Historic England

London Pub Signs – The Admiral Vernon, Dagenham…

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The Admiral Vernon in Dagenham. PICTURE: Via Google Maps

This inter-war estate pub – which was recently added to the National Heritage List for England – is named for an 18th century British Navy admiral who is perhaps best remembered today for watering down his men’s ration rum to create what become known as ‘grog’ (apparently after his nickname).

Designed in the then-popular ‘Brewers’ Tudor-style, the pub was among several built by London’s Courage Brewery to serve the Beacontree Estate and the wood-panelled interior remains much as did when it first opened in 1939. The “almost intact” 1930s interior includes public and saloon bars, and publican’s offices behind the counter.

Admiral Edward Vernon had a long and distinguished naval career, first promoted to captain in 1706 and going on to serve as a vice-admiral during the War of Jenkin’s Ear between Britain and Spain (1739-48) – during which he famously captured the Spanish colonial possession of Porto Bello (after which the London district of Portobello is named). Promoted to the rank of admiral in 1745, he was appointed to command the North Sea Fleet during the Jacobite rebellion. Vernon, who also served as an MP, was cashiered out of the navy in 1746 in controversial circumstances after he published two pamphlets about his disagreements with the Admiralty.

Vernon’s nickname of “Old Grog” apparently came from his habit of wearing a grogram coat (grogram was coarse, loosely woven fabric of silk, silk and mohair, or silk and wool). In 1740 he ordered that his men’s rum be diluted with water and it duly became known as ‘grog’ after him.

The pub, which is located at 141 Broad Street, is Grade II heritage listed (the pub sign at the front is now empty – the name appears on the front facade). For more, see www.facebook.com/192074204220830.

This Week in London – The Lord Mayor’s Show returns; Peru at the British Museum for the first time; and, Heritage at Risk in London…

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• The Lord Mayor’s Show returns to London this weekend after being cancelled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 6,500 people, 120 horses and more than 50 decorated floats are expected to take part in the event – which dates back to the 13th century – on Saturday. It comes a day after Alderman Vincent Keaveny, who has been elected as the 693rd Lord Mayor of the City of London, officially takes office tomorrow. Highlights in this year’s three mile-long procession include colourful full-size model elephants, Japanese taiko drummers, and a horse-drawn bus as well as a fire engine with a 210-foot extendable turntable ladder – the tallest in Europe. The procession, which will be watched by millions live on the BBC and through online streaming, will leave The Mansion House, the Lord Mayor’s official residence, at 11am. In honour of this year’s show, three of London’s Thames bridges – London, Cannon St and Southwark – are being lit specially for the occasion. For more, including details on where to watch the show, see www.lordmayorsshow.london.

Gold alloy and shell ear plates with feline features, Peru, 800–550 BC. Museo Kuntur Wasi.

• More than 40 ancient objects from Peru are the centrepiece of a new exhibition which opened at the British Museum this week. Peru: a journey in time is the first major exhibition the museum has ever staged focused on Peru and coincides with the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence. The exhibition charts the rise and fall of six societies, from the early culture of Chavin in 1200 BC to the fall of the Incas in AD 1532. Highlights include a 2,500-year-old gold headdress and pair of ear plates which were part of an elite burial found at the site of Kuntur Wasi, Cajamarca, a ceremonial drum from around 100 BC-AD 650 featuring a depiction of the capture of defeated enemies in ritual combat, and, the oldest object on loan – a ceremonial vessel from the Cupisnique culture in the shape of a contorted human body, which dates from up to 1200 BC. The display can be seen until 20th February, 2022, in the Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.

• Streatham Hill Theatre in London’s south is among buildings added to Historic England’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ register for this year. Opened in 1929, the Grade II-listed building was designed by William George Robert Sprague and is described as an “unusually lavish example of a theatre built outside of the West End”. Other London buildings on the list include everything from a Toll Gate House in Spaniards Road, Highgate, to Alexandra Palace in Wood Green, and churches such as St Mary Woolnoth in the City of London. Meanwhile, among the sites removed from the list this year after being “saved” are the Battersea Power Station, first added to the list in 1991 and in recent years the subject of a major redevelopment, and former public conveniences at Guilford Place, Lamb’s Conduit Street, in Bloomsbury, which have been “sensitively transformed into a cosy wine and charcuterie bar”. For more, see https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/heritage-at-risk-2021/.

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LondonLife – A facelift for a dinosaur…

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Fitting the new jaw to the Grade I-listed Megalosaurus in Crystal Palace Park. PICTURE: Courtesy of Historic England.

The Megalosaurus dinosaur at Crystal Palace Park recently underwent an emergency face-lift to ensure it’s still looking its best for visitors following the lifting of lockdowns. The 167-year-old, Grade I-listed statue is said to be a favourite among the 30 sculptures in the collection at the park. Skilled craftsmen had to make and fit 22 new teeth on the 3.5 metre high and 10 metre long sculpture as well as a new nose and light-weight ‘prosthetic’ jaw. The work – which was supported by a grant from the Culture Recovery Fund (awarded by Historic England), the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and Bromley Council – was carried out by conservation company Taylor Pearce. It was needed after the jaw on the beast collapsed last May and comes after all 30 of the life-sized sculptures were added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register early last year. First unveiled in 1854 (just 10 years after the term ‘dinosaur’ had been coined), the sculptures were made by renowned artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. For more on the dinosaurs and the 80 hectare park in which they stand, see www.bromley.gov.uk/crystalpalacepark.

The restored Megalosaurus back to all its glory after its recent facelift. PICTURE: Courtesy of Historic England.

This Week in London – Famous faces take in history, and, the Tudor world brought to life…

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• Famous faces from TV and radio including Strictly Come Dancing champion Oti Mabuse and her partner Marius Iepure, Radio 2’s Reverend Kate Bottley and TV presenter Monty Halls, are visiting dramatic historic locations that are special to them in a new series of videos launched by Historic England. In each film in the #UncoverMore campaign, the personalities “discover a thread through time that brings to life the stories of people, places and spaces that have survived through the decades”. In their film, Oti and Marius dance at two of England’s oldest ballrooms (at Powderham Castle and Hampton Court Place), while Rev Bottley visits Loughborough Bellfoundry, and Monty Halls takes in ‘The Lost Gardens of Heligan’. To watch the videos, head to https://historicengland.org.uk/coronavirus/culturerecoveryfund/uncover-more/.

• The magnificence of the Tudor world will be bought to life in an online talk featuring Historic Royal Palace’s Chief Curator Dr Lucy Worsley next Wednesday. Worsley will be joined by Professor Glenn Richardson from St Mary’s University and fellow Historic Royal Palaces curators Dr Alden Gregory and Brett Dolman in an hour long talk that will focus one of “the most spectacular examples of royal showmanship”, the Field of Cloth of Gold, the 1520 event when Henry VIII met near Calais with his great rival François I of France. The talk will also feature a sneak preview of Hampton Court Palace’s upcoming exhibition Gold and Glory: Henry VIII and the French King. The event is free (although donations of £10 are encouraged). To register, head here.

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LondonLife – St Bride’s among historic sites “rescued” in 2019…

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St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street was among the hundreds of historic sites removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register this year. Published last month, the register is an annual inventory of historic sites “most at risk of being lost forever as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development”. It shows that while some 310 items have been removed from the list over the past year, some 247 were added, meaning there were 5,073 entries on the list this year, 87 less than the previous year. The Grade I-listed St Bride’s, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666, had needed repairs to both its famous steeple – said to have inspired the tiered wedding cake design – and the body of the church itself. Historic England spent almost £8.5 million on grants to help restore some of the country’s most historic sites over the past year. Among London sites still on the list are the Grade II*-listed Crystal Palace Park, the Grade I-listed St Pancras Church and sections of what remains of London’s Roman and medieval wall. For more, see www.historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/.

This Week in London – I am London; Gerrit Dou’s women reunited; and, Georgia O’Keeffe…

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• A new free exhibition featuring 60 Londoners photographed in front of an historic building or special place to them opens in Kings Cross on Monday. The Historic England exhibition I am London features well-known Londoners, such as reproductive health expert Professor Lord Robert Winston, philosopher AC Grayling, feminist activist and journalist Caroline Criado Perez, artist Bob and Roberta Smith, designer Morag Myerscough and performer Amy Lamé as well as “unsung Londoners” – everyone from a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London and the park manager at Kensington Gardens to a 7/7 paramedic, an apprentice at a Savile Row tailors and a student at the Royal School of Needlework – in telling stories which illustrate how the city’s heritage can be “inspirational, provocative, frustrating, fun, familiar, humbling and home”. Taken by Historic England photographer Chris Redgrave, the photographs will be displayed in the UAL Window Galleries at Central Saint Martins along with a selection of objects the sitters chose to be photographed with, including the Pearly King of Finsbury’s jacket, Bob and Roberta Smith’s ‘Vote Bob Smith’ badge and a submarine once owned by Morag Myerscough’s father. Can be seen until 4th September. For more, see https://historicengland.org.uk/get-involved/visit/exhibitions/i-am-london/.

Gerrit-Dou• Two of 17th century Dutch painter Gerrit Dou’s finest works – Woman playing a Clavichord and Lady Playing a Virginal (pictured), both dating from about 1665 – have been reunited for the first time in 350 years at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London. Opening this week, Dou in Harmony examines how Dou created two distinctly different takes on a similar subject and will be accompanied by a contemporary sound installation in the Mausoleum. Composed and played on the viola da gamba by Liam Byrne, the modern piece takes its cue from 17th century music and aims to evoke the mood of Dou’s paintings. The display is the latest in the Making Discoveries: Dutch and Flemish Masterpieces series which showcases four artists from the gallery’s collection: Van Dyck, Rubens, Dou and Rembrandt (whose work will be featured in an upcoming display in November). Runs until 6th November. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.

• Georgia O’Keeffe’s celebrated work, Jimsyn Weed, White Flower No 1 (1932), is among highlights at the major retrospective of the US artist’s work which opened at the Tate Modern this week. The display marks a century since O’Keeffe’s debut in New York in 1916 and, with none of her works in public collections in the UK, provides a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for audiences outside the US to view her portfolio of works in such depth. The display features more than 100 major works and charts the progression of O’Keeffe as an artist over a span of six decades. Runs until 30th October. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

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