LondonLife – City of London stairway…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 4. Bromley Palace…
This building, which dates from 1775, is the former palace of the Bishops of Rochester and the latest incarnation of the palace which the bishops used for centuries.
The land, which came to be known as the Manor of Bromley, was initially granted to the bishops of Rochester by Saxon kings of Kent over a couple of centuries. Following the Norman Conquest, an attempt by Odo, the Earl of Kent, to claim it failed thanks to the efforts of Bishop Gundulf (1075-1108) and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc.
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LondonLife – Folgate Street…
Where’s London’s oldest…carpet?
Said to be the oldest dated carpet in the world, it can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum.
The Ardabil Carpet was made in the town of Ardabil in what is now north-west Iran, in 1539-40. The dating can be so exact thanks to a poetic inscription along one edge which, as well as referencing a date in the Muslim calendar, also reveals it to be the work of a court craftsman, Maqsud Kashani.
The carpet, which is one of an identical pair (the other is at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)), is believed to have been commissioned by the court of the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1722) – the ruler at the time was Shah Tahmasp I – for a renovation of the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili.
The entire carpet, which may have been made in Tabriz and is said to be the finest carpet that could have been created at the time, is covered by a single integrated design with a large yellow medallion at the centre which is surrounded by a series of oval shapes with a lamp hanging at each end.
The wool pile is very dense with about 5,300 knots per ten centimetres square allowing a great deal of detail. According to the V&A, up to 10 weavers may have been working on it at the same time.
The carpet was seen by British visitors at the Shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din in 1843 but following an earthquake about 30 years later, it was sold to a Manchester carpet firm. They sold it to the V&A for £2,000 in March, 1893, following a recommendation from William Morris that they do so.
It now sits under a special case at the centre of the Jameel Gallery and is only lit for 10 minutes every half hour to help preserve its colours.
WHERE: The Jameel Gallery at the V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road (nearest Tube station is South Kensington); WHEN: 10am to 5:45pm daily (late opening Friday – but check website for possible gallery closures); COST: Free; WEBSITE: www.vam.ac.uk/
Lost London – Church of St Peter le Poer…
This parish church once stood on the west side of Broad Street in the City of London and dated back to the Norman era.
The church, which originally dated from before 1181 (when it was first mentioned) and was also referred to as St Peter le Poor, may have been so-named because of the poor parish in which it was located or for its connections to the monastery of St Augustine at Austin Friars, whose monks took vows of poverty.
Whatever the reason for its name (and it has been suggested the ‘le Poer’ wasn’t added to it until the 16th century), the church was rebuilt in 1540 and then enlarged in 1615 with a new steeple and west gallery added in the following decade or so.
The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but just over a 100 years later has fallen into such a state of disrepair that parishioners obtained an Act of Parliament to demolish and rebuild it.
The new church, which was designed by Jesse Gibson and moved back off Broad Street further into the churchyard, was consecrated on 19th November, 1792. Its design featured a circular nave topped by a lantern (the curved design was not visible from the street) and placed the altar directly opposite the doorway on the north-west side of the church.
The church had acquired a new organ in 1884 but the declining population in the surrounding area led to its been deemed surplus to requirements. It was demolished in 1907 and the parish united with that of St Michael Cornhill.
Proceeds of the sale were used to build a new church, St Peter Le Poer in Friern Barnet. The new church, which was consecrated on 28th June, 1910, by the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram, also received the demolished church’s font, pulpit and panelling.
This Week in London – Hawai’i’s history and culture; Green Plaque commemorates FA; and, Turner and Constable at the Tate…
• The history and artistry of Hawaii along with its relationship with Britain is the subject of a new exhibition at the British Museum. Hawaii: a kingdom crossing oceans commemorates 200 years since a series of events including the visit of Hawaiian King Liholiho (Kamehameha II) and Queen Kamāmalu to London with a royal delegation to seek alliance and protection from the Crown. Building from the visit of the Hawaiian party to the British Museum, the exhibition features around 150 objects and artworks, many of which have never seen seen before, with highlights including an ‘ahu ‘ula (feathered cloak) which was sent in 1810 by the first king of united Hawai’i, Kamehameha I, to King George III, a nine foot ki’i image of the god Kū, and the Anglo-Franco proclamation of 1843, on loan from The National Archives, which highlights the UK and France’s formal recognition of Hawai’i’s independence and emphasises diplomatic bonds between these nations. Opening today, the exhibition can be seen until 25th May in The Joseph Hotung Exhibition Gallery (Room 35). Admission charge applies. For more, see britishmuseum.org/hawaii.
• The former headquarters of the Football Association (FA) has been commemorated with a City of Westminster Green Plaque at 22 Lancaster Gate, an address synonymous with the FA from the early 20th century until the 1990s. In a statement, the City of Westminster said the plaque, which was unveiled late last year, “celebrates the cultural and historical significance of the FA’s presence in the area and its role in English football history”.
• On Now: Turner & Constable. An exhibition at the Tate Britain focuses on two of Britain’s greatest painters, JMW Turner and John Constable, who were also great rivals. The display, which marks 250 years since their births – Turner in 1775 and Constable in 1776, features more than 170 paintings and works on paper as it explores their intertwined lives and legacies. Highlights include Turner’s momentous The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835), not seen in Britain for more than 100 years, and Constable’s The White Horse (1819). Admission charge applies. Runs until 12th April. For more, see www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/turner-and-constable/exhibition-guide.
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Three places to remember Agatha Christie…
Before we get back to our current Wednesday series on bishop’s palaces, we pause to remember the death of celebrated crime writer Agatha Christie, 50 years ago this week (she died on 12th January, 1976).
• First up, we head to 58 Sheffield Terrace in Holland Park where Christie lived with her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan, between 1934 and 1941 (one of several homes she lived in in the area), and where she wrote books including Murder on the Orient Express (1934) and Death on the Nile (1937). The house is marked with an English Heritage Blue Plaque.
• Then it’s over to University College Hospital in Bloomsbury where Christie worked during World War II as a volunteer dispenser (and where she added to her expertise on poisons). Christie had in 1917 sat three exams to become a qualified pharmaceutical assistant at the Apothecaries Hall in London.
• Finally, we head to the West End and St Martin’s Theatre where Christie’s play, The Mousetrap, continues to be performed nightly, notching up more than 30,000 performances. Outside is the Agatha Christie Memorial (pictured) depicting a book with a bust of Christie set into the centre.
We’ll be taking a more detailed look at Agatha Christie’s London in a series soon…
LondonLife – Souvenir shopping…
Welcome to a new year of Exploring London…
We’re back this week after a Christmas-New Year break!
This year, as well as running our regular programme of content, we’ll be introducing some new features on Exploring London (and reviving some old ones that had fallen by the wayside).
Stay tuned for updates and if you can, please consider supporting our work with a £3 a month subscription which gives you access to all our content and helps ensure we can continue producing it.
12 most popular posts of 2025…3 to 1…
The final three in our most read posts countdown (and apologies for being a day late!)….
2. London Explained – Lord Mayor or Mayor?
1. London Explained – Red phone boxes…
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to all of Exploring London’s readers! Wishing you a great start to 2026.
12 most popular posts of 2025…6 to 4…
12 most popular posts of 2025…9 to 7…
12 most popular posts of 2025…
This year we’ve expanded our annual list of our most read posts (this time for those published in 2025) to include 12 – that’s three a day with the final three to be released on New Year’s Day!
So without further ado…
12. 10 historic London docks…10. East India Docks…
11. 10 London mysteries – 8. The Ceremony of the Rendering of the Quit Rents…
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas…
Don’t forget to keep an eye out for our most read posts countdown of 2025 between Christmas and New Year!
LondonLife – Streets aglow for Christmas…
London pub signs – The Phene…
This Chelsea pub has a rather unusual name and it, like that of the street in which it can be found, comes John Samuel Phene, the architect who built it.
The pub dates from 1850 – Phene, who in 1903 constructed a now demolished five-storey house at in nearby Upper Cheyne Row which became known as “Gingerbread Castle” due to its elaborate decorations – had it constructed as a venue for servants and tenants to drink at.
It became known as a favourite of the likes of Northern Irish footballer George Best and the poet Dylan Thomas.
It was saved from being redeveloped in 2013 after a campaign by local residents backed by high profile celebrities such as Hugh Grant.
The pub at 9 Phene Street, which these days sports a rather plain sign, is now run by the City Pub Company.
For more, see www.thephene.com/
This Week in London – Art deco at the London Transport Museum; art storage during WWII commemorated; and, William Dobson’s self-portrait…
• An exhibition exploring the influence of the art deco movement on graphic poster design in on now at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. Art deco: the golden age of poster design features more than a hundred original 1920s and 1930s transport posters and poster artworks alongside photography, short films, ceramics and other objects to mark the centenary of the 1925 Paris exhibition where art deco originated. In the UK, Frank Pick, then-chief executive of London Transport, was the individual most responsible for advancing this form of graphic style, master-minding the publicity for the Underground and LT from 1908 onwards. A number of the posters in the exhibition in the Global Poster Gallery have never been put on public display before. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/art-deco.
Photo: The National Gallery, London
• An inscribed stone tablet commemorating the Welsh quarry where The National Gallery’s art was protected during World War II has been put on permanent display in the gallery. The tablet, made from slate taken from the Manod quarry in Eryri (Snowdonia), was conceived by the artist Jeremy Deller and designed and carved by letter-carver John Neilson. The work, which was commissioned by Mostyn, an art gallery in Llandudno and supported by CELF – the national contemporary art gallery for Wales, can be seen in the Portico Vestibule, close to Boris Anrep’s floor mosaic of Sir Winston Churchill depicted in war time. The Manod slate mine in north Wales was chosen to store the art after an earlier proposal to evacuate the works to Canada was vetoed over fears of U-boat attacks. At the mine, explosives were used to enlarge the entrance to allow access for the the largest paintings and several small brick ‘bungalows’ were built within the caverns to protect the paintings from variations in humidity and temperature. What was known as an ‘elephant’ case was constructed to transport the paintings on trucks from London and, by the summer of 1941, the entire collection had moved to its new subterranean home, where it was to remain for four years, returning to London only after the end of the war in 1945. For more see www.nationalgallery.org.uk/.
• A self-portrait by William Dobson, widely considered to be the first great painter born in Britain, has gone on display at Tate Britain alongside a Dobson’s portrait of his wife. Dobson’s painting, which was acquired by the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery, was made between 1635 and 1640 and is said to be a “groundbreaking example of English self-portraiture”. His Portrait of the Artist’s Wife (c1635-40), which joined Tate’s collection in 1992, depicts Dobson’s second wife Judith and would have been conceived around the time of their marriage in December, 1637. Dobson rose to the role of King Charles I’s official painter before his career was cut tragically short when he died at the age of 35. For more, see tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain.
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10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 3. Winchester Palace…
Now a few scant ruins located in Southwark, this was once the opulent palace of one of the most powerful clergymen in the country.
We’ve written about Winchester Palace before but we thought it was worth a second look in our current series.
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LondonLife – Claridges dressed for Christmas…
For more on the historic hotel, see our earlier post here…
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