Areas of London

What’s in a name?…Cheapside

by exploringlondon

One of the major thoroughfares of the City of London, the name is reflective of its role as a marketplace with the medieval English word ‘cheap’ generally been taken to mean market.

Starting from the intersection of Newgate Street and St Martin’s Le Grand through to where it runs into Poultry, the street was apparently originally known as Westcheap – Eastcheap is still located down near the Monument. Cheapside’s surrounding streets – including Poultry, Milk Street, and Bread Street give indication of the sorts of goods that were once sold in the area.

Cheapside was, in medieval times, an important street and was on the processional route royalty would have taken from Westminster to the Tower of London. It is the site of St Mary-le-Bow Church (it’s said that if you’re born within hearing of the Bow bells you’re a true Londoner), and, until the Great Fire of 1666, the eastern end of Cheapside was the site of the end of the Great Conduit where water arrived after being piped in from the Tyburn River in the west.

Key figures associated with Cheapside include slain Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, born there in 1118, poet John Milton, born on the adjoining Bread Street in 1608, and writer Geoffrey Chaucer. A glimpse into the street’s past was found in 1912 when the Cheapside Hoard was unearthed during the demolition of a building there (you can see our earlier post on that here).

The area was heavily bombed during World War II.

Lined with shops, restaurants and office buildings, Cheapside today remains close to the heart of the city and is currently undergoing significant redevelopment, the recently opened swanky shopping centre at One New Change being an example.

Around London – London celebrates on the Thames; a fashionable night in London; and, heritage trains in Amersham…

by exploringlondon

• London will this weekend celebrate the 15th annual Thames Festival, billed as the city’s “largest free festival”. The two day event includes a giant shipwreck sculpture outside City Hall (created with the aid of students from 100 London schools), barge races and a parade of more than 100 boats on the Thames, a wide array of musical and street performances (these include a mass choir of 700 school children and a performance in which the HMS Belfast is used as a percussion instrument) and an illuminated Night Carnival culminating in fireworks. More than 800,000 people are expected to attend the event which takes place at a range of venues stretching from the London Eye to Tower Bridge. Other highlights include the annual Feast on the Bridge on Saturday during which Southwark Bridge will be closed to traffic, Korean Taekwondo displays, a food market and an exclusive cruise on the Thames hosted by the likes of historian David Starkey and the creators of cult children’s character Rastamouse. River boat operators, meanwhile, are offering 2-for-1 tickets for the weekend to help people make the most of the festival. For more information on the festival, see www.thamesfestival.org. For more on the 2 for 1 tickets, see www.tfl.gov.uk/river.

• Regent Street and surrounds will be buzzing tonight with more than 40 shops, bars and restaurants taking part in Vogue Fashion’s Night Out. The event, which is running for its third year in London, will see many stores remaining opening until 11pm and feature special events and promotions. The night is part of a series of nights being held in countries across the globe – from Russia to Brazil, Australia to Spain. For more information, see http://fashions-night-out.vogue.co.uk.

• An art deco Tube train dating from 1938 and the Sarah Siddons, the last operational ex-Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive will be running between Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rickmansworth and Amersham this Sunday as part of the Amersham Old Town’s Heritage Day. Other activities include a best dressed competition showcasing retro fashions, a free heritage bus service, including rides on the Routemaster RM1, street performances including a Punch and Judy show and clowns, and “object handling sessions” at the Amersham Museum. For more information, see the London Transport Museum’s website here.

Lost London – Execution Dock…

by exploringlondon

The favoured place to dispatch pirates, Execution Dock was located on the north bank of the River Thames just off Wapping High Street.

Among the most famous to be executed here was Kidd himself who, having been found to have turned pirate while operating as a privateer under the authority of King William III, was hanged here on 23rd May, 1701.

The site, near where a cannon foundry operated supplying the fleet of King Henry VIII, was in-use as an execution ground for more than 400 years, from the 15th century until the last hanging in 1830 (that of pirates George Davis and William Watts).

Those convicted of piracy in the High Court of Admiralty were typically brought to Execution Dock from Marshalsea Prison (or in some cases from Newgate) in a procession across London Bridge and past the Tower of London which was led by the Admiralty Marshal or his deputy who carried a silver oar as a symbol of their authority.

In a public spectacle, the pirates were then hanged on a wooden scaffold built at low tide but unlike at other sites of execution where they were cut down after death, the victims were left hanging to allow three tides to wash over them.

The most notorious of the pirates would then be tarred and put in a gibbet to be exhibited on one of the banks of the Thames as a warning to others (Kidd’s remains were apparently left in such a state for more than 20 years at Tilbury).

The exact location of Execution Dock remains a matter of dispute with favoured locations including a spot near the Town of Ramsgate pub, just along from The Captain Kidd pub near what are now known as King Henry’s Stairs and, between the two locations, a warehouse which stands on the waterfront and is prominently marked with an E (for Execution Dock). Some even suggest the site was outside the Prospect of Whitby pub further east along Wapping High Street.

There’s currently an exhibition on Captain Kidd at the Museum of London Docklands, Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story.  See here for more information.

PICTURE: Wikipedia

10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…8. The Geffrye Museum

by exploringlondon

We have mentioned this museum before, but it’s well worth doing so again (particularly for those who may have missed the first entry). Located in former almhouses in Shoreditch, the Geffrye Museum is a survey of house interiors from the 17th century through to modern times.

Featuring 11 reconstructed period interiors created using authentic furnishings, it tells the story of the city through its residents’ homes (albeit largely wealthy ones) and includes a look at a hall in 1630, a parlour in 1790, a drawing room in 1870 and a loft conversion dating from 1998. There’s an audio guide which provides details on each room and information panels as you go along (and if you can’t get there but want to have a look, the website gives a detailed look at each room with notes on select furnishings).

The almshouses in which the museum resides (it runs along the rear wing of a U-shaped courtyard and takes in the chapel) were built in the early 1700s by the Company of Ironmongers after it received a bequest from Sir Robert Geffrye, a former twice-master of the company and a former Lord Mayor of London (his statue adorns the front of the chapel and faces out into the courtyard, itself a quiet oasis in busy Shoreditch).

These were used until early in the 20th century when the company decided to relocate the remaining pensioners. But the buildings have been preserved and it is possible to visit a former almshouse which has been restored and opened as a museum with displays on what life was like for the pensioners. Meanwhile, at the rear of the museum is a walled herb garden filled with herbs and a series of ‘period garden rooms’ ranging from the 17th to 20th centuries.

There’s also a restaurant and shop onsite (housed in a new extension opened in 1998).

WHERE: 136 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch. Nearest tube is Liverpool Street or Old Street (a fair walk) or Hoxton Overground Station (next door); WHEN: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am-5pm or Sundays and Bank Holidays, 12-5pm (gardens open until 31st October); COST: Free (admission to almhouses £2.50 at set times on select days); WEBSITE: www.geffrye-museum.org.uk

 

Where is It? #3

by exploringlondon

This is the third in our series in which we ask you to identify where in London this picture was taken and what it’s of. If you reckon you know the answer, leave a comment below. We’ll reveal the answer early next week. Good luck!

Apologies for the delay in getting this answer to you (Exploring London has been on a summer break!). But if you’ve been wondering, the answer is that the picture shows a lock detail from one of the gates leading into the old Royal Naval College at Greenwich – the anchors were a clue! Congrats to Ian who guessed the location was near the Queen’s House (contained within the former Royal Naval College). Click here if you’re interested in reading our previous entry about the former Royal Naval College and Sir Christopher Wren’s role in its design.

10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…7. The Cartoon Museum

by exploringlondon

Hidden away in Bloomsbury almost in the shadow of the gigantic bulk of the British Museum, this small museum offers an interesting insight into the development of cartoons and comic strips from a uniquely British perspective.

Opened in 2006, the museum exhibits are spread over two floors and trace the history of cartoons and comic strips from their origins in the 1700s through to today’s graphic novels.

While it can seem at first glance only a small display, there’s a wealth of information accompanying the more than 200 exhibits which range from Hogarth prints and early satirical political cartoons by the likes of James Gillray and George Cruikshank through to the works of more modern artists like David Low and Donald McGill, originals of comic strips like Dennis the Menace and Andy Capp and even manga Shakespeare.

And no need to worry about the kids – if they become bored (as is likely), there’s an interesting exhibition on the creation of Peppa Pig complete with original storyboards and a cartoon running on the television as well as plenty of reading materials and, upstairs, the chance for them to indulge their passion for cartoons by designing their own.

The museum is also currently running a splendid exhibition on Dr Who comics spanning the period from 1964 (the year after the first Dr Who was televised) through to today. For Dr Who fans, this exhibition – which runs until 30th October – is a must.

Don’t forget to pause at the shop on the way out – it’s stocked with all sorts of comic-related paraphernalia.

WHERE: The Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street (nearest Tube stations are Tottenham Court Road, Holborn and Russell Square); WHEN: 10.30am to 5.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, 12.30pm to 5pm Sundays; COST: £5.50 an adult/£4 concessions (£3 students)/children under 18 free (children 12 or under must be accompanied by an adult); WEBSITE: www.cartoonmuseum.org

LondonLife – London’s celebrates one year to the Olympic Games…

by exploringlondon

Late last month, London celebrated one year to go until the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. The milestone was marked with a series of events in Trafalgar Square and at Olympic venues, including here at the Olympic Stadium in London’s east where the number one was mown into the grass. In Trafalgar Square, meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge formally invited the world’s athletes to attend the games and unveiled the medals while at the newly completed Aquatic Centre, British diver Tom Daley became the first athlete to break the waters. For more see www.london2012.com.

PICTURE: LOCOG

Famous Londoners – Sir William Walworth

by exploringlondon

Twice Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Walworth is best remembered as the man who killed the leader of the Peasant’s Revolt, Wat Tyler.

Believed to have been born in the first half of the 14th century to a couple in Durham, Walworth at some point moved to London where he was apprenticed to the leading fishmonger John Lovekyn (he was also one of London’s biggest exporters of wool).

In 1368, following Lovekyn’s death, Walworth replaced Lovekyn as the alderman of Bridge Ward. Two years later, in 1370, he was elected sheriff and the following year he became an MP (by this stage, he was also already a major lender of money to the crown). Walworth was first elected as mayor in 1374, elected again as an MP in 1377, and again as mayor in 1380.

It was on 13th June, 1381, Walworth, still London’s mayor, led the defence of London Bridge against Wat Tyler and the rebels. He was later with the king, Richard II, when he subsequently met with Tyler and others at Smithfield. During that encounter Walworth stabbed Tyler and later had him beheaded. The reason for Walworth’s stabbing of Tyler remains unclear.

Walworth was knighted on the field for his efforts in defending the king during the rebellion and was later involved in restoring the peace in London and in the counties of Kent and Middlesex.

Sir William did marry but he and his wife Margaret, who died in 1394, had no children. Following his death in 1386 at his house in Thames Street (later the Fishmonger’s Hall), he was buried at the church of St Michael, Crooked Lane, to which he had already made some substantial donations.

He subsequently became a hero in popular story-telling and in 1592 was included in Richard Johnson’s book Nine Worthies of London. A wooden statue of him was placed at the Fishmonger’s Hall in 1685. There is a much later statue of Sir William on the Holborn Viaduct (pictured).

This article has been updated.

10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…6. London Canal Museum

by exploringlondon

London’s Regent’s Canal no longer plays the important transport role it once did – it’s now largely for pleasure that people ply the waters from the East London Docks up to Little Venice. But its key contribution to the city’s development and those of other canals across the country are celebrated at this small museum.

The museum, which sits just behind King’s Cross railway station, was opened in 1992 and features two floors of exhibits. They include half a narrow boat, the Coronis, which you can walk through to experience the cramped conditions in which the boatmen and their families once lived. There are also some fascinating recordings of people who actually did live on narrowboats about what life was like as well as displays and photographs of a lifestyle now long gone.

Outside, in Battlebridge Basin, is a moored a small collection of narrowboats while upstairs is a more detailed history of how the canals were developed, some fascinating film archival footage on a continuous loop, and a chance to operate a model of a lock.

As an added bonus, the museum is housed in what was once an ice warehouse and it’s still possible to view one of two massive ice wells which occupied the basement space where blocks of ice imported from Norway were once stored.

There are also displays on the history of the former ice business owner, Carlo Gatti, and some interesting information about the early days of ice and icecream in London – of particular note is the collection of ‘licking dishes’ in which icecream was sold for a penny.

WHERE: London Canal Museum, 12-14 New Wharf Road (nearest Tube station is King’s Cross); WHEN: 10am to 4.30pm, Tuesday to Sunday (open late until 7.30pm on the first Thursday of each month); COST: £4 an adult/£3 concessions/£2 children/£10 a family; WEBSITE: www.canalmuseum.org.uk

10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…5. The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret

by exploringlondon

It’s the most unlikely location for anything to do with a hospital. High above the street in what was a herb garrett above a former church sits what was the operating theatre for females of St Thomas’ Hospital.

Built in 1703, the attic space resembles something of a large barn and was likely first used for storing and drying herbs by the resident apothecary at the then newly reconstructed St Thomas’ Hospital (this was largely rebuilt at the end of the 17th century on the same site previously occupied by the hospital as far back as the 1200s).

In 1822, the hospital’s governors decided that part of the herb garrett be converted into a new purpose-built operating theatre for female patients. The addition of windows in what was left of the adjoining garret, meanwhile, suggest it may have been used as a recovery ward.

The first thing that assails you as you enter the herb garrett these days, having clambered up a narrow twisting staircase is the sweet, spicy smell of herbs.

There are plenty of these within the garret, each with a hand written card explaining the curative properties they were renowned for – who knew, for example, that the ash of bladderwrack, dried kelp or seaweed, could be used to treat scrofula and goitre, or that the origins of aspirin go back to 1758 when a Chipping Norton clergyman chewed on a willow twig?

Elsewhere in the space are displays featuring early surgeon’s implements (and all the horror that entails), specimen jars containing human organs, anatomical models, pill and medicine making equipment and a display on nursing (there’s also a display on the poet John Keats who briefly served as an apprentice apothecary at St Thomas’ and St Guy’s in 1815-17).

Through the garret is located the operating theatre itself, complete with the wooden operating table and series of seats for spectators. Information panels nearby speak of such things as the blood box located below the floor into which the blood drained away and the speed with which surgeon’s had to work (until 1846 there was no reliable anaesthetic and it wasn’t until 1865 that Sir Joseph Lister introduced antiseptic procedures). There’s also a panel on the resurrection men – people who traded in cadavers to meet the growing needs of anatomists in the 18th and 19th centuries (and whom were known in London and elsewhere to have murdered people to meet the demand for bodies).

For all the faux-horror of nearby attractions like the London Dungeon, it’s here that you can truly experience the horrors some people have had to face as they prepared to go under the surgeon’s knife.

WHERE: The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, 9a St Thomas’s Street, London Bridge (nearest Tube station is London Bridge); WHEN: 10.30am to 5pm daily; COST: £5.90 an adult/£4.90 concessions/£3.80 children under 16/£13.80 a family (up to four children); WEBSITE: www.thegarret.org.uk.

Lost London – Billingsgate Roman House and Baths

by exploringlondon

Hidden beneath an office building in Lower Thames Street opposite the former Billingsgate Fish Market are the remains of some of London’s best preserved Roman ruins in the form of an expansive house and baths complex.

Last weekend, the Festival of British Archaeology presented a rare opportunity to visit the property which has been the subject of an extensive conservation project.

The remains of the buildings were first discovered by workmen building the New Coal Exchange in 1848 (this was demolished in the 1960s and the current office building constructed in its place in the 1970s – the ruins now sit in its basement).

While the house – which may have formed an L-shape or three-sided building stretching around a courtyard – dates back to the 2nd century AD, the baths complex – which is believed to be located in the house’s courtyard – were added the following century. The buildings, both of which feature an underfloor heating system known as a hypocaust, are notable for the fact that they remained in use until the early 5th century AD when much of what had been Roman Londinium was then already in decline.

Visitors to the baths would first have visited the cold room (frigidarium) before moving on to the warm room (tepidarium) and then the hot room (caldarium) which was heated by the hypocaust. There they would pause to remove dirt and oils from their skin using curved metal scrapers known as strigils before retracing their steps to the cold room where they are believed to have either jumped bravely into a plunge pool or splashed cold water over themselves.

The site includes two furnaces – one at the house and another at the baths – used for heating the space under the floors. The fact both buildings were constructed of stone indicates they were either owned by a wealthy family or were for communal use, perhaps as an inn for travellers.

The objects found in the premises include hoard of bronze coins (all minted after 395 AD) and a bronze brooch, believed to have belonged to a Saxon woman who must have dropped it after 450 AD when the bath house may already have been in ruins.

You can follow the conservation work being currently being carried out on the property – a joint project involving the City of London Corporation, the Museum of London, English Heritage, Nimbus Conservation and the Institute of Archeology of University College London – here: www.billingsgatebathhouse.wordpress.com. It’s expected the ruins will next be opened to the public for the Open House weekend on September 17th/18th.

10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…4. The Wimbledon Windmill Museum

by exploringlondon

A tiny museum located in an 1817 windmill standing in the middle of Wimbledon Common, the Wimbledon Windmill Museum provides an interesting insight into the work and lives of the millers who once occupied it and the thousands of other windmills around the UK.

Displays are located over three levels – the last reached by a steep climb up a ladder – and range from the tools and machinery used by the millers to a room packed with models of different types of windmills (all of which turn when you press a button) through to a room set up as the mill was in the 1870s when it was divided into homes for six families.

As well as the more static displays, there’s also a chance for the kids to make their own flour and a video playing on a loop which goes into considerable detail on the history and function of windmills in the UK.

There are tearooms located next door (and, if you happen to visit when it’s snowing, there’s a great toboggan run located nearby!).

The windmill itself has some interesting historic connections – it was in the miller’s cottage behind the windmill (now much enlarged) that Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell was staying when he wrote Scouting for Boys in 1907.

While this mill dates from 1817, there is a record of millers being on the common as far back as the 17th century. As well as making flour, the miller also served as the common’s constable.

This job entailed keeping an eye out for robbers operating on the common as well as illegal duelists (Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath were apparently popular spots for this).

Indeed, history records that Thomas Dann – the first miller about whom there is a record – and his wife witnessed an infamous duel between Lord Cardigan and Captain Tuckett from the windmill’s roof. Tuckett was wounded during the second round of shots and subsequently taken into the windmill for treatment of his injuries while Dann took Lord Cardigan into custody (he was eventually acquitted after a trial in the House of Lords).

This is certainly a small museum but, with an entry price of only a couple of pounds, well worth spending a little time to look through.

WHERE: The Wimbledon Windmill Museum, Wimbeldon Common (nearest Tube stations are Wimbledon, Wimbledon Park and Southfields); WHEN: 2pm to 5pm Saturdays, 11am to 5pm Sundays (and Bank Holiday Mondays) until October 30th; COST: £2 adults/£1 concessions and children/£5 families (two adults and up to four children); WEBSITE: www.wimbledonwindmill.org.uk.

LondonLife – SS Robin returns to East London…

by exploringlondon

The SS Robin being towed to its new mooring in East London on a floating pontoon. PICTURE: James Spellane/SS Robin Trust.

The world’s oldest complete steamship, the SS Robin, made a dramatic return to the Royal Docks in East London earlier this month. Built in 1890 at the Thames Ironworks shipyard on the River Lea, the coastal cargo steamer was operational for more than 80 years, initially around the coast of Britain and the English Channel and later in Spain where it bore the name Maria. The 300 tonne vessel has just been through a three year restoration project spearheaded by the SS Robin Trust. It has now taken up a temporary mooring on a new floating pontoon while final conservation work is completed. It is anticipated that the steamship – which is listed on the ‘Core Collection’ of the UK National Historic Ships Register meaning it’s seen as historically significant as London’s two other maritime landmarks, the Cutty Sark and HMS Belfast – will be opened to the public. For more information, see www.ssrobin.com.

10 Questions – Martin Stancliffe, Surveyor to the Fabric, St Paul’s Cathedral…

by exploringlondon

In the first of a new series in which we ask 10 questions of someone involved with one of London’s historic sites, we speak to Martin Stancliffe, Surveyor of the Fabric at St Paul’s Cathedral, about the £40 million, 15 year cleaning and restoration project at the iconic London structure which came to an end last month…

1. What does your job at the cathedral involve? “Advising on all aspects of the care and repair of the fabric of the cathedral, and its setting. This involves devising and leading all fabric projects, major or minor.”

 2. What prompted the 15 year repair and cleaning project? “The perception that the cathedral could reach out more to all its visitors both as a great centre for worship and as a great tourist attraction if it were in better condition and had improved facilities.”

3. How much of a difference has the cleaning and repair project made to the look of the cathedral, both inside and out? “I think it is not too much to say that the cleaning has transformed the appearance of both the exterior and the interior. In particular, the interior now speaks much more clearly of its primary purpose as a great church and a setting for great national services of memorial or celebration. In addition, the programme of repair works in almost all parts of the cathedral has put it into good condition in ways that can be sensed, but cannot  – I hope – be seen.”

4. How many people have been involved? “It is hard to make a count, but the number must run into several hundred.”

5. What trades did the task require and was it easy to source the sort of expertise required? “The various different tasks required a great range of skills, from masons to electricians and scaffolders,  and from expert painters and gilders to conservators. There is a wonderful supply of skilled craftsmen and professionals in this country; but younger people need to be encouraged to understand how creative and rewarding such work is, and to learn the expert skills required to continue to care for buildings like this.”

6. What was the most challenging aspect of the project? “The most challenging aspect was the organisation of the internal cleaning project, which required special techniques and special scaffolding to enable the cathedral to continue its day to day work uninterruptedly throughout the 15 year programme – including having to remove all scaffolding from the interior for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee right in the middle of the project!”

7. Is the cathedral we now see as (original architect) Sir Christopher Wren envisaged it? “No, the interior had already been substantially altered in the 19th century by the removal of the original choir screen, the stripping of paint from all the internal stonework, and the installation of mosaic decorations. However, the atmosphere in the cathedral is certainly closer to how Wren envisaged it than in its gloomy state 15 years ago; and he would certainly have recognised – and welcomed – the radiant quality of light which has been restored to the interior.”

8. Did you make any interesting discoveries about the building during the restoration project? “A building like this is always revealing new things. We discovered much more about how the lower parts of the dome were constructed, and we have understood much better why and how the building moved and settled as a structure over the last 300 years. We also discovered many fragments of the great cathedral which stood on this site for some 600 years before the destruction of the Great Fire, built into the structure of  Wren’s cathedral.”

 9. What’s your favorite part of the cathedral?  “I love all parts of the dome, from the top of the lantern down to its complex foundations on the top of the arches of the nave.”

10. Can you tell us something about St Paul’s that many visitors may be unaware of? “Many people are unaware of the reason why the dome seems so all embracing when you are in the interior. This is because the dome spans right across the whole width of the church,  allowing the aisles to pass through it, unlike St Peter’s in Rome, for instance.”

WHERE: St Paul’s Cathedral, St Paul’s Churchyard (nearest tube station is St Paul’s); WHEN: St Paul’s is open from 8.30am to 4pm (galleries from 9.30am to 4.15pm), Monday to Saturday. Open for worship only on Sundays;  COST: £14.50 an adult/£13.50 concessions/£5.50 a child (6-18 years)/£34.50 a family of four; WEBSITE: www.stpauls.co.uk

Around London – Yuri Gagarin honored; Londinium by iPhone; celebrating a year to the Olympics; and, British Museum hopes to buy Europe’s oldest book…

by exploringlondon

• Earlier this month it was former US President Ronald Reagan’s turn to be honored with statue in Grosvenor Square. Last week it was the turn of former Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – the first man in space – to be so honored with a new statue located outside the British Council’s offices in the Mall (opposite another explorer, Captain James Cook). The statue, a gift of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, was unveiled to mark the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s celebratory visit to London on 14th July, 1961, just three months after he completed his orbit of the earth on 12th April that year. The 3.5 metre high zinc alloy figure stands close to Admiralty Arch which was where Gagarin met then Prime Minister Harold MacMillan after he was invited to the UK by the National Union of Foundrymen. Among those present for the unveiling of the statue – which is a replica of one in the town of Lubertsy where Gagarin worked as a foundryman as a teenager – was Gagarin’s daughter Elena Gagarina, now director of the Kremlin Museums, and Vladimir Popovkin, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency. The British Council is running an exhibition, Gagarin in Britain, which looks at the life of Gagarin and the early Soviet space programme, until 14th September – among the objects on display is the first space suit and an ejector seat similar to that Gargarin used when he ejected out of Vostok 1. Entry is by registration only and space is limited – email gargarin@britishcouncil.org is you’d like to register for a place. For more information, see www.britishcouncil.org. PICTURE: Frank Noon/British Council

• A new iPhone app which directs people to key sites in what was Roman London (Londinium) will go live on Monday. Developed by the Museum of London and the History Channel, Streetmuseum Londonium will bring to life some of the city’s most significant Roman sites, such as the amphitheatre at Guildhall, using “augmented reality video” which will overlay scenes of Roman London over the modern city while soundscapes will allow users to listen to a ritual at the Temple of Mithras or traders at the forum. In addition, users will be able to ‘digitally excavate’ Roman artifacts including leather bikini briefs and an ancient manicure set. Navigation to these “immersive experiences” will be via a specially created new map of Roman London which will be superimposed on a modern map of the capital, allowing users to see how the city has changed. The launch follows the earlier creation of the Streetmuseum app which guides people to more than 200 sites across the city. More than 200,000 people from across the world have so far downloaded this. Streetmuseum Londinium will be available free to download from 25th July. See www.museumoflondon.org.uk/apps for more.

• London will mark one year to go until the Olympic Games next Wednesday with a ceremony in Trafalgar Square which will be broadcast live on BBC1. Among those present with be the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge, London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe and Mayor of London Boris Johnson. The event will also feature a live cross to the Aquatics Centre in Olympic Park where Olympic hopeful Tom Daley will make the first dive into the pool.

• The British Library hopes to raise £2.75 million to acquire the world’s earliest surviving intact European book, the 7th century St Cuthbert Gospel. A copy of the Gospel of St John, the book was buried with St Cuthbert on the isle of Lindisfarne in 698 and later found in the saint’s coffin in Durham Cathedral in 1104. The National Heritage Fund Memorial has already awarded £4.5 million to obtain the St Cuthbert Gospel and the Art Fund and The Garfield Weston Foundation have donated £250,000 each. The book has been on long-term loan to the library since 1979 and is regularly on view in the Sir John Ritblat Treasures Gallery. The library was approached last year and given first option to acquire the text after the Society of Jesus (British Province) decided to sell it. A price of £9 million has been agreed, of which £2.75 million remains outstanding. For more, see www.bl.uk.

10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…3. The Foundling Museum

by exploringlondon

Opened in 2004, the Foundling Museum was created to look after the former Foundling Hospital’s collection of art and artifacts and provides a unique and deeply moving insight into the work of the hospital and those who came under its care.

The Foundling Hospital’s origins go back to the 1720s when former mariner and ship-builder Captain Thomas Coram, shocked by the number of abandoned babies he saw in London (it’s estimated that in the early 1700s, there were as many as 1,000 babies being abandoned every year), began a campaign to found a hospital for “exposed and deserted young children”, that is, ‘foundlings’.

The hospital was founded in 1739 after King George II granted it a royal charter and, from that date until its closure in 1953, had some 27,000 children pass through its doors.

The museum’s story is not an easy one to tell for while the hospital was founded with the best of intentions, the life of the children who came into its care – even in the 20th century – remained far from easy; it was not, as one of those who formerly lived at the hospital notes, a life they would wish on anyone else. But the museum handles their story – as well as that of those behind the hospital’s founding – with care and dignity.

Located at 40 Brunswick Square – close to the site of the original hospital, the museum is spread over four floors. On the ground floor is an exhibition which details the hospital’s history and features objects including a series of sketches by the controversial 18th century artist William Hogarth, an ardent supporter of the hospital’s work and later one of the many artists who became a governor, as well as the founding charter document itself.

Among the most poignant of the artifacts to be found in the museum are the tokens mothers left with their children so they could later identify them (these were removed from the children on being taken into the hospital, however, to ensure the child’s anonmity).

The lower ground floor has a space for temporary exhibitions – at present this contains the ‘Foundling Voices’ exhibition in which those who once lived under the care of the hospital tell their stories firsthand in what is an emotional journey into the hospital’s relatively recent past (the exhibition runs until 30th October). It is also home to the reconstructed Committee Room, built as part of the original hospital in the mid-1700s, dismantled and then reconstructed in the new headquarters.

Upstairs (the stairs themselves were taken from the boy’s wing of the original hospital), is a reconstruction of the hospital’s original Picture Gallery which was London’s first public art gallery and was instrumental in raising the profile of the work of the hospital. Among the works it contains is Hogarth’s 1740 portrait of Captain Thomas Coram. Nearby is the Court Room, another reconstruction from the original hospital, this time of the building’s most splendid room, used for meetings of the Board and Governors and other special occasions. It too contains numerous artworks.

The top floor of the building houses the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, said to be the greatest collection of artifacts relating to composer George Frideric Handel in the world. Handel’s assocation with the museum goes back to 1749 when he offered a performance of his music to help fund the hospital’s completion. He held another the following year, this time performing the Messiah, and after that Handel agreed to an annual benefit performance – a practice which continued until his death in 1759.

Key artifacts in the Handel collection include the composer’s will and codicils, written in his own hand, as well as programme from the first performance of the Messiah along with other documents and artworks.

WHERE: The Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury (nearest Tube station is Russell Square); WHEN: 10am to 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday/11am to 5pm Sunday (closed Mondays); COST: £7.50 an adult/£5 concessions/children under 16 free; WEBSITE: www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk.

LondonLife – Waterbus on Regent’s Canal

by exploringlondon

Regent’s Canal was fully opened in 1820 and linked the Grand Junction Canal, which ended at Little Venice in Paddington in London’s west, with the East London Docks and Limehouse in the east. Architect John Nash was one of the directors of the canal company and it was thanks to his friendship with the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, that the canal obtained its name. Nash saw the canal as an integral part of his plans for The Regent’s Park and it now runs along the park’s northern edge. Nash’s assistant James Morgan was the canal’s chief engineer. The waterbus service, which operates between Little Venice and Camden Loch, runs at various times daily until October. See here for timetable details.

What’s in a name?…Whitechapel

by exploringlondon

An area of the East End of London which has become synonymous with the Jack the Ripper murders of the late 1880s, the origins of the name Whitechapel actually lie much further back in history.

The name dates back to the 14th century when the church of St Mary Matfelon (or Matfelun) was built on what is now the corner of Whitechapel High Street and Adler Street. The church, which was known as the “white chapel” apparently thanks to the white stone used in the walls, was apparently first constructed the mid 13th century and is said to have been named after a prominent local family. It became the parish church of Whitechapel in the 14th century.

Rebuilt and extended several times over the ensuing centuries – including in 1673 and the 1870s, it was bombed during the Blitz in 1940 and ultimately finally removed in 1952. The site where it once stood is now the Altab Ali Park, named after a young Bangladeshi man who was murdered in a racially motivated attack in Adler Street in 1978.

Whitechapel originally stood along the road, which from Roman times ran from London to Colchester. The fact it stood outside the city walls meant it to became home to some of the city’s more undesirable businesses including slaughterhouses, tanneries and breweries.

Greater numbers of poor came into the area from Middle Ages onwards and by the mid-1800s it was one of London’s most crowded, poorest and disease ridden areas, known for its immigrant population and for its rising levels of crime.

This reputation was only solidified in 1888 when the killings of the so-called murderer Jack the Ripper garnered worldwide attention for the brutal slayings of at least five women (some believe the figure should be much higher). Speculation still surrounds the Ripper’s identity.

These days, Whitechapel – along with many inner city areas – is undergoing a gentrification process and is now known as something of a hub for art and music as well as home to a street market in Brick Lane.

Ripperology aside, other notable landmarks include The Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel Road (it was here gangster Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell in 1966; its sign is pictured above) and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (described in the Guinness Book of Records as Britain’s oldest manufacturing company, it was founded in 1570 and among the most famous bells cast there are the US Liberty Bell (1752) Big Ben (1858) – stay tuned for our upcoming ‘London’s Oldest’ entry).

The area is also home to the internationally renowned Whitechapel Gallery on the corner of Brick Lane and Whitechapel High Street and the East London Mosque, one of the largest in the UK.

Around London – National Maritime Museum expands; new galleries proposed for British Museum; Festival of British Archaeology in London; and, the London Street Photography Festival…

by exploringlondon

• The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich opened the doors of its new £36.5 million Sammy Ofer Wing today. The new, architecturally slick extension – which is being touted as bringing with it a change of direction in the way the museum operates – features a new permanent gallery known as Voyages as well as a temporary exhibition space, library and archive. There’s also a lounge, cafe and brasserie – the latter boasting views out over Greenwich Park. The Voyages gallery has been designed as an introduction to the museum and features a 30 metre long thematic ‘object wall’ hosting more than 200 objects – everything from a letter written by Horatio Nelson to his mistress Emma Hamilton while he was on board the Victory in 1803 through to a watch belonging to Robert Douglas Norman – among those who perished on the Titanic, and a somewhat battered Punch puppet. The special exhibition space initially hosts High Arctic which uses technology to create an “immersive environment” exploring the Arctic world from the perspective of the future. The museum is also introducing the Compass Card scheme, a new initiative which will eventually be rolled out across the museum. Visitors are presented with a unique card with which, by inserting it into special units placed in galleries, they can flag their interest in receiving further information on a specified subject. The card can then be used to call up related archival information in the museum’s Compass Lounge or using the visitor’s home computer. For more information, see www.nmm.ac.uk.

• The British Museum has announced funding has been secured for two new gallery spaces. These will include a new gallery looking at the history of world money from 2000 BC to present day. Known as the Citi Money Gallery, it will be opened in 2012. A donation from Paul and Jill Ruddock, meanwhile, means the museum will also be working on a major redisplay of Room 41 which covers the Mediterranean and Europe from 300 to 1,100 AD. The artefacts in the room include treasures taken from Sutton Hoo and the Vale of York Viking Hoard. The gallery will open in 2013/14. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.

• Now On: Festival of British Archaeology. Coordinated by the Council for British Archaeology, the 21st festival (formerly known as National Archaeology Week) kicks off this weekend and runs until the end of July. It boasts more than 800 events across Britain including in London where they include guided tours of the Rose Theatre, a range of Roman themed events and activities – including a gladiator show – at the Museum of London, gallery talks at the Bank of England Museum and British Museum, the chance to visit the Billingsgate Roman House and Baths, and a guided walk of Londinium (Roman London) organised by All Hallows by the Tower. For a complete events listing, see http://festival.britarch.ac.uk/.

• Now On: The London Street Photography Festival is running until the end of the month with a series of exhibitions, talks, walks and workshops, the majority of which are taking place in and around King’s Cross. Key events include Street Markets of London in the 1940s – Walter Joseph featuring never before seen images at the British Library, Vivien Maier: A Life Uncovered at the German Gymnasium, and Seen/Unseen – George Georgiou and Mimi Mollica at the Collective Gallery. For more information, see www.londonstreetphotographyfestival.org.

10 small (and fascinating) museums in London…2. Bank of England Museum

by exploringlondon

The Bank of England Museum, located on the east side of the “Old Lady of Threadneedle Street”, provides a fascinating account of life behind the bank’s fortress-like walls, spanning the period from its origins and founding in 1694 to its nationalisation in post-World War II Britain through to the high-tech nature of banking – and banknotes – today. 

The museum is partly housed in a 1988 reconstruction of architect Sir John Soane’s 1793 stock office (Sir John designed the bank’s original headquarters –  much of this was later demolished with the exception being the outer windowless walls of the bank which still frown down on passersby) as well as in the Rotunda – designed by Herbert Baker and dating from the 1930s, it features some of the original Caryatids which decorated Soane’s design.

Highlights among the permanent exhibition include the Great Iron Chest, a precursor to today’s safes dating from around 1700, the Bank of England Charter of 1694 still afixed with the Great Seal, the earliest known Bank of England running cash note (relating to a deposit of £22 and dating from 1697), muskets and pistols used for security at the bank, and documents relating to some of the bank’s more high profile customers (these include Admiral Lord Nelson and former US President George Washington) as well as extensive collection of banknotes and coins. There’s also the opportunity to feel the weight of a solid gold bar (worth £393,884 at the time of our visit).

The exhibition also includes a display on Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows and a long-time (30 year) employee of the bank until his sudden resignation, possibly in part due to him being shot by an intruder several years before, in 1908, only four months before his internationally renowned book was published. Key artifacts include his resignation letter in which he asks for “relief” from the burden of his responsibilities at the bank.

Among current temporary exhibitions is The Pound in Your Pocket which looks in detail at the issue of inflation through a variety of entertaining devices including a balance in which you have to keep inflation at a level during a series of “economic shocks”.

WHERE: The Bank of England Museum, Bartholomew Lane off Threadneedle Street (nearest Tube stations are Bank/Monument and Mansion House); WHEN: 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (last entry 4.45pm); COST: Free; WEBSITE: www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/museum/index.htm.