardens was opened to the public in 1952, a period after which it served as a headquarters for the Libraries and Museums Service, a museum currently being situated upon the first floor of the house.
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HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM
Mayfair
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Inconspicuously located above a shop along Brook Street in Mayfair The Handel House Museum was, during the early eighteenth century, recorded to have been occupied by the great English composer George Frederick Handel.
Inhabited by Handel between 1723 and 1759, The Handel House Museum was, in serving as the premises upon which the composer wrote many of his operas, oratorios and ceremonial works, recorded to have been the location from which many of the concerts that the musician staged at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens were organised.
Appointed as the Commander of the Chapel Royal by George the Second during the early eighteenth century, Handel House is notably situated within the proximity of Handel’s Parish Church in Hanover square, a location in which an organ that was reputedly used by the composer still exists to this day.
Largely neglected during the nineteenth century, Handel house was initially conceived as a museum by the eminent Handel expert Stanley Sadie in 1959, a proposition which, in coinciding with the occupation of the property neighbouring the house by the rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix during the 1960’s was finally realised in the late twentieth century.
Opened to the public in 2001 by the Handel House Trust, The Handel House Museum, boasts both a fine Georgian interior fashioned to resemble that which the musician would have occupied when resident upon the premises, a chamber organ and a fine collection of harpsichords and clavichords amongst it’s catalogue of attractions.
Presently occupied by Cevanne Horrock Hopayian, a man who in serving as the establishment’s composer in residence, regularly stages both concerts and recitals, The Handel House Museum, currently offers a fascinating insight into the history of both English chamber music and the precarious conventions of live performance.
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HARD ROCK CAFE VAULTS
Mayfair
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Founded in 1971 along Old Park Lane, The Hard Rock Cafe vaults are devoted to the exhibitions of items relating to modern contemporary rock music.
Situated in the former vaults of a branch of Coutt’s bank, a stronghold which once protected the Queen’s wealth, The Hard Rock Cafe Vaults currently display an extensive collection of items collated together from the most recent era of musical history.
Diplaying a selection of guitars owned by celebrated rock performers including Elvis Presley, Pete Townshend, Glen Matlock, Slash, Jeff Beck, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, David Byrne, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton the Hard Rock Cafe Vaults also exhibits a horde of unique vestments worn on stage including Chris Daughtrey’s stage outfit, a coat and cape worn by Elvis Presley, a silver suit worn by Eric Clapton and a bustier worn by Madonna.
Housing an amount of Beatles memorabilia including a number of “war is over postcards” made by John Lennon The Hard Rock Cafe Vaults’ collection also extends to encompass a number of novel personal items amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits including Madonna’s bank card and an antique chair once owned by Freddy Mercury.
Equipped with an excellent restaurant which serves traditional American food, The Hard Rock Cafe Vaults are currently open to the public and offer a fascinating insight into the history of twentieth century music.
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HAVERING MUSEUM
Upminster
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Founded in 2010 the Havering Museum is constituted from two separate sites, the first located upon the premises of the old Romford brewery on Romford High Street and the second along Hall lane in Upminster, an establishment which, in being situated within a traditional tithe barn, is also known as the Museum of Nostalgia.
Founded by a committee of local people, including the Hornchurch and District historical societies, both The Tithe Barn Museum of Nostalgia and The Havering Museum are primarily devoted to the heritage of Havering, a venue which, in including a horde of interesting exhibits, features a number of items pertaining to both the region’s Roman past and Ind Coope’s celebrated Star Brewery.
Constructed in 1450, upon the premises of Upminster Hall, an establishment which in being granted to the monks of Waltham Abbey by Harold the second in 1050, possesses a fine central hall constructed during the reign of Henry the sixth, the premises of the Tithe Barn Museum of Nostalgia were, in being occupied by Hall Farm throughout the fifteenth century, recorded to have been employed as a hunting lodge.
Largely demolished during the dissolution of the monasteries, the grounds of the Tithe Barn Museum of Nostalgia were granted to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex by Henry the Eighth in 1540, a period after which the property was recorded to have remained in usage as a domestic agricultural store house.
Occupied by the Latham family in 1543, the premises of the Tithe Barn Museum of Nostalgia were observed to have been purchased in 1677 by Edward Noel the First Earl of Gainsborough before being passed to the Branfil family at the end of the seventeenth century.
Acquired by Major Godfrey Pike during the early twentieth century, the grounds of the Tithe barn Museum of Nostalgia were, in being designated for usage in conjunction with Upminster Golf Club, ultimately preserved as a museum of local history, a purpose which they continue to serve to this day.
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HAYWARD GALLERY
Southwark
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Located at the Southbank centre along Belvedere Road. The Hayward gallery was constructed shortly after London’s Festival of Britain as a forum for contemporary arts
Designed in 1968 by Dennis Crompton, Warren Chalk and Ron Herron, The Hayward Gallery was recorded to have been named in commemoration of the former leader of London County Council Sir Issac Hayward
Officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1968, a term beneath Prince Charles was noted to have likened the building to a word processor, the Hayward Gallery regularly exhibits a fine collection of contemporary art including a selection of pictures painted by Martin Creed, David Shrigley, Tracy Emin and Jeremy Deller.
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HEATHAM HOUSE
Twickenham
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Heatham house, possibly built between 1740 and 1750 in Twickenham, for Stephen Cole, a member of a wealthy brewing family, was recorded to have been occupied until 1829 by Roger Wilbraham an ardent Whig, before being eventually sold to the government in 1944, however It is almost certainly the case that the Heatham estate once extended back into the grounds of what is now the playing field of Richmond Tertiary college, a plot upon which Charles the First was rumored to have planted trees in the early seventeenth century, suggesting that a house was present upon the land at that time.
Regardless of such vagary, Heatham house was transformed into a youth centre, equipped with music rehearsal rooms and recording facilities in the nineteen fifties and remains a popular recreation centre to this day.
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HOGARTH HOUSE
Chiswick
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Not far from Chiswick House in South West London lies Hogarth house, a property once owned by the popular satirical artist, William Hogarth, a man renowned for producing a number of pencil sketches depicting the darker character of mid-nineteenth century London life.
Constructed between 1713 and 1717, Hogarth house was throughout the early eighteenth century occupied by the baker, James Downe, a period during which a number of trees were planted upon the land including an orchard of rare Mulberry bushes which still stand upon the premises.
Subsequently occupied by William Hogarth who added an impressive oriel window to the front of the building, Hogarth House was recorded to have been purchased by the Cary family in 1814 before briefly being occupied by the Wicksteed family during the mid-nineteenth century
Converted into a printing press by Hogarth’s family, in 1864, Hogarth House was maintained throughout the latter years of the nineteenth century by a team of nurserymen including Thomas Allgrove, the property being opened in 1904 as a museum after an extensive restoration by a man named Lieutenant Colonel Shipway.
Badly damaged by parachute mines in 1940, Hogarth House was further renovated by Middlesex County Council in 1951 before being re-opened as a museum devoted to the artist’s work.
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HONEYWOOD MUSEUM
Carshalton
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Situated beside Carshalton Ponds, a collection of reservoirs which, in being formed from the seepage of a subterranean spring, were thought to have been excavated in the 1630’s for usage as a cold plunge bath by Thomas Howard Earl of Arundel, Honeywood house remains, though isolated, a beautifully picturesque suburban location to this day.
Originally the site of Wandle Cottage, a building which, in being constructed during the 1680’s, was recorded to have been occupied throughout the eighteenth century by a cheesemonger named George Otway, the grounds of the present estate were purchased in 1878 by an employee of the Marion and Company photographic firm, John Pattinson Kirk, a period during which Wandle Cottage was extensively improved and re-named Honeywood House.
Requisitioned by the Council in 1939, Honeywood house was temporarily used as an air raid precaution service training centre during the second world war, a period after which the premises were eventually transformed into a Heritage Centre.
Opened as a Museum of local history in 2012, Honeywood House, currently boasts a number of intriguing exhibits including a fine Tudor gallery featuring displays devoted to Nonsuch Palace and the Wandle river, an Edwardian Billiard room, a period drawing room and an extensive collection of Edwardian toys,
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HONOURABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY MUSEUM
Finsbury
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Established in 2011 at the Armoury House on city Road, the Honourable Artillery Company Museum is devoted to the history of the Honourable Artillery Company.
Recorded to be oldest regiment in the British Army, The Honourable Artillery Company can trace it’s origins back to 1537 with the presentation of a Royal charter to The Guild of Longbows and Handguns by Henry the Eighth, an era during which pre-civil war trained bands were observed to have practised in Bishopsgate.
Officially recognised as a military regiment in 1657, The Honourable Artillery Company was, in being recorded to have assisted the City Yeomanry during the Gordon riots of 1780, also a participant in the South African war of 1900.
Affiliated with both the Territorial Army and with London’s “Special constabulary” during the early twentieth century, The Honourable Artillery Company was, alongside many other of the capital’s armed forces, militarily active throughout the Second World War.
Presently the subject of a museum exhibition, a venue which in covering the history of both Armoury House and Finsbury Barracks, displays a wide selection of uniforms, armour, silver objects and medals, The Honourable Artillery Company, remains one of the most well established and highly esteemed regiments in the British army.
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HORNIMAN MUSEUM
Dulwich
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Beside Dulwich Park in South London lies the Horniman museum, an impressive public exhibition hall peculiarly fashioned from soft Doulton stone in 1901 by Charles Harrison Townsend for the successful tea merchant, Frederick John Horniman.
Situated upon a 16 acre plot land-scaped by Charles Harrison Townsend, an area equipped with a conservatory, a twenty foot tall totem pole, a bandstand, a nature trail, an ornamental garden and a small animal enclosure, the Horniman museum possesses a fairly extensive collection of artefacts which include a number of stuffed animals and musical instruments amongst it’s catalogue, the most famous of which is an overstuffed walrus, accidentally mounted without wrinkles by a taxidermist unacquainted with the physiognomy of the breed.
Decorated with a large mosaic known as “Humanity in the House of Circumstance” designed by Robert Anning Bell, the Horniman museum was recently extended with a number of out buildings including a grass roofed library and a public aquarium.
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HOUSE OF ILLUSTRATIONS GALLERY
Saint Pancras
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Founded in Granary Square alongside central St. Martin’s during the early twenty first century by a contingent of leading book illustrators, The House of Illustrations Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of art drafted for children’s literature.
Re-located to King’s Cross in 2014, The House of Illustrations Gallery was notably given 4,000 illustrations by the illustrator of Roald Dahl’s popular children’s stories Sir Quentin Blake, a collection which presently serves as the centre piece for an exhibition devoted to the art of modern children’s books.
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HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY MUSEUM
Horse Guards Parade
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Located, in “Horse Guards” a fine Georgian building constructed by John Vardy upon the grounds of the former equestrian tilt-yard of Westminster Palace, The Household Cavalry Museum is devoted to the history of the household Cavalry, a unit which, in being composed of life guards known as “blues and royals” is assigned to protect the Queen.
Recorded to have served as the office of the commander in chief of the armed forces during the early twentieth century, a usage subsequently transferred to the Household Cavalry and London District Command, The Household Cavalry Museum has been associated with both ostlery and horse riding for many years.
Currently open to the public, The Household Cavalry Museum is unusually annexed to a stable block with a wall of glass, a feature through it is possible to observe grooms preparing horses for the changing of the guard.
Exhibiting a wide range of regimental artefacts, including helmets cutlasses and examples of Faberge silverware, The Household Cavalry Museum presently offers an fascinating insight into England’s equestrian heritage.
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HUNTERIAN MUSEUM
Lincoln’s Inn
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Initially associated with the Guild of Surgeons, an organisation which was synonymous with the Barbers Guild in London during the fourteenth century, the origins of the Hunterian Museum can be traced through to the foundation of the Royal College of Surgeons, an organisation that, in being situated within the Old Bailey during the early eighteenth century, was recorded to have moved to Lincoln’s Inn in 1797.
Located upon the premises of a fine Georgian building designed by George Dance the Younger and James Lewis in Lincoln’s Inn, The Hunterian Museum is based upon the collection of the eminent surgeon John Hunter, a man who, in being the brother of the celebrated Scottish collector William Hunter, earned renown for amassing a phenomenally extensive catalogue of unusual artefacts during the eighteenth century, a horde which, in being purchased by the government in 1799, served to pretextualise the foundation of the museum.
Possessing a catalogue of over three thousand specimen preserved in jars, The Hunterian Museum regularly exhibits a number of items donated to the establishment by Edward Jenner and Sir Joseph Banks, the collection of the celebrated fossil hunter Richard Owen, and the Evelyn tables, a series of mounted tissue samples once owned by the seventeenth century diarist John Evelyn, a list of articles which, in extending to include the surgical instruments of the doomed Scottish explorer Mungo Park, the skeleton of the Irish giant Charles Byrne and Winston Churchill’s dentures, presently represents one of the strangest reliquaries in the capital.
Also boasting an extensive library, an archive which, in featuring the annals of the Royal College of Surgeons and a number of medical journals, extends to encompass the first edition of Gray’s anatomy and the diary of the notorious grave robber Joshua Nipes, The Hunterian Museum currently grants an intriguing insight into the history of surgery.
Recently extended with a “Crystal gallery” display, designed to clarify and accentuate the finer aspects of the collection, The Hunterian Museum, yet retains many of the attributes for which the establishment earned renown throughout the Victorian era.
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ICANDO
Buckingham Palace
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Located close to Buckingham Palace in West London, ICANDO is the official Headquarters of the girl guides or “brownies”.
Recently refurbished, ICANDO offers overnight accommodation for up to seven hundred girl guides within walking distance of the city and regularly organises sight seeing tours of the capital’s landmarks, the organisation also being affiliated with the Blackland farm in West Sussex, a term beneath it stages country excursions for those interested in the England’s rural aspect.
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IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
Lambeth
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Not far from Lambeth palace lies the Bethlem Royal hospital, a magnificent building initially constructed in 1814 by the architect James Lewis as a state criminal asylum, a period during which it gained notoriety as a mad- house, granting the public audience over the lunacies of it’s intendancy.
Purchased in the early twentieth century by the proprietor of the Daily Mail newspaper, Viscount Rothermere, the hospital was granted in 1934 to the “Splendid struggling Mothers of Southwark”, a period of time during which both it’s patient wings were demolished.
Eventually sold to “the first commissioner of workshops”, Alfred Mond, who proposed to house a number of military artefacts within it’s halls, the hospital became a repository for an assortment of weapons and army vehicles requisitioned by Field Marshal Haig during the first world war, a horde which, in having been previously exhibited at both Crystal Palace and the Imperial institute in South Kensington, required storage.
Initially conceived to commemorate the sacrifices of the British Empire during the First World war in distinction to the glorification of conflict with which the exhibition has subsequently been associated, Mond’s collection was finally unveiled in Southwark as “The Imperial War Museum” by the Duke of York in 1936, a period of time during which it was popularised by the events of the Second World War and granted opportunity to improve it’s facilities, eventually expanding to encompass a petroleum warfare department, an extensive document library containing tape recordings, film footage, texts, and sketches and a number of auxiliary properties situated some distance from Southwark including the Duxford aeroplane museum in Cambridgeshire, the H.M.S Belfast battleship by Tower Bridge, the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall and a second exhibition hall in Manchester.
Situated within the grounds of the Geraldine and Mary Harmsworth park, a 12 acre expanse of urban parkland in South London, The Imperial War Museum is distinguished by a pair of naval Cannons located near it’s entrance hall, an imposing facade surrounded by a number of military monuments including a Soviet War Holocaust Memorial unveiled by George Robertson and Yuri Fokine, a Tibetan peace garden opened by the Dalai Lamma and number of concrete fragments removed from the Berlin wall during the unification of East and West Germany.
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INNS OF COURT AND CITY YEOMANRY MUSEUM
Lincoln’s Inn
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Located at 10 Stone Building in Lincoln’s Inn, “The Inns of Court and the City Yeomanry Museum” is devoted to the history of the capital’s yeomanry, an organisation which, in being recorded to have fought for King John against Robert the Bruce during the thirteenth century, is perhaps the most well established military organisation in London.
Initially a legal body which, in being managed by a panel of Judges was responsible for controlling the capital’s social issues, the city Yeomanry was recorded to have assuaged the advances of Watt Tyler during the Peasant’s rebellion of 1381 and, in being granted premises in Holborn, to have both defended England from the Spanish Armada in 1584. and participated in conflict during the English Civil War.
Christened “The Devil’s Own” by George the Third, a term which later stretched to include the title “Rough Riders”, The City yeomanry was responsible for controlling both the Jacobite rebellions of 1745 and the Gordon riots of 1780, a mandate beneath which the organisation also served to promote voluntary service during the Napoleonic conflicts.
Associated with the conscription of both the “23rd Inns of Court Rifle Volunteer Corps” during the nineteenth century, and the “27th County of London Battalion” in the early twentieth century, The City Yeomanry was recorded to have been responsible for establishing an Armoured Car Division during the second world war.
Re-named The Inns of Court and Essex Yeomanry in 2009, The City Yeomanry is currently the subject of a Museum, a establishment which, in possessing an extensive collection of artifacts, including the oldest complete set of army drums in England, features a number of exhibitions devoted to the organisation’s role in tempering civil unrest.
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INSTITUTE OF ARCHEOLOGY MUSEUM
UCL
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Located upon the campus of University College London in Gordon Square, The Institute of Archeology Museum is currently one of the largest archeological centres in the world.
Originally situated upon the grounds of St. John’s Lodge in Regent’s Park, The Institute of Archeology Museum was conceived in the 1920’s by Mortimer Wheeler as a facility for the active research and teaching of archeology.
Opened to the public in 1937 at approximately the same time that the establishment founded what was to become both the Yate’s Classical Archeology Library and the Edwards Egyptology Library, The Institute of Archeology Museum was, in 1954, recorded to have been instrumental in the excavation of the London Mithraium, a project through which much of what is known about the capital’s pre-Norman history has been deduced.
Affiliated with both “The A.G Leventis Gallery of Cypriot and Eastern Mediterranean Archeology and “The Wolfson Archeological Science Laboratories”, a collection of ceramics and lithics from Europe, Africa, Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Pakistan, South America and the Caribbean, “The Institute of Archeology Museum” also houses “The Flinders Petrie Palestinian Collection of Egyptian pottery, a catalogue of
objects closely associated with the reliquary of the British Museum
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INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Piccadilly
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Recorded to have been founded in 1946 by Roland Penrose, Peter Watson, Herbert read, Peter Gregory, Geoffrey Grigson and E.L. Museums in the basement of a cinema along Oxford Street, The Institute of Contemporary Arts was initially conceived to establish a forum for intellectual debate outside the Royal Academy.
Moved in 1950 to premises at seventeen Dour Street in Piccadilly, an address which was once recorded to have served as Lord Horatio Nelson’s home, The Institute of Contemporary Arts acquired it’s present premises at Nash House along Carlton Terrace in 1968.
Currently equipped with two cinemas and a fully equipped theatre, The Institute of Contemporary Arts presently exhibits a fine collection of pictures which, in including paintings by such notable artists as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and Georges Braque amongst it’s catalogue, extends to encompass a number of works by Yoko Ono, Damien Hirst and Gerhard Richter.
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ISLAND HISTORY TRUST
Mile End
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Founded along Mile End road in 1981, the Island History trust was initially conceived as a showcase for a collection of photographs collated together by residents of the area, a term beneath which locals were interviewed to provide an insight into the Island’s past.
Charting the history of the Isle of Dogs back to the Tudor era when it was, through association with Coldharbour recorded to have been occupied by a Greenwich farm, The Island History trust details the construction of a number of Windmills upon the island during the late seventeenth century, an interest which, in being the origin of the Millwall area, was synonymous with foundation of Temple Mills in the Lea Valley.
Displaying a number of exhibits describing the usage of naval slipways upon the banks of Thames during the eighteenth century a concern which ultimately led to the foundation of the West India Docks in the area in 1802, The Island History Trust also features exhibitions devoted to both The construction of the Great Eastern steam ship by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the architecture of William Cubitt the master builder of Cubitt Town.
Possessing records pertaining to both the Bullivant’s Wharf disaster and the foundation of the McDougalls flour company, The Island History Trust was, in 2014 placed beneath the management of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, a term beneath which the trust presently serves as both a local history library and archive.
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ISLINGTON MUSEUM
Islington
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Once situated upon the premises of Islington town Hall, The Islington Museum was recorded to have been re-located to the basement of Finsbury Library in 2008.
Currently managed by Islington Council, The Islington Museum displays an extensive collection of artefacts which, in including items pertaining to social history, childhood, food, drink, fashion, leisure and healthcare, extends to encompass a number of displays devoted to radicalism and both the first and second world wars.
Featuring a bust of Vladimir Lenin which reputedly had to be removed from Islington town hall because it was repeatedly defaced, The Islington Museum attempts to investigate the period during which the great political leader lived in Clerkenwell, a study which, in including letters from both local residents and immigrant communities during the Great war, serves to pretextualise the many events that led to the Storming of the Winter Palace and the foundation of the Soviet Union.
Including a variety of displays devoted to the eminent feminist writer Mary Wollestoncroft, and the women’s health pioneer Marie Stopes, The Islington Library also houses a number of books which were recorded to have been stolen from the Islington library and defaced by the homosexual lovers Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell.
Regularly hosting a selection of walks, talks and children’s events, The Islington Museum currently offers an intriguing and informative insight into the both history of Islington and the heritage of North London.
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IVORY MANSION
Crayford
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Situated upon the premises of the Ladbroke’s greyhound stadium in Crayford, a venue which, in owing it’s origins to a venue established in Bexley during the 1930’s, earned renown throughout the late twentieth century for it’s televisual coverage of matinee races, The Ivory Mansion is presently one of the few forums in London devoted solitarily to dog racing
Owned by the celebrated book-making firm “Ladbrokes”, the Ivory Mansion, charts the history of both greyhound racing and the gambling tradition which has, since conception, been associated with it.
Currently open to the public, The Ivory mansion is presently equipped with excellent amenities, including a cafeteria in which visitors can converse upon the out-come of races.
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JACK THE RIPPER MUSEUM
Whitechapel
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Located along Cable Street in Whitechapel, “the Jack the Ripper Museum” is devoted to the study of the notorious “ripper” murders which occurred in London during the late nineteenth century.i
Extending across five floors designed to re-create the incident of the ripper’s most infamous felonies, “the Jack the Ripper Museum” includes a representation of a gentleman’s sitting room in Mitre Square, a location in which a waxwork figure of the murdered Catherine Eddows is discovered by a standing model of police constable Watkins, a facsimile of a Whitechapel police station in which a model of Chief inspector Abberline sits as Watkins is heard blowing his whistle from an unseen location to report the incident, a scene depicting the bedroom of the similarly murdered Mary Jane Kelly in which a sheaf of straw matting used as bedding lies in blood soaked disarray, a representation of a Victorian mortuary and an interpretation of the Ripper’s sitting room in which a picture painted by Walter Sickert, who was notably a suspect in the murder enquiry, hangs over a table covered with newspaper clippings.
Also including a display devoted to the battle of Cable Street in 1936, an event which, in being commemorated by a mural erected at St. George’s town hall, pertained the assignment of the police to supervise a British Union “black shirts” rally against a band of Jewish anarchists and communist groups who, upon barricading Cable Street, started to riot, “The Jack the Ripper Museum”, provides both an interesting and informative insight into the many criminal incidents which serve to distinguish London’s East End.
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JEWEL HOUSE
Tower Hamlets
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Recorded to have served as a repository for medieval plate and ceremonial jewellery during the medieval era, a horde which in being preserved beneath the supervision of an appointed keeper of the Privy Wardrobe since 1207, was instated at a specifically designated Jewel House in 1255, The Tower of London, accrued a phenomenal collection of set gemstones during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a period during which such articles were considered cosmetic auxiliaries being worn to win approval at public occasions.
Assigned in 1303 to guard a cache of gems which, in having been stored at the Chamber of the Pyx at Westminster Abbey, was threatened by an incident of attempted theft, The Tower of London was endowed in 1378 with a new Jewel House placed beneath the protection of a keeper who, in preserving his charge in wooden boxes to which he alone possessed the key, stands as one of the first instances of safety deposit methodology in English history.
Placed on public display beneath the charge of Sir Giles Talbot in 1660, the gems, then known as the crown jewels were again threatened by Colonel Thomas Blood in 1671, a man who, in having over powered the Tower’s custodians succeeded in stealing it’s horde, an event which in witnessing the recovery of the jewels, resulted in the smelting of much of the tower’s spare plate down for mercantile purposes in 1680.
Remaining on display throughout the eighteenth century beneath the guardianship of the Lord Chamberlain’s office, a period during which visitors were, as a safety measure, only allowed to see the gems from a distance, the security of the Jewel House was again improvised in 1815 with the addition of a guard rail to it’s scheme following an incident in which a female visitor plucked the state crown from repose and proceeded to dismantle it.
A popular tourist attraction during the 1830’s, The compliment of the Jewel House was, in 1842, removed and placed into a new building specifically designed for it’s presentation, a situation in which it remained through until 1967, when the horde was moved to the Waterloo Barracks where items such as state trumpets, maces and plates were displayed upon the ground floor of the premises and more delicate coronation regalia was exhibited in a subterranean vault, a location in which it was thought to be able to withstand a nuclear attack.
Placed beneath the jurisdiction of the historical Palaces Agency in 1990, The crown jewels were again re-housed upon the premises of a newly constructed Waterloo Block in 1994, a venue which in being opened by Queen Elizabeth the Second, was both equipped with a travelator to move visitors at an uncongested pace through the exhibition and protected by a battery of six inch thick steel doors
Preserving a collection of 23,578 diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, many of which are set decoratively into metal, The Jewel House, also contains examples of the velvet and ermine clothing traditionally worn by royalty for official occasions.
Presently including an amount of video footage which, in depicting the detail of regal coronations, is set to Handel’s ceremonial music, amongst it’s list of attractions, The Jewel House remains a secure concern being protected by C.C.T.V cameras, panes of bomb proof glass and a detachment of guards requisitioned from the army to protect it’s interests.
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JEWEL TOWER
Westminster
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Located along Abingdon Street to the South of Westminster Palace, The Jewel tower was recorded to have been constructed in 1365 by Henry De Yevele, Hugh Herland and William Sleaford to house Edward the Third’s treasure, a designation through which the premises were, in containing items of ceremonial regalia. jewellery and a quantity of silver plate which was frequently exchanged as currency. thought to have served as the king’s privy wardrobe.
A traditional medieval crenellated stone building, the Jewel Tower consists of three storeys containing an amount of elaborately carved vaulting including sixteen Reigate stone bosses, a structure which, in once having been both surrounded by a moat fed from the Thames and possessing grilled windows, would, during the medieval era, have represented a formidable preserve.
Employed as a treasury through until 1512, The Jewel Tower was damaged by fire during the reign of Henry the Eighth, a circumstance which, in causing the king to move it’s contents to Westminster Hall, pretextualised the building’s usage as a royal residence, the structure being recorded to have been furnished with gaming tables and dolls for the king’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth in 1547.
Used during the late sixteenth century to store records by the House of Lords, a period during which documentation was thought to have been preserved in locked chests on the second floor of the premises, the Jewel Tower was recorded to have been employed as a scullery by Parliament in 1621, a period during which the building was improved by Thomas Hicks.
Recorded to have fallen subject to neglect during the early eighteenth century, the Jewel tower was renovated by Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1716, a period after which the building was observed to have served as an office for Parliamentary Clerks.
Restored to an approximation of it’s current appearance in 1834, The Jewel Tower continued to be used as a government record office through until 1864 when it’s contents were transferred to Victoria Tower in Sir Charles Barry’s new completed Houses of Parliament.
Occupied by the Standard Weights and Measurements department in 1869, a period during which the building was, in being the site of a museum, first called the Jewel Tower through association with the Tower of London slightly further east, “The Jewel Tower” was, in 1938 recorded to have housed both an amount of weight testing equipment and a number of fluid glasses.
Damaged by bombs during the air strikes of the blitz, the Jewel Tower was restored in 1948 by the ministry of works, a period after which the building’s grounds were opened to the public and a college green was planted upon the premises.
Used to house a number of archeological displays throughout the later part of the twentieth century, a forum which, in extending to include both an exhibition of Parliament and a display devoted to the evolution of the tower, The Jewel Tower is, in being equipped with a cafeteria and a gift shop, presently open to the public and provides an intriguing insight into London’s medieval history.
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JEWISH MILITARY MUSEUM
Barnet
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Located along Harmony Way in Barnet, the Jewish Military Museum is devoted to the history of the Jewish armed forces from the 18th century through to the present.
Founded by “AJEX”, or the Association of Jewish ex-service men and women, the Jewish military museum was conceived to banish the notion that Jewish people habitually avoided conflict.
Substantially expanded at the end of the twentieth century with contributions from Henry Morris and Martin Sugarman, The Jewish Military Museum charts the role that Jewish soldiers played at the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo, the museum also covering Jewish involvement in the Boer war, Sir Oswald Moseley’s antisemitism rallies during the 1930’s, and Jewish military activity throughout both the Falklands crisis and the war in Afghanistan.
Possessing a wide range of exhibits which, in including items such as Tommy Gould’s Victoria Cross, the Diary of Florence Greenbeck and Henry Jessel’s Crimean War Medals, extends to encompass a variety of uniforms, medals, photographs, letters and documents, The Jewish Military Museum, conveys a comparatively bleak interpretation of the realities of conflict.
Amalgamated with Camden’s Jewish Museum in 2015. an establishment which, in being founded in Bloomsbury in 1932 and subsequently re-located to Raymond Burton House in Camden during the 1990’s, itself exhibits a fine selection of Jewish ceremonial art, including examples of the Lindo lamp an early type of British Menorah, The “Jewish Military Museum” serves to pretextualise many of the themes covered in The Jewish Museum’s “Holocaust Gallery”, lending gravity to accounts such as the testimony of Leon Greenman, an intern of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp during the second World War.
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KEATS HOUSE
Hampstead
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Constructed in 1815 along the eponymous Keats’ Grove in Hampstead, Keats’ House was, during the early nineteenth century, recorded to have been occupied by the celebrated romantic poet John Keats.
A fine regency style building situated within a pleasant garden distinguished by a well established seventeenth century Mulberry tree, Keats House was originally called Wentworth Place, a building which in 1816 was recorded to have been inhabited by Charles Wentworth Dilke and Charles Armitage Brown.
Occupied by John Keats between 1817 and 1820, a tenancy during which the poet contracted tuberculosis and was advised to move to a warmer climate, “Keats’ House” serves as one of the few extant testaments to a tragically brief life, the poet being recorded to have died in Italy at the age of twenty five in 1821.
Thought to have been the location in which Keats wrote “Ode to a Nightingale”, “Keats’ House” continued to be inhabited by Keats’ sister “Fanny Keats” through until 1831, a period after which the premises served as the residence of a number of notable individuals including the painter and illustrator “Henry Courtney Selous”, the retired actress and favourite of George the Fourth “Miss Chester”, the piano manufacturer, “Charles Cadby”, the physiologist “Doctor William Sharpe” and the Master of Charterhouse, “Reverend Doctor George Currey”.
Opened to the public as Keats Memorial House in 1925, an interest which, through collaboration with the descendants of Charles Armitage Brown in New Plymouth and New Zealand, managed to acquire a number of artefacts pertaining to the poet including his engagement ring to Fanny Braune and his death mask, the grounds of Keats House, were in 1931 adapted to include both a Keats’ museum and a branch library,
Re-opened through association with the Keats Foundation in the early twenty first century, Keats House remains a peculiarly melancholy tribute to unfulfilled potential.
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KELMSCOTT HOUSE
Hammersmith
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Located upon the banks of the Thames at 26 Upper Mall in Hammersmith, Kelmscott house was, during the nineteenth century, the home of the celebrated textile designer, artist, writer and socialist William Morris.
Occupied by the family of Sir Francis Ronald throughout the early nineteenth century, a period during which an electric telegraph was erected in the garden, Kelmscott House was recorded to have been inhabited by the Victorian novelist George Macdonald during the 1860’s, before finally being purchased by William Morris in 1879.
Originally called “the Retreat”, a name which William Morris changed to commemorate the Oxfordshire village in which he had lived after having left Red House in Bexley during the mid 1860’s, Kelmscott house, is notably the location in which Morris collaborated with the Socialist League in protest certain aspects of government legislation.
Recorded to have been the site from which William Morris ran the Kelmscott Press, a project which, in being privately managed upon the grounds of a nearby property, was also known as “the adventure in printing”, Kelmscott House was the address at which Morris devised the script for the printing of Geoffrey Chaucer’s medieval poem “The Canterbury Tales”.
Presently the Headquarters of the William Morris Society, an organisation which, in being founded in 1955, was recorded to have been bequeathed a collection of articles by a lady named Mrs. Marion Helena Stephenson, Kelmscott House is currently open to the public and, alongside a number of working printing presses, regularly exhibits an extensive selection of print tiles, watercolours and examples of both the wallpaper and woven textiles for which William Morris earned reknown.
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KEMPTON GREAT ENGINE MUSEUM
Kempton
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Located upon the premises of the Metropolitan Water Board pumping station at Kempton Park, a facility which, in, having served as a private water company during the Victorian era, was acquired by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1903, The Kempton Great engine Museum is, like the London Museum of water and Steam in Brentford, devoted to the history of both steam power and steam locomotion.
Based within an impressive neo-classical engine house, a building which originally occupied by two massive inverted triple expansion steam engines, The Kempton great Engine Museum, presently preserves the Kempton Great Engine, a contraption which, in measuring 62 feet in height and weighing eight hundred tonnes is, although marginally superseded, in terms of size, by the boilers aboard the H.M.S Titanic, recorded to be the largest example of it’s type ever built in Britain.
Constructed by Worthington Simpson in the 1920’s, the Kempton great engine was capable of pumping nineteen million gallons of water a day, a term beneath which it granted the people of London with a constant supply of drinking water.
De-commissioned in 1980, The Kempton Great Engine was subsequently restored to a fully operative condition, a term beneath which it was affectionately called Sir William Prescott in keeping with the Victorian convention of Christening cast iron boilers with human names.
Equipped with two railways which, in being coursed by three steam locomotives built by Kerr Stewart and company limited of Stoke on Trent, were respectively completed between 1915 and 1916, the Kempton great engine was, in consuming 110 tonnes of fuel a day, initially supplied with fuel by barge up the Thames for further transportation by rail, a costly process which, although effected throughout the second world war, was eventually scrapped in 1946.
Threatened with neglect during the latter part of the twentieth century, the remnants of the original rail system around Kempton were restored in 2002 by the Metropolitan Railway Society, a term beneath which the route currently serves as a visitor attraction.
Presently measuring three miles in length, the restored steam locomotion service in Kempton is, much like that at the London Museum of Water and Steam in Brentford, a two foot narrow gauge industrial railway, a route which in being coursed by “the Darent” an engine constructed by Andrew Barclay in 1903, currently exemplifies all of the attributes which made steam travel so sensational during the Victorian era..
Supported by the London Museum of Water and Steam in Brentford, a term beneath the tank engine “Thomas Wicksteed” has found occasion to course it’s tracks, The Kempton Great Engine Museum, is presently perhaps the finest example of a fully functioning steam powered locomotion system in London.
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KENNEL CLUB DOG ART GALLERY
Mayfair
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Founded in 1873, The Kennel club was initially recorded to have been established by Sewallis E. Shirley, a man who, in being displeased with the inconsistency of mid nineteenth century dog shows, wished to improve the management of canine exhibitions.
Recorded to have published a stud book in 1874, the Kennel club subsequently acquired the Crufts dog show from Charles Cruft during the mid twentieth century, an interest that, in having staged a number of working trials and dog agility exhibitions in the 1920’s, was notable for having formalised the categorisation of dogs into a series of distinct breeds including Hounds, Working Terriers, Gun Dogs, Pastoral Dogs, Utility Dogs and Toy Dogs.
Responsible for establishing a charity in 1987 The Kennel Club moved to Clargus Street near Green Park during the 1990’s and presently exhibits a comprehensive selection of paintings which, in being categorically divided between “British and Irish vulnerable breeds”, “Golden Retrievers”, “Fox Terriers”, “Royal Dogs” and “Dogs in War”, features the work of artists such as Maud Earl, Richard Ansuell, Arthur Wardle and Cecil Aldin within it’s catalogue,
Patronised by the Duchess of Cornwall in 2007, The Kennel Club Dog Art Gallery is presently one of the finest collections of dog paintings in the world and comes firmly recommended to those interested in both dogs and canine art.
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KINGSTON MUSEUM
Kingston
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Located along Wheatfield Way in South West London, The Kingston Museum is devoted to the local history of Kingston.
Situated upon premises that were recorded to have been built in 1904, the Kingston Museum consists of three primary exhibition halls, the first containing examples of Roman pottery, gold coins, bronze weapons and Mesolithic flint axe heads, the second displaying a number of medieval items including both a life size model of king Athelstan and a tenth century log boat and the third pertaining to Victorian cinematographic pioneer “Eadwaerd Muybridge”, a man who, in earning renown for devising a series of innovative photographic techniques during the late nineteenth century, was recorded to have both used stringed shuttles to photograph horses in motion and employed the Zoopraxiscope an early form of Zoetrope to synchronously view such images in rapid succession.
Also displaying a number of incongruous articles such as the rattles and handcuffs that were used at a local debtors prison and a horde of salt glazed pottery made by Martin brothers of Southhall, The Kingston Museum is presently the location of the “Brill Collection of watercolours”, a selection of pictures which, in being compiled by Reginald Brill between 1955 and 1971, feature a number of immediately familiar local land-scapes,
Further housing an amount of first and second world war memorabilia including models of the Hawker jets that were constructed by British Aerospace in Kingston during the 1940’s, The Kingston Museum, currently offers a fairly comprehensive chronology of the events that constitute Kingston’s history.
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KIRKALDY TESTING MUSEUM
Southwark
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Located along Southwark Street in Central London, The Kirkaldy testing Museum is devoted to the work of the great Victorian engineer David Kirkaldy, a man who, in designing a universal testing machine for appraising the tensile strength of building materials whilst working for the Napiers Vulcan ship building foundry during the mid nineteenth century, was instrumental in standardising many modern industrial procedures.
Situated in a hall designed to accommodate a massive hydraulic ram capable of exerting many tonnes of pressure, the premises of the Kirkaldy testing museum were recorded to have been managed by William George Kirkaldy during the early twentieth century before being commandeered by David William Henry Kirkaldy, a man who, in himself designing a tensile impact machine, was instrumental in both establishing the National Physics Laboratory and for testing the strength of many materials used in the construction of Wembley’s Empire stadium, Hammersmith Bridge and the Festival of Britain’s “Skylon” tower.
Also involved in the optical microscopy of metals to discover their material constitution, The Kirkaldy testing faculty was, during the hiatus of it’s activity, one of England’s foremost authorities in the field of structural dynamics.
Acquired by Tremarne and Davies in 1974, The Kirkaldy Testing Museum was eventually opened to the public as a museum in 1984, a venue which, in housing David Kirkaldy’s original testing apparatus in an operative condition also includes an example of an early twentieth century “Denison” machine amongst it’s catalogue of artefacts.
For those interested in in both the history of material trial in the aftermath of the notorious Titanic disaster and the incredible array of machines subsequently devised to proof manufactured objects, then the Kirkaldy museum comes highly recommended.
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THE L-13 LIGHT INDUSTRIAL WORSHOP
Bloomsbury
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Based upon an earlier gallery known as the Aquarium which, in being founded in Bloomsbury during the late twentieth century by Steve Lowe, was devoted to the exhibition of anti-establishment art, The L-13 Light Industrial Workshop acquired it’s present name after having been re-located to an underground space off Theobald’s Road in Farringdon, a site which was recorded to have been bombed by the L-13 Zeppelin in 1915,
Collaborating with a small group of unorthodox artists including Jamie Reid, Billy Childish, Jimmy Cauty, Sexton Mimi, A.S Waghorne, Geraldine Swayne and Henry Adams, The L-13 Light Industrial Workshop features an extensive collection of “power-based art”, which reflects the many themes that the gallery strives to represent.
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LAMBETH PALACE
Lambeth
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Lambeth palace, a small medieval fortress upon the South bank of the Thames was initially established in the thirteenth century by the Archbishop, Stephen Langton, a patronage beneath which the estate became the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, a distinction which it retains to this day.
Boasting both an early English chapel known as the Lollard’s tower which dates back to 1440, a structure notoriously used as a prison after the estate was ransacked by Parliament during the English civil war, and a fine Tudor gatehouse constructed by Cardinal John Morton in 1495, a building which, in being occupied by the author Thomas More before his execution for treason by Henry the Eighth, was thought to have been the location in which More performed a series of investigations into the affairs of Thomas Cromwell,
Housing one of the most extensive libraries in England, an archive founded by the Archbishop Richard Bancroft in 1610, the palace possesses a collection of over 120,000 documents within it’s halls, a resource which, in dating back to the ninth century, contains an assortment of church records, genealogical lists, commonwealth manuscripts and socio-political treatises including rare first editions of both the Gutenberg and Lambeth bibles amongst it’s catalogue.
The site of a medievel fig tree which, in being cultivated during the early sixteenth century by Cardinal Pole, still bears fruit, Lambeth Palace also boasts a fine art collection which includes a number of pictures by Hans Holbein, Anthony Van Dyck, William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds.
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LANDMARK ARTS CENTRE
Teddington
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Constructed from Doulton lime stone in 1887 by William S. Niven upon the grounds of the neighbouring parish church of St. Mary’s, an episcopality which, in being recorded to have been handed to a man named Charles Dunscombe in 1683 by the Marquis of Winchester was until 1946 also the site of a house named Udney hall, the Church of St. Albans the Martyr, is as a result of it’s resemblance to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, often mistakenly referred to as the cathedral of the Thames Valley.
Largely neglected during the late twentieth century in favour of the neighbouring church of St. Mary’s, the church of St. Albans the Martyr was saved from demolition by Jean Brown in 2007 with the foundation of the Landmark Arts Centre upon it’s grounds, a venue which, in initially being conceived as a lunch time textiles fair, subsequently extended to encompass a purpose built art studio.
Currently serving as the stage for a number of exhibitions and concerts, The church of St. Albans the Martyr also regularly hosts comedy evenings featuring a selection of stand up acts performed by local comedians including Kevin Bridges, Milton Jone, Arthur Smith and Jane Whitehill.
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LANGDON DOWN MUSEUM OF LEARNING DISABILITY
Teddington
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Founded during the late nineteenth century by John Langdon Down, a man in being recorded to have published the book “Observations on an Ethnic Classification of Idiots” whilst working at the “Royal Asylum For Idiots” in Surrey, subsequently isolated the symptoms of Down’s syndrome, The Langdon Down Museum For Learning Disability, was, beneath the title of “the Normansfield Hospital for Intellectual Disability and Education”, initially established as a residential village in which mentally impaired people could be taught simple skills.
Located upon the premises of the White house in Teddington, a forty two acre estate which, in being purchased by Earlswood Hospital in 1868, served as the headquarters of the Down’s Syndrome Association throughout the early twentieth century, “the Normansfield Hospital for Intellectual Disability and Education”, was notoriously scandalised by “the statute of nursing” during the mid twentieth century, a list of grievances which, in being drawn up by the establishment’s staff, led to both a formal investigation of the hospital and the suspension of the consulting psychiatrist Terence Lawler from it’s lists.
Closed in 1997, The Langdon Down Museum of Learning Disability was subsequently re-opened as a museum in 2012, a venue which, in featuring an exhibition devoted to the history of Nursing, displays an extensive collection of items salvaged from the Royal Earlswood Hospital, a catalogue which extends to encompass a number of model ships made by James Henry Pullen, one of the asylum’s patients.
Situated about the periphery of a fine Victorian entertainment hall, a venue which, in being decorated with painted scenery and a number of ornate fixtures and fittings, currently serves as a performing arts centre, The Langdon Down Museum of Learning Disability, presently offers an intriguing insight into the history of institutionalisation and it’s role in modern society.
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LETHABY GALLERY
Saint Pancras
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Formed from the amalgamation of three separate academic bodies, “The St. Martin’s school of Art” established in 1854 by Henry Mackenzie, “The Central School of Art”, designed by William Richard Lethaby in 1896 and “the Byam Shaw School of Art” founded by John Byam Shaw and Rex Vicat Cole in 1910, the Lethaby Gallery is primarily devoted to exhibiting the work of Central St. Martin’s Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree students.
Inspired by the great nineteenth century arts and crafts pioneers William Morris and John Ruskin, The Lethaby Gallery was, during the 1950’s further influenced by the work of Frank Martin, a man who, in having revolutionised the St Martin’s School of Art’s sculpture department, was also responsible for training many of it’s best sculptors.
Presently situated in the Granary Building upon Central St. martin’s College Campus, a location in which it shares proximity with the College’s excellent fashion school, the Lethaby gallery currently exhibits an extensive selection of books, prints, and original works of art and design.
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LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF FREEMASONRY
Bloomsbury
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Located in the freemason’s hall on Great Queen’s Street in Bloomsbury, The Library and Museum of Freemasonry is presently both the Headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of English Freemasons and the Supreme Grand Chapter of all English Royal Arch Freemasons.
Serving as a meeting place for the home and country lodges of the many masonic fraternities of England, The Library and Museum of Freemasonry was recorded to have been designed in 1775 by Thomas Sandby.
Initially only composed of a tavern and a meeting room, the Library and Museum of Freemasonry was substantially extended in 1933, by Henry Victor Ashley and F. Winston Newman, a period during which, beneath the suggestion of the youngest son of Queen Victoria, “Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught and Strathearn”, the establishment was dedicated to the many masons that died during the first world war.
Known as the Masonic Peace Memorial throughout the mid-twentieth century, The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, consists of a grand temple which, in being decorated with a fine mosaic ceiling, contains a large pipe organ and an assortment of twenty three smaller temples which are all interestingly designed in distinction to each other.
Counting such notable individuals as Winston Churchill and Edward the Seventh amongst it’s membership, The Library and Museum of Freemasonry extends to encompass the inclusion of a number of friendly societies including the Society of Oddfellows, the Foresters and the the Sons of the Phoenix amongst it’s retinue.
Housing the masonic books and objects of the grand lodge’s members, The Library and Museum of Freemasonry also possesses an extensive collection of porcelain, glassware, silver, furniture, clocks jewellery and other associated masonic regalia within it’s halls, items which, in being placed before public display, afford an intriguing insight into the history of freemasonry.
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LIEGHTON HOUSE
Holland Park
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Located at 12 Holland Park, Lieghton House was, during the nineteenth century occupied by Frederick Lord Leighton, a man who, in being one of the most successful British artists of the Victorian era was recorded to have been both acquainted with royalty and the president of The Royal Academy of Arts.
Constructed in the 1860’s by George Aitchison, Lieghton House boasts an impressive hallway designed to house Lieghton’s collection of Middle Eastern artefacts, a feature which, in being extended in 1889 with the addition of a winter studio to the premises, presently exhibits an extensive collection of classical treasures from around the world.
Featuring the Perrin galleries, a venue which, in being founded as a tribute to the artist and sculptress Muriel Ida Perrin in 1929, was established at approximately the same time that the House was opened to the public, Lieghton House currently affords an intriguing insight into the passion for exploration and discovery which many artists espoused during the late nineteenth century.
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L’INSTITUT FRANCAISE DU ROYAUME UNI
Brompton
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Founded in 1910 at Queensberry Place in Brompton, “L’Institute Francaise Du Royaume Uni” is presently the largest free access collection of French material in the United Kingdom.
Featuring a language centre, a cinema, a bistro, a multi-media library known as “la mediatheque” and a children’s library called the “Bibliotheque Quentin Blake” after the celebrated illustrator of Roald Dahl’s novels, “L’Institut Francaise Du Royaume Uni”, presently organises a series of language courses through which people can become acquainted with French culture.
Temporarily closed for refurbishment in the early twenty first century “L’Institut Francais Du Royaume Uni” was officially re-opened by Catherine Deneuve in 2008 and currently represents one of the most comprehensive archives of French cultural information in Britain.
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THE LONDON CANAL MUSEUM
Saint Pancras
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Established in 1992 upon the premises of a Victorian ice warehouse once used by the celebrated ice-cream producer Carlo Gatti, The London Canal Museum charts the history of cold storage.
Situated over two wells, which, in having been used to house ice imported by barge from Norway, once served as commercial refrigerators, The Canal Museum, is primarily devoted to the usage of English canal systems to preserve frozen matter for storage purposes.
Currently featuring an exhibition devoted to Britain’s waterways, the Canal Museum regularly stages both guided tow path walks and trips through the Islington tunnel, locations which, in being used to preserve temperate cold during the nineteenth century, rendered the production of ice cream possible.
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LONDON FILM MUSEUM
Covent Garden
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Established upon the premises of County Hall in 2008 by Jonathan Sands, The London Film Museum” was, in originally being called the “Movieum”, initially conceived as an exhibition space within which to house articles relating to the history of film.
Re-located to Covent Garden in 2012, The London Film Museum currently possesses an extensive collection of props and cinematic memorabilia used in many recent films.
Presently staging an excellent “Bond In Motion Exhibition”, a venue which, in housing a horde of items pertaining to the many film incarnations of Ian Fleming’s legendary secret agent “James Bond”, includes examples of the submersible Lotus S1 featured in the film “The Spy Who Loved Me” and a number of aircraft, boats and motorcycles, The London Film Museum, is, in distinction to many other of the capital’s cinematographic archives, of a relatively contemporary persuasion.
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LONDON FIRE BRIGADE MUSEUM
Albert Embankment
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Once located in the home of Captain Eyre Massey Shaw the superintendent if the Metropolitan fire brigade, a building which was also recorded to have served as the organisation’s headquarters until 1937, The London fire Brigade Museum, is devoted to London’s fire-fighting history.
Due to be moved to the Albert Embankment, the present location of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade’s Headquarters, The London Fire Brigade Museum, boasts an extensive collection of artefacts which in pertaining to fire fighting in general, include a number of items relating to both the great fire of London in1666 and the Tooley street fire of 1861 amongst it’s catalogue.
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LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S LIBRARY
Whitechapel
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Originally Founded upon the site of a number of East end washhouses in Whitechapel during the 1890’s, the London Metropolitan University Women’s Library was initially conceived as a laboratory of social sciences, an interest which, in operating in conjunction with both London County Council and the Fabian Society was, opened to the public in 1902 as “the Library of London Society for Women’s Services”.
Located upon the premises of Passmore Edwards Hall along Adelphi Terrace during an era in which London’s women’s suffragette movement was active, The London Metropolitan University Women’s Library circumstanced both the inauguration of women’s voting rights in 1920 and the foundation of the Equality company by Millicent Fawcett, an organisation which, in originally being situated upon the premises of a converted public house in Westminster, is frequently considered to be the successor to the Suffragette movement.
Acquired by the London School of Economics during the mid twentieth century, a period during which the archive was supported by Miss Payne Townsend the wife of George Bernard Shaw, the London Metropolitan University Women’s Library was, in being threatened by the air raids of the blitz, temporarily placed into cold storage during the war, being returned to it’s original location in 1945.
Assigned to manage the British Library of Political and Economic Science through association with the London School of Economics during the late twentieth century, The London Metropolitan Women’s Library’s collection gradually extended to encompass a catalogue of sixty thousand books and pamphlets including copies of many iconic feminist works such as “An indication of the rights of Women now living” by Mary Wollstoncroft, “the intelligent woman’s guide to socialism and capitalism” by George Bernard Shaw, the biography of Margaret Thatcher, the novels of Dame Barbera Cartland and the Diary of Bridget Jones.
Briefly re-located to the city polytechnic near Brick Lane before acquiring it’s present premises at the Metropolitan University along Portugal Street, The London Metropolitan Women’s Library is presently open to the public and, for those interested in feminist literature, comes highly recommended.
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LONDON MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM
Greenford
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Based upon the collection of Bill Crosby a keen motorcycle enthusiast, who has been collecting velocipedes since the 1960’s The Motorcycle Museum was until 1979 housed beside the London Museum of Transport in Syon Park.
Re-located to Ravenor Park in Greenford in 1999, a stretch of urban scrubland which, in once having been occupied by Coston’s farm was requisitioned by Ealing Council in the 1930’s for usage as a Depot, The London Motorcycle Museum exhibits an extensive collection of motorised velocipedes which, in including Nortons, Coventries. Rudges and B.S.A’s amongst it’s catalogue, refers back to an era when Acton was responsible for the commercial production of motorcycles.
Dubbed “the Home of Triumph” as a result of it’s vast collection of Triumph motorcycles the London Motorcycle Museum also displays a number of items which have appeared on television programmes such as Dad’s Army and Eastenders.
Featuring in a range of quarterly magazines including “the classic bike guide”, “Motolegende” and “Motorismo”, The London Motorcycle museum, is presently open to the public and currently represents one of the finest examples of it’s type in the capital.
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THE LONDON MOTOR MUSEUM
Hayes
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Located along Nestles Avenue in Hayes, The London Motor Museum, is devoted to the history of automotive vehicles.
Founded by a man named Elo who was recorded to have driven with Maximillian Cooper in the Gumball Rally of 1999, The London Motor Museum, displays a collection of over two hundred antique cars, a reliquary which, in featuring a number of automobiles which have appeared in films, including the Gran Torino driven by the fictional detectives Starsky and Hutch, the Volkswagen Beetle used in the Herbie films and a Batmobile designed for usage in Tim Burton’s original Batman film, encompasses a horde of immediately recognisable vehicles within it’s catalogue of exhibits.
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LONDON MUSEUM OF WATER AND STEAM
Kew
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Located upon the premises of the old Kew bridge pumping station in Brentford, the London Museum of Water and Steam, is one of last examples of a fully operative steam powered pump system in London.
Situated in the great engine house of the grand junction waterworks company, a building which, in being constructed by the celebrated Victorian engineers Boulton and Watt in 1837 to house a number of Maudsley engines, was formally opened in 1838, The grounds of the London Museum of Water and Steam, were, when first operational, also occupied by the museum’s boiler house, a building designed to accommodate a number of rotative beam engines.
Equipped with four Allen diesel Engines, four electric pump sets and six steam engines when operational, the grand junction waterworks company pump house ceased to function in 1944, a period after which it remaining neglected in situ for some years before being incorporated into the scheme of the steam museum in 1975.
Distinguished by a 200 foot high Victorian standpipe tower along the London Road a building which, although often interpreted to be a chimney, is in fact a water pump, The London Museum of Water and Steam presently houses both an impressive 1860 Shaw Mason fire engine and the largest collection of Cornish beam engines in the world including the Grand Junction 90 inch, a massive contraption which, in measuring forty feet in height and weighing 250 tonnes is recorded to be the largest example of it’s type ever made.
Currently operating a two foot narrow gauge railway, a feature which, in being inspired by the Metropolitan water board service that once ran between Hampton and Kempton Park, is coursed by a steam locomotive affectionately christened Thomas Wicksteed, The London Museum of Water and Steam, presently conducts train rides for children around the periphery of it’s sanctum .
Including a number of ancillary buildings in it’s scheme, structures which in once having contained both working forges and belt drum workshops, are presently used by a selection of independent artistic and creative interests, The London Museum of Water and Steam was, in 2014, extensively renovated with both a new cafeteria and shop, a facility which in featuring Project Aquarius, a collection of exhibits devoted to the past, present and future of steam power, within it’s compass, is primarily designed for usage by children.
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LONDON SCOTTISH REGIMENTAL MUSEUM
Westminster
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Situated opposite upon two Victorian cast iron balconies in the drill hall of a regimental headquarters along Horseferry Road, The London Scottish Regimental Museum is devoted to the history of the London Scottish Regiment, a body initially raised as the Highland Association to Loyal North Britons in 1793 and 1803 to defend England against Napoleon.
Formally disbanded until the outbreak of the Crimean war in 1859, an era during which Lieutenant Colonel Lord Elcho, a man later granted the title Earl of Wemyss and March, was commissioned by both the Highland and Caledonian Societies of London, to raise the Scottish Rifle Volunteers, The London Scottish Regiment achieved renown for defending English interests, during Britain’s implication in Felice Orsini’s attack on Napoleon the third.
Clothed in Hodden grey, a drab handmade cloth which, in serving as the inspiration for modern military camouflage, is frequently referred to as Elcho tartan, the officers of the London Scottish regiment posted at Balmoral were also recorded to have worn items of traditional regimental head dress such as the Glengarry and the Tam o’ Shanter.
Commanded by Field Marshall Lord Clyde and Sir Colin Campbell during the late Victorian era, The London Scottish regiment achieved distinction during the first World War, serving on the Western Front throughout the worst periods of conflict there.
Presently operative as a company of the London Regiment, The London Scottish regiment currently consists of five branches, “the 235 London Scottish Detachment” in Westminster, “the 95 London Scottish Cadet Company” in Eltham, “the 145 London Scottish Detachment” in New Addington and “the 102 Bromley Platoon” and “10 Kent Cadet Regiment” in Bromley.
Currently exhibiting an extensive collection of articles, which in including items of personal equipment, small arms, paintings and memorabilia, extends to encompass the uniform of Colonel Robert Ogilby, the founder of the Ogilby trust, The London Scottish Regimental Museum is presently open to the public and grants an intriguing insight into the history of Scottish conflict.
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LONDON SEWING MACHINE MUSEUM
Balham
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Located along Balham High Road, The Sewing Machine Museum is, in being devoted to the history of sewing machines, largely concerned with the foundation of the Wimbledon Sewing Machine Company by Thomas Rushton during the 1970's.
Featuring an extensive collection of sewing machines amassed by the present managing director of the Wimbledon sewing machine company, “Ray Rushton”, the sewing machine Museum exhibits a number of exceptionally rare items including an early “Crimson Four Maquina” made by the manufacturing pioneer Barthelmy Thimonier, a unique Wheeler and Wilson presented as a gift to the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and an 1855 Singer №1 made by Isaac Merritt Singer.
Presently open to the public on the first Saturday of every month, The Wimbledon Sewing Machine Museum affords an intriguing insight into the development of the modern sewing machine a device, which, in facilitating complex manual labour, has provided pleasure for countless generations of tailors and seamstresses.
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LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM
Covent Garden
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Founded in Clapham during the early 1960’s, the London Transport Museum was recorded to have been re-located to Syon Park in 1973, a period during which many of the establishment’s exhibits were transferred to York for display at the National Railway Museum.
Presently situated in a nineteenth century glass house designed by William Rogers in Covent Garden, The London Transport Museum currently exhibits a large collection of buses, trams and trolleybuses many of which can be boarded by visitors.
Extensively re-furbished by Bryan Avery during the early twenty first century, “The London Transport Museum” was, in 1999 recorded to have been twinned with “The London Transport Museum Depot” in Acton, a faculty which, in exhibiting a number of stock cars transferred from Covent Garden, a selection of vehicles constructed by the London General Omnibus Company and set of original Johnston’s Font blocks used to print London Transport’s iconic type face together with a wide range of models, uniforms, posters and photographs, also conducts both mini tram and railway trips for children.
Currently open to the public, both the London Transport Museum and The London Transport Museum Depot are presently perhaps the most entertaining examples of their type in London and come firmly recommended to those interested in the history of public conveyance.
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MADAME TUSSAUDS
Marylebone
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Founded during the late eighteenth century, Madame Tussauds is presently the capital’s best known and most well established wax works museum.
Initially constituted from the collection of Doctor Phillipe Curtus, a selection of waxworks which, in including effigies of Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits, was inherited by Marie Tussaud in 1794, the concept of Madame Tussauds was rumoured to have arisen from the practise of casting death masks for executed citizens during the Napoleonic era, a practise to which Marie Tussaud herself was once apprenticed.
Initially staged as a touring exhibition, “Madame Tussauds” moved to Baker Street in 1836 an era during which the museum’s “chamber of horrors” featuring the effigies of murderers and other criminals earned the collection public renown.
Moved to it’s present location along Marylebone Road by Marie Tussaud’s grand-son Joseph Randall in 1834 Madame Tussauds was, in 1889, purchased by “Edwin Josiah Poyser and Associates”, a period during which the venue was once situated next to the London Planetarium before the latter establishment’s closure.
Accompanied, during the 1970’s, by a sister museum in Amsterdam, the Madame Tussaud’s company expanded throughout the latter part of the twentieth century to encompass a number of different branches in other countries, a process through which the organisation has justifiably earned global renown.
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MAGIC CIRCLE MUSEUM
Euston
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Located along Stephenson Way in Euston, The Magic Circle Museum is devoted to the history of the Magic Circle, an organisation which, in electing the skilled stage performer David Devant as it’s first president, was recorded to have been founded in 1905 by a committee of twenty three professional conjurors.
Counting a number of well-known stage magicians amongst it’s membership, a list which, in extending to encompass such notable figures as Harry Houdini, David Nixon, Tommy Cooper and Paul Daniels was recorded to have included the Prince of Wales during the mid 1970’s, The Magic Circle Museum was formally opened to the public upon the premises of the old illusionist’s club headquarters in 1998.
Exhibiting a fine selection of posters, programmes, photographs, props and toys, including a number of Edison cylinder sound recordings of Harry Houdini and examples of Rob Harbin’s original zig-zag illusion The Magic Circle Museum presently houses both a fully equipped magic theatre and an extensive library of magic books.
Bearing the motto “Indocilis Privata Loqui” as it’s slogan, an expression which, in being chosen by Nevil Maskelyne through association with the publication of “The Magic Circular” Journal in 1906, is translated to mean “not apt to disclose secrets” the Magic Circle Museum, is, in representing something of a contradiction to it’s pretext, a fascinating reliquary of stage craft and theatrical ingenuity.
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MALL GALLERIES
Mall
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Founded in 1961 by the Royal Federation of British Artists, The Mall Galleries are, in serving as the premises for a number of arts societies including The Royal Society of Wildlife Artists, The Royal Society of Marine artists, The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, The Royal Institute of Portraits and Watercolours, The Royal Society of British Arts, The New English Art Club, and The Pastille Society, also the base of The Hesketh Hubbard Art Society, a distinction through which the galleries currently serve as the premises for the largest life drawing society in London.
Devoted to oil portraiture, watercolour painting and pastille drawing, the Mall Galleries also unusually specialise in the graphic depiction of marine wildlife, a practise through which the establishment has been known to collaborate with London Zoo.
Presently one of the best fine art galleries in London, The Mall galleries come highly recommended to those interested in exquisitely reproduced photo realism, much of the establishment’s collection being indistinguishable from photography.
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MANSION HOUSE
Cheapside
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Constructed upon the site of the Walbrook livestock market in the mid eighteenth century by George Dance the Elder, Mansion House is a marvellous example of the impressive neo-classical architectural style for which London is famous.
Originally commissioned as residence for the Lord Mayors of the City of London, an interest that, in having occupied their own houses, livery halls and guild halls, through until the outbreak of the great fire of London in 1665, believed it necessary to establish permanent premises for a Mayoral Court in the city, Mansion house, was, in 1758 recorded to have been first occupied by the Lord Mayor Sir Crispin Gascoine.
Recorded to have been funded by the practise of fining those who refused to serve as sheriff, a term which, in being criticised by a number of leading authors beneath the pretence that it was necessary to subscribe to the Anglican rite to become a sheriff when such a thing proved impossible, “Mansion House” was initially little more than an open courtyard, distinguished by a grand entrance portico and two roof pavilions known as the “Mare’s Nest” and “Noah’s Ark”, a format which, in possessing an extensive cellar containing a number of prison cells used by an elected body of Mayoral magistrates to hold convicts, was notably recorded to have been the site of a female prison known as “the birdcage”, an establishment which, during the nineteenth century, achieved renown for detaining the suffragette activist Emmeline Pankhurst.
Presently consisting of four floors, an arrangement which, in circumstancing the demolition of both Noah’s Ark by George Dance the Younger in 1794 and the Mare’s Nest in 1842 to accommodate a new ball room, Mansion House is currently distinguished by an impressive Egyptian hall, a ball room, a Justice room and a number of mayoral meeting rooms.
Currently open to the public, Mansion House, exhibits both a fine collection of ceramic plates and the Harold Samuel art gallery, an extensive catalogue of Dutch paintings drafted by artists such as Hendrick Avercamp, Gerdruard Ter Borch, Peter Claesz, Aelbert Cuyp, Frans Hals, Pieter De Hooch, Jacob Van Rivedael, Jan Steen David Teniere the Younger and William Van De Velde.
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MARKFIELD BEAM ENGINE MUSEUM
Tottenham
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Situated upon what were once the grounds of Tottenham Wood Green General Pumping Station, The Markfield Beam Engine was constructed in 1886 to transfer sewage from Middlesex to Tottenham for treatment at the Beckenham sewage works.
Initially devised by Wood Brothers of Sowering Bridge in Yorkshire as an eight column compound rotative pump engine, the Markfield Beam Engine was, during it’s period of operation, a worthy testament to Victorian ingenuity, being capable of siphoning four million tonnes of effluent every twenty for hours.
Finely decorated with Doric columns and acanthus leaves, The Markfield Beam Engine was remarkable for employing a seventeen tonne cast iron flywheel to assist it’s motion, a process enacted in accordance with a double expansion system devised during the early nineteenth century by a man named Arthur Woolf.
Active until 1964 when pumping operations were transferred to Deephams Sewage Treatment Works in Edmonton, much of the Markfield beam engine was left derelict throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, a period during which the site further fell prey to vandalism.
Restored by Haringey Council in 2010 with the addition of two new oil fired boilers to the original beam engine, the grounds of Markfield pumping station currently serve as both a steam museum and a park both of which are presently accessible to the public.
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MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND LENIN ROOM PRINTING COLLECTION
Clerkenwell
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Located upon the premises of Marx House on Clerkenwell Green a building which, in being constructed in 1738 was recorded to have served as a Charity school for Welsh children throughout the eighteenth century, The Marx Memorial library is undoubtedly one of the most well established examples of it’s type in London.
Acquired in 1872 by the London Patriotic society, a period during which, through association with the great arts and crafts pioneer William Morris, the premises were recorded to have been occupied by a printing press, The Marx Memorial Library, was, in being associated with both education an printing throughout the late Victorian era also at the forefront of the English socialist movement.
Notable for having employed Vladimir Lenin to publish books during the early twentieth century a period during which the celebrated founder of Russian communism was recorded to have both edited and printed ISKRA or “the Spark” a Russian student magazine, The Marx Memorial Library was also responsible for publishing many of both Joseph Engels and Karl Marx’s works including the modern classics “ the Communist Manifesto” and “Das Kapital”.
Operative as a printing press through until 1922, the Marx Memorial library was, in 1933 redesignated as a tribute to Karl Marx by Martin Lawrence Publishers Limited, a period which, in being circumstanced by the burning of books in Nazi Germany, was observed to have placed the future of many such interests at risk.
Distinguished with a mural drafted by Viscount Hatch in 1934 entitled “The workers of the future clearing away the chaos of capitalism”, The Marx Memorial Library became associated with the socialist labour movement during the mid twentieth century, an era throughout which the premises were notably occupied by a labour recovery department.
Possessing a full run of both the Daily Worker and the Morning Star newspapers in it’s vaults, The Marx Memorial Library, gradually increased in size, receiving both a number of books from the International Brigade Association Archive and the Klugmann collection in the 1970’s, a pretext beneath which the establishment ultimately founded the Bernal Peace Library in 1994.
Recently restored to it’s it’s original Georgian appearance, The Marx Memorial Library is presently open to the public and, for those interested in political history, represents one of the largest collections of journalistic propaganda in London.
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MCC MUSEUM
Saint John’s Wood
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Located beside the middle ground of Lord’s cricket ground in St. John’s Wood, a venue which, in once having served as a polo field, is named in homage to Thomas Lord, the MCC Museum is solitarily devoted to the history of cricket,
Recorded to have been founded in 1864 the MCC Museum is currently the world’s oldest sporting museum. an establishment which, in housing a vast number of cricketing artefacts including the red ceramic ashes urn presented to the England Captain Ivo Bligh in 1883, the kits of Victor Trumper, Jack Hobbs, Don Bradman and Shane Warne and a selection of old bats and balls, is perhaps the most comprehensive example of it’s type on earth.
Officially opened to the public by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1953, The M.C.C Museum features a number of displays pertaining to the careers of both W.G. Grace and Brian Lara and possesses a fine media centre in which it is possible to watch historic televised cricket footage, the establishment also housing a fine art gallery located in the buildings Long Room, a memorial theatre named in homage to Brian Johnston and an extensive library of cricketing books.
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MET COLLECTION
Brompton
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Located in the Empress State building in west Brompton, the Met collection charts the history of the metropolitan police force from the eighteenth century through to the present.
Extant in an unofficial capacity along Bow Street during the 1740’s beneath the jurisdiction of Sir Thomas Devel, The story of the Metropolitan Police, begins with the foundation of the Bow Street Runners by Henry Fielding during the late eighteenth century, an organisation which, in being consolidated beneath the Middlesex Justice Act of 1792, led to the establishment of enforcement agencies in Queens Square, Great Marlborough Street, Worship Street, Lambeth Street, Shadwell, Union Hall. Hatton Gardens and River Place.
Subject to a Parliamentary select committee through association with corruption in 1814, an era throughout which criminals were recorded to have used “flash houses” in which to receive stolen goods, the Metropolitan Police were conceived in 1822 by Sir Robert Peel, who, in observing that many aspect of legal enforcement remained independent, wished to unify policing in Britain,
Officially founded beneath the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne in 1829, the Metropolitan Police, retains much of Peel’s initial directive, serving as a universal enforcement agency for the people of London.
Twinned with the National archives at Kew, the Met collection, is currently open to the public and presently provides an interesting insight into the evolution of the modern police force.
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MOCA
Peckham
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Founded as a project based museum by Michael Petry in 1994, MOCA, or “The Museum of Contemporary Art”, is devoted to the popularisation of contemporary art.
Recorded to have staged a fairly extensive arts project in Peckham during the early twenty first century, MOCA houses an interesting selection of sculptures and regularly hosts a number of international exhibitions.
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MORLEY GALLERY
Waterloo
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The Morley Gallery, owes it’s origins to the foundation of the Royal Victoria Hall in Waterloo during the nineteenth century, an establishment which, in being referred to as “a boozy rowdy home for melodrama” was recorded to have been transformed into the Royal Victoria Coffee House and Music Hall by a woman named Emma Conns during the 1880’s, a period during which the premises were also observed to have served as an adult education college.
Subsequently the site of the Morley Memorial College for working men and women, a building which, in being financed by an endowment from the minister of Parliament for Nottingham “Samuel Morley” in 1889, was recorded to have been extended by Edwin Maufe in 1937, The artistic ideology of the Morley Gallery dates back to the conventions of artistic study practised by many academic bodies during the early twentieth century .
Annexed to New College during the 1950’s an establishment which, in being designed by Charles Cowles Voysey and Brandon Jones was notably decorated with a selection of murals painted by John Baluden, the Morley Memorial College for Working Men and Women was recorded to have founded the Morley Gallery upon the premises of a neighbouring public house in 1968.
Presently open to the public, The Morley Gallery currently exhibits a fine collection of pictures including the paintings of both Peter Blake and Maggie Hambling, a woman who also once taught at the college.
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MUSEUM OF ASIAN MUSIC
Acton
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Opened in Acton during the early twenty first century by the Prince of Wales, The Museum of Asian Music, currently serves as the principle office of the Asian Music circuit in England.
Possessing an extensive hybrid visual archive which includes a wide selection of film footage depicting the events of both concerts and rehearsals, The Museum of Asian Music, strives to draw music from the largely German disciplines of the Victorian era towards the rhythmic conventions of the twentieth century.
Featuring an exhibition devoted to “Banghra”, a melodic structure which, in being highly percussive, is perhaps the most accessible form of Asian Music presently played, The Museum of Asian music is currently open to the public and comes highly recommended to those interested in contemporary performing arts.
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MUSEUM OF BRAND PACKAGING AND ADVERTISING
Notting Hill
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Opened in 2002 near Portobello Road, the Museum of Brand Packaging and Advertising was recorded to have been re-located to Colville Mews in 2005 before acquiring it’s present premises at the Lighthouse Building along the Lancaster Road in 2015.
Focussing upon the history of consumer culture, The Museum of Brand Packaging and Advertising, exhibits an extensive reliquary of posters, packaging, toys and games, an archive which, in including both the “The Robert Opie Collection” of brand goods, a selection of first and second world war items and a number of articles devoted to the emancipation of women during the Victorian era, represents a comprehensive cross section of commercial iconography.
Featuring a “Time tunnel” exhibition, charting the heritage of a number of immediately familiar brand images from the Victorian era through to the present, The Museum of Brand Packaging and Advertising, currently affords a fairly extensive account of the manner in which commercial tastes have evolved.
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MUSEUM OF COMEDY
Bloomsbury
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Founded in 2014 by the Leicester Square theatre director, Martin Witts at the Undercroft in Bloomsbury, The Museum of Comedy is devoted to the history of stage comedy.
Exhibiting an extensive collection of items including a stuffed bear from the Steptoe and Son television series, Charlie Chaplin’s cane, the two Ronny’s glasses, Bill Bailey’s six necked guitar, a number of Tommy Cooper’s hand-made magic props, a horde of “spitting image” heads and a selection of cufflinks from the Churchill club, a venue which, in having been owned by the Kray twins during the 1960’s, earned renown for staging live comedy shows, The Comedy Museum, houses a variety of immediately familiar objects, which, in appearing on television, have become cultural euphemisms.
Featuring a “Dave Allen” confessional booth in which it is possible to film one’s own jokes and rooms devoted to the comic exploits of both Max miller and Tommy Cooper, The Comedy museum is further distinguished by a fine collection of Steve Ullahthorne’s artwork which, in being stylishly executed, perfectly reflects the themes covered by the archive.
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MUSEUM OF CROYDON
Croydon
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Formerly known as the “Life-times Museum” the museum of Croydon was recorded to have been opened beneath it’s present name in 2006 upon the premises of the Croydon Clock Tower in South London.
Affiliated with Croydon Council, The Croydon Museum currently exhibits an extensive selection of artefacts, a list which, in including the “Riesco Gallery” of Chinese ceramics a fine collection of Roman and Anglo-Saxon relics, and a number of items relating to the Crystal Palace, extends to encompass a selection of works by both Bridget Riley and the celebrated sculptor Henry Moore.
Featuring an exhibition devoted to “Samuel Coleridge Taylor”, a celebrated black composer who was recorded to have been a resident of Croydon at the turn of the twentieth century, The Museum of Croydon also displays a number of works written by “Rae Inoranath Tagure”, an acclaimed Bengali poet.
For those interested in the cultural history of Croydon and the artistic heritage of South London, then the Croydon Museum currently represents an interesting and informative forum for research.
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THE MUSEUM OF DOMESTIC DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
Hendon
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Located in Hendon, The Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture is devoted to the exhibition of nineteenth and twentieth century decorative arts for the home.
Recorded to have been insured by the Arts Fund in 1903 through association with the acquisition of a number of patents, The Museum of Domestic Design And Architecture, displays an extensive collection of domestic items including both “the silver studio collection of wallpaper and home textiles” and “the Crown wallpaper archive”.
Affiliated with Middlesex University, The Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, is presently open to the public and, for those interested in the history of interior decoration, comes highly recommended.
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MUSEUM OF GARDEN HISTORY
Lambeth
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Beside Lambeth palace stands the parish church of St. Mary at Lambeth, a de-consecrated chapel which, in containing, the tombs of both Richard Bancroft and Admiral William Bligh is presently the location of the museum of Garden history, an exhibition devoted to the horticultural heritage of England.
Initially constructed from wood in 1062 by Goda the sister of Edward the Confessor, the church of St. Mary at Lambeth was recorded to have been re-built with a stone tower in 1377, a scheme subsequently adapted with the addition of a new nave and aisle to the premises by Philip Charles Hardwicke in the mid nineteenth century.
Housing the fifteenth and sixteenth century graves of the Howard family including that of Elizabeth Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s mother, The church of St. Mary At Lambeth was, in being threatened with demolition during the mid twentieth century, salvaged from neglect by John and Rosemary Nicholson, who, in observing that the premises served as the location for the graves of the Tradescant family, founded the Tradescant Trust to protect the property.
Fashioned from white of Vauxhall bridge stone illustrated with an image of a pyramid surrounded by ruination, a depiction of mythological hydra assailing a human skull, and the Tradescant coat of arms The Tradescant’s grave is recorded to contain the mortal remains of the celebrated Jacobean gardeners John Tradescant the Elder and John Tradescent Younger alongside those of both their wives and John Tradescant the Younger’s son.
Situated close to the burial site of Elias Ashmole a man who, in being associated with occultism during the seventeenth century, was thought to have been the founder speculative freemasonry, the Tradescant’s grave currently serves as the centre piece for a museum devoted to gardening, a concern which, through collaboration with the Ashmolean museum in Oxfordshire, exhibits an extensive selection of horticultural instruments including a number of unique shears, hoes, blades and pruners.
Currently closed as a result of restoration work, The Museum of Garden History is due to be re-opened with a new Tradescant’s Ark display in 2017, a period after which it should be accessible to the public.
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MUSEUM OF IMMIGRATION AND DIVERSITY
Spitalfields
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Located in a traditional eighteenth century building on Princent Street in Spitalfields, The Museum of immigration and diversity, is, rather like an historically accurate version of Denis Sever’s House, devoted to the silk weaving heritage of Spitalfields.
Situated upon a property that was recorded to have been owned by the Huguenot silk merchant Peter Abraham Ogier, The Museum of Immigration and Diversity, covers a period of time in Britain’s history when Ireland was afflicted by a potato famine and many Jewish families were observed to have moved into London.
Recorded to have been employed as a synagogue in 1969, The Museum of Immigration and Diversity is, much like Denis Sever’s House, distinguished by evidence of recent occupation, including an amount of Hebrew graffiti carved into the wood panelling of it’s walls, worm eaten side-boards and grained, tea stained plasterwork.
Currently staging a “suitcases and sanctuary” exhibition, the Museum of Immigration and Diversity features a number of displays containing artwork from local schools and, for those interested in the many peculiar anomalies that London’s history may be observed to represent, come highly recommended.
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MUSEUM OF LONDON
Barbican
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Situated along London Wall close to the Barbican centre, The Museum of London was recorded to have been established in 1976 by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya.
Currently operated by both The City of London Corporation and The Greater London Authority, the Museum of London strives to chart the capital’s heritage from pre-history through to the present, a project which, in featuring the reliquaries of both the Guildhall Museum and the London Museum at Kensington Palace, successfully covers the events of both the English Civil War and the Great Plague of 1665
Redeveloped with four new galleries in 2010 by Wilkinson Eyre, The Museum of London’s collection presently extends to encompass an exhibition devoted to Georgian Pleasure Gardens, a reconstructed prison cell from Well-Close jail, the Lord Mayor’s coach, an elevator carriage from the Selfridges store, an original model of the popular B.B.C television puppet, “Andy-Pandy” and a number of items relating to the punk fashion designs of both Mary Quant and Alexander Mcqueen.
Associated with the museum of London Docklands, an establishment which, in preserving the Port of London Authority Archives, was founded in 2003 upon the premises of an early nineteenth century sugar warehouse in Canary Wharf, The museum of London currently features twelve new picture galleries devoted to the history of both the Roman Port of London and the Capital’s slave trade, a project which, in being recorded to have collaborated with Tony Robinson for the popular archeological television programme “The Time-Team”, currently represents both an enlightening and informative account of the dockyard’s history.
Also affiliated with “The Museum of London Archeology”, an establishment which, in possessing headquarters upon the premises of Mortimer Wheeler House in Shoreditch, was largely responsible for divulging what we presently know of the London Wall, The Museum of London, is without doubt one of the capital’s foremost repositories of local history and comes highly recommended for those interested in the city’s past.
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MUSEUM OF MILITARY MUSIC.
Whitton… (Discontinued)
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The current incarnation of Kneller hall is the third building of it’s type constructed upon this site in the small village of Whitton in South West London, the first having been erected by one Edmund Cooke who, having bought two small houses from a woman known as Lady Ursula in 1632, proceeded to plan a more ambitious project upon the land between the years 1635 and 1646, a venture which was ultimately sold in 1657 to one Charles Pitcairne, the son of Andrew Pitcairne, a local resident, who had been responsible for the construction of nearby York house upon the bank of the Thames some years earlier.
The property was purchased in 1709 by Sir Geodfrey Kneller, a man who, in being a court painter for a succession of monarchs from King Charles The Second through to George The First, entirely demolished the first house and rebuilt it in accordance with a series of designs drafted by Sir Christopher Wren, the structure being known as Whitton hall throughout Kneller’s life-time but re-christened Kneller hall by his widow after his demise.
During the eighteenth century the hall was leased to the prominent London lawyer Samuel Prime who significantly extended the building’s structure and then to the wealthy brewer Charles Calvert, who similarly increased the size of the property, adding drawing rooms to both it’s East and West wings.
Calvert died of cholera in 1832 and the building was left semi-derelict for some years after a fire before being requisitioned by the government for usage in the training of paupers and criminal children in 1850,
The training college proved to be unsuccessful and was closed in 1856 despite having been extensive reconstructed by George Mair to resemble Wollaston Hall in Nottinghamshire and Kneller Hall was acquired by The war office for usage by army bandsmen returning from the Crimean war, a period during which the Royal Military School of Music was founded beneath the patronage of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge upon the premises.
Presently open to the public as a Museum of Army Music, Kneller Hall, currently provides an interesting insight into the history of brass bands and military processions.
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MUSEUM OF RICHMOND
Richmond
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Conceived in 1983 by a collaboration between the historian John Cloake and a number of Richmond residents, The Museum of Richmond, was recorded to have been opened by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1988 upon the premises of Richmond’s Old Town Hall.
Displaying a selection of items charting the history of Richmond, Ham and Kew from the medieval era through to the present, a capacity in which the establishment is currently staging an exhibition devoted to the work of the celebrated horticulturalist Lancelot “Capability” Brown, “The Museum of Richmond” is also recorded to regularly collaborate with both the Orleans and Riverside Galleries.
Counting a number of notable patrons amongst it’s supporters, a list which, in extending to include, Sir David Attenborough, Princess Alexandra, Julian Fellowes, Bamber Gascoline, Andrew Marr, Lady Annabel Goldsmith and Lord Watson of Richmond, serves to commend the museum’s work, “The Museum of Richmond”, is, in being located close to Richmond Palace, an integral part of Richmond’s geography .
Also recorded to be occupied by the offices of the Design Association, an organisation presently run by Robin Wade and Pat Read, The Museum of Richmond, currently represents both an intriguing and informative forum for historical research and comes firmly recommended for those interested in Richmond’s heritage.
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MUSEUM OF THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN
Saint John’s Gate
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Located in St. John’s Gate directly over the entrance of the old Clerkenwell priory, a building which, in featuring a fine medieval interior designed by John Oldrid Scott, is presently one of the oldest structures in London, The Museum of the Order of St. John is devoted to the history of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John.
Recorded to have been founded in 1080 with the establishment of a hospital in Jerusalem by a man named brother Gerard, the Order of St. John was not officially recognised by the church until 1113 a period during which the organisation was observed to have provided assistance to crusaders visiting the holy land.
Thought to have moved to Cyprus when Palestine was captured by the Muslims in 1291, the Order of St. John, was recorded to have occupied Rhodes through until the island’s invasion by Sultan Sulieman in 1522, a period after which the organisation colonised Malta, a defensible preserve which proved capable of withstanding similar attacks by the Sultan.
Present on Malta between 1522 and 1798. a period during which the order’s ships were recorded to have patrolled the Mediterranean sea about the periphery of the island, the Order of St John became synonymous with The Sovereign Military Order of St John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta throughout the eighteenth century, an association through which the organisation’s traditional emblem of the eight pointed star became well known.
Granted a charter by Queen Victoria in 1888, The order of St. John became associated with the establishment of the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade during the twentieth century, an organisation which, in officially having been founded by the order’s hospital in Jerusalem, earned renowned for employing motor vehicles to convey casualties to hospital.
Responsible for the construction of Clerkenwell Priory in the 1140’s, an interest which in being recorded to have been the site of Old Jerusalem Tavern during the twelfth century was dissolved by both Henry the Eighth during the dissolution of the monasteries and by Elizabeth following the property’s usage as the office of the master of revels during the reign of queen Mary, The Order of St. John was largely inactive in England during the civil war,
Recorded to have licenced thirty of William Shakespeare’s plays during the late sixteenth century The Clerkenwell Priory was notable for having been used as a coffee shop throughout the Georgian era , a concern which, in being managed by Richard Hogarth, the father of the celebrated artist William Hogarth during the eighteenth century, was frequented by such notable individuals as Doctor Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens.
Presently open to the public as a museum, an establishment which, in featuring a number of interesting artefacts amongst it’s catalogue including, a number of illuminated manuscripts, paintings, numismatic seals and crusader coinage, is still situated upon an authentic twelfth century crypt, the Clerkenwell Priory was recently refurbished by Donald Insall Associates and currently affords an intriguing insight into the capital’s history.
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MUSEUM OF WIMBLEDON
Wimbledon
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Conceived during the formation of the John Evelyn Club, by Richardson Evans in 1903, an organisation which, in being devoted to the celebrated seventeenth century diarist John Evelyn, subsequently became involved in the conservation of rare artefacts, The Wimbledon Museum was primarily established to house a collection of objects accrued during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Founded in 1916 within the village of Wimbledon, the Wimbledon Museum, is, in being located along Ridgeway, also presently responsible for the management of the Norman Plaistow Trust Gallery located in Wimbledon Village hall, a venue which, in currently exhibiting a comprehensive selection of art, represents an interesting location to visit.
Staffed by a small group of volunteers, the Wimbledon Museum is also presently the site of a lawn tennis exhibition, a venue which, in displaying items relating to Wimbledon’s sporting heritage, is popular during Summer months.
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MUSEUM OF WORLD RUGBY
Twickenham
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Based upon the premises of Twickenham Rugby stadium in South West London, a venue which, in once having been a vegetable allotment, was recorded to have been established as a sports field in1907, the World Museum of Rugby, is devoted to the history of World rugby.
Initially opened in 1996 as the Rugby Museum, the World Museum of Rugby acquired it’s present name in 2007 through association with the many multi-national matches played at Twickenham stadium.
Housing an extensive collection of historic boots, balls, jerseys, programmes, match tickets and books including Rugby’s Calcutta Cup, The World Museum of Rugby also exhibits a comprehensive list of late nineteenth century rugby football union minutes and a number of photograph albums relating to the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 1891.
Including “the Twickenham Wall of Fame”, a fluid exhibition space which catalogues the achievements of the best players in the world amongst it’s list of exhibits The World Museum of Rugby presently organises both seminars and workshops and comes highly recommended to those interested in team sport.
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MUSICAL MUSEUM
Brentford
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Conceived as the British Piano Museum in 1963 by the electrical engineer Frak Holland who believed that self playing musical instruments should be both maintained in an operative condition, The Musical Museum was, throughout the first years of it’s existence, located upon the premises of St. Gregory’s Church in Brentford
Moved, in 2007, to a new three storey building along the London road, a venue which, in containing both a concert hall and cinema, was ideally suited for musical performances the Musical Museum, displays an extensive collection of self playing musical instruments originating from an era in which neither television or radio existed.
Exhibiting a wide selection of items from the music halls of late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a collection which, in including a horde orchestrions, barrel organs, reproducing pianos, clockwork music boxes and violin players extends to encompass a fully restored Wurlitzer theatre organ thoughtfully placed beside a spring floor designed for ball room dancing, the Musical Museum, also houses one of the largest collections of role music in the world, a resource which, in being used in conjunction with automated player pianos, grants an insight into the musical tastes of Victorian and Edwardian audiences.
Presently open to the public, The Musical Museum is without question one of the most comprehensive examples of type in Britain, an intrigue to both musicians and music lovers alike.
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NATIONAL ARCHIVE
Kew
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Situated upon premises which, in being recorded to have served as a hospital throughout the first world war, were, during the mid twentieth century, requisitioned by the government to store documentation once held at Chancery lane, The National Archive was first opened to the public as a record office in 1977.
Granted it’s present name in 2003, the National Archive houses a vast collection of legal information which, in dating back to the twelfth century, extends to encompass comprehensive records from a number of different judicial bodies including the Court of the Kings Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of Chancery, the Court of the Exchequer, the Central Criminal Court of Assizes and the Supreme Court of Judicature.
Housing an extensive list of both maps and architectural drawings, The National Archive Possesses an extensive microfilm library which retains copies of both government records and abdication papers.
Responsible for investigating document fraud, The National Archive was notably involved in discrediting evidence which suggested that the English prime minister Winston Churchill ordered the assassination of Heinrich Himler the leader of the Nazi SS during the Second World War, a disproof through which one can only suppose that such allegations were contrived to serve an ulterior purpose.
Presently the site of a museum devoted to public record keeping, the National Archive currently features displays pertaining to both the allocation of land to Norman freeholders described in the Domesday Book and the contents of William Ewart Gladstone’s “Red Box”, an article which the archive notably preserves within it’s vaults.
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NATIONAL GALLERY
Trafalgar Square
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Initially conceived with the donation of a number of paintings to the British Government by a man named George Beaumont in 1823, a horde which, in being displayed alongside the collections of both John Julius Angerstein and the Reverend Holwell Carr at Angerstein House during the early nineteenth century was subsequently deemed worthy of relocation to a larger site, the National Gallery was initially designed by William Wilkins in it’s present location at the edge of Trafalgar Square in 1831 to house the government’s art collection, a project which, in circumstancing the demolition of many previous buildings within the area, was distinctively finished in grey lime stone with an impressive central dome and classical porch.
Fortunate to acquire a number of fourteenth and fifteenth century Italian “primitive” paintings from Sir Charles Eastlake in 1838, a collection which, in being deemed sub-standard during the mid-Victorian era was latterly proven to be of historical importance. the National Gallery accrued a large amount of both English and Flemish art during the 1870’s a horde which ultimately became so extensive that many pictures were moved to the Tate Gallery in Millbank during the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Substantially extended with the addition of the Sainsbury wing to it’s premises during the late twentieth century, The National Gallery presently houses a fine collection of pictures, a selection which, in including a number of exceptionally rare paintings by artists such as Duccio, Masaccio, Ucello and Piero Del La Franciscio, extends to encompass a number of works by such notable individuals as Leonardo, Giorgione, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Vermere, Chardin, Klimt, Rousseau and Redon, a catalogue of images that, in combinatively spanning a period of approximately six hundred years remains one of the most comprehensive examples of it’s type in the world.
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NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
Greenwich
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Covering approximately 200 acres upon the banks of the Thames The National maritime Museum in Greenwich is recorded to be the largest example of it’s type on earth.
Established in 1934, with a donation from Sir James Caird, a patron after whom the Museum’s library is still named, The National Maritime Museum, charts the history of England’s sea-faring tradition covering the naval careers of a number of acclaimed sailors including Captain James Cook, and Admiral Horatio Nelson, a man was notably recorded to have once been buried upon the premises,
Situated upon the grounds of the Palace of Placentia, a building which in existing throughout the reign of Henry the eighth was destroyed during the Civil War, The National Maritime Museum, potentially owes it’s origins to the construction of Queen’s House in Greenwich for William the Third and Queen Mary, a building which, in being employed as a Hospital for sea men during the eighteenth century, pretextualised it’s usage as a naval training college between 1873 and 1998.
Possessing an extensive garden which, although destroyed during the early nineteenth century during the excavation of a subterranean tunnel between Greenwich and Maze Hill was re-planted in the 1870’s, “The National Maritime Museum” features a number of interesting attractions including the Royal observatory situated in Flamsteed House, a building which, in being constructed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1675, is one of the oldest structures in Greenwich, “the Cutty Sark”, an immaculately restored tea clipper, preserved beneath glass by the Thames, “the Peter Harrison Planetarium” opened in 2007, “the Trinity Laban School of Music” and “a Great Hall” that, in being decorated with a magnificent painted ceiling, was opened to the public in 2002
Twinned with a naval museum in Cornwall during the 1990’s, The National Maritime Museum is presently London’s foremost authority in matters of a nautical persuasion and, for those interested in sea-faring, represents an enjoyable day out.
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NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
Trafalgar Square
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Cited to be the oldest portrait gallery in the world, The National Portrait Gallery was recorded to have been established along Goring Street in Westminster during the 1850’s through a collaboration of interests which, in including “Philip Henry Stanhope the Fifth Earl of Stanhope”, “Thomas Babington Macauley the First Earl of Macauley” “Thomas Carlyle”, “Lord Ellesmere” and the British Prime minister “Benjamin Disraeli” amongst it’s number, had collectively amassed a sizeable collection of art which required suitable premises for display.
Moved to Exhibition Road in Kensington during the late nineteenth century, The National Portrait Gallery was temporarily re-located to Bethnal Green in 1885 before acquiring it’s present premises in Trafalgar Suqare.
Currently located within the precinct of a magnificent Portland lime building constructed beside Nelson’s column in 1896 by Shillitoe and Son, The National Portrait Gallery is, in being annexed to the larger “National Gallery”, currently one of the capital’s foremost arts centres.
Subject to controversy during the early twentieth century when John Temple Dawson was recorded to have shot both himself and his wife in the gallery’s exhibition hall, The National Portrait Gallery, remained a popular meeting place for both art students and wistful Romantics throughout the twentieth century, a period during which, in distinction, to many modernist venues, the establishment strove to retain a distinctly classical aspect.
Possessing three subsidiaries respectively located at Beninborough Hall, Bodelwyddon Castle and Montacote House, the National Portrait Gallery was recorded to have been substantially extended by Christopher Ondaatje at the turn of the twenty first century, a project which, in increasing the gallery’s size, currently serves as the perfect forum within which to stage exhibitions.
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NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Kensington
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Designed in 1881 by Alfred Waterhouse, the Natural History Museum in South West London is unquestionably one of the most extensive collections of taxonomy in Britain.
Founded through conjunction with the Royal Linnean and Zoological societies, The Natural History Museum, was initially conceived to house the collection of the successful Ulster doctor Sir Hans Sloane, a hoard of curiosities which, in once having been situated at Bloomsbury’s British Museum, was subsequently dispersed amongst other bodies.
Boasting an extensive library of natural tomes, an archive compiled by the British museum librarian Antonio Panizzi, the Natural History Museum, earned renown beneath the directorship of Richard Owen during the mid nineteenth century for it’s collection of pre-historic fossils and skeletons, a period throughout which many fossilised remains were excavated from quarries in South West England for display.
Distinguished by the skeleton of a giant dinosaur known as the Diplodocus, a relic situated in the building’s entrance hall, The Natural History Museum is also renowned for possessing a full size fibre-glass model of a blue whale, a sculpture installed at the rear of the establishment in 1938 after a creature of similar pedigree was discovered stranded in the Thames estuary.
Twinned, in 1938 with the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum at Tring in Hertfordshire, The Natural History Museum was recently annexed to the Royal Geological Museum along Exhibition Street, an establishment which, in being renowned for it’s extensive collection of crystals and minerals also a possesses both a fine planetarium and an intriguing mechanical earthquake simulator..
Radically overhauled with a number of new features in the early twenty first century, a list of exhibits which include the David Attenborough Galleries, a display dedicated to the popular televisual naturalist David Attenborough and the Darwin Centre, an extensive catalogue of specimen collected from Brazil and North America by the eminent naturalist Charles Darwin, The Natural History Museum, has, in recent years become increasingly devoted to the active conservation of nature, collaborating with both Green Peace and the World Wildlife Fund to preserve native habitats.
Located beside a small wild-life garden, an expanse notable for it’s colony of introduced Mayflies, The Natural History Museum, remains one of the finest public archives in Britain with excellent amenities for both children and adults.
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NEHRU CENTRE
Mayfair
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Established in 1992 in Audley Square, The Nehru Centre was initially conceived to facilitate cultural relationships between India and the United Kingdom, a capacity in which it has subsequently engaged in the exchange of a number of British artists with those of such countries as Berlin, Johannesburg, Moscow, Cairo and Colombo.
Constituted from the “Prince’s Apartments”, a selection of rooms which were recorded to have been used by Edward the Eighth when Prince of Wales for both liaisons and awards ceremonies and the “Pillar Hall” an oak panelled banqueting hall distinguished by a set of movable columns, The Nehru Centre, is, through collaboration, with the Indian High Commission, a truly international concern that caters for a wide range of artistic tastes.
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OLD OPERATING THEATRE AND HERB GARRET
Southwark
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Constructed at the top of St. Thomas’ Church in Southwark during the last years of the seventeenth century, The Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret was, in being situated beside the female surgical ward of St. Thomas hospital throughout the first years of it’s existence, subject to the jurisdiction of the Grand committee of ‘Saint Thomas’ Hospital,
Initially employed as a store-room for botanicals such as opium beneath the management of Robert Clayton, the old operating theatre and Herb Garret was recorded to have been converted into an operating theatre by Thomas Cartwright in 1822, a period after which Florence Nightingale earned renown for establishing a nursing school upon the premises.
Recorded to have been employed in the treatment of poor people during an era in which the wealthy were treated at home, The Old Operating theatre and Herb Garret was, like many other establishment’s of it’s type circumstanced by a number of fatalities caused by surgical shock throughout the Victorian era, a term which in modern medicine is synonymous with blood loss.
Largely neglected during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries after the re-location of St. Thomas’ Hospital to Lambeth, The Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret was re-discovered in 1957, being opened as a museum in 1962.
Recorded to be the oldest surgical operating theatre in Britain, The Old Operating Theatre And Herb Garret houses an extensive collection of surgical artefacts and, for those of a stalwart constitution, currently offers an unsettling insight into the gruelling realities of Victorian medical practise.
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OLD SPEAKING ROOM AND GALLERY HARROW SCHOOL
Harrow
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Situated upon the premises of Harrow school, a concern which, in being both founded in 1243 and substantially extended by John Lyon during the reign of Elizabeth the First, is perhaps the oldest educational facility in England, “The Old Speaking Room” was officially established in 1819 as a public speaking forum for the pupils of the school.
Substantially modified to house the schools’ collection of Egyptian and Greek antiquities during the mid twentieth century, “the old speaking room” was officially opened to the public in 1976.
Possessing a large collection of books, natural history artefacts and English water colours painted by such notable individuals as Sir Cecil Beaton, Victor Pasmore and Sir George Romney, a collection which, in featuring “A Distant View of Venice” painted by Sir Winston Churchill, extends to encompass a selection of silver Easter eggs crafted with surprise interiors by Stuart Devlin, “The Old Speaking Room”, also contains the busts of Lord Byron and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, men, who, in having once been pupils of the school subsequently achieved renown.
Adapted in 2016 to exhibit displays devoted to both Lord Byron and Sir Edward Codrington, “The Old Speaking Room”, is, in being situated within a traditional oak panelled Victorian classroom, replete with graffiti and the other evidence of usage, presently one of the most distinctive interiors in London.
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OLYMPIA CONFERENCE EXHIBITION CENTRE
Earl’s Court
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Designed by Henry Edward Coe in the late nineteenth century Kensington Olympia was recorded to have been built in South West London by Andrew Handyside and Company of Derbyshire in 1884.
Initially conceived by John Whitley as an exhibition hall which, in being devoted to farming, could also stage Royal Tournaments, Kensington Olympia was, throughout the first years of it’s existence, noted to have been occupied by The Natural Agricultural Hall Company.
Granted it’s present name in 1886, Kensington Olympia, originally consisted of four large halls, an arrangement which, in including Olympia Grand, Olympia Central, Olympia West and Olympia Natural within it’s compass, once combinatively constituted the largest covered area in Britain.
Constructed from cast iron and glass, Kensington Olympia earned renown throughout the late nineteenth century for hosting “The Crufts Dog Show”, “The Irish Life Exhibition”, and “The First Great Horse Show”, a series of events which, in ultimately culminating with the staging of Phineas Barnum’s “Greatest Show on Earth” in 1889, proved popular amongst the public.
Transformed into a roller skating rink at the turn of the twentieth century, Kensington Olympia was, in being used as both a civil prison camp and a clothing store during the First world war, largely responsible for instituting the Ideal Home exhibition, an event initially intended to show-case housing designed for soldiers returning from conflict.
Serving as the stage for the International Motor Exhibition throughout the early twentieth century, an event for which a new hall built by James Carmicheal was constructed beside the original stadium, Kensington Olympia was recorded to have been equipped with a substantial catering department during the 1920’s, a faculty which, in being managed by a man named Joe Lyons, earned renown for organising large-scale lunches and dinners.
Hosting a number of boxing matches during the early twentieth century, Kensington Olympia was, during the 1920’s, also responsible for staging the National Wireless and Radio exhibition, an event which, in being held in conjunction with the Royal Albert Hall, led to the broadcast of the “Radiolympia” radio show upon the premises,
Purchased by Philip Ernest Hill to stage the British Industries Fair of White City in 1930, a patronage beneath which the celebrated art deco Empire Hall was constructed upon the premises, Kensington Olympia subsequently earned renown for hosting the Black shirts Rally, an event which, in being organised by Oswald Mosley’s British Union Fascists, unfortunately became associated with Nazism during the 1940's.
Requisitioned by the war office as a civil internment camp during the Second World War, a period enduring which the building was used as an assembly point by General De Gaulle’s Free French Army, Kensington Olympia, was, alongside a selection of other attractions, recorded to have staged a number of Food Fairs during the 1950's.
Largely bought up by the Jeffrey Sterling Guarantee Trust during the 1970’s Kensington Olympia subsequently merged with the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, a union through which it preserved it’s status as one of the largest exhibition halls in Britain.
Responsible for hosting both The Festival of Mind and Body and number of design exhibitions during the 1970’s, Kensington Olympia continued to operate as a public stadium throughout the 1980’s a period during which the building’s central hall was notably decorated with a camels, goats, date palms and a consignment of imported Saudi Arabian sand to resemble a Bedouin encampment.
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PARASOL UNIT FOUNDATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ART
Islington
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Founded in the early twenty first century by Doctor Ziba Ardalen along Wharf Road in Islington, The Parasol Unit foundation for Contemporary Art, is devoted to the display of modern art.
Situated upon the premises of a converted warehouse converted into an art gallery by Claudio Silvestrin in 2005, The Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art is recorded to be managed in the manner of a German Kunsthalle, a term beneath which students are elected to exhibit work and there is no admission charge for members of the public.
Presently staging approximately four exhibitions a year, the Parasol Unit Foundation For Contemporary Art, currently represents an excellent forum for many forthcoming student art projects and comes firmly recommended to those interested in the London art scene.
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PECKHAM PLATFORM
Peckham
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Founded in 2000 by Emily Druiff through association with the Camberwell College of Arts, The Peckham Platform is devoted to popularising art through collaboration with local community groups.
Located upon premises designed by the Penson Group in Peckham square, The Peckham Platform was recorded to have become Independent in 2013, a term beneath which it was no longer governed purely by the academic system.
Presently open to the public, the Peckham Platform is currently an interesting and inclusive arts venue and, for those interested in London’s contemporary art scene, comes highly recommended.
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PERCIVAL DAVID COLLECTION OF CHINESE ART
Bloomsbury
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Acquired in 1927 by the founder of “the Chair of Chinese Art” at London’s Courtauld Institute “Sir Percival David”, The Perceval David collection is presently one of the most extensive assortments of Chinese pottery in London, a horde which, in dating back to 1351, extends to encompass a catalogue of articles crafted during the Sung, Yuan, Ming and Quing dynasties of China, a period throughout which Chinese art earned renown for it’s fabulously decorative blue and white scheme.
Originally constituted from a selection of items which, in being used as a form of collateral by the empress Dowager Cixi at the turn of the twentieth century, were traded with the west by the eunuchs and court officials of China’s Forbidden city, the Percival David Collection, offers a unique insight into the evolution of Chinese art.
Housed in the Dorchester Hotel during the 1930’s, The Perceval David Collection was, in being moved during the bomb strikes of the second world war, re-located to Gordon Square in 1952, a period during which Mount Elphinstone was recorded to have contributed a number of items relating to Marco Polo’s exploration of China to it’s catalogue,
Presented by Percival David to the University of London during the mid twentieth century, The Percival David Collection was ultimately moved to “Room 95” at the British Museum in 2009, a location in which it currently represents one of the establishment’s finest displays.
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PETRIE MUSEUM OF EGYPTIAN ARCHEOLOG
UCL
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Established upon the premises of the University College London along Gower Street in 1892, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology is, after “the Cairo museum”, “the British Museum” and “the Aegyptickus Museum in Berlin”, perhaps the most extensive collection of Egyptian artefacts in the world.
Initially compiled from the collections Amelia Edwards, and William Matthew Flinders Petrie, a man who, in performing a number of excavations at the Roman cemeteries of Hawara and Amarna during the late nineteenth century, bequeathed a horde of articles to the museum in 1913, The Petrie museum of Archeology presently consists of three galleries containing a number of rare items.
Boasting some of the most ancient artefacts ever discovered within it’s catalogue of exhibits, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology’s collection extends to include a number of 7,000 year old fragments of woven linen, a selection of 5,500 year old metal beads and cylinder seals, examples of 5,000 year old monumental sculptures and a list of kings which in dating back 2,900 years before Christ, has subsequently proven invaluable in quantifiably deducing the chronologies of the most ancient histories.
Currently open to the public, the Petrie museum of Egyptian Archeology, presently offers an intriguing insight into both the origins of modern archeology and the foundation of the British Museum, the establishment’s archive coming highly recommended to those interested in ancient Egyptian culture.
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PHOTOGRAPHER’S GALLERY
Farringdon
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Established in 1971 by Sue Davis, The Photographer’s gallery is recorded to be the first art venue in the world devoted purely to photography. an interest which, in staging the Deutche Borse photography prize during the 1970’s, was, in 1996, hailed as the most significant venue of it’s type in Europe,
Recorded to have been situated in a converted textiles warehouse along Ramilies Street in Soho in 2012, The Photographer’s Gallery was subsequently re-located to it’s present premises in a modified Lyon’s tea bar along Great Newport Street.
Annually staging an exhibition of press photographs, The Photographer’s Gallery, currently represents an interesting forum for a relatively modern medium and comes highly recommended to those interested in photography.
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POLISH INSTITUTE AND SKIKORSKI MUSEUM
Prince’s Gate
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Located in Princes gate, The Polish Institute and Skikorski Museum is devoted to the role that Polish people played throughout the second world war.
Established by Polish exiles who did not wish to return to Russia after the Second World war, the Polish Insitute and Skikorski museum is named in homage to the Polish military leader, “General Skikorski”, a man who, in governing the Polish army during the 1940’s notably shares his name with a series of large double rotored helicopters manufactured in Russia during the mid twentieth century
Amalgamated with The Polish resource Centre in 1965, The Polish Institute And Skikorski museum provides a fascinating insight into Polish culture during an era in which the iron Curtain served to divide Eastern Europe from it’s Western aspect.
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POLISH WAR MEMORIAL
Northolt
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Situated close to the Royal Air-force headquarters in Northolt is The Polish War Memorial, a large structure erected as testament to the hostilities in Eastern Europe both during and after the second world war.
Finished in Portland lime and Polish granite by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, a concentration camp intern during the second world war, the Polish War Memorial charts the plight of many Polish veterans unable to return to Eastern Europe after it’s occupation by the Soviet Union.
Detailing the names of one thousand two hundred and forty three Polish airmen who died whilst supporting allied forces during the Second World War, a list extended to include a further six hundred and fifty nine men killed in action between 1994 and 1996, The Polish War Memorial was renovated in 2010 for the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain and remains a stark testament to the horrors of conflict.
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POLLOCKS TOY MUSEUM
Covent Garden
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Established by Marguerite Fawdry in 1956 within a small attic room in Covent Garden, a location which was recorded to have once served as a toy shop, The Pollocks Toy Museum, is devoted to the history of Pollocks toys, a production run of cardboard theatres which, in being devised by a man named Benjamin Pollock during the eighteenth century, represented a format upon which children could stage their own plays throughout the Georgian era.
Re-located to Scala Street in 1969, The Pollocks Toy Museum, remains open to the public and presently affords an intriguing insight into both the domestic conventions of the eighteenth century and the evolution of the cardboard toy.
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PUSHKIN HOUSE
Notting Hill
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Founded in Notting Hill during the 1950’s by a group of emigre Russian friends led by Maria Mikhaluna Kullman, Pushkin House is recorded to be the oldest independent Russian cultural centre in England,
Named after the celebrated nineteenth century Russian author and poet Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, Pushkin House displays an extensive collection of Russian literature, poetry and art, a collection which in being thematised by Russian history, philosophy and current affairs, provides a diverse cross section of Russian culture.
Opened upon new premises in Bloomsbury in 2006, Pushkin House regularly stages theatrical performances, film screenings, dances, lectures, exhibitions, concerts, discussions and debates, and comes firmly recommended for those interested in Russian culture.
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QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND CONFERENCE CENTRE
Westminster
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Situated upon the grounds of the old Parliamentary Mews stationary office, a building which was notably designed in 1825 by the great Victorian engineer Decimus Burton, The Queen Elizabeth The Second Conference Centre is a comparatively modern building which, in being equipped with state of the art facilities, is devoted to the organisation of public conferences and meetings.
Constructed by Powell Muyat partners in 1981, The Queen Elizabeth the Second Conference Centre contains seven conference halls, four auditoriums and an extensive number of smaller rooms including the Fleming, Whittle and Mountbatten rooms, a selection of exhibition spaces which combinatively host a regular schedule of public events.
Officially owned by Her majesty’s Government, The Queen Elizabeth the Second Conference Centre was formally opened to the public by the Queen in 1986 and continues to stage public seminars and conventions to this day.
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THE RAGGED SCHOOL MUSEUM
Tower Hamlets
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Occupying three canal side warehouses facing Mile End Park in Tower Hamlets, “the Ragged School Museum” is devoted to the history of London’s educational system, an interest which, in being conceived during the eighteenth century with the foundation of a school in Hackney by Thomas Cranford was recorded to have been consolidated in 1835 with the establishment of the London City Mission.
Subsequently associated with the foundation of a school for Scottish children by Sheriff Watson and Thomas Guthrie in 1841, the origins of the Ragged School Museum are most immediately creditable to the foundation of “the Steering Committee” by Messrs. Morris and Starsy in 1844, an interest which, in being affiliated with “the Ragged School Union for Destitute Children” established by Anthony Ashley Cooper the Seventh Earl of Shaftsbury, served as the pretext for what was to become the Shaftsbury Society.
Initially located in stalls, lofts and beneath railway arches, the capital’s first schools were observed to exemplify many of the attributes witnessed amongst the works of the celebrated Victorian novelist Charles Dickens, a forum which, in being of nebulous persuasion, was formalised in 1877 with the establishment of a modern school house devoted to the education of children in Mile End, an institution which, through the practise of reading writing, arithmetic and biblical studies, ultimately formed the basis of what was to become the modern academic curriculum,
Unfortunately closed and converted into a factory during the early twentieth century, The School at Mile End, nonetheless served as the predecessor for the many academic establishments that were later to typify the capital’s streets, a premium confirmed with the opening of “The Ragged School Museum” upon Doctor Thomas Barnardo’s Corner in Field Road during the 1990's.
Featuring a number of re-constructed Victorian classroom and a traditional East End Kitchen, “The Ragged School Museum”, presently represents a rather unsettling account of the many events that, within the space of a century, led to the formation of the modern academic system.
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RANGER’S HOUSE
Greenwich
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Located within the bounds of Greenwich park in South East London, Ranger’s House represents an excellent example of the early Georgian stylism which serves to distinguish much of the Greenwich area.
Recorded to have been occupied by the successful traveller Captain Francis Hosier during the early eighteenth century, Rangers House, then known as Chesterfield House, was inherited in 1748 by the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, a tenure beneath which a bowed windowed room was added to the premises to house the Earl’s art collection.
Purchased in 1782 by the Royal physician and deputy governor of the Hudson Bay shipping Company, “Richard Hulse”, a tenure during which a second bow widowed room was added to the property, Ranger’s House, was, in 1816, formally designated for usage as a Ranger’s residence, a capacity in which Charles Sackville first Earl of Dorset was recorded to have served as the first ranger.
The official residence of Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester during the nineteenth century, Ranger’s House was, in 1888, granted to Field Marshal Lord Wolsey for a time before eventually being acquired by London County council in 1897.
Currently the location of the Wernher Collection, an art gallery which, in being founded by the successful South African diamond magnate “Sir Julius Wernher”, boasts a fine selection of Sevres porcelain, renaissance jewellery, byzantine ivories and Jacobean portraits amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits, Rangers House presently affords an intriguing and beautiful insight into London’s past.
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RED HOUSE
Bexley
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Built during the 1860’s in Bexley by a collaboration between the celebrated arts and crafts pioneer William Morris and the artist Philip Webb, Red House, was notably recorded to be the location in which William Morris founded Morris and Company.
Used to entertain the arts and crafts pioneer’s guests throughout the late Victorian era, a period during which the artist Dante Gabriel Rosetti was observed to have praised it’s scheme, Red house was only occupied by William Morris for five years, the designer being recorded to have vacated the premises in 1865.
Finished in the Victorian Gothic style with stained glass windows made by Burne Jones, Red House was, in 2002, acquired by the National Trust, a proprietorship beneath which the property is presently open to the public.
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RED MANSION FOUNDATION
Marylebone
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Founded at Portland place by Nicolette Kwok in 1999, The Red Mansion Foundation is devoted to improving the appreciation of Chinese art in the West, a venue which, in inspiring artists to travel to China, currently also operates a successful exchange programme.
Recorded to have organised exhibitions in Beijing, The Red Mansion Foundation presently awards the Red Mansion Prize for contemporary Chinese art and, for those interested in far Eastern Culture, currently represents an interesting location to visit.
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REDBRIDGE MUSEUM
Redbridge
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Founded in 2000 upon the premises of the Central Ilford Library, the Redbridge Museum charts the history of Redbridge, an area which, in being rather innocuously named after a seventeenth century red-brick building situated within it’s vicinity, was notably unrecognised as a London Borough before 1965,
Possessing a fine natural history section, featuring a collection of fossils and ice age relics including the skeletal remnants of wooly mammoths, wooly rhinoceri, aurochs and sabre toothed lions, the Red Bridge Museum, also houses an exhibition devoted to the history of Wanstead house, Hart House and Up Hall, a display which, in extending to encompass convincing reproductions of both an Edwardian front room and a 1930’s kitchen beneath it’s aegis, combinatively represents a relatively comprehensive history of the local area.
Also featuring a number of displays devoted to Fairlop Fair and the floral bouquets which were once recorded to have decorated the bicycles of the Woodford Meets, The Redbridge Museum, currently offers both an interesting and informative account of the passage of events which conspired to form North East London.
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RICH MIX CULTURAL FOUNDATION
Shoreditch
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Located upon the premises of a leather garment factory along Bethnal Green Road in Shoreditch, The Rich Mix Cultural Foundation was established fairly recently in East London as an arts venue,
Including a three screen cinema and a number of performance spaces amongst it’s list of attractions, the Rich Mix cultural foundation is presently open to the public and represents a fairly accessible forum in which to view examples of performing art.
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RIVERSIDE GALLERY
Barnes
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Recorded to have been in operation for approximately fourteen years in Barnes High Street, The Riverside Gallery is devoted to the exhibition contemporary fine arts, paintings, sculptures, prints and ceramics.
Consisting of both an art gallery and a garden exhibition space, the Riverside Gallery, displays an extensive collection of limited edition prints and canvases depicting a variety of familiar local scenes.
Presently open to the public, The Riverside gallery possesses a small coffee shop and comes highly recommended to those interested in the cultural exploits of London’s rural suburbs.
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RIVINGTON PLACE
Shoreditch
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Funded by INIVA and Autograph A8P, Rivington Place is a free access visual arts centre in the East end of London.
Hailed as the successor of the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank, Rivington Place is recorded to have collaborated with a number of artistic organisations including “White Cube” in Hoxton street and actively supports international artists.
Situated upon architecturally unusual premises designed by David Abjaye in 2007, Rivington place possesses a fine arts library and currently represents an excellent exhibition space for displaying paintings.
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ROSE THEATRE EXHIBITION
Southwark
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Constructed by John Griggs in the sixteenth century upon the South Bank of the Thames, The Rose Theatre is, in being recorded to have staged the plays of Christopher Marlowe throughout the reign of Queen Mary, generally considered to be the predecessor of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.
Located in the Liberty of the Clink, an area known throughout the sixteenth century for both it’s bear baiting, it’s gaming and it’s prostitution, The Rose theatre was, in 1577 recorded to have neighboured both “the Curtain”, a notorious brothel in the Southwark area and a number of artists studios.
Recorded to have been managed by Philip Henslowe and John Chalmley in 1587, The Rose Theatre earned renown throughout the late sixteenth century for staging many of William Shakespeare’s plays, a period during which acting companies were frequently granted illustrious titles such as the “The Queen’s Men”, “The Lord Admiral’s Men”, “Lord Pembroke’s Men”, “Lord Strange’s Men”, “The Sussex Men” and “The Worcester men”.
Closed during an episode of bubonic plague in 1592, a period during which founder of the Dulwich Picture gallery “Edward Alleyn” was recorded to have collaborated with Henslowe’s step daughters to found the Fortune theatre on the North bank of the Thames, The Rose theatre was, during the late sixteenth century superseded by the Swan and Globe theatres in Southwark and finally being closed in 1605
Subsequently involved with the construction of the Hive Theatre, Philip Henslowe was, in being a contemporary of William Shakespeare, perhaps one of the most influential men in English theatre during the Elizabethan era.
Forwarded as a site of historical interest by both Peggy Ashcroft and Laurence Olivier in the late twentieth century, the grounds of the Rose Theatre were opened to the public as both an exhibition space and an open performance area in 1999, a project which, in exposing the foundations of the original playhouse, discovered that the establishment had both once been constructed upon a bed of cinder and earth mixed with ash and that, from the evidence apparent within it’s litter, it’s clientele possibly ate hazel-nuts and fruit during performances
Subsequently proposed as the site of a fully operative replica Elizabethan theatre by Dame Judie Dench, a scheme which, in being forwarded to the British Shakespeare Company has yet to be realised, The Rose Theatre Exhibition currently represents an interesting reminder of London’s theatrical history.
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ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS
Piccadilly
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Located at Burlington House in Piccadilly, the Royal Academy of Arts is devoted to the promotion and appreciation of creative arts, a pursuit through which it seeks to raise the status of artists by preserving the traditions of a number of formal training programmes which, in being based upon precepts laid down by “Les Academies De Peinture Et De Sculpture” established during the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, served to pretextualise many artistic practise throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries..
Conceived during the foundation of both “the Society of Artists of Great Britain” and “the Free Society of Arts”, The Royal Academy of Arts potentially owes it’s origins to William Hogarth’s collaboration with the Foundling Hospital in Bloomsbury during the
mid-eighteenth century, a venture which in being established during a era in which public art galleries were uncommon in the capital, served to popularise art.
Officially founded by George the third in 1768, a period during which the celebrated architect Sir William Chambers was recorded to have used the patronage of the king to give financial support to the academy, The foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts is synonymous with the inauguration of it’s summer exhibition, a venue which, in being staged annually since 1769, was attended by many people throughout the late eighteenth century.
Counting the celebrated artist Joshua Reynolds as it’s first president, a patron who, in stressing the importance of preserving the artistic conventions of old masters, also instituted the practise of donating art to the academy, “the Royal Academy of Arts”, has, throughout it’s history trained some of the finest artists in Britain.
Initially located in Pall Mall, The Royal Academy of Arts was moved to the newly completed Somerset House on the Strand in 1780, a period after which it was re-located to the East wing of the National gallery in Trafalgar square before ultimately acquiring it’s present premises at Burlington house in 1868.
Possessing both the oldest institutional fine art library in Britain and a fine photographic library, the Royal Academy of Arts, presently exhibits a number of fine paintings and sculptures including Michaelangelo’s “Taddei Tondo” an early sixteenth century sculpture depicting the virgin Mary cradling two infants one of whome is thought to be John the Baptist, a display which, in extending to encompass an extensive collection of Thomas Gainsbsborough’s work and a number of murals painted by Benjamin West and Anjelica Kaufman also features two memorials respectively devoted to the artists of the first and second world wars.
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ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC
Marylebone
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Founded in 1822 along Marylebone Road, The Royal Academy of Music is perhaps one of the most well established musical colleges in London, a body which, in counting such notable individuals as Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Yehudi Menhuin, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Harrison Birtwhistle and Sir Henry Wood amongst it’s list of post-graduates is also recorded to have trained a number of contemporary chart musicians including both Sir Elton John and Anne Lennox.
Opened as a museum in 2001 with three permanent galleries, The Royal Academy of Music, presently houses a fine selection of Cremanese violins which, in including a collection of Stradivarii Guarinii within it’s catalogue, features a Viotti Ex Bruce which was once legendarily played by the French queen Marie Antoinette,
Exhibiting a number of interesting pipe organs and a rare nineteenth century Viennese piano with six pedals, The Royal Academy of Music also possesses an extensive collection of musical manuscripts which, in having being written by such notable composers such as Henry Purcell, George Frederick Handel and Hank Williams extends to encompass the original score for Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado.
Currently open to the public, the Royal Academy of Music presently provides a fascinating insight into the history of both music and it’s tutelage and, for those interested in the evolution of stringed instruments especially the violin, comes highly recommended.
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ROYAL AGRICULTURAL HALL
Lower East Smithfields
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Established by the Royal Smithfields club, an organisation which, in being founded by the Duke of Bedford and Sir Joseph Banks during the late eighteenth century was recorded to have been granted the right to hold live-stock exhibitions, The Royal Agricultural Hall was primarily constructed to stage the Royal Smithfields show, an exhibition which, in having been staged at both Wooton’s livery stables near Smithfields meat market and along Baker street, needed permanent premises upon which to stage events.
Officially constructed in 1862 The Royal Agricultural Hall earned renown throughout the late nineteenth century for staging both the Royal Tournament and the Crufts dog show, events which in being subsequently transferred to the Kensington Olympia exhibition Hall, heralded the end of the venue’s usage as an agricultural preserve and re-invention as an exhibition hall for both art and design.
Staging both the London Arts fair and the Brunel yearly design exhibition throughout the years of the first World War, The Royal Agricultural Hall was, during the second world war, adapted for usage as a parcels office, a period after which the venue was recorded to have largely succumbed to neglect.
Converted for usage as a business design centre by Sam Morris in 1986, a term beneath which the venue served as the premises for over one hundred small businesses, The Royal Agricultural Hall, is, although no longer an exhibition stadium, presently open to the public as a design faculty
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ROYAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM
Hendon
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Originating from a series of manned balloon flights staged at the Brent reservoir during the nineteenth century, a convention which, in dating back to the ascent of Henry Coxwell and James Glasier in a balloon called the Mammoth during the 1860’s, had, through association with a series of public events held at the Welsh Harp public house located in the vicinity, become something of a tourist attraction during the late Victorian era, the first years of the Hendon Aerodrome were initially blighted by misfortune witnessing a series of failed attempts to launch a variety of aircraft including Everrett, Edgecombe and Company’s prototype aeroplane “the Grasshopper”.
Achieving a degree of recognition in 1909 for staging a long distance airship flight in conjunction with Spencer Brothers of Highbury, an ascent which, in including both Henry Spencer and Muriel Matters, an Australian suffragette, amongst it’s crew, represented something of a novel situation, The Hendon Aerodrome was, officially established in 1910 with both a successful powered ascent by the aviator Louis Paulham and the foundation of the Grahame White aviation company upon the premises by Claude Grahame White.
Serving as a pool for aeronautical pursuits including Bieriot’s flying school during the early twentieth century, the Hendon Aerodrome proceeded to stage an Ariel Derby, an event which, in being associated with the work of the aircraft manufacturers Handley Page limited, proved to be a popular audience attraction, conducting a large scale Royal Airforce pageant upon the premises in 1922
Responsible for constructing aircraft throughout the first world war, a period during which it pioneered much of what is presently known about aeronautical science, the Grahame White Aviation company continued to produce aircraft throughout the second world war before finally closing in 1957, the Hendon aerodrome remaining in operation some years after it’s absence before itself ceasing to operate in 1968.
Re-opened to the public as the Royal Air Force Museum by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1972, The Hendon Aerodrome is currently occupied by thirty six hangars which, in including a “Milestones of Flight” building , a “Bomber Hall”, a “Battle of Britain Hall” and a number of historic depots also features a reconstruction of Grahame White’s original aircraft factory amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits.
Presently displaying over one hundred aircraft including the last two Vickers Wellington’s in existence, an Avro Lancaster “S for sugar”, the only Hawker Typhoon on earth, a Boulton Paul Defiant and a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, The Royal Airforce Museum at the Hendon Aerodrome is, in being twinned with R.A.F Cosford in Shropshire, perhaps one of the most extensive collections of old aircraft in Britain and, for those interested in the history of powered flight, comes highly recommended.
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ROYAL ARMOURIES
Tower Hamlets
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Recorded to be the oldest museum in the world, The royal armouries were in being, devised to guard the King’s privy wardrobe in the mid-fifteenth century, first opened to the public during the reign of James the Second, a period throughout which they earned renown for displaying examples of decorative ceremonial Spanish armour.
Initially responsible of the manufacture of both armour and edged weapons, an industry which was, since 1423, recorded to have been supervised by men appointed Master of the King’s Armoury, The Royal Armouries accrued a phenomenal collection of medieval weaponry and protective clothing from the Royal palaces of Greenwich, Woolwich and Portsmouth during the sixteenth century.
Closely associated with the Office of Ordnance during the seventeenth century, a period during which explosives were favoured over edged weaponry, The Royal Armouries were, up until 1995 when many of the establishment’s exhibits were moved to Fort Nelson in Hampshire, also used to house an extensive collection of harquebuses, fire-arms and canons.
Classified as a non departmental public body by the National Heritage Act in 1983, the Royal Armouries are currently open to the public and provide an intriguing insight into the history of modern warfare.
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ROYAL BRITISH LEGION POPPY FACTORY
Richmond
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First imported into England from France by a woman named Madame Anna Geurin in 1921, the poppy was adopted as a symbol of remembrance for those that died at the Battle of the Somme by the Royal British Legion in 1922, a term beneath which Major George Howson and Major Jack Cohen were commissioned to employ disabled ex-servicemen to produce examples of the popular red flower.
Initially established in 1926 upon the grounds of a collar factory on the Old Kent Road, a period during which “Lady Haigh’s Poppy” Factory was also founded in Edinburgh by Field Marshall Haigh’s wife, The first incarnation of the Royal British Legion Poppy Factory was demolished soon after having been created,
Moved to a new factory in 1932 and then to a printing works in 1965, The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory is presently situated upon the grounds of the Lansdown brewery in Richmond, a location in which it has existed since 1972.
Producing approximately thirty six million poppies a year, a figure which, in combining with an output of five million poppies from “Lady Haigh’s factory, serves to explain why the poppy has become such a familiar sight upon British suit lapels, The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory also makes Poppy Wreaths for services of remembrance held at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
Kensington
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Granted a Royal Charter by Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg in 1882, the Royal College of Music was initially established to replace the National Training School for Music, a capacity in which it was primarily devoted to both the performance of musical arts and the study of musical science.
Placed beneath the direction of Arthur Sullivan in 1876, The Royal College of Music was subsequently moved onto new premises designed by Arthur Blumfeld in the Flemish mannerist style during the 1890's
Housing a large collection of exhibits, which, in including a number of instruments which date back to the thirteenth century, features the world’s oldest upright harpsichord, an instrument which, in being known as the Clavicytherium, was recorded to have been constructed in 1480, the world’s oldest guitar made in 1381 and the world’s oldest Baryton crafted in 1647, The Royal College of Music, also possesses an extensive library which, in containing a number of rare annals that date back to the fifteenth century, extends to encompass a diverse selection of photographs and portraits
Presently the site of the Marylin Fleming concert hall, a venue which, in being recorded to have staged both a number of recitals performed by Gustav Holst and series of concerts arranged by the students of Dennis Brian, The Royal College of Music, is currently one of the most prestigious musical authorities in Britain, and, for those interested in the history of classical recital, comes highly recommended.
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS MUSEUM
Marylebone
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The Royal College of Physicians is after both the Barber Colleges of Surgeons in Dublin founded in 1446 and the Barber college of Surgeons established in Edinburgh during 1505, recorded to be the oldest medical college in Britain.
Formed during the early sixteenth century with an application for a Royal charter made by a consortium of doctors led by Thomas Linacre, The Royal College of Physicians, was initially conceived to improve the practise of healthcare in England.
Eventually granted a Charter by Henry the Eighth in 1518, a term which, in being confirmed by Parliament in 1523, both authorised medical licenses and promised to punish malpractice, The Royal College of Physicians, is, in being responsible for the publication of the first ten editions of the London Pharmacopiea and instrumental the establishment of the international standard for the classification of disease, the origin of the many medical practises which typified Harley Street during the Victorian era.
Originally situated beside St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Royal College of Physicians, moved to Pall Mall for a number of years before acquiring premises around Regents Park, a location in which the museum, a modernist building constructed by Denys Lasdon in 1964, presently stands.
Housing a large catalogue of eighteenth and nineteenth century surgical instruments which, in including a number of anatomical tables composed of human circulatory systems mounted upon wood, William Harvey’ demonstration rod and an R.I.P. silver gilt mace, extends to encompass both the Symons collection of commemorative medals and a fine art gallery, The Royal College of Physicians Museum, also possesses an extensive library containing a number of rare pre-sixteenth century Arabic, Roman and Greek texts.
Situated in a fine garden which is devoted to the great physicians and medical heroes of the past, The Royal College of Physician’s Museum, affords a fascinating insight into the evolution of medicine and it’s many applications throughout history.
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ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS
Walthamstow
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Situated in 175 acres of Royal Parkland upon the grounds of Waltham Abbey. the Royal Gunpowder Mill is, alongside the mills of Ballin Collig and Faversham one of three large munitions works which were recorded to have existed in Southern England throughout the Napoleonic conflicts.
Founded during the medieval era by the monks of Waltham Abbey, The Royal Gunpowder Mills were initially recorded to have been fulling mills, a term beneath which they were instrumental in the production of cloth. pounding fleece infused with nitre in water to dissolve it into a solution that dried as felt.
Converted for usage as an “oyl mill” in the early seventeenth century, a period throughout which vegetable oils were produced upon the premises, The Royal Gunpowder Mills were in 1665 purchased by Ralph Hudson to produce salt peter for gunpowder during the Second Dutch War.
Sold to William Walton at the end of the seventeenth century, a period during which the munitions works were further extended up Mill Head Stream, The Royal Gunpowder Mills were in 1735, recorded to have been one of the largest examples of their type in Britain, an interest of such magnitude that in 1780, Major Sir William Congreve filed a request for the Abbey to be bought by the crown to insure the consistency of both it’s products and supplies.
Purchased by the Crown in 1787, The Royal Gunpowder Mills were used to produce gunpowder during both the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, an era thorughout which the engineer John Rennie referred to the mill as “the old establishment”.
Achieving a hiatus of productivity in 1815 during the battle of Waterloo, the output of the Royal Gunpowder Mills was recorded to have run at an ebb during the 1820’s before again witnessing a resurgence of productivity throughout the events of the Crimean war with Russia, The Indian War and the Boer War, a period during which the mill became involved in the manufacture of nitro based explosives and propellants.
Employed in mining, quarrying, tunnelling and railway building during the late Victorian era, the Royal Gunpowder Mills began to produce R.D.X. in the early twentieth century, an explosive which, in being the primary constituent of Torpex, was used during the first world war.
Recorded to have specialised in the production Cordite during the second world war, the Royal Gunpowder Mills were instrumental in the development of the bouncing bomb, a device which, in being used by the dam busters to destroy a number of German military installations, earned a strange combination of fear and respect from the many Nazi cohorts then at large in the world.
Re-located to Scotland and Wales in 1943, The Royal Gunpowder Mills were closed in 1945, a period after which the premises were solitarily used as a defence research facility, an installation which, in being secret during the post war era, was notable for developing a number of military propellants for space vehicles, “snifters” explosives and rocket motors for the Skylark project.
Handed over to Royal Ordnance P.L.C in 1984, the Royal Gunpowder Mills were re-named “the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment” a term beneath which they achieved an international reputation for both their superior production methods and high quality results.
Recently de-contaminated, both the North site of the mill and Quinton Hill are presently accessible to the public as Gunpowder park, a 285 acre expanse of suburban scrubland which, in being dedicated to art, science and wild-life, features both a narrow gauge railway and a gunpowder making tour aboard a military truck amongst it’s catalogue of attractions.
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ROYAL LONDON HOSPITAL MUSEUM
Whitechapel
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One of five hospitals recorded to have existed in London during the eighteenth century, The Royal London Hospital stands alongside, St. Bartholomew’s, St, Thomas’, Guy’s, Westminster and St. Georges at the forefront of the capital’s medical establishment.
Recorded to have been situated in Moorfields in 1740, the Royal London Hospital moved to Prescott Street in 1741, a location in which it achieved renown for offering free medical care to the poor.
Presently the site of a museum, an establishment located in the crypt of St. Augustine with St. Philip’s church in Whitechapel, the history of Royal London Hospital is presently preserved with an extensive collection of uniforms, medals, surgical instruments, medical equipment and nursing apparatus, a catalogue of items which, in including a collection of bottles used to contain rhubarb laxative and the amputation knife of William Blizard, the co-founder of the Royal London Hospital’s medical school, extends to encompass an archive of patient records which dates back to the establishment’s conception in 1740.
Featuring a number of exhibits devoted to the life of Joseph Merrick, a man who, in suffering from the immensely disfiguring disease “elephantiasis” was recorded to have performed for some years as a freak in Tom Norris’ shops beneath the pseudonym of the “Elephant Man”, a venue which in being deemed cruel, was closed by the police compelling Merrick to seek similar work in Europe where he was notably robbed and forced to return to England, The Royal London Hospital Museum charts the story of Merrick’s admission into care beneath the supervision of Doctor Frederick Teves in 1886, a governance beneath which the performer was interestingly recorded to have rolled cigars for a number of years before his death at the age of twenty seven in 1890.
Immortalised in a film directed by David Lynch in 1980, the tale of John Merrick offers an intriguing insight into the nineteenth century passion for the macabre, a taste reflected in many of the curiosity shops and freak shows of the Victorian era.
Recorded to hold the disfigured performer’s mortal remains in it’s vaults, an item which, although not accessible to the public, is exemplified by the display of an identical replica, the Royal London Hospital also exhibits a model church which was recorded to have been built by Merrick whilst interned at the hospital.
Also possessing an extensive selection of documents pertaining to Jack the Ripper including a copy of the “From Hell” letter sent to the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee George Lusk, The Royal London Hospital Museum further displays a number of articles relating to the murderous antics of both Dr. John Crippen, ands Reginald Christie, a catalogue of items which, in drawing the history of the establishment through to the modern era, covers the fate of Edith Cavell, a woman who, in founding a nursing college for the hospital at the turn of the twentieth century, was notoriously shot during the first world war.
Visited by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1990, an event swiftly superseded by the foundation of a school of midwifery and nursing upon the premises in 1994 both the Royal London Hospital and it’s Museum are presently open to the public and provide an invaluable insight into the past and present of London’s medical establishment.
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ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
Covent Garden
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Situated upon premises which were once occupied by the first incarnation of the Theatre Royal, an establishment which, in being founded by the actor manager John Rich on Bow Street during the mid eighteenth century became renowned for staging the works of George Frederick Handel, The Royal Opera House succeeded, alongside Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in popularising the public recital of classical music during the Georgian era.
Re-built in 1787 after having been destroyed in a fire, The Royal Opera House was further renovated in 1792 before being extensively re-constructed by Robert Smirke in 1808, a project which, in moving the Theatre Royal to Drury Lane, re-assigned the premises as a venue solitarily devoted to opera.
Part owned by the actor John Philip Kemble and actress Sarah Siddons during the early nineteenth century, a term beneath which, much as with the acting companies of the Shakespearian era, performers were granted a share in company proceedings, The Royal Opera House was, in 1843, liberated by a government act which lifted the patents and monopoly on many works of early English drama.
Hiring Michael Costa to perform the work of a number of classical composers including Rossini during the mid nineteenth century, an influence beneath which the establishment became known as the Royal Italian Opera, The Royal Opera House was again destroyed by fire in 1856, being re-constructed with a distinctive glass arched floral hall by E.M Barry in 1858.
Officially granted it’s present name in 1892, the Royal Opera House fell prey to neglect during the early twentieth century being used as a both furniture suppository and a Mella Dance Hall during the early twentieth century.
Re-opened in 1946, with a memorable performance of Sleeping Beauty by Dame Margot Fonteyn, the Royal Opera House became associated with the Sadlers Wells Ballet Company under Ninette De Valois during the mid twentieth century, a period throughout which it specialised in staging ballet performances.
Extensively refurbished in the late twentieth century, a project which notably restored it’s glass arcade into pristine condition, the Royal Opera House, is presently open to the public and for those interested in the performing arts comes highly recommended.
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ROYAL PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
Lower East Smithfield
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Established in 2010, The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum is devoted to the history of pharmacology, a discipline which in distinction to drug synthesis, is concerned with the study of naturally occurrent narcotics.
Originally known as the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, an organisation which, in being founded in 1841, by William Allen and the quaker Jacob Bell at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in Arundel street, subsequently acquired property in Bloomsbury Square.
Recorded to have published the pharmaceutical journal in 1841, Jacob Bell lived throughout an era when there was no legislation governing the manufacture of poison, the earliest years of the Royal Pharmaceutical society pertaining to the institution of the Pharmacy Act, a law which, in restricting the manufacture of poison to licensed out-lets, was eventually passed in 1868, an event after which the society earned renown for maintaining the conditions of it’s term.
Situated at Mummfield Hall in 1983, a period during which the organisation donated a number of natural medicines and poisons to The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, a selection of specimen which, in currently being stored within the garden’s economic botany facility, presently constitutes a large part of the society’s initial collection the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum performed an amount of research into a number of Greek medical theories including the practise of drinking Hemlock to commit suicide.
Exhibiting a fine collection of dispensing equipment, including an amount of Lambeth Delftware, sixteenth century bronze bell mortars and drug storage containers, The Royal Pharmaceutical Museum also displays both an extensive photographic archive and a number of interesting medical caricatures.
Re-situated upon premises in East Smithfield in 2015 The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum is unfortunately currently closed pending further re-location and so cannot presently be accessed by the public.
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SAATCHI GALLERY
Waterloo
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Originally founded in 1985 in North London by the advertising tycoon Charles Saatchi, The Saatchi Gallery was subsequently moved to the Duke of York’s Headquarters on the South Bank in 2003, a period during which the gallery was recorded to have staged a number of Chinese art exhibitions.
Possessing a fine collection of art which includes a number of works by both Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin, the Saatchi Gallery achieved renown for actively courting media controversy with a series of outrageously rude publicity campaigns during the 1990's
Re-located to premises in Chelsea in 2008, The Saatchi Gallery is presently staging a Rolling Stones Exhibition and comes highly recommended to those interested in the culturally controversial aspect of contemporary art.
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THE SALVATION ARMY HERITAGE CENTRE
Camberwell
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Located upon the premises of William Booth College on Champion Hill in Camberwell, the Salvation Army Heritage Centre charts the history of the Salvation Army an organisation which, in being associated with the staging of military parades featuring brass band music, was, during the early twentieth century recorded to have been the largest provider of social care in Britain after the Government.
Conceived as the East London Christian mission by William Booth during a series of tent meetings in 1865, The Salvation Army was formally recognised by it’s present name in 1878, a term beneath which it was recorded to have both worked with Elizabeth Cottrill of the Whitechapel Corps to clothe the slum sisters of East London’s Hanbury Street Refuge and performed an amount of missionary work to bring the message of the gospel to London’s poor.
Active during the passing of the criminal law amendment, a bill which, in raising the age of female consent to sixteen, forbade child prostitution, the Salvation Army was, involved with the founding of Hackney’s Maternity Hospital in 1888, a period during which William Booth also achieved renown for publishing “In Darkest England And The Way Out”, a text which served to define many of the organisation’s policies towards the reduction of poverty.
Recorded to have acquired 800 acres of farmland in Hadleigh during the late nineteenth century, the Salvation Army was responsible for moving a number of girls employed to make matches at Bow Creek to the rural suburbs of Essex in 1891, an environment which, in extricating them from the oppressive scheme of the city, was intended to grant them a healthier climate in which to grow up.
Notable for supporting British troops during the Boer War in 1894, a dispute which, in having been provoked by the decision of Major Simmons and Lieutenant Alice Teague to open fire on a number of South African Muslim colonies, caused a wide-scale military reprisal, the Salvation Army became, by default associated with the pacification of mob violence, a term beneath which it was responsible for establishing a number of naval and military hospices in Portsmouth, Malta and Calcutta during the late nineteenth century.
Recorded to have commenced the publication of a regular Journal in 1897, the Salvation Army had, by the early twentieth century, developed a fairly extensive network of interests distinguished by a contingent of motor ambulances, refreshment huts and military camps.
Involved in the First world war, a dispute which in being distinguished by the pioneering usage of X-ray machines to identify shrapnel injuries by the scientist Marie Curie, led forth to the development of chlorine gas by the German chemist Fritz Haber, a resource which in being dropped upon troops at the Battle of Ypres in 1915, instantaneously killed six thousand British, French Algerian and Canadian soldiers, the Salvation army was notably associated with the treatment of facial injuries conducted by Harold Gillies at Queen’s Hospital in Sidcup, a practise which was to result in the development of modern plastic surgery.
Led by Evangeline Booth in 1917, a woman who, in being appointed the National Commander of the Salvation Army in America, was responsible for creating the National War Board to meet the needs of British expeditionary forces after the first world war, a body that, in achieving renown for serving doughnuts to soldiers, was also affectionately referred to as “the Doughnut Girls”, the Salvation Army, became known as “the Red Shield” during the second world war, granting aid to soldiers interned as prisoners of war, a campaign which, in observing hardship in German concentration camps, achieved a degree of success in Sweden, but ultimately proved unpopular in Estonia, Latvia, Korea and Japan.
As a testament to the Salvation Army’s tenacity throughout the second world war, Colonel Mary Booth, William Booth’s granddaughter, refused to leave Belgium during it’s invasion by Germany in 1940, founding a Sunday School during the worst years of conflict before returning to Britain in 1942.
Instrumental in the Repeal of the Indian Criminal Tribes act in 1949, a law which, in being associated with the Imperial Raj, was conducted by men dressed in Indian clothing who retained the right to incarcerate convicts, the Salvation army was, beneath the guidance of Frederick Booth Tudor, responsible for establishing a re-habilitation programme for those released after periods state arrest.
Also involved in the establishment of de-mobilisation camps for prisoners of war returned from Iraq after England’s dispute with the middle East, The Salvation Army remains operational to this day and it’s museum serves as an invaluable resource in the appreciation the massive fatality rates ascribed to modern conflict.
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SCIENCE MUSEUM
Kensington
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Initially conceived beneath the direction of Bennet Woodcroft to house the displays of the Great Exhibition, The Science Museum in South Kensington was, throughout the first seven years of it’s existence, known as the Museum of Patents, a period during which it accrued a sizeable collection of scientific tools and machines.
Formally opened to the public by Sir Richard Allison in both 1919 and 1928, years between which the archive was temporarily closed as a result of the First World War, The Science Museum swiftly earned renown for it’s collection of early twentieth century aeroplanes, steam trains, cars, velocipedes, a distinction through which it earned association with the Imperial War Museum at Lambeth.
Possessing an extensive array of medical instruments donated for exhibition by Henry Wellcome, The Science Museum also maintains a fine scientific library, an archive which, in being founded through correspondence with the Imperial College, was later solitarily placed beneath the jurisdiction of the museum. .
Equipped with a state of the art three dimensional Imax Cinema and a fine selection of public amenities, The science Museum is also currently the location of the “Media Space” exhibition, a faculty which, through collaboration of the National Media Museum in Bradford, is devoted to the history of cinematography and broadcast.
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SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE
Southwark
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Recorded to have joined the company of a theatre managed by James Burbage in Shoreditch in the 1580’s, a venue which, in being referred to as both “Charlie Brown’s” and “the King’s Men” during the late sixteenth century, was closed in 1597, William Shakespeare was, alongside being one of the most prolific playwrights in England throughout the reign of Elizabeth the first, also observed to have been one of the country’s most accomplished thespians.
Instrumental in the construction of the Globe Theatre in Southwark, during 1598 a structure that, in being constituted from the remnants of the neighbouring Rose Theatre, opened in 1599, William Shakespeare was, at the turn of the seventeenth century, recorded to have subscribed to a convention which, in granting thespians a share in the proceedings of their respective companies, granted actors the part ownership of many theatres.
Standing approximately 100 feet in diameter, The Globe theatre was, in distinction to the Rose, recorded to have been fashioned in the semblance of a perfect circle, a feature which, in being sculpted rotund about a twenty sided wooden skeleton, was presumably the attribute to which the establishment originally owed it’s name.
Burnt down during a performance of Henry the Eighth in 1613, Shakespeare’s Globe was recorded to have been reconstructed with a tiled roof during the early seventeenth century, an apparel beneath which the establishment continued to operate until 1642 before ultimately being demolished and replaced with a tenement.
Succeeded, in theatrical terms, by an inclination towards puritanism, The Globe Theatre dates back to an era in which playing companies frequently used the premises of inns, innyards, college halls and private houses within which to perform plays.
Recently reconstructed in it’s original location along the South bank of the Thames by Theo Crosby, a project which, in being conceived as both a working Elizabethan theatre and a tribute to William Shakespeare’s life by the American actor and director Sam Wannamaker, was fashioned from oak and lime plaster thatch in accordance with traditional seventeenth century building techniques, “Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre”, presently represents a remarkable testament to an era that pre-dates most modern theatrical conventions.
Possessing a projected thrust stage surrounded by three tiers of raked seating and populated by actors dressed in traditional hand made clothing, the Globe Theatre is presently situated beside both the Sam Wannamaker playhouse, a small candle lit Jacobean style theatre and the Sackler studios, a location in which it remains possible to watch the recital of plays performed at both other venues.
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SHERLOCK HOLMES MUSEUM
Marylebone
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Located at 237 and 241 Baker Street in Marylebone, The Sherlock Holmes’ Museum is devoted to the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s popular fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
Situated some distance from the address which Sherlock Holme’s is recorded to have occupied in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, the premises of the Sherlock Holmes Museum are rather inappropriately recorded to have served as a boarding house between 1860 and 1936 when the detective would have been in residence, an incongruity through which mail destined for the local branch of the Abbey National bank was recorded to have frequently been sent to the Museum.
Subject to controversy when first proposed, being thought to confirm the truths of what was essentially no more than a fiction by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s daughter, The Sherlock Holmes Museum was nonetheless opened to the public in 1990, a term beneath which it’s fictional pretext could easily be ascertained.
Exquisitely decorated in the manner of a traditional Victorian town house by the Sherlock Holmes Society of England, an apparel beneath which the establishment is convincingly made to resemble that which was once occupied by both the detective and his allies Doctor Watson and Miss Hudson, The Sherlock Holmes Museum, is in serving as the perfect setting for the many dramatizations of the Holmes novels which appear on television, presently both an intriguing and enlightening show-case for those interested in the exploits of the great fictional detective.
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SHOWROOM
Shoreditch
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Founded by Emily Pothak in 1983 along Bourne road in Bethnal Green, The Showroom was initially conceived as a contemporary arts space devoted to exhibiting the work of artists from London’s East End.
Subsequently re-located to premises upon Penfold Street in Marylebone, The Showroom presently displays the work of a number of notable artists including Sam Taylor Wood, Simon Starling, Christina Malkie, Jim Larsime, Claire Brilly ad Eva Rothschild.
Currently open to the public, The Showroom exhibits a fine interesting cross-section of paintings and comes highly recommended to those interested in contemporary art
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SIR JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM
Holborn
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Constructed between 1792 and 1794 beside Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holborn, Sir John Soane’s Museum was once the home of the celebrated Georgian architect Sir John Soane, a man who, in being responsible for designing The Bank of England, Dulwich Picture Gallery and Walpole House was, during the eighteenth century, one of the most prolific exponents of neo-classical architecture in England.
Built upon the premises of numbers twelve, thirteen and fourteen Lincoln’s Inn, structures demolished by Soane to accommodate new buildings, Sir John Soane’s Museum is distinguished by both a fine Norfolk lime stone facade and a number of unique interior features including an internal colonade, an innovative grid of moveable panes for the economic display of art, a breakfast room decorated with convex mirrors and an impressive glazed dome which provides external light for a sunken chamber containing a glass coffin, a vessel which must, at one point in time, have served as sleeping quaurters.
Transforming number thirteen into an architectural laboratory in 1823 when over seventy years old, Sir John Soane duly purchased number fourteen for usage as a picture gallery, an arrangement beneath which both number twelve and number thirteen were ultimately left to the nation as an educational facility, number fourteen remaining occupied by the architect’s family.
Housing 30,000 architectural drawings, a collection of pictures which, in including examples of work by such notable individuals as James Playfair, Matthew Brettingham, Thomas Sandby, Joseph Nollekiens, Peter Scheermacher, John Michael Rysbrack, Joseph Gandy, Humphrey Repton, Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam, James Adam and George Dance the elder, extends to encompass a book presented to Soane by George Dance the Younger containing a number of pictures drafted by Sir Christopher Wren, Sir John Soane’s museum is perhaps one of the finest assortments of Georgian draftsmanship in London.
Containing a horde of classical objects, a collection which, in including a suite of ivory chairs acquired from Tipu Sultan’s palace in Srir Anga Patna, a bust of Soane made by Francis Legget Chantrey, a plaster cast of the Sulis Minerva sculpture found in Bath, a miniature copy of the statue of Diana of Ephesus and a fine selection of eighteenth century Chinese ceramics amongst it’s catalogue, extends to encompass a number of bronzes, cinerary urns and fragments of glass recovered from Etruscan tombs, Sir John Soane’s Museum also exhibits an amount of medieval stonework extracted from the original palace of Westminster, a reliquary located in Monk’s yard to the rear of the property.
Housing the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti the first, an item which, in being of phenomenal age, notably served as the centre piece for a party which included the Duke of Sussex, the Earl of Liverpool, Baron Farnborough, Robert Peel, Benjamin Hayldon, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and J.M.W. Turner amongst it’s guests, Sir John Soane’s Museum also possesses an extensive art gallery, a collection of paintings which, in including works by both Piranesi and Canaletto, features “A Rakes Progress” by William Hogarth and a number of picture by J.M.W Turner who was a personal friend of the architect, amongst it’s inventory.
Recently restored by Tim Knox the head curator of the National Trust, Sir John Soane’s Museum is, in currently serving as the site of the Robert Adam drawings and study centre, presently one of the most individualistic examples of late eighteenth century domestic stylism in London
Currently open to the public, a term beneath which it is possible to enter most of building’s original rooms, Sir John Soane’s Museum provides an intriguing insight into both the architectural conventions of the late Georgian era and the manner in which they were contrived.
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SMYTHSON STATIONARY MUSEUM
City
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Located behind Smythson’s shop in central London the Smythson stationary Museum is devoted to the history of the luxury leather goods manufacturer Smythson’s of Bond Street, a firm which, in having been operative for 125 years, a period throughout which it has sold products to both the Royal family and a host of celebrities including Madonna, is perhaps the most well established and prestigious company of it’s type in England.
Renowned for producing a range of diaries with 24 carat gold edged pages Smythson’s of Bond street is best known for making Moleskine notepads, neat high quality leather bound items designed for gentlemen’s attache cases and lapel pockets.
Exhibiting a fine catalogue of historical items which features a list of telegrams dating back to 1887, a selection of old empire die stamps, a turn of the century Featherlight Montage doctor’s bag for carrying glass objects, a collection war time Christmas cards, and a clutch of 1970’s “Erich Song” pencils, The Smythson Stationary Museum also exhibits a number of items made for famous customers including Sigmund Freud’s calling cards, items of stationary made for the both the Maharajah of Baruda and Katherine Hepburn and the condolence books of John F. Kennedy and Princess Grace of Monaco.
Presently open to the public, the Smythson Stationary Museum, is like the Twining Museum on the Strand closely associated with the retail of merchandise and, for those interested in acquiring high quality leather stationary comes highly recommended.
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SOMERSET HOUSE
Strand
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Situated upon the Strand in central London, a location which, in being recorded to have been occupied during the twelfth century by the Bishops of Bath and Wells, Exeter, Llandaff, Norwich, Chester, Worcester and Durham, was thought to have been a meeting place for those seeking influence at the court of Westminster during the medieval era, Somerset house, is, in being built upon the grounds of the Plantagenet stronghold of Coldharbour, undoubtedly located in one of the most well established parts of London.
Occupied by both the Dukes of Norfolk, Suffolk and Richmond and the Marquesses of Dorset and Exeter during the early sixteenth century, the origins of Somerset house can be traced back to Edward Seymour the First Duke of Hertford, a man who, in being Edward the Sixth’s uncle, was both granted tenure at Chester Palace and invested with the title “Duke of Somerset” in 1549, a term beneath which a palace suitable for usage as a Royal residence was duly commissioned, a sizeable project which, in incorporating the demolition and salvage of a local Inn of Chancery, was observed to have led to the Duke’s arrest in 1549.
Thought to have been completed in 1551 by either John of Padua or John Thynne, a year in which the Duke of Somerset was, through association with the dissolution of the monasteries, also executed for treason, Somerset House was recorded to have been occupied by Elizabeth the First during the mid sixteenth century, a period throughout which the property served as a Tudor stronghold.
Extensively reconstructed in 1609 by Inigo Jones, Somerset House was, during the early seventeenth century recorded to have been occupied by James the First and Anne of Denmark, a period throughout which the property was, in serving as the scene for a number of lavish entertainments, known as Denmark House.
Also occupied by the Capuchin order of monks during the early seventeenth century, a proprietorship beneath which a Chapel Royal was observed to have been constructed upon the premises by Inigo Jones, John Webb and Nicholas Stone, Somerset House was thought to have been the location in which Ben Johnson wrote many of his plays.
Used by General Fairfax during the civil war, Somerset House was, in having been the site of both Inigo Jones’ and Oliver Cromwell’s deaths during the 1650’s recorded to have been occupied by Charles the Second’s mother “Henrietta Maria” in 1660.
Extensively re-decorated by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685, Somerset House was recorded to have been occupied by the Regent of Portugal Catherine of Braganza during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, a woman who, in being recorded to have staged a number of masked balls and masquerades upon the premises was notably implicated in the Popish plot and decapitated in 1718.
Demolished through association with Catherine De Braganza’s death during the early eighteenth century, the grounds of Somerset were recorded to have been occupied by Horse Guards in 1722 and Foot Guards in 1750.
Selected as the site for a new palatial residence by George the Third in 1775, the present incarnation of Somerset House was recorded to have been constructed along the Strand by Sir William Chambers in 1778, a structure which, in being erected upon arches over open water once proved capable of harbouring boats beneath it’s span.
Recorded to have Served as both the public offices of Parliament and the premises of the “Royal Society”, the “Royal Academy of Arts” and the “Society of Antiquaries” during the late eighteenth century, Somerset House was, in being situated between two wings respectively housing a number of Admiralty Dwellings and a college, also equipped with an impressive great exhibition room designed by James Wyatt.
Occupied by both a Government school of design, the Royal College of Art and a number of Inland revenue tax offices during the 1830’s Somerset house was notably recorded to have served as a laboratory for preventing the adulteration of tobacco during the mid-nineteenth century,
Damaged by bombs during the air-strikes of the Blitz, Somerset House was extensively renovated by Sir Albert Richardson in the 1950’s, a period after which the premises were, in exhibiting, the “Gilbert” Collection of silver, gold, and mosaics, the “Hermitage” collection of Russian artefacts and the gilded state Barque of the Lord Mayor, formally opened to the public.
Subsequently the site of the prestigious Courtauld art gallery, the grounds of Somerset House are distinguished during winter months by an ice skating rink, a feature which in being adapted from a number of water fountains situated upon the premises, remains popular amongst children to this day.
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SOSEKI MUSEUM
Clapham
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Located in Clapham opposite the former residence of the celebrated Japanese author “Soseki”, a man who, in having written both “The Heart” and “The Little Master” in 1907 and “I Am A Cat” in 1908, was, during the early twentieth century, recorded to have been one of the most popular authors in Japan, The Soseki Museum is dedicated to improving the understanding of Japanese culture in England.
Founded in 1984, by Kinnosuke Natsume, a man, who, like Soseki, was sent to Britain to study English culture by the Japanese governmment, The Soseki Museum features, alongside examples of Soseki’s work, both an amount of Meiji restoration artwork and a number of displays devoted to Haiku poetry.
Presently open to the public, The Soseki Museum is unfortunately due to be closed in the early twenty first century, although Soseki’s books can still be purchased from High Street stores.
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SOUTH LONDON GALLERY
Peckham
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Originally called the South London Fine Art Gallery and Library, The South London Gallery was recorded to have been founded along Peckham Road in 1891.
Situated upon fine Victorian premises, The South London Art Gallery consists of two floors containing the Matsudairo Wing and the Clore Studio, a room in which curatorial presentations and discussions are recorded to be staged, the gallery also possessing a fine garden designed by Gabriel Orozco in 2016.
Devoted to bringing art to the people, The South London Gallery regularly hosts collaborative projects for both children and adults and, in being due to acquire premises upon the grounds of Peckham Road fire station will be equipped with a sizeable new area for public exhibitions.
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STEPHEN WRIGHT’S HOUSE OF DREAMS
Dulwich
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Founded in a small terraced house along Melbourne Grove in East Dulwich by the textile designer and art director Stephen Wright, “Stephen Wright’s house of Dreams” is, in being comprised of a mosaic of familiar objects such as doll’s heads, Tupperware plates, shards of glass and pieces of pottery, an astonishing exercise in domestic re-invention.
Initially conceived as a memorial to the artists’ deceased partner Donald Jones, Stephen Wright’s House of Dreams, has extended to encompass the transformation of both the ground floor and garden of a conventional suburban house into a colourful work of art.
Influenced by the folk art of Mexico, South America and Asia, a term beneath which Stephen Wright observes Jarvis Cocker’s “war on outsider art” to be an inspiration, Stephen Wright’s House of Dreams is presently associated with both the “Pierre Outsidre” Gallery in Paris and London’s “Last Tuesday Society”, a body notably responsible for it’s involvement with the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities in Hackney .
Presently occupying the second floor of the premises, an area which the artist ultimately also wishes to convert into a work of art “Stephen Wright’s House of Dreams” was, during the early twenty first century, placed beneath the jurisdiction of the National Trust, a term beneath which it’s unique scheme will be preserved for generations to come.
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STUDIO VOLTAIRE
Mayfair
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Founded along Nelson’s Road in Mayfair in 2010, Studio Voltaire, is, in being named after the celebrated eighteenth century French philosopher, “Voltaire”, devoted to the international arts scene.
The site of both an art gallery and a “pop-up” shop called the House of Voltaire, Studio Voltaire is heavily inspired by the French practise of associating merchandise with individual artists and designers, a convention which, in being adopted by London’s arts and crafts movements in the nineteenth century, gave rise to many of the capital’s most memorable brands.
Presently housing a fine collection of unique artworks, limited edition prints and specially commissioned home-ware, Studio Voltaire is currently both a well presented and entertaining venue and comes highly recommended to those interested in novelty art.
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SUTTON HOUSE
Hackney
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Located along Homerton High Street in Hackney, Sutton House is, after Broally Hall near the Blackwall tunnel, recorded to be the second oldest building in Hackney.
A traditional Tudor Manor House, Sutton House was recorded to have been constructed in 1535 by Sir Ralph Sadler, a man who, in being Henry the Eighth’s principle secretary of state, was associated with the Tudor statesman “Thomas Cromwell”, an affiliation through which references to the house are notably included in Hilary Mantell’s novel “Wolf Hall”.
Subsequently occupied by a succession of Huguenot silk weavers and sea captains during the eighteenth century, Sutton House was observed to have been used as a boy’s school during the Victorian era, an establishment which, in being recorded to have counted Edward Bulwer Lytton amongst it’s pupils, was responsible for decorating many of the building’s rooms with oak panelling, a feature which remains present within the property to this day.
Originally called Bryck Place, the title Sutton House is an historical misnomer derived from the building’s proximity to Charterhouse School, an establishment founded by a man named Thomas Sutton.
Acquired by the National trust in the 1930’s, Sutton House was recorded to have been employed as a centre for fire wardens during the Second World War, a period after which the property was used as the headquarters for Clive Jenkin’s ASTMS Union before serving as the site of a music venue known as the “Blue House”, a period during which the premises were noted to have been occupied by squatters,
Registered to conduct marriages during the late twentieth century, Sutton House was, in being threatened with demolition during the 1990’s, ultimately preserved as a museum, an establishment, which, in being equipped with a cafeteria, remains open to the public to this day.
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TATE BRITAIN
Pimlico
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Constructed by Higgs and Hill in 1893 upon the site of the former Millbank prison, The Tate gallery was, in originally being known as “the National Gallery of British Art”, recorded to have been founded by the sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate in 1897.
Distinguished by an impressive classical entrance portico designed by Sidney R.J. Smith, the Tate Gallery is currently one of the most popular exhibition halls in London, a venue which, in featuring an extensive collection of modern art painted by such people as David Hockney, Francis Bacon and Peter Blake, also included the work of a number of old masters including William Hogarth, J.M.W Turner, J.A,M Whistler, Thomas Gainsborough, and Millais
Containing an unprecedented amount of exibitIon space including the Clore gallery designed by James Stirling in the 1980’s and nine new galleries designed by Caruso St. John in 2013, The Tate Gallery currently operates a ferry which, in transiting the Thames, connects the exhibition hall to the “Tate Modern” gallery in Southwark.
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TATE MODERN
Southwark
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Located upon the premises of The Bank Side Power station in Southwark, a building which, in being recorded to have been designed as a coal fired station in 1891 was, through association with environmental pollution subsequently, converted for usage in conjunction with oil, The Tate Modern is uniquely situated to profit from the vast open-plan scheme of what was once an industrial faculty.
Recorded to have been designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1947, The premises of the Tate Modern extend to encompass five stories of exhibition space, an expanse which, in including areas once used to house electrical generators, oil tanks and turbines, presently provides a stunning venue for the display of contemporary art.
Re-conditioned for usage as an art gallery in 1995 by Herzog and De Meurin, a venture which, in possessing it’s own electrical sub-station designed by E.D.F. in 2000, harks back to the era of the site’s operation, The Tate Modern is without doubt currently one of the capital’s most impressive arts venues.
Presently one of three auxiliaries to the original Tate Britain gallery located on the North bank of the Thames, The Tate Modern is alongside both the Tate Liverpool gallery in the West country and the Tate St.Ives gallery in Cornwall, at the forefront of a new generation of venues dedicated to the display of modern and abstract art.
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THAMES POLICE MUSEUM
Wapping
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Located within the headquarters of the marine police unit in Wapping, the Thames Police Museum is devoted to London’s naval era and the history of the river police.
Founded in 1798 by the magistrate Patrick Colqohoun, the master mariner John Harriot and the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham to prevent the looting of ships moored in the Pool of London, The Thames Police, were, in being leased premises in Wapping during the early nineteenth century, commissioned to patrol the Thames inspecting cargo ships as they loaded and unloaded freight.
Merged, in 1839 with Robert Peel’s terrestrial police force, a period during which the river police became known as the Thames Division, The Thames Police were, in being influenced, by new ideas upon “the science” of crime fighting, associated with the foundation of the Bow Street runners during the mid nineteenth century.
Equipped with steam galleys and R.N.L.I life-boats after the disastrous collision of a pleasure cruiser named the Princess Alice with a steam collier in Galleon’s Reach, The Thames Police were, during the 1960’s, largely relocated to Tilbury, when London’s docks were moved there.
Housing both a collection of prints attributable to “the log deed magistrates”, and a number of other articles, the Thames Police Museum is currently open to the public and provides an intriguing insight into the pre-history of the police force and the many provisions upheld by the trading communities of the Thames estuary.
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TOWER BRIDGE
Tower Hamlets
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Initially constructed solitarily from brick, Tower bridge was recorded to have been built by Horace Jones during the mid nineteenth century, a project which in being substantially modified with a combined bascule suspension system in 1886 by George D. Stephenson is presently one of the most familiar landmarks in the capital
Constructed in it’s present form between 1886 and 1894 by Sir John Jameson,, Sir H.H. Bartlett, Sir William Arrol and Co. Baron Armstrong and John Wolfe Barry, a project which, in incorporating the manufacture of moving machinery, was engineered by E.W. Croftwell, Tower Bridge, was, when first constructed, a truly remarkable achievement.
Originally housing two engine rooms which, during the nineteenth century, were recorded to have been gas-lit, the twin towers of Tower bridge are, in being hollow beneath the flood plain of the Thames, distinctively clad in a Victorian gothic style with Cornish granite and Portland lime.
Opened to the public in the early twentieth century, a period during which the bridge’s high level walkway were, in being frequented by both prostitutes and pickpockets ultimately closed, Tower Bridge was, quickly adopted as an icon of London,
Recorded to have been equipped with Vickers Armstrong engines in 1942, a system replaced in 1974 with two accumulators and a modern hydraulic gear system, the twin motors of Tower bridge are capable of raising the two halves of it’s concourse into a vertical position through the employ of two bascule pivots weighing a thousand tonnes, a feature which, in being designed to allow ships to pass beneath it’s span, is ceremonially raised for royal occasions.
Opened to the public in 1982, Tower bridge’s Southside engine room presently houses a number of interesting exhibits a feature accentuated with the addition of both a glass floor and lighting system to the bridge’s high level walkway in 2009.
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TOWER OF LONDON
Tower Hamlets
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Not far from Saint Paul’s, upon the other side of Cheap lies the Tower of London, a traditional eleventh century moated keep containing three wards or enclosures which extend to encompass approximately 12 acres of ground in addition to six acres of surrounding land known as the Tower Liberties.
Once a medieval prison, “the White Tower”, a three storey high “Donjon” built from Kentish ragstone within the keep during the reign of William the First, was repeatedly extended during the Plantagenet era, a period during which, beneath the governance of both a constabulary and a Yeomanry, the stronghold became associated with torture, public execution and the slaughter of women and children, a reputation that, in being confirmed by a series of Baronial abductions which frequently instigated siege, was ultimately to prove the fort’s undoing during the seventeenth century, the tower being demolished in 1660 and subsequently re-built.
Once housing a treasury, a mint, a private menagerie to which the estate’s resident flock of ravens may once have owed their origins, and an armoury that, in serving as a museum during the sixteenth century, remains open upon the premises to this day, the tower has throughout it’s history played host to the incarceration of a number of notable figures including Richard the Second and Elizabeth the First, a woman who was also paradoxically crowned at the Tower during her internment.
Used to rally Royalist trained bands against the Commonwealth, during the interregnum, a period during which the building was destroyed, the ruins of the tower were recorded to have staged the coronation of Charles the second, an event after which the keep was partially re-built beneath the King’s patronage.
In 1830, the Duke of Wellington was appointed Constable of the Tower however, in 1845, an event of pestilence led to the construction of Waterloo barracks as a training ground for the Royal Fusiliers upon the estate, an establishment designed to counter the threat of disease that such occupation was then considered to represent.
During the latter part of the nineteenth century the tower was restored to it’s former glory by Anthony Salvin and John Taylor, a period in which it served as a public record office, however the keep was returned back into military hands throughout the first world war, firing squads being staged regularly upon it’s grounds. The estate was also recorded to have executed twelve men for espionage during the second world war and to have held the Kray twins captive in the 1960's
Opened to the public throughout the latter years of the twentieth century many of the myths which surround the tower have correspondently been resurrected for posterity, the fabulous value of it’s jewel hoard, the practise of executing treason, the grisly ingenuity of it’s torture machines and the hauntings of, amongst others, the ghost of Henry the Sixth, Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Margaret Pole combinatively acceding a reputation not so dissimilar to that which the estate once pronounced so many years ago.
Within walking distance of the Tower of London lies Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, a relatively inobtrusive plot which, despite it’s size, was recorded to have admitted over 270,000 burials during it’s operative period.
Formally closed in 1966, Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park remains distinguished by the statues and carvings which typify the graveyards of the mid Victorian era and is a haven for many breeds of urban wildlife.
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TWICKENHAM MUSEUM
Twickenham
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Situated upon the embankment opposite St. Mary’s Parish church in Twickenham, The Twickenham museum is devoted to charting the history of Teddington, Twickenham, Whitton and the Hamptons in South West London.
Largely run by volunteers The Twickenham museum is currently open to the public and presents a diverse cross-section of interesting information pertaining to the celebrated Tudor stronghold of Hampton Court Palace, David Garrick’s Temple to Shakespeare, Alexander Pope’s Villa in Twickenham and Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill House amongst other items.
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THE TWINING MUSEUM
Strand
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Located upon what were once the premises of a coffee house along the Strand, The Twining Museum charts the history of Twining’s tea, an interest which, in being founded during the early eighteenth century by Thomas Twining, is presently one of the most recognisable tea producing firms on earth, a distinction through which the company is recorded to bear the oldest trade logo in Britain,
Situated behind a shop which, in selling a vast selection of tea, allows customers to test a range of exotic flavours which are not ordinarily available on the market, The Twining Museum displays an extensive catalogue of unusual items accrued from the company’s many years of trade with other countries, a list of exhibits which, in including a number of tea-caddies, tea-pots, China cups, and other related articles, confirms the assertion that tea drinking is an integral part of the British national identity.
Presently open to the public, the Twining Museum, currently provides an excellent forum for academic research into the evolution of tea, a drink which, unlike beer has weathered public criticism admirably for over three hundred years and comes highly recommended for those interested in the history of consumer culture.
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TYPE MUSEUM
Brixton
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Founded in 1992 upon premises that were, at the turn of the twentieth century, recorded to have served as a veterinary hospital, The Type Museum is devoted to the history of both type-facing and printing.
Serving as the final repository for a multitude of wood and metal patterns, punches, matrices and type foundries during the twentieth century, The Type Museum presently displays a vast collection of over five million artefacts, an inventory which, in dating back to the sixteenth century, features both a number of examples of the wood letter typing used by Robert De Little of York and a host of objects acquired from eighteenth and nineteenth century print foundries amongst it’s catalogue of exhibits.
Housing a number of items pertaining to the development of mechanised typing by the Monotype Corporation during the mid-twentieth century, The Type Museum also currently exhibits both “the Stephenson Blake Collection” and an extensive collection of photography and film used in modern digital typography.
Threatened with closure in the early twenty first century because unpopular with members of the general public, The Type Museum was recorded to have been extensively re-furbished in 2008 by the Museum Society and currently represents both a fascinating and informative learning resource.
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UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON ART MUSEUM
UCL
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Located within a traditional print room upon the premises of University College’s Gower street Campus, The UCL Art Museum, is devoted to the conventions of British artistic education, a term beneath which the establishment charts the history of painting, drawing, printing and sculpture from 1490 through to the present.
Founded in 1847 with the donation of a number of plaster models to the college by John Flaxman, The UCL Art Museum’s reliquary was recorded to have been substantially enlarged in 1872 with the “Grote Bequest” of sixteenth century German art,
Subsequently extended with the “Vaughan Bequest” in 1900, a reliquary which, in containing a series of etchings by De Wint and Rembrandt, includes both a number of English landscapes painted by John Constable and a selection of early prints of J.M.W. Turner’s “Liber Studorium” within it’s catalogue, the UCL Art Museum’s collection was recorded to have been further increased in size with the acquisition of the “Sherbourne Bequest” in 1937, a horde of items which, in featuring a series of Apocalypse woodcuts draughted by Albrech Durer during the late fifteenth century and Van Dyck’s “Iconographia” of influential people, serves as an historical pretext for much of the college’s research.
Also housing a number of prize winning collections from the Slade School of art, including works by such notable artists as William Coldstream, Henry Tonks, Paula Rego, Augustus John, Stanley Spencer, Edward Wadsworth and David Bomberg, The UCL Art Museum, is presently open to the public and comes highly recommended to those interested in the history of fine art.
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THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON GEOLOGY COLLECTION
UCL
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Conceived during the foundation of University College with the acquisition of a number of items from a man named Mr Davies Gilbert, The UCL Geology Collection was substantially extended during the mid nineteenth century beneath the propietorship of professor Thomas Webster.
Serving as a suppository for a number of rocks, minerals and fossils donated by Messrs. Greenough, Murchison and Morris, throughout the nineteenth century, The UCL Geology Collection ultimately became one of the most comprehensive examples of it’s type in Britain, a horde which, in being housed in it’s present location at the College’s Rock Room, was recorded t have been opened to the public as a museum in 1908 by Professor Edmund Garwood.
Presently encompassing a reliquary of over 100,000 specimen amongst it’s exhibits, including the Johnston / Lavis Volcanological Collection, a fine Micro-Paleontological Collection and an excellent Planetary science collection which, in exhibiting a selection of what are estimated to be 4.5 billion year old meteorite fragments, features a display devoted to the many extra-terrestrial surveys conducted by NASA during the late twentieth century, the UCL Geology Collection, also houses a fine archive of mineralogical books, artworks and other associated items
Currently displaying one of the most extensive hordes of mineralogical artefacts in Britain, The UCL Geology Collection comes highly recommended to those interested in archeology and the study of rocks.
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VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
Kensington
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Funded by proceeds from the Great exhibition of 1851, The Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is renowned for being the single largest collection of decorative art and design in the world.
Originally known as the Museum of Manufacturers a concern established in the mid-nineteenth century beneath the directorship of Henry Cole, The Victoria and Albert Museum was between 1852 and 1857 moved from Marlborough House to the Royal College of Art at Somerset House before finally being transferred to it’s present site in South Kensington.
Located in a fine neo-classical building designed by Gottfried Semper upon the site of Brompton Park House, The Victoria and Albert Museum, was, in 1909 substantially extended by Sir Aston Webb, a period during which the exhibition’s main entrance hall was added to the premises.
Boasting an extensive library of drawings and books including the Codex Forster sketched by the fifteenth century Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci, a fine horde of jewellery and cut glass featuring items crafted by the celebrated European jewellers Cartier and Faberge and a number of rare musical instruments including an authentic Stradivarius violin, the Victoria and Albert Museum also earned renown for it’s comprehensive collection of period costumes, a catalogue which extends to include a number of early twentieth century garments donated to the establishment for exhibition by Harrods.
Distinguished by an impressive array of plaster casts taken from ancient Roman remains, a collection which includes an intriguing life-size replica of Trajan’s column amongst it’s catalogue, The Victoria and Albert Museum, began to devote much of it’s attention to classical architecture during the early twentieth century, a process through which it earned association with the British Museum in Bloomsbury.
Situated within a court surrounding a small central garden, a plot land-caped and opened to the public in the early twenty first century as the John Madejski Garden, The Victoria and Albert Museum remains one of the finest public archives in Britain with excellent amenities for both children and adults.
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VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD
Shoreditch
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Not far from Bethnal green lies the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, a 4.5 acre plot purchased in 1868 with the proceeds of the great exhibition of 1851.
Boasting a fine cast iron structure fashioned in a Rundbogenstit style by William Wild from the remains of Albertropolis a complex which, in once having stood upon the site of the Victoria and Albert Museum, was, when originally built, known as “the Brompton Boiler”, The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood was initially conceived as the Bethnal Green Museum, an establishment which earned renown in the late nineteenth century for displaying a number of artefacts from both the Wallace Collection in central London and the Museums of South Kensington,
Containing an impressive Eagle Slayer sculpture crafted by John Bell for the Great Exhibition of 1851, The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood was adapted to house exhibits for children in the 1920’s, a designation to which it became entirely devoted throughout the mid twentieth century.
Classified solitarily as a Museum of Childhood by Sir Roy Strong in 1974, The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, accrued a vast collection of children’s cradles, clothing and toys, throughout the mid twentieth century, a horde of items which, in including a number of recently produced articles within it’s catalogue, covers the media sensationalism which presently serves to distinguish many modern toys.
Extensively renovated in 2006, The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, currently stages an extensive programme of exhibitions and remains both an intriguing and fascinating location to this day.
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VIKTOR WYND MUSEUM OF CURIOSITIES
Hackney
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Conceived in 2009 by Viktor Wynd as a traditional Mare Street Curiosity shop, The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities owes it’s inspiration to the Victorian convention of presenting strange and unusual occult artefacts for public display.
Opened as both a museum and a meeting place for the “Last Tuesday Society” in 2014, The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities presents a horde of intriguing and mysterious artefacts for study, a list which, in featuring a number of skeletons and skulls amongst it’s catalogue, extends to include both a host of uniquely tailored taxidermological specimen such as two headed kittens and a number of old master’s etchings and mad woman’s doodles within it’s catalogue.
Also featuring a collection of immediately familiar contemporary items such as McDonald’s Happy Meal toys amongst it’s horde, The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities represents an incongruous variety of thematic contradictions.
Divided between a double vaulted basement containing a Wunderkabinett and an upper gallery used for exhibitions, The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities also houses an occult cocktail bar, a venue which, in incorporating five abandoned museum cases within it’s scheme, contains a conch aqaurium about which people can converse.
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WALLACE COLLECTION
Marylebone
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Situated upon the premises of Hertford house in Manchester Square, a property which, in being built for Edward Seymour during the sixteenth century, was throughout the Georgian era recorded to have been the ancestral home of both the Dukes of Somerset and the Marquesses of Hertford, the Wallace Collection was, in 1897, passed by rule of lineal succession from Richard Seymour Conway the 4th Marquess of Hertford to Sir Richard Wallace, an investiture to which the collection presently owes it’s name.
Exhibiting an extensive art gallery which, in featuring the paintings of a number of Dutch and Flemish painters, includes many examples of work by Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, van Dyck, Canaletto and Boucher amongst it’s catalogue, The Wallace Collection also displays a fine selection of Meissen and Sevres porcelain, a horde that, in including a number of items which were reputedly once owned by both Marie Antoinette and Madame De Pompadour, is of historical importance,
Housing both an armoury and a fine selection of barometers and clocks, The Wallace Collection is notable for including within it’s catalogue a number of items of furniture which, in being crafted by the celebrated cabinet maker “Andre Charles Boulle” is distinctively veneered with brass and turtle shell marquetry.
Currently open to the public, the Wallace Collection is presently one of the finest reliquaries of Georgian craftsmanship in London, and, for those interested in the heritage of the Royal Academy of Arts comes highly recommended.
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WALTHAMSTOW PUMP HOUSE MUSEUM
Walthamstow
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Situated upon the premises of the Low Hall pumping station in Walthamstow, The Walthamstow Pump House Museum is devoted to the industrial history of the Lea Valley.
Recorded to have been constructed in 1885, for the purposes of siphoning East London’s waste water, The Walthamstow pump house Museum was, when operational, a line shafted workshop powered by Marshall ‘C’ class steam engines, an arrangement which remains on display upon the premises to this day.
Exhibiting a selection of small pumps and an amount of associated fire fighting equipment, The Walthamstow Pump house Museum’s collection also extends to encompass both an example of a 1968 Victoria Line tube train and a number of traditional mid-twentieth century Routemaster buses.
For those interested in both Victorian industrial heritage of East London and the history of the Lea Valley’s reservoir system then the Walthamstow Pump House Museum presently affords both an interesting and enlightening insight into the area’s past.
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WANDLE INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM
Mitcham
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Founded in 1983 upon the premises of Worsefold House in Mitcham, The Wandle Industrial Museum is devoted to the heritage of the People who live around the Wandle river.
Subsequently moved to St. Mary’s Church in Wimbledon, the Wandle Industrial Museum was, throughout the 1980’s recorded to have been regularly re-located, being situated respectively upon the premises of Park Lounge in Wandle Park in 1984, at Merton Social Services Offices along Wilton Road in 1985 and at Hartfield Crescent in Wimbledon in 1986 before ultimately acquiring it’s present premises within the basement of Mitcham’s Vestry Hall in 1989.
Exhibiting a number of displays devoted to the Young’s Brewery and the Conolly leather works in Wandsworth, The Wandle Industrial Museum also features a selection of items pertaining to both William Morris’s factory in Merton and the Snuff and Dye industries which, during the nineteenth century, were associated with the Calico works along the Wandle.
Currently Preserved by the Wandle Community Trust, The Wandle Industrial Museum presently affords both an interesting and enlightening insight into Wandsworth’s regional history.
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WANDSWORTH MUSEUM
Wandsworth
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Situated upon the premises of the Westhill Revenue Library, a fine Victorian building in the heart of Wandsworth, The Wandsworth Museum is devoted to charting the Cultural and social history of the Wandsworth area.
Housing a collection of articles pertaining to the Wandsworth area, a horde which notably includes a fine iron age shield within it’s catalogue, The Wandsworth Museum affords a fairly comprehensive insight into South London’s heritage.
Presently situated in Wandworth, The Wandsworth Museum is due to move to Battersea Arts centre in 2016, a site which in being located upon the premises of Battersea Town Hall will improve the venue’s accessibility.
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WIENER LIBRARY
Fitzrovia
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Founded during the 1920’s by Doctor Alfred Wiener, a man who, in having fought during the first world war, was recorded to have been dismayed by the prevalence of antisemitism in Germany throughout the 1920’s, The Weiner library is largely devoted to charting the history of the holocaust and the rise of Nazism, a pretext beneath which it was recorded to have assisted the prosecution of a number of German war criminals during the Nuremberg trials.
Largely destroyed in the 1920’s through association with Nazi oppression, The Wiener Library was recorded to have been re-compiled in Amsterdam in 1933 before finally being brought to England in 1938.
Moved to Russell Square in 2011, the Wiener library possesses an extensive collection of press cuttings and posters, and, for those interested in the history which serves to pretextualise the persecution of the Jewish people during the second world war comes highly recommended.
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WELLCOME COLLECTION
Saint Pancras
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Opened in 2007 along Euston Road in West London, The Wellcome Collection is comprised of a selection of items accrued by the traveller, collector and founder of the Wellcome Trust, “Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome”.
Possessing an extensive catalogue of medical items, exhibited within the archive’s “Medicine-Man” section, The Wellcome Collection houses both a comprehensive library and an excellent reading room, the collection also featuring “The Hub”, an area devoted to collaborative intellectual pursuits.
Located within the vicinity of the British library, The Wellcome collection regularly stages public exhibitions and currently represents a comparable alternative to many of London’s finer museums.
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WEMBLEY STADIUM
Wembley
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Wembley park, a site legendarily occupied in 825 by the Danish King Beornwulf some time before the Norman conquest of England, is a fairly extensive stretch of suburban land in North West London.
Leased to the Page family in 1536, a contingent who remained resident in the area for several centuries, Wembley park was first opened to the public in 1894, an event followed by the construction of Wembley stadium in the area, a large project designed to stage the British Empire Exhibition for suburban development, the site being used as the base of operations for a number of industrial interests including the General Electric Company, Glacier metals, Wolf power tools and Sunbeam electrical appliances.
Badly damaged during the blitz, a period throughout which an estimated nine thousand bombs were dropped in the area, Wembley stadium became renowned as a centre for athletics and English football during the mid- twentieth century, playing host to the 1949 Olympic games and a number of important football tournaments, a venue accompanied in 1943 with the construction of Wembley arena, an auditorium devoted to the staging of concerts and television productions.
Although the original stadium was entirely demolished in 2000, a new building was constructed in the same location in 2007 and both music concerts and sports events are due to be staged upon the premises.
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WESLEY’S CHAPEL OF METHODISM AND LEYSIAN MISSION
Islington
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Initially conceived as a replacement for, “the Foundry” an early eighteenth century chapel situated in a town house designed by George Dance the younger, Wesley’s Chapel of Methodism was recorded to have been constructed by John Wesley in 1779 to house both priests and their families.
Associated with the “Leys School” in Cambridge during the 1870’s, an establishment which, in being founded as both a medical mission and a relief committee for the poor, was responsible for establishing a mission along Whitefriars street in London during the 1880’s, Wesley’s chapel of methodism was formally distinguished from the Church of England by the American archbishop “Francis Asbury” during the late nineteenth century, a term beneath which methodism was recognised as an independent religion.
Decorated in the conventional manner with a crypt, a baptismal font, stained glass windows and a church organ, Wesley’s Chapel of Methodism, was, at the turn of the twentieth century notably equipped with both an early toilet designed by the celebrated sanitary engineer Thomas Crapper and an electricity generator, a device used to heat the premises during winter months.
Opened to the public as a museum during the early twentieth century, Wesley’s Chapel of methodism remains an interesting location in the heart of the city.
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WESTMINSTER ABBEY MUSEUM
Westminster
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Situated in the vaulted undercroft of Martin’s Chantry beneath Westminster Abbey, a catacomb which, in being recorded to have served as Mary the Second’s coronation chamber, dates back to the reign of Edward the Confessor, the Westminster Abbey Museum is devoted to the cultural history of Westminster and most specifically the Royal heritage of it’s Abbey.
Referred to as a “Preest Abbey” by Henry the Third in 1245, Westminster Abbey is Perhaps the oldest extant remnant of Norman occupation in London, a term beneath which it would once have been contemporary with both London Bridge and the toll paying hostelries which typified medieval Southwark.
Founded in 1908, the Westminster Abbey Museum houses a variety of interesting historical artefacts amongst it’s collection, an inventory of items which, in including, a selection of twelfth century sculpture fragments, a number of medieval glass panels and “the Westminster Retable”, England’s oldest altarpiece within it’s catalogue, extends to include both the funereal shield and shield helm of Henry the Fifth and the armour of General Monck amongst it’s horde.
Housing the funereal effigies of Edward the Second, Henry the Seventh, Elizabeth the first, James the Second, William the Third, Mary the Second and Queen Anne, a pantheon of images which, in being cast in wax, brings to mind the time honoured practise of immortalising those sentenced to be executed in such a manner, The Westminster Abbey Museum also exhibits representations of both Admiral Horatio Nelson and William Pitt, a collection of caricatures which, within the confines of the Abbey’s crypt, captures a similar sense of sinister detachment to that which pervades Madame Tussauds.
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WESTMINSTER DRAGOONS MUSEUM
Westminster
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Founded during the early twentieth century in the aftermath of the second Boer War, a period which, in witnessing the Battle of Gallipoli, led to the Normandy invasions of 1944, The Westminster Dragoons Museum is devoted to the formation of the Second County of London Yeomanry.
Charting the history of the Army Reserve Cavalry Unit, an organisation which, in being one of the Royal Yeomanry’s Fire Squadrons, became associated with the Royal Tank Regiment directly after the first world war, The Westminster Dragoons Museum was officially established through association with the Ogilby Trust, an organisation recorded to have been founded by Colonel Robert Ogilby in 1954.
Exhibiting an extensive collection of military items including a number of heavy machine guns and a selection of rotating drums which, in being attached to Sherman Crab tanks were once used to detonate unexploded mines, The Westminster Dragoons Museum features a number of exhibits devoted to “Operation Tellic” a campaign waged during the conflict with Iraq in the early twenty first century and” Operation Herrick” a project currently underway in Afghanistan.
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WHITECHAPEL GALLERY
Whitechapel
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Situated upon premises which were recorded to have been designed by Charles Harrison Townsend in 1901, The Whitechapel Gallery is devoted to the exhibition of contemporary art.
Renowned for displaying Geurnica, Pablo Picasso’s protest against the Spanish civil war during the 1930’s, The Whitechapel Gallery was during the mid twentieth century instrumental in defining the hipster movement of the swinging sixties, a term beneath which the gallery was recorded to have featured the work of Gilbert and George.
Associated with the work of David Hockney, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko during the mid twentieth century, The Whitechapel Gallery was subsequently recorded to have collaborated with Nicolas Serota, a period throughout which the establishment was largely responsible for defining the modern concept of abstract art.
Equipped with an archive gallery and reading room in 2007, a feature extended in 2009 with the addition of the Passmore Edwards Library to the building’s scheme, the Whitechapel Gallery remains, amongst a number of other similar ventures, one of the most interesting contemporary arts venues in London.
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WHITEHALL
Cheam
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Despite possessing the same name as the more widely known palace of Whitehall in Westminster, Whitehall is also a traditional Tudor cottage in Cheam, a building which, in being constructed in 1500, boasts both an immaculate fifteenth century walled garden and a well preserved sixteenth century storage tower.
Originally opened in 1976, a period during the premises were used to exhibit both a fine medieval pottery collection and a display devoted to the Tudor Palace of Nonsuch which was once situated beside to the property, Whitehall is, although presently closed, due to be re-opened in 2017, a period after which it should be accessible to the public.
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WHITE WEBBS MUSEUM OF TRANSPORT
Enfield
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Situated directly over the well shaft of a Victorian New River pumping station, The White Webbs Museum of Transport was, upon the strength of a number of Steam Pageants staged in Enfield, during the 1970’s, recorded to have been established by the Enfield and Veteran Vehicle Trust in 1986.
Housing a large collection of vintage delivery vans, motorcycles and bicycles, a catalogue of exhibits which, in extending to encompass both a Belsize engine named “Madelaine” constructed by John Morris in 1912 and a 1950’s “Green Goddess” AGW605, also features a comprehensive selection of “Lone Star” toy airplanes and automobiles, The White Webbs Museum of Transport is, like the London Transport Museum, a testament to human industry and ingenuity throughout the first years of the twentieth century.
Currently open to the public, The White Webbs Museum of Transport, presently affords a fascinating insight into the history of locomotion and travel and comes highly recommended to those interested in automated transport.
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WIMBLEDON LAWN TENNIS MUSEUM
Wimbledon
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Founded during the Championships Centenary of 1977 upon the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in South London, The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club is recorded to be the largest tennis museum in the world.
Exhibiting a vast catalogue of sporting articles which, in dating back to 1555, includes a number of items of clothing which have been worn by celebrated tennis players throughout the history of the game, The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum also displays a “Centre Court” 360 degree viewing platform upon which it is possible to engage in the experience of standing within centre court during a major tournament, a feature, which, in being integrated with both a number of touch screen consoles and a ghostly projected image of John Mcenroe, provides an interactive medium in which visitors can actively participate.
Also housing the Kenneth Ritchie Library, a collection of books which in being, recorded to be the largest literary archive devoted to tennis in the world, provides an unprecedented amount of information about the history of the game, The Wimbledon lawn Tennis Museum, is currently open to the public and, for those interested in tennis, comes highly recommended.
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WINSTON CHURCHILL’S BRITAIN AT WAR EXPERIENCE
Bermondsey… Discontinued
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Once located in a London Underground air raid shelter beneath Tooley Street, “Winston Churchill’s Britain at War Experience”, was, when operational devoted to providing a realistic account of life in Britain during the Second World War.
Unfortunately closed in 2013, it’s reliquary being transferred to the Bay Trust, “Winston Churchill’s Britain At War Experience” originally featured both an underground cinema and B.B.C radio studio amongst it’s list of attractions, a selection of displays which, in including an example of an Anderson shelter and a number of sleeping bunks amongst their catalogue, was peopled by mannequins designed to grant an impression of what life was like during the blitz.
Initially housing a collection of war-time artefacts including uniforms, gas masks and tinned foods, Winston Churchill’s Britain at War Experience attempted to re-create the sense of Tenebrae which pervaded the dressing rooms of Drury Lane when “Spirit of the Times” was being performed, a term beneath which it sought to separate the realities of conflict from the presumption of it’s glories.
