The precursor to Whitehall Palace, York Place was the London residence of the Archbishops of York between the 13th and 16th centuries.
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10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 1. Lambeth Palace…
Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London since 2018, was named as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in October so we thought it a good time to explore some of the grand palaces which served as bishop’s palaces, some of them still standing and others not.
And what more appropriate place to start than Lambeth Palace, the official Thames-side residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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Famous Londoners – Charles Frederick Field…
The real person behind writer Charles Dickens’ ‘Inspector Bucket’, Charles Frederick Field was a police officer with the Metropolitan Police who rose to the rank of inspector before, following retirement, becoming a private detective.
Field, the son of a Chelsea pub proprietor, had apparently wanted to be an actor but due to his straitened economic situation had instead joined the Metropolitan Police at its founding in 1829.
Field served in several divisions across London, eventually rising to the rank of inspector. He joined the Detective Branch, which had only been formed in 1842, in 1846.
It was while with the Detective Branch that he encountered Dickens and they formed what’s described as a lasting friendship. From 1850 onwards Dickens wrote as series of articles about the world of the Detective Branch and the work of Field (sometimes using a pseudonym) including his essay ‘On Duty With Inspector Field’.
Dickens is also believed to have used Field as the model for Inspector Bucket in Bleak House, first published as a serial in 1852 and 1853.
Field, who was noted as a bit of a raconteur and for his love of disguises even when not really required (perhaps explained by theatrical bent), retired from the Met in 1852 and set up his own enquiry office. He apparently caused controversy after his retirement by using his rank in his private work which somewhat soured his relationship with the force.
Field, who died in 1874 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, has since been the subject of several works of fiction.
Bonfire Night – Five places in London featured in the events of the Gunpowder Plot…
It’s 5th November and that means Bonfire Night, the annual event featuring bonfires, effigies of Guy Fawkes (and others), and fireworks displays in commemoration of the November, 1605, foiling of a conspiracy to kill King James I (and many others) by blowing up the House of Lords (you can read more about it in earlier posts here and here).
Here’s five places of significance to the story of the plot:
1. The Houses of Parliament: It was in the undercroft beneath the House of Lords that Guy Fawkes was found with 36 barrels of gunpowder. The cellar is now gone – having been destroyed when the Houses of Parliament burned down in 1834.
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This Week in London – The story of Henry VIII’s lost dagger; ‘Secret Maps’ at the British Library; and, ‘Connection and Identity’ at Greenwich…
• The disappearance of a jewelled Ottoman dagger which is believed to have once belonged to King Henry VIII has inspired a new exhibition at Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole’s former home in Twickenham in London’s west. Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger: From the Tudor Court to the Victorian Stage looks at the history of the 16th century dagger which, said to have been richly decorated with “a profusion of rubies and diamonds”, was once part of Horace Walpole’s collection. When the collection was sold in 1842, the dagger passed into ownership of the Shakespearean actor Charles John Kean who directed private theatricals for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. Kean (1811-1868) pioneered what critics dubbed “living museums” on the Victorian stage by using real artifacts, including the dagger, during performances. But after Kean’s death the dagger vanished without a trace. Dr Silvia Davoli, the principal curator at Strawberry Hill House, launched an investigation to find the dagger and instead found six almost identical daggers scattered around the globe. Two of these daggers – known as the Vienna and Welbeck Abbey examples – are featured in the exhibition alongside reproductions of 18th century materials which related to Walpole’s lost dagger from Yale University’s Lewis Walpole Library. The exhibition can be seen from Saturday until 16th February. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk.
• The role maps have played in preserving secrets for the benefit of their creators from the 14th century to the present day is the subject of a new exhibition at the British Library. Secret Maps features more than 100 items ranging from hand-drawn naval charts given to Henry VIII to maps of cable networks used to intercept messages between the world wars; and the satellite tracking technology used by apps today. Among highlights are a map from 1596 attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh on an expedition in search of the mythical city of El Dorado in what is now Guyana in South America; a map produced in 1946 of British India (modern-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) with a ‘top secret’ report investigating the potential economic and military impact of partition for the proposed state of Pakistan; one of only two known existing copies of a secret map produced by Ordnance Survey during the General Strike of 1926 amid fears of a public uprising; and a 1927 Cable Map of the world which reveals a global network of censorship stations and was used by the British government to intercept messages sent via submarine and overland cables. Runs until 18th January (and accompanied by a programme of events). Admission charge applies. For more, see https://events.bl.uk/exhibitions/secretmaps.
• Staffordshire-based artist Peter Walker’s large scale interactive artworks, Connection and Identity, can be seen in the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich from Friday. Identity features eight columns suspended within the hall which shift in colour and light while Connection showcases “a dramatic and modern reinterpretation of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam“. The installation, which is located in the hall sometimes described as “Britain’s Sistine Chapel”, is accompanied by music specially composed by David Harper. Runs until 25th January. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://ornc.org/whats-on/connection-and-identity/.
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This Week in London – Lee Miller at the Tate; the Hallelujah Chorus’ origins and impact, and conkers on Hampstead Heath…
• The UK’s largest retrospective of trail-blazing 20th century surrealist photographer Lee Miller opens at Tate Britain today. Lee Miller features around 230 vintage and modern prints, some of which are on display for the first time, which reveal how her approach pushed boundaries and led to the creation of some of the most iconic images of last century. Highlights include the newly discovered solarisation exemplar, Sirène (Nimet Eloui Bey) (c1930-32), her celebrated surrealist image of Egypt’s Siwa Oasis, Portraitof Space (1937), London-based works such as You will not lunch in Charlotte Street today (1940) and Fire Masks(1941) which convey the “pathos and absurdity” of the city in wartime, and war-related images including portraits of Miller and David E Scherman in Hitler’s private bath in April, 1945, as well as a rare 1950 self-portrait showing Miller posed in Oskar Kokoschka’s London studio flanked by artworks. Runs until 15th February. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/lee-miller
• The initial and enduring impact of the Hallelujah Chorus is the subject of a new display at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury. A Grand Chorus explores the profound impact music can have on listeners and performers and brings together musical scores, librettos, and musical instruments as well as paintings, photographs, audio, video, personal testimonies, and other archival material spanning three centuries. Originallycomposed as part of his famous Messiah oratorio, George Frideric Handel later incorporated the Hallelujah Chorus into an anthem he created speciallyfor the Foundling Hospital that premiered in 1749 as a fund-raising exercise. The exhibition also showcases a major sound and video installation byMikhail Karikis – We are Together Because (2025), described as a modern counterpart to the Hallelujah Chorus. Runs until 29th March. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/a-grand-chorus-the-power-of-music/.
• Swing a conker at the Hampstead Heath Conker Championships this Sunday. People are all ages are invited to join in, whether a conker veteran or a newcomer, with competitions held in a range of age categories. The competition is being held near the Parliament Hill Bandstand from 1pm to 4pm. Entry is free. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/go-conkers-on-hampstead-heath-5-october.
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London pub signs – The Shakespeare’s Head, Soho…
Located at the northern end of Carnaby Street, this Soho pub features a life-sized bust of the Bard looking out of a first floor window at the people passing by in the street below.
According to the pub’s signage, it was first constructed in 1735 and owned by Thomas and John Shakespeare, who were said to be distant relatives of William (and, if indeed they were the owners, no doubt keen to capitalise on his fame).
The current, rather ornate, building, designed in a faux-Tudor style, reportedly dates from the late 19th century.
As well as the bust, which features a missing hand due to damage from a bomb in World War II, the pub sign features an image of Shakespeare with his quill poised.
The pub, now part of the Greene King chain, is located on the corner of Fouberts Place and Carnaby Street (although its address is 29 Great Marlborough Street – it has a street sign for this on its facade – we’ll try and find out some more about why this is so). For more, see www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/shakespeares-head.
(In)famous Londoners – Alice Tankerville…
The only woman prisoner recorded as having escaped from the Tower of London, Alice Tankerville was accused, along with her common-law husband John Wolfe, of committing piracy in 1533.
It was alleged that Tankerville had lured two wealthy Italian merchants into a wherry out in the Thames where her accomplices – including Wolfe and two men disguised as watermen – had robbed and murdered them. They were also accused of burgling a home near St Benet Gracechurch where the two men had been staying.
Despite apparently having attempted to seek sanctuary in a special precinct near Westminster Abbey, the couple were arrested, charged with piracy and murder among other things, and, following a trial neither apparently attended, found guilty.
Taken to the Tower of London in 1534 (Wolfe had done a previous stint there for the theft of 366 gold crowns from a ship berthed at the Hanseatic League’s Steelyard but had eventually been released due to a lack of evidence), Alice is said to have been imprisoned in Coldharbour Gate.
Alice wasn’t done yet, however. On 23rd March that year, she managed to escape, apparently with the aid of gaoler John Bawde who provided her with ropes and a key.
It was a short-lived liberation – believed to have been wearing man’s clothes, she and Bawde were arrested trying to reach waiting horses on a road just outside the Tower (it’s worth noting that not only was Alice the only women prisoner to ever escape the Tower of London, she was also the only escapee during the reign of King Henry VIII).
Both she and Wolfe were subsequently executed and due to the nature of their crime, their execution took place on the Thames.
They were hanged in chains in the Thames near the site of their crime and, before a small flotilla of boats filled with sight-seers come to witness the event, were slowly drowned as the tide rose. Their bodies were then left hanging on the spot as a warning to others.
Lost London – The Chinese Bridge and Pagoda, St James’s Park…
Briefly a sizeable landmark on London’s skyline, this seven-storey high structure and bridge were built over the canal in St James’s Park in 1814 as part of celebrations over the 100th anniversary of the accession of the House of Hanover, the 16th anniversary of Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile and the signing of Treaty of Paris with France on 30th May following Napoleon’s abdictation in April.
The pagoda and bridge, designed by none other than John Nash and Auguste Pugin, were among a number of structures built for the celebrations held in Royal Parks on 1st August – others included a ‘Temple of Concord’ and a naval arch. There was also a naval re-enactment on The Serpentine in Hyde Park.
As well as bands, food stalls and marquees for guests, the event, which was billed (among other names) as the Grand Jubilee, also included balloon ascents and fireworks.
The latter wasn’t good news for the pagoda – it was hit by a stray firework and destroyed (and tragically at least one person lost their life). The bridge lasted a few years longer – it apparently survived until 1825.
This Week in London – Showtime! at the Charles Dickens Museum; the ‘Future of Food’; and, Peter Rabbit hops to Hampton Court…
• The enduring appeal of Charles Dickens’ works and how they have been adapted for the stage, screen and radio is the focus of a new exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury. Showtime! looks at productions starting from as far back as 1837 and including such classics as The Muppets Christmas Carol and Oliver! the musical with objects on show including original playbills, posters, programmes, photographs and props. There’s also the opportunity to hear from actors and writers about what makes Dickens so adaptable and see Dickens’ own works which he annotated with stage directions. The display can be seen until 26th January. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.dickensmuseum.com.
• A major new exhibition on the future of food – how science is creating more sustainable ways of producing and consuming food – opens at the Science Museum today. Future of Food reveals how the way we grow food and eat impacts the climate, nature, and society. Among the more than 100 objects on show are cricket burgers and cell-grown salmon as well as 3,500-year-old fermented sourdough bread, the first Quorn burger dating from 1981 and the first beef steak grown outside a cow. There is also the chance to join a multiplayer interactive game and create your own “future for food”. Runs until 4th January. Admission is free. For more, see https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/future-of-food.
• Peter Rabbit is hopping over to Hampton Court Palace to take part in a new family trail that brings Beatrix Potter’s beloved characters to life in the palace gardens from tomorrow. The Peter Rabbit Adventure, included as part of the palace admission, is spread over the Kitchen Garden, Tiltyard, and Wilderness and the activities on the trail will introduce little ones to the plants, vegetables and wildlife that inhabit the gardens. These include the chance to use Mrs Tiggy-winkle’s washing equipment to make music among the trees, to join in a search for Peter Rabbit under wheelbarrows and flowerpots in the Tiltyard, and to try to hop, skip and jump as high as Peter and his friends. A larger-than-life Peter Rabbit will be greeting families in the Kitchen Gardens. Runs until 7th September. For more, see https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/whats-on/the-peter-rabbit-adventure/.
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What’s in a name?….Giltspur Street
This City of London street runs north-south from the junction of Newgate Street, Holborn Viaduct and Old Bailey to West Smithfield. Its name comes from those who once travelled along it.
An alternative name for the street during earlier ages was Knightrider Street which kind of gives the game away – yes, the name comes from the armoured knights who would ride along the street in their way to compete in tournaments held at Smithfield. It’s suggested that gilt spurs may have later been made here to capitalise on the passing trade.
The street is said to have been the location where King Richard II met with the leaders of the Peasant’s Revolt who had camped at Smithfield. And where, when the meeting deteriorated, the then-Lord Mayor of London William Walworth, ending up stabbing the peasant leader Wat Tyler who he later captured and had beheaded.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital can be found on the east side of the street. On the west side, at the junction with Cock Lane is located Pye Corner with its famous statue of a golden boy (said to be the place where the Great Fire of London was finally stopped).
There’s also a former watch house on the west side which features a monument to the essayist late 18th century and 19th century Charles Lamb – the monument says he attended a Bluecoat school here for seven years. The church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate stands at the southern end with the Viaduct Tavern on the opposite side of the road.
The street did formerly give its name to the small prison known as the Giltspur Street Compter which stood here from 1791 to 1853. A prison for debtors, it stood at the street’s south end (the location is now marked with a City of London blue plaque).
Treasures of London – The Royal Mews…
Usually Treasures of London focuses on an object held in a museum or gallery or an outdoor feature such as sculpture or memorial but in honour of its 200th birthday this year, today we’re taking a look at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace.
Here are some facts about the Mews which you may not know…
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Famous Londoners – Edward R Murrow…
A titan of American broadcast journalism, Edward R Murrow’s name is synonymous with London during World War II from where, as a correspondent for CBS, he famously provided live radio broadcasts at the height of the Blitz.
Murrow, who joined CBS in the US in 1935, went to London in 1937, initially to serve as director of the network’s European operations. Said to have been deeply committed to exposing the threat Nazism posed to Americans, he was soon deeply involved in reporting events leading up to and during World War II with his first on the scene news report taking place in March, 1938, when he reported live from Vienna, Austria, during Hitler’s annexation.
Following the breakout of the war in 1939, Murrow remained based in London and went on to provide his famous live broadcasts during the Blitz, opening them with the iconic words, “This is London” and, later, ending them with “Good night and good luck”.
His wartime dispatches – which were broadcast from a studio in the sub-basement of the BBC’s Broadcasting House (which was bombed more than once) as well as from locations including Traflagar Square and a rooftop during the bombing raids – were to win him considerable acclaim and also saw him undertake such feats as joining combat missions in the skies over Europe and being one of the first two reporters to enter Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany in April, 1945.
Such was his standing that then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill even offered to make him joint-director of the BBC (a job offer he declined).
Murrow made his last report from London in March, 1946, before returning to the US to head CBS News. he continued to work with CBS until resigning in 1961 to take up a position as head of the United States Information Agency, a job he held until 1964.
He died at the age of 57 after being diagnosed with lung cancer at his home in Pawling, New York, on 27th April, 1965.
During his time in London, Murrow lived in a flat at Weymouth House, 84-94 Hallam Street in Westminster. An English Heritage Blue Plaque now commemorates his stay there.
Murrow is, of course, also the subject of the 2005 film – and subsequent Broadway production – Good Night, and Good Luck (although that focuses on his later stand against US Senator Joe McCarthy and his hunt for communists).
Where’s London’s oldest…(still running) Indian restaurant)?
The oldest Indian restaurant in London – and, according to the website, the UK – Veeraswamy was founded in 1926, at 99 Regent Street.
The restaurant was opened by Edward Palmer, the great-grandson of General William Palmer, who was secretary to Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of India and the Moghul Princess Faisan Nissa Begum.
It’s name is said to have come from his mother’s family and Palmer is said to have been greatly influenced by the princess in the creation of the menu.
The restaurant – located in Victory House and entered from Swallow Street – was taken over by the MP William Steward in 1934. He sold it in 1967 and the restaurant later passed through several hands.
The current owners – Namita Panjabi & Ranjit Mathrani of MW Eat – bought it in 1996. They have since modernised the menu and interiors.
Over the years, the restaurant has attracted a star-studded clientele which included royalty including Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), King Abdullah of Jordan, and the Maharajah of Cooch-Behar as well as Winston Churchill, actor Marlon Brando and Princess Anne.
In 2016, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star.
The restaurant, which is located on the Crown Estate, is currently collecting signatures for a petition asking King Charles III to intercede with the Crown Commissioners, asking them to renew its lease after the commissioner served a notice to vacate. The matter is currently before the courts.
For more, see www.veeraswamy.com/.
10 historic London docks…8. St Saviour’s Dock…
Located in an inlet where the River Neckinger enters the Thames just to the east of Tower Bridge, this dock has been used since the early middle ages.
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This Week in London – New room for Turner at Tate Britain; slavery and Caribbean post ships; and, ‘The Power of Trees’ at Kew…
• A new room dedicated to the watercolours and drawings of painter JMW Turner has opened at the Tate Britain to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth. The new room at the Millbank gallery, whichfeatures some of the more than 100 works by Turner on display in the gallery, includes the earliest Turner in Tate’s collection, made when he was only 12-years-old, as well as a dramatic image of a building on fire, long thought to be the Houses of Parliament but now revealed to in fact be the Tower of London. The display draws on the latest research developed in preparing a new catalogue of Turner’s 37,500 works on paper which, to be completed this year, will be freely accessible on Tate’s website from November and offers a news insight into the artist’s ideas and methods. Further events related to Turner are planned for later this year. The new room can be seen daily. Entry is free. For more on how the Tate is marking the Turner anniversary, see tate.org.uk/turner-250.
• The stories of enslaved people – whose labour fuelled 19th century postal ships between the UK and the Caribbean – are explored in an exhibition at the Postal Museum in Clerkenwell. Voices of Resistance: Slavery and Post in the Caribbean draws on letters between plantation owners and managers to provide glimpses into the lives of enslaved people who worked on the plantations and celebrates their courageous acts of resistance. The display also features a movie by filmmaker Emmanual Phillips which honours the Caribbean coal workers involved in refuelling postal ships on the island of St Thomas (and which was created in partnership with Dollar fo’ Dollar, St Thomas-based organisation that works to ensure the legacies of the coal workers live on to inspire people). Entry is included in the museum ticket. Runs until 5th January. For more, see www.postalmuseum.org.
• On Now: The Power of Trees. This exhibition at Kew Garden’s Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art celebrates trees and their use as a source of artistic inspiration across cultures and time. The display features a variety of botanical works including 20 newly commissioned botanical artworks created by the artists of the Bedgebury Florilegium Society and Horizontal – Vaakasuora, a spectacular cinematic installation from Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila. Entry is free with Kew Gardens admission. Runs until 14th September. For more, see www.kew.org.
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Lost London – Gatehouse Prison…
Located in what was the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey, this small prison dates from 1370.
It was built by Walter de Warfield, then the abbey’s Cellarer, and featured two wings, built at right angles to each other.
Under the jurisdiction of the Abbot, the prison had two sections – one for clerics and one for laymen. The Abbey’s Janitor was its warder.
Among the most famous inmates was the Cavalier poet Richard Lovelace who was imprisoned for petitioning to have the Clergy Act 1640 annulled. While inside, he wrote the famous work, To Althea, from Prison which features the famous lines: “Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage”.
Other notables include Sir Walter Raleigh, held here on the night before he was beheaded in Old Palace Yard on 29th October 1618, diarist Samuel Pepys – detained for a few weeks in 1689 on suspicion of being a Jacobite (but released because of ill health), and Gunpowder Plot conspirator Thomas Bates.
Falling into a state of decay, the prison was demolished in 1776-77 (although one wall stood until the 1830s). A gothic column, the Westminster Scholars’ Memorial which is also known as the Crimea and Indian Mutiny Memorial, now stands on the site.
Treasures of London – The Anglo-Saxon archway, All Hallows by the Tower…
This rounded arch in the Church of All Hallows is believed to be oldest surviving arch of the Anglo-Saxon period surviving in the City of London.
The arch can be found at the west end of the nave and dates from an earlier church on the site, possibly built as early as the 7th century (the church was later rebuilt and expanded several times, survived the Great Fire in 1666, and was then largely destroyed during the Blitz before being rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1957).
Roman tiles have been reused in the arch’s construction as well as Kentish ragstone and it doesn’t include a keystone.
The arch was fully revealed after a bombing during the Blitz in 1940 brought down a medieval wall and revealed it.
The arch has given some weight to the idea that the Anglo-Saxon church was founded not long after Erkenwald founded Barking Abbey in the 7th century (he went on to become the Bishop of London in 675).
WHERE: All Hallows by the Tower, Byward Street (nearest Tube station is Tower Hill); WHEN: 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday; 10am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday; COST: Free; WEBSITE: https://www.ahbtt.org.uk/
This Week in London – Of livery companies and pancakes; Museum of the Home celebrates East Enders; and, the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ at the Foundling Museum…
• Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, takes place this coming Tuesday and to mark the event, representatives from the City of London’s livery companies are coming in their annual Inter-Livery Pancake Race around Guildhall Yard. The event is organised by the Worshipful Company of Poulters while the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers provide the starting gun, the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers time the races and the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers provide lemons to accompany the pancakes. The starter’s gun fires at noon. Entry is free.
• East Enders is celebrating its 40th anniversary and to mark the occasion, the Museum of the Home in Hoxton is featuring props and costumes from the show in its displays. EastEnders at 40: Icons of Home and Drama features props and costumes including the costumes from Syed and Amira’s wedding in 2010, Kat Slater’s leopard print coat and Frank Butcher’s spinning bow tie. Runs until 22nd June. Admission is free. For more, see www.museumofthehome.org.uk.
• The origins of the Hallelujah Chorus and its special connecting to the Foundling Hospital is the subject of a new display at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury. Composer George Frideric Handel first held a benefit concert at the venue in 1749 in which he premiered his Foundling Hospital Anthem. He returned the following year to perform the Messiah, which had made its debut in Dublin in 1742, and this event proved so popular it was held annually until the 1770s. The display can be seen until 29th March, 2026. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/hallelujah-display/.
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10 London mysteries…10. Who was Jack the Ripper?
Linked to the brutal slayings of at least five women in the later half of 1888, the identity of Jack the Ripper is London’s most infamous mystery and one which continues to fuel speculation – and make headlines – more than 130 years later.
Exploring London 
