The Albert Bridge in Chelsea which dates from 1873 with subsequent modifications made in the 1880s.
LondonLife – Chelsea bridge…
Areas of London
London pub signs – The Dean Swift…
This pub in Bermondsey – just to the east of the southern end of the Tower of London – is named for the famous satirist and clergyman, Jonathan Swift (who was also appointed Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin in 1713).
Located at 10 Gainsford Street (on the corner with Lafone Street), the pub originally dates from the 1850s and was formerly known as The Bricklayer’s Arms.
While Swift spent much of his life in Ireland, he visited London on numerous occasions, particularly between 1701 and 1714, and was widely recognised in the city for his writings and wit.
Swift’s most famous work – Gulliver’s Travels – was published in 1726.
For more, see https://www.thedeanswift.com.
This Week in London – Photographers honoured with Blue Plaques; David Hockney meets Piero dell Francesca; and ‘Taylor on Strings’ at Wembley Park…
• Two pioneering photographers are being commemorated with English Heritage Blue Plaques today. Christina Broom (1862-1939) is believed to have been Britain’s first female press photographer while John Thomson (1837-1921) was a ground-breaking photo-journalist working at the advent of the medium. Broom’s plaque – the first to be located in Fulham – is being placed on 92 Munster Road, a terraced house of 1896, where she lived and worked for 26 years. Thomson’s plaque, meanwhile, will be located at what is now 15 Effra Road in Brixton where he and his family were living when one of his best-known and influential works, Street Life in London (1877-8), was published. For more, see www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/.
• Two of David Hockney’s key works – My Parents (1977) and Looking at Pictures on a Screen (1977) – which feature reproductions of 15th-century Italian painter Piero della Francesca’s The Baptism of Christ (probably about 1437–45) have gone on display alongside the Renaissance work at The National Gallery. Hockney and Piero: A Longer Look explores Hockney’s “lifelong association” with the National Gallery and its collections, particularly in the works of Piero della Francesca (1415/20–1492). Hockney once confessed that he would love to have The Baptism of Christ so he could look at it for an hour each day. My Parents features a reproduction of Piero’s work shown reflected in a mirror on a trolley behind the sitters while Looking at Pictures on a Screen depicts Hockney’s friend Henry Geldzahler, the Belgian-born American curator of 20th-century art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, peering at a folding screen in the artist’s studio on which are stuck four posters of National Gallery pictures including The Baptism of Christ. The display in Room 46 is free. Runs until 27th October. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk.
• Experience a prelude of Taylor Swift at Wembley Park with with City String Ensemble playing more than a dozen interpretations of Taylor Swift songs. The free open air concert comes ahead of Swift’s return to Wembley Stadium later this month. ‘Taylor on Strings’ will be held at the Sound Shell from 6:30pm on 13th August. Tickets are free but must be booked with 30 released at 10am each day in the lead-up to the concert. For more, head to wembleypark.com/taylor-on-strings.
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10 towers with a history in London – 2. The tower of St Olave, Old Jewry…
This tower is a survivor and was originally part of the rebuilt Church of St Olave, Old Jewry.
The medieval church, which was apparently built on the site of an earlier Saxon church, originally dated from 12th century. Its name referred to both the saint to whom it was dedicated – the patron saint of Norway, St Olaf (Olave) – and its location in the precinct of the City that was largely occupied by Jews (up until the infamous expulsion of 1290).
The church, which is also referred to as Upwell Old Jewry (this may have related to a well in the churchyard), was the burial place of two former Lord Mayors – mercer Robert Large (William Caxton was his apprentice) and publisher John Boydell (who apparently washed his face under the church pump each morning). Boydell’s monument was later transferred to St Margaret Lothbury.
The church was sadly destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 but it was among those rebuilt under the eye of Sir Christopher Wren in the 1670s. It’s from this rebuilding that the current tower dates.
At this time, the parish was united with that of St Martin Pomeroy (which had already shared its churchyard and which was also destroyed in the Great Fire).
Wren’s church was eventually demolished in 1887 as moves took place to consolidate church parishes under the Union of Benefices Act – the parish was united with that of St Margaret Lothbury and proceeds from the sale were used to fund the building of St Olave, Monor House. It’s worth noting that a Roman pavement was found on the site after the church demolition.
The tower (and the west wall), meanwhile, survived. The tower was subsequently turned into a rectory for St Margaret Lothbury and later into offices.
Interestingly, the Grade I-listed, Portland stone tower is said to be the only one built by Wren’s office which is battered – that is, wider at the bottom than the top. It’s topped by some obelisk-shaped pinnacles and a weather vane in the shape of a sailing ship which was taken from St Mildred, Poultry (was demolished in 1872).
The tower’s former clock was built by Moore & Son of Clerkenwell. It was removed at the time of the church demolition was installed in the tower of St Olave’s Hart Street. The current clock was installed in 1972.
LondonLife – Summer in the Square…
A Moment in London’s History – The first bananas go on sale…
It’s widely reported that the first banana went on sale in London in the mid-17th century but there is evidence bananas had been in the capital well before that date.
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Lost London – The Guildhall Chapel…
Used by the Lord Mayor of London and his retinue as a location for weekly worship for more than 200 years, the Guildhall Chapel was once an important part of the City infrastructure.
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This week in London – Re-live the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’; getting below the surface of the Thames; a look inside East London houses through time; and, a new public garden in the City…
• ‘The Golden Age of Piracy’ will come to life in a living history weekend this Saturday and Sunday at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. With the focus on the period between 1650 and 1720 (when more than 5,000 pirates were said to have been active), visitors will learn how to separate pirate fact from fiction, enjoy songs of the sea, witness sword and cutlass fights, and hear the tale of a real 18th-century mutiny. Each day culminates with a demonstration of the firepower of pirates and marines in the arena on the lawns overlooking the River Thames. There’s also the opportunity to wander through the pirate encampment and learn about the clothes and weapons of the period, listen to some love music and sample food from the Taste of History period kitchen. Runs from 11am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://ornc.org/whats-on/golden-age-of-piracy/.
• The world of sound below the surface of the River Thames is the subject of a new contemporary art installation at the Natural History Museum which opens tomorrow. The River, composed by Norwegian sound artist Jana Winderen in collaboration with spatial audio expert Tony Myatt, uses underwater audio recordings to immerse visitors in a 360 degree audio composition which spans the river from the source by Kemble through central London and on to the sprawling estuary leading into the North Sea. The River is free to visit. Bookings, to ensure entry, can be made at https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit.html.
• Seven new and reimagined period rooms reflecting the stories of our East London community, past, present and future, have been unveiled at the Museum of the Home in Shoreditch. Thanks to the Real Rooms project, the expanded ‘Rooms Through Time: 1878-2049’ now includes a Jewish tenement flat from 1913, an Irish couple’s house in the 1950s, LGBTQ+ renters sharing an ex-council home in the 2005, a British-Vietnamese home in 2024, and the Innovo Room of the Future, which explores real homes amid challenges such as the climate crisis and technological advances. The scope of the existing 1870s Parlour and Front Room in 1976 have also both been expanded. Entry to the permanent display is free. For more, see https://www.museumofthehome.org.uk.
• A new public garden has been opened at the intersection of Cheapside and New Change in the City of London. Formerly known as the Sunken Garden, the area has undergone a transformation and now features benches created from 150-year-old-plus granite stones salvaged from the Thames River Wall and recycled timber from fallen London Plane trees. There’s also new permeable paving which lets rain drain freely into the ground and stores it for trees to use later, reducing pressure on the sewer system while new plant species have been selected with local wildlife in mind.
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LondonLife – Scenes from the State Opening of Parliament…
Last Wednesday, 17th July, was the State Opening of Parliament, the first since the new Labour government took office. More than 1,100 members of the armed forces were in attendance, accompanied by 200 military horses, as the procession of King Charles III and Queen Camilla made its way to the Houses of Parliament where the King delivered a speech outlining the government’s plans.
What’s in a name?…Nunhead…
This district of London, which lies to the south-east of Peckham in the London Borough of Southwark, is believed to owe its name to a local tavern named, you guessed it, the Nun’s Head on the linear Nunhead Green (there’s still a pub there, called The Old Nun’s Head, in a building dating from 1905).
There may well have been actual nuns here (from which the tavern took its name) – it’s suggested that there was a nunnery here which may have been connected to the Augustinian Priory of St John the Baptist founded in the 12th century at Holywell (in what is now Shoreditch).
A local legend gets more specific. It says that when the nunnery was dissolved during the Dissolution, the Mother Superior was executed for her opposition to King Henry VIII’s policies and her head was placed in a spike on the site near the green where the inn was built.
While the use of the name for the area goes back to at least the 16th century, the area remained something of a rural idyll until the 1840s when the Nunhead Cemetery, one of the “Magnificent Seven” cemeteries of Victorian London, was laid out and the area began to urbanise.
A fireworks manufactory – Brocks Fireworks – was built here in 1868 (evidenced by the current pub, The Pyrotechnists Arms). The railway arrived in 1871.
St Antholin’s Church was built in 1877 using funds from the sale of the City of London church, St Antholin’s, Budge Row, which was demolished in 1875. St Antholin’s in Nunhead was destroyed during the Blitz and later rebuilt and renamed St Antony’s (the building is now a Pentecostal church while the Anglican parish has been united with that of St Silas).
There’s also a Dickens connection – he rented a property known as Windsor Lodge for his long-term mistress, actress Ellen Ternan, at 31 Lindon Grove and frequently visited her there (in fact, it has even been claimed that he died at the property and his body was subsequently moved to his home at Gad’s Hill to avoid a scandal).
Nunhead became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell in 1900. These days, it’s described by Foxtons real estate agency as “a quiet suburb with pretty roads and period appeal”.
Treasures of London – The Abraham Tapestries, Hampton Court Palace…
Hanging in the Tudor Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace, this series of 10 huge tapestries are believed to have been commissioned by King Henry VIII and were first hung in the hall in 1546.
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This Week in London – West Ham Park celebrates its 150th; rare examples of 17th century paper-cutting; King Henry VIII jousts at Hampton Court; the collection of Elizabeth Legh; and, ‘Horrible Science’…
• West Ham Park celebrates its 150th anniversary this weekend with a festival of music, food, sport, and other activities. On Saturday there will be a free, family-friendly festival with music – including appearances by Australian-born singer-songwriter Celina Sharma and singer-songwriter, Fiaa Hamilton, as well as a DJ set from Ellis – along with arts and crafts, a children’s fun fair and local food stalls. On Sunday, activities are based around the theme of ‘give it a go’ with visitors able try out various sports and health activities, including football, cricket, tennis, athletics, Tai Chi, and long-boarding. There will also be free taster sessions and opportunities to meet local sporting legends. An outdoor exhibition about the park’s history can be seen in Guildhall Yard in the City leading-up to the event after which it will be moved to Aldgate Square. West Ham Park is the largest green space in the London Borough of Newham and has been managed by the City of London Corporation since 1874. Activities on both days start at 12pm. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/westhampark150.
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10 significant (and historic) London trees – A recap…
We’ll kick off a new series next week, but, in the meantime, here’s a recap…
1. Queen Elizabeth’s Oak, Greenwich…
4. The Royal Oak, Richmond Park…
LondonLife – ‘Fern the Diplodicus’ takes up new post at the Natural History Museum…
‘Fern the Diplodicus’ has been unveiled at the Natural History Museum this morning, the latest addition to its transformed gardens which open to public on Thursday.
The bronze cast of the museum’s moved loved figure takes pride of place in the new Evolution Garden, which, along with the Nature Discovery Garden, sit within five acres of green space surrounding the South Kensington museum.
The Evolution Garden provides the opportunity to explore the 2.7 billion history of the planet and, as well as Fern, features a canyon clad in ancient Scottish stone, and a second dinosaur, Hypsiophodon.
The Nature Discovery Garden showcases different wildlife habitats in the UK’s urban spaces – complete with the frogs, newts, dragonflies and mandarin ducks that are already living there – and features a nw Nature Activity Centre which combines scientific facilities with a hub for school workshops and family activities.
For more, see www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/galleries-and-museum-map/our-gardens.html
London Explained – Royal Peculiars…
A Royal Peculiar is a Church of England parish that is exempt from the jurisdiction of the church diocese or province in which it sits and instead answers directly to the monarch.
The concept of the Royal Peculiar first began to emerge in Anglo-Saxon times and was developed over the following centuries.
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Lost London – St Benet Fink…
This unusually named church dates back to at least the 13th century and stood on what is now Threadneedle Street.
St Benet is a contraction of St Benedict (he who founded monastic communities in Italy in the 6th century) and this was once of four City churches dedicated to the saint before 1666. The word ‘Fink’, meanwhile, is a corruption of Finch and apparently referred to Robert Finch (or Fink) who paid for a rebuild of the church in the 13th century.
The medieval rectangular church was among those destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Rebuilding commenced soon after, thanks in part to a £1,000 donation from a Catholic George Holman (he was rewarded with two pews and a place in the vault). The church was completed in 1675 apparently for a cost at just over £4,000.
Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the church – due to the irregular shape of the site after the City decided to widen Threadneedle Street, was rebuilt on a decagonal plan, over which sat a dome, with a tower at the west end topped by a bell cage over which sat a ball and cross (apparently this latter feature was unique for a Wren church).
The church survived until the mid-18th century when the Corporation of London petitioned Parliament for permission to demolish the tower of St Benet Fink in order make way for an expanded Royal Exchange (which had burned down in 1838).
Following the demolition of the tower (over which there were some protests), a new entrance was cut into the west wall of the church but it proved less than ideal and the City of London was granted permission to knock down the rest of the church which took place in 1846.
The parish was merged with that of St Peter le Poer. Proceeds of the sale of the site were used to build St Benet Fink Church, Tottenham.
The furniture was sold off and paintings of Moses and Aaron that had formed part of the altarpiece are now in the chapel of Emanuel School in Battersea.
Famous associations include John Henry Newman, the future Catholic cardinal, who was baptised in the church on 9th April, 1801.
An office block now occupies the site. A City of London blue plaque marks the site.
This Week in London – ‘The Tudor World’ explored; ‘Crossing Borders’ at the Horniman; and, TfL deal at the Painted Hall…
• The oldest surviving rooms at Hampton Court Palace – the Wolsey Rooms which King Henry VIII and Thomas Wolsey once used – are the location of a new display opening today exploring the early years of Henry VIII’s reign and the lives of the ‘ordinary’ men and women who shaped the Tudor dynasty. The Tudor World has, at its centre, rare surviving paintings from the Royal Collection including The Embarkation of Dover – depicting the Tudor navy – and The Field of Cloth of Gold which details Henry VIII’s summit with King Francis I of France in 1520. Also on show is a gold ring believed to have belonged to the Boleyn family, a brightly coloured silk hat linked to King Henry VIII, Wolsey’s portable sundial, a wooden chest used to hide religious contraband by Catholic priests during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and, an original Tudor chain pump used to help empty the Hampton Court cesspool. Among the stories of “ordinary” Tudor people being shared is that of Anne Harris, Henry VIII’s personal laundry woman who washed the bandages for his leg ulcers and, Jacques Francis, a free-diver from West Africa who was involved in the expedition to salvage guns from the sunken Mary Rose and who later became one of the first Black African voices heard in an English court, when he was called to testify in a case concerning his employer, Paulo Corsi. Included in palace admission. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/.
• Crossing Borders, a day of free activities, performances and workshops run by local newly arrived people, will be held at the Horniman Museum Gardens in Forest Hill this Saturday. The day will feature arts and crafts workshops led by IRMO, dance performances by Miski Ayllu and the Honduran Folkloric Pride Group, the chance to learn circus skills with young people from Da’aro Youth Project and South London Refugee Association, and the opportunity to make kites with Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers. The free event runs from 11am to 4pm. For more, see https://www.horniman.ac.uk/event/crossing-borders/.
• Transport for London customers can save 30 per cent on entry to the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College when using the TfL network until 17th November. Simply show customers show your TfL journey on the day of your visit via the TfL Oyster and Contactless app and receive the discount, taking the adult entry price, when booked online to just £11.55. For bookings, head to https://londonblog.tfl.gov.uk/2022/07/27/in-the-city/.
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LondonLife – Views of London past…
Where’s London’s oldest…(surviving) street gas lamps?
There remain some 1,300 publicly maintained gas lamps still in use in London’s streets but the oldest surviving gas lamps can be found in Birdcage Walk (along the south side of St James’s Park).
These cast iron lamps bear the insignia of King George IV who ruled from 1820 to 1830. While lamps had been installed in London since the reign of King George III (the earliest permanent placement was on Westminster Bridge in 1813), these lamps were installed during his successor’s reign.
They are among numerous Grade II-listed lamp stands on Birdcage Walk (some others are marked with thee insignia of King William IV).
LondonLife – A new PM at Number 10…
Exploring London 