This site became world renowned after it appeared on the cover of the Beatles final album with the same name. The image of the Fab Four crossing the road at a zebra crossing just outside the Abbey Road studios has been recreated thousands of times by tourists.
The sign that used to be on the brick wall which was shown on the back of the Abbey Road album was removed as it had been stolen so many times. Subsequent signs were also repeatedly stolen, and the street sign is now mounted well out of ...[more]
Abbey road Studios was originally built in 1813 to serve as a georgian town house. It was purchased in 1931 by The gramophone company which later amalgamated with Columbia Graphophone company to form EMI, and the studio subsequently developed a reputation for housing some of musics all time greatest artists.
It was originally used by the Gramophone company as a studio for classical music and on the opening of the studios in 1931 the the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted Sir Edward Elgar rec...[more]
Providing access to The Mall, Admiralty Arch is one of London's grandest office buildings. Completed in 1912, it was commissioned by Edward VII in memory of his mother Queen Victoria, Britain's longest reigning monarch.
Today, this imposing Grade 1 listed building which is next to the Old Admiralty Building, is home to the Cabinet Office and the rather sinister sounding Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and Social Exclusion Task Force.
It also plays host to a rather peculiar feature which, if you...[more]
The Albert Memorial was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who died in 1861 from typhoid. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, an English architect, and is over 60 meters tall. The Memorial consists of a large canopy with a statue of Prince Albert facing south. It took over 10 years for construction to be completed and cost an estimated £120,000.
During the planning stage of how best to remember Albert the idea of establishing a university or inter...[more]
Built by the great architect Robert Adam between 1771 and 1778 for Lord Apsley, the Lord Chancellor, Apsley House stands alone at Hyde Park Corner and is also known as Number One, London. It is a Grade I listed building.
Today the house is run by English Heritage and is open to the public as a museum and an art gallery. However, the 8th Duke of Wellington still uses part of the building as a part-time residence.
Visitors can enjoy the rooms of Apsley House exactly as they would have been furni...[more]
The Bank of England Museum is dedicated to bringing the workings of Britain's central bank to life. It is located on Batholomew Lane and is open to the public, free of charge, every weekday and on the day of the Lord Mayor's Show.
Visitors learn about the history of the bank with displays showing figures of bank staff dressed in appropriate period attire. There is also a selection of images showing the rebuilding of the bank in the inter-war years. This exhibition is housed in The Stock Office,...[more]
A massive concrete ziggurat with many spaces for exhibitions, concerts and film screenings, the Barbican Centre is a building that divides opinion. It is also the largest performing arts centre in Europe.
The centre opened in 1982. It was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon and built in the Brutalist style at a cost of £161 million. In September 2003 it was voted London’s Ugliest Building, and yet there are many who admire the boldness of its lines.
The Centre has a complicat...[more]
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is the best known animal charity and home for stray cats and dogs in England. It is also the oldest such institution and is supported entirely by donations. Mary Tealby established it in 1860 in Holloway, and it relocated to Battersea in 1871.
In 1885 Queen Victoria became patron and it has remained under Royal Patronage since - today Queen Elizabeth is patron and Prince Michael of Kent is the President.
As a charity it takes in around 12,000 homeless dogs and cats...[more]
The famous four-chimneyed power station at Battersea is not only an architectural treasure but an iconic modern image, synonymous with rock and roll. It famously appeared in the Beatles' 1965 movie 'Help' and on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 album 'Animals'.
The station was built in 1939 as part of the development of the National Grid, a project designed to set-up large electricity-generating facilities across England. It was used as a working station until 1983 and has since been unused, desp...[more]
This dramatic granite sculpture pays tribute to the airmen of the Royal Air Force who took part in one of the Second World War's most decisive campaigns; the Battle of Britain.
Fought in the skies over Britain in the summer of 1940, the battle was the first major defeat for the Germans and resulted in the cancellation of Operation Sealion, their planned invasion of England.
Whilst the Battle was fought between the pilots of the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force, which included one pilot from ...[more]
Television Centre is the main headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The building is widely recognized, as it has featured as the backdrop of many programs and news items. It was officially opened in 1960 and was one of the first and largest buildings ever constructed for the transmission of television.
Tours which last about two hours are available that let you see into studios, visit BBC News, take a peek into a dressing-room and have a play in an interactive studio.
The arch...[more]
Benjamin Franklin House is an innovative museum which opened in 2006. It is the only remaining home of Benjamin Franklin, one of the United States' Founding Fathers. The house was built in 1730 and was the home of Franklin for 16 years.
The Museum House is at 36 Craven Street, and a surprising number of original features remain including the fireplaces, ceilings and floorboards.
The Museum offers visitors a "Historical Experience" - actors bring the house to life during the time of Benjamin F...[more]
Berwick Street market has been selling fruit, vegetables and general goods in the heart of Soho since the 1700s.
The street was built between 1687 and 1703 and officially recognised in 1892. The thriving market is open six days a week (Monday to Saturday), from 9am to 6pm.
The market dominates the street, but there are also other shops including delicatessens, bars and restaurants, adult shops and independent record stores, including the renowned muso's paradise Vinyl Junkies.
In popular cult...[more]
Big Ben is the name of the biggest bell in the Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. Although the term 'Big Ben' technically applies to the bell only, it is commonly used to refer to the whole Clock Tower, which is the world's largest four-faced chiming clock and the world's third largest free-standing clock tower.
Big Ben is the third heaviest bell in the UK and is used to chime the hour. It celebrates its 150th birthday in 2009.
The clock tower was...[more]
The current Grade II listed bridge was finished in 1869 and consists of five wrought iron arches built to a design by Thomas Cubitt. It replaced the first bridge on this site built in 1769, a toll bridge originally named after the Prime Minister William Pitt although soon changed to honour the nearby Blackfriars Monastery.
The bridge became notorious in 1982 when the Italian banker Roberto Calvi was found hanged below one of its arches in an apparent suicide. Dubbed by the press as "God's Bank...[more]
London's Borough Market is a popular market specialising in fine food, fruit and vegetables. It has become one of the largest food markets in the world and is known for its high quality and huge range of international foods offered for sale. It is situated on Borough High Street, close to Southwark Cathedral.
The market quite likely dates back to Roman times, although the present buidlings were not erected until 1851. The beautiful Art Deco entrance was added in 1932. As the market grew in popu...[more]
Brick Lane is a vibrant area affectionately known as Banglatown for it's thriving Bangladeshi community. The area is home to many of London's most famous night clubs including The Vibe Bar and 93 Feet East and has an active community of art and fashion students, hosting graduation exhibitions each year.
Brick Lane is also well known for its street art by renowned graffitti artists such as Banksy and Ben Eine. This colorful scenery has provided a backdrop to many music videos, including 'All ...[more]
The British Library is the UK's national library and it holds over 150 million items in all known languages which include books, maps, stamps and audio recordings. It is a legal deposit library which means it receives every single book published or distributed in the UK and Ireland - some 3 million a year. With a total of 25 million books it is second only to the American Library of Congress in terms of volume.
Important books on display at the free gallery include the Magna Carta, Captain Coo...[more]
The British Museum was established in 1753 as as an encyclopedia of nature and of art. It was the first museum of its kind that did not belong to the King or the church but was open to every one. It had the aim of collecting everything.
Highlights of the Museum's collections include the Elgin Marbles - carvings from the Athenian Parthenon in Rome, a huge collection of Egyptian artifacts including mummies and the Rosetta Stone that was key to the deciphering hieroglyphics, and an Easter Island ...[more]
Brixton is a multi-ethnic community with a large number of residents with African or Caribbean descent. Its past has seen outpourings of racial tension, including the Brixton riots in the 1980's and 90's and a neo-Nazi bombing in 1999 but Brixton is also known for its vibrant atmosphere and eclectic nightlife.
Brixton has many connections with pop music. The Clash recorded 'The Guns of Brixton' in 1979 which was written by former Brixton resident, Paul Simonon. The Misfits wrote their song 'Lo...[more]
Brixton Academy is one of London’s premier live music venues. It was the site of the historic 1997 comeback of the Sex Pistols, host to The Smiths' last ever gig and the location for Billy Ocean’s video for When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going. It is currently known as The O2 Academy.
Originally the Astoria, a cinema and theatre, the building first opened its doors in 1929; the Al Jolson film The Singing Fool was the first feature shown. The cinema remained open until the 70's whe...[more]
Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is immediately recognisable to British people of a certain age as it has been used as a visual symbol for the Coroporation in a large amount of TV programming.
It is such a unique art deco building that it can be enjoyed for it’s architectural significance even without the broadcasting history it is steeped in. It is shaped like an old steam liner, and even to this day staff members refer to the front of the b...[more]
BT Tower forms part of the iconic London skyline. It stands177 meters tall and was opened by the General Post Office in 1966. Designed to support line-of-sight microwave aerials for TV and data signals it also had office space, viewing galleries and a rotating restaurant, the "Top of the Tower" operated by the famous camping holiday firm Butlins. The restaurant made a revolution every 22 minutes.
Construction cost £2.5million and the tower's foundations are a third as deep as the tower is tall...[more]
The Official residence of the British monarch since 1837 and one of London's grandest buildings, Buckingham Palace is situated on the Mall, an area next to St James' Park and close to Trafalgar Square. It is both a major tourist attraction for overseas visitors and a rallying point for the British people at times of triumph or disaster.
The core of the building was created in 1703 as a large townhouse for the Duke of Buckingham. It was acquired by King George III in 1761. Over the next 75 years...[more]
The Buxton Memorial Drinking Fountain is an important physical reminder of the extraordinary campaign waged to end the slave trade. Designed by prolific church architect S.S.Tuelon as a public drinking fountain in 1865, it was erected in Parliament Square by Charles Buxton in memory of his father, the abolitionist MP Thomas Fowell Buxton.
Buxton was an MP who took over as the leader of the abolitionist movement in the House of Commons after William Wilberforce retired in 1825. He led the pa...[more]
Camden's group of markets is now the fourth most-visited tourist attraction in London. It is the largest street market in the UK, and attracts around 100,000 visitors each weekend. There are various markets located around Camden Town which are collectively known as Camden Market; these are Camden Lock Market, Camden Stables Market, Camden Canal Market, Inverness Street Market, and Camden (Buck Street) Market.
There are hundreds of designer workshops, studios, stalls and shops selling an extens...[more]
Canary Wharf is a large commercial and retail centre in East London. One Canada Square, also known as the Canary Wharf Tower, is the tallest building in the UK at 235 metres tall with 50 stories. It is a London landmark with a distinctive pyramid pinnacle.
There are four skyscrapers under construction in London that will overtake it as London's tallest building. The Shard, the UK's first supertall building, will be the tallest of them at 310m.
The Canary Wharf area began as the West India Doc...[more]
The Cenotaph is a monument to military personnel killed in active service. It is the site of the United Kingdom's national day of remembrance, Remembrance Sunday.
The word cenotaph comes from the Greek 'cenos', meaning empty, and 'taphos', meaning tomb. It therefore signifies a tomb or monument to a person or a number of people whose remains are elsewhere; most commonly, they are the victims of war.
The Cenotaph in London was designed by the celebrated architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and construct...[more]
Charing Cross is an area of London near Trafalgar Square. It takes its name from a cross that was erected at the junction near the hamlet of Charing. It was the most expensive of 12 crosses King Edward I erected in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile, marking the nightly resting-places along the route taken by her body as it was taken to London. The Eleanor Cross was pulled down, by order of Parliament, in 1647, at the time of the English Civil War. It was the subject of a popular Royalist bal...[more]
This first station opened on this site in 1864. It was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw and had a single span wrought iron roof covering the six platforms. The Charing Cross Hotel opened a year later giving the station a wonderfully ornate French Renaissance style fronting.
A replica of an Eleanor Cross was also erected in the station forecourt in1865. It stands 21m high and was designed by the architect of the hotel, E.M.Barry, who is best known for his work on Covent Garden. The original was th...[more]
Chelsea is associated with well off residents and high end shopping with many designer boutiques. It was a centre for the 'swinging sixties' and members of the Beatles, and The Rolling Stones had homes on the area's main drag, the King's Road. The area remained a hot spot for popular culture through the Punk era, but by the 1980's it has become more austere. The area's bars and clubs are popular with Princes William and Harry and 'Sloane Rangers' - a type of brash upper class youth whose title d...[more]
The Chelsea Physic Garden is a delight for garden-lovers and historians alike. Visitors can view what is reputed to be the world's largest fruiting olive tree and a variety of medicinal herbs and seeds.
The garden dates back to 1673, when it was planted as an apothecary's garden. This explains the use of the word 'physic' in the name of the garden, which refers to the science of healing. It is the second oldest medicinal garden in England, with the oldest found at the University of Oxford.
The...[more]
Originally London's Chinese population was centered around the Limehouse area of the east end where businesses catered to the Chinese sailors. Famous for its legal opium dens and slum housing much of it was destroyed by bombing in World War II and the Chinese population scattered across London. Boosted by the popularity of Chinese food and an influx of Hong Kong immigrants the present Chintown formed around a previously run-down area of Soho from the 1970's. It is centred around Gerrard Street.
...[more]
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms are two separate museums on one combined ticket. The Cabinet War Rooms were used by Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II. Up to three metres of concrete slab protected the Cabinet as they met over 100 times in the bunker. Some of the rooms have been opened to the public since 1984, and the Imperial War Museum now manages the site.
Originally the site covered 3 acres underground, and housed 528 vital staff who ran the hospital, shooting ...[more]
The Cittie of Yorke is included in the Campaign for Real Ale's national inventory of historic pub interiors. This Grade II listed public house includes a large back room with the longest bar in London. It also has a Georgian/Regency era metal stove and cubicles which were used in Victorian times by lawyers in consultation with clients.
The pub was rebuilt in the 1920's but the site has hosted a pub since 1430. The name ‘Cittie of Yorke’ is taken from a 16th century pub that used to exist ...[more]
Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to City Hall as a 'glass testicle'. The new mayor, Boris Johnson, has referred to it more politely as 'The Onion'. It is the headquarters of the Mayor of London and London Assembly. The design by Norman Foster is unusually bulbous in an attempt to improve energy efficiency by reducing surface area. The original plan was apparently for a giant sphere hanging over the Thames but when the building arrived in 2002 it was more conventionally attached to the groun...[more]
The green space of Clapham Common covers roughly 200 acres and is a favourite destination for South Londoners to escape the urban jungle. It is popular for sports, picnics in summer and large public events and concerts.
The centre of the park contains a bandstand, which was built in 1890. It is the largest bandstand in London, and in 2006 the building was saved f through a restoration project funded partly from public donations and money raised from the Ben and Jerry's Summer Sundae event hel...[more]
Clarence House has been the official home of the Prince of Wales,The Duchess of Cornwall, and the Princes William and Harry since 2003. From 1953 to 2002 it was home to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
Completed in 1827 it was designed by John Nash and commissioned by William IV when he found nearby St. James' Place too cramped. The house is attached to the palace and shares its garden.
After the death of Queen Victoria's third son in 1942 it became the headquarters of the Red Cross and th...[more]
Clerkenwell is a central London location which is a popular residential and commercial area with a number of quality restaurants and bars. The quaint centre of Clerkenwell is known as Clerkenwell Green and its village roots can still be felt. The Green is mentioned in Charles Dickens' story of Oliver Twist, and Dickens certainly knew the area well.
The Green has a interesting history as the site of radicalism - Vladimir Lenin published the political newspaper 'Iskra' here. It may have been whe...[more]
Faced in Portland stone and an imposing example of 'Edwardian Baroque' style, construction of the main six storey building of County Hall begun in 1911. The architect Ralph Knott won the keenly contested commission to create a home for the London County Council, beating numerous well established architects to design the project at the young age of 29. Construction was delayed by the outset of the First World War, during which Knott worked on designs for Royal Air Force bases, and was officiall...[more]
The Courthauld Institute of Art is a college connected to the University of London. It is known as one of the most prestigious art history schools in the world. The Courtauld Gallery is open to the public and housed in Somerset House, which was the first home for the Royal Academy upon its foundation in 1768. The entrance to 'The Great Room', which housed the annual Summer Exhibition, has the formidable inscription 'Let no stranger to the Muses enter' in Ancient Greek.
The Institute was founde...[more]
Whilst today's Covent Garden abounds with street entertainment, shopping, bars and restaurants, the original "Convent Garden" was in fact the fruit and vegetable garden of a monastery.
A settlement has existed on the site since Roman times, and during the reign of King John a 40-acre patch was created to provide the Abbey or Convent of St Peter with its food. Over the next 300 years the convent garden began to supply Londoners outside the walls of the monastery and, via a corruption of the word...[more]
These statues were erected in memory of the brave soldiers who lost their lives in the Crimean war.
Designed in 1914 by John Henry Foley and Arthur George Walker the group of statues depict two of the most famous characters from the war, Florence Nightingale and Sidney Herbert. They are surrounded by unnamed soldiers, representative of the tens of thousands of men who died and whose bodies were never accounted for.
The original monument by John Bell was unveiled in 1859 and consisted of the s...[more]
The Cutty Sark was built in 1869 as a merchant vessel, and was later used as a training ship and finally put on public display. Its name translates from Scottish and means "little shirt". The phrase "Cutty Sark" was popularised by Robert Burns in his poem Tam o'Shanter, as the nickname of the character Nannie.
The ship was badly damaged in a fire in 2007, and is undergoing extensive renovation work.
Clipper ships were very fast sailing ships popular in the 19th century. They were named clipper...[more]
Dennis Severs was an artist from California, who moved to London in 1979 and refurbished this large, rundown house in a way that would capture the atmosphere of the 18th and 19th centuries. It has been described as a 'journey through time' - each room of the Georgian house is dedicated to a particular era, decorated and furnished just as it would have been during that time.
The house is designed to look as if the house is still occupied, and that the tenants have just left for a moment, with ...[more]
The Design Museum claims to be the first modern design museum and examines product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. It was named the second best museum in Britain by the Times newspaper in 2007.
The museum is relatively small, with exhibition space laid out over two floors and another space called the "Design Museum Tank" by the edge of the River Thames. It is located in an old banana warehouse from the 1940's, but the modern design of the conversion by the Conran group ...[more]
This fountain commemorates Diana, Princess of Wales. The designer Kathryn Gustafson, an American landscaper, wanted to reflect Diana's "inclusive" personality by making it easily accessible to all. The two sides of the fountain reflect the split between happy times and turmoil in Diana's life - the water flows smoothly on one side and more turbulently on the other.
The fountain was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, Charles Spencer, Diana's younger brother and Diana's two sons in 2004. It was hoped...[more]
Erected in 2000 to commemorate the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Diana Memorial Playground ia a free space for children to play and features a huge wooden pirate ship as its centrepiece.
Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 and a memorial committee thought it a fitting legacy to fund the £1.7 million renovation of an existing playground as a tribute to Diana's love of children.
The pirate ship incorporates a climbing frame and is surrounded by sand. There is a teepee area...[more]
Downing Street is the official residence of the British Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the two most senior members of the British government. Although closed to the public, the street is visible from Whitehall.
The famous black doors of number 10 and number 11 currently house Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, also known as First Lord of the Treasury, and Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Second Lord of the Treasury.
Number 9 houses the Chief Whip. This...[more]
Dr Samuel Johnson, famous for compiling A Dictionary of the English Language, lived in this house from 1748 to 1759. It was used as a hotel in the 19th century and bought in 1911 by a Member of Parliament named Cecil Harmsworth who rescued it from dilapidation and opened it to the public. Today the house has exhibitions about Johnson's life and work and contains paneled rooms, a pine staircase, and a collection of period furniture, prints and portraits. The house figures prominently in the 1946 ...[more]
The inside cover of Pink Floyd's 1969 album Ummagumma features a picture of David Gilmour in front of the Elfin Oak. It is a 900-year-old tree stump carved and painted to look as though elves, gnomes and small animals are living in its bark. The hollow log came to Kensington Gardens in 1928 where the illustrator Ivor Innes spent two years carving the figures of the "Little People" into it.
These include Wookey the witch, with her three jars of health, wealth and happiness, Huckleberry the gnome...[more]
Etham Palace is an impressive Art deco house that is said to be a "masterpiece of modern design". The house has a fabulous history and was once the home to Edward II. It was given to him in 1305 and was used as as a royal residence from the 14th to the 16th century.
The house has also played host to Edward III and Henry IV. Jousting was a favored past time of the Tudor royalty and there is still a jousting tilt yard at the Palace. By the 1630s the palace was no longer used by the royal family ...[more]
Fleet Street was the home of the British press until the 1980's and despite the last of the media giants, Reuters, leaving in 2005 it is still used as a term interchangeable with the Briitish journalism establishment.
Fleet Street is named after the River Fleet and was originally the road from the commercial City of London to the political hub at Westminster. Publishing started in Fleet Street around 1500 when William Caxton's apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde, set up a printing shop near Shoe Lane. ...[more]
The Foundling Museum is a tribute to the former Foundling Hospital in Bloomsbury and showcases the nationally important Foundling Hospital Art collection. The museum examines the legacy of the founder of the hospital, Thomas Coram and shows works by the artist William Hogarth and composer George Frederic Handel. It also highlights the charity work carried out today by Coram, the organisation named after its founder. The museum is open every day except Mondays.
The Foundling Hospital was created...[more]
The Freud Museum in Maresfield Gardens honours the life of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.
Sigmund Freud moved to London after the annexation of Austria by the Nazis. He settled in a house in Hampstead, the site of the current museum. Freud was over eighty at this time, and he died the following year, but the house remained in his family until his youngest daughter Anna Freud, who was a pioneer of child therapy, died in 1982.
The museum is particularly interesting as the Freud's brought all...[more]
The Geffrye Museum is a collection of British furniture, paintings and decorative arts, recording the changing style of English furnishings from 1600 to today. The museum is named after Sir Robert Geffrye, a former Lord Mayor of London. He was also the Master of the Ironmongers' Company and the museum is housed in the Grade 1 listed almshouses of this company built for Geffrye in 1714.
The everyday furnishings and interiors are displayed in the 11 rooms, each dedicated to a particular period. ...[more]
Green Park is one of the Royal Parks of London, and covers around 53 acres. It is more peaceful than its neighbour St James's Park, and boasts beautiful mature trees and grassland.
The origins of the Park are uncertain, but it is said that it originally functioned as a burial ground for lepers from the nearby St James's Hospital.
Early records show that the park formed part of the estate of the Poulteney family, who surrendered an area known as Sandpit Field to King Charles II in 1668. King ...[more]
Greenwich is famous for its maritime history. It is home to the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Sitewhich has been described as "the finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles".
Georgian and Victorian architecture dominates the town centre. It has a covered market and the arthouse Greenwich Cinema. Up the hill from the centre there are many streets of Georgian houses, including the world's only museum dedicated to fans, the Fan Museum. Greenw...[more]
The Greenwich Foot Tunnel was opened in 1902. It allowed workers to reach the busy London docks and shipyards at the Isle of Dogs from where they lived on the South side of the Thames. It was much more reliable, and cheaper, than the existing ferry service at that time.
The tunnel was designed By Sir Alex Binnie, a civil engineer for London County Council. The cast iron and concrete tunnel is tile-lined and took more than 200,000 tiles to complete. The tunnel is 370m long and 15m deep and it h...[more]
The delightful covered market at Greenwich is popular with tourists and locals alike. Greenwich market dates back to the 14th century, and hopefully it will continue for many years to come, as a 1000-year charter was assigned by Lord Romney to the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital back in 1700.
The small shops surrounding the market were established in 1827-1833 and are now Grade II listed buildings. These shops and cafes are open 7 days a week and include the oldest printmaking co-operative...[more]
The Guildhall Art Gallery contains the art collection of the City of London, which includes some 4,000 works, of which 250 are on display at any one time.
The gallery was originally built in 1885 to house the art collection of the City of London Corporation. However, the collection was destroyed in the Second World War. The current building was built in 1999 and was designed to sit in sympathy with its neighbor the Guildhall, to which it is internally connected. For this reason it was construct...[more]
Hampstead Heath in London covers 790 acres and is London's largest park, running from Hampstead to Highgate. Parliament Hill Fields is the focal point of the Heath with magnificent views across London. The Heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, a training track and adjoins the stately home and grounds of Kenwood House.
The Heath has long been inspirational for all manner of artists. John Constable included the Heath in his paintings; Jo...[more]
Renowned for one of the highest concentrations of medical practitioners in the world - some 1,500 currently - Harley Street is home to doctors, dentists and surgeons and is used as a term to describe the elite of the UKs private medical establishment. Masseurs and psychologists, frowned upon in the pre-War era are also increasingly a presence in the area.
Edward Harley developed the site between 1715 and 1720 . Today the de Walden family own almost all of the 92 acres of real estate which the...[more]
Harrods is recognised as one of the largest and most famous department stores in the world. Their motto is to provide "all things for all people everywhere". Perhaps it is a little less exclusive than in the days when they had their own fleet of ships scouring the globe on behalf of their patrons, but never the less it is a good place to spend a few hours, and you will probably end up the proud owner of a famous green bag.
Harrods was first set up as a small grocery shop in the East End of Lon...[more]
Highgate Cemetery opened in 1839 as one of seven planned cemeteries around the city. These large, modern cemeteries were known as the "Magnificent Seven" and were designed to help relieve the health hazards of the overcrowded inner city burial grounds.
The original design was by the architect Stephen Geary, and quickly became a fashionable place to be buried. The Gothic tombs and mausoleums were ornate and decorative, and these combined with the attractive layout and greenery of the cemetery...[more]
In permanent dock next to Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast makes an arresting sight. It is now a museum ship, but was originally built as a fully-operational cruiser and saw active service in the Second World War. Visitors can tour the ship, hear talks on its operation during active service and get a real insight into life at sea. Educational groups can even spend the night onboard, sleeping in real sailors' bunks, as part of the 'Kip in a Ship' scheme.
The ship was launched on St Patrick’s Day 1938...[more]
The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill specialises in natural history, anthropology and musical instruments. Altogether it houses 350,000 artefacts. The museum is well known for its aquarium, which has a unique layout, and for its collection of stuffed animals, or taxidermy.
The museum is in a purpose-built building, commissioned in 1898, and completed in 1901. The architect was Charles Harrison Townsend and he designed it in the Arts and Crafts design which was popular at that time. It was founded...[more]
Military presence on Horse Guards began in December 1641 when King Charles I commissioned "a Court of Guards in the Tiltyard before Whitehall" to house his personal guards and to protect the Palace. It was too late though, with the onset of the Civil War, Charles was forced to flee to Oxford and the area was taken over by the Parliamentarians. Seven years later, on a cold January day in 1649, the King was brought from St James's Palace through the Horse Guards area to the Banqueting House in Whi...[more]
Steeped in history but also frequently mired in controversy, the House of Lords is the second of the UK's two Houses of Parliament, the first being the House of Commons.
Membership of the House of Lords historically was not by election but was a birth right of aristocrats, who inherited their seats in the chamber. Since the Life Peerages Act of 1958, politicians who had enjoyed successful careers in the House of Commons (especially former Prime Ministers) can be given seats in the Lords as 'Li...[more]
The seat of government in the UK goes by three names, The Palace of Westminster, Westminster Palace and the Houses of Parliament; it is composed of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Traditionally, the House of Lords was composed of aristocratic members who inherited their seat in the chamber, and the House of Commons was composed of non-titled members who were elected to their seats. However, since recent reforms by the Labour government during the 1990s, both chambers are now compris...[more]
Hyde Park is one of London's largest parks and draws thousands of visitors each day. The park began in 1536 as a private hunting grounds for Henry VIII. Later, James I allowed access to gentry, and in 1637 Charles I opened the park to the public.
There is a wide track on one side of Hyde Park which was the private drive leading to Kensington Palace, which was the residence of King William III. The drive way was called the 'Route de Roi' French for the Kings Road, but was mispronounced and ...[more]
Hyde Park Corner is an extremely busy intersection next to the grounds of Buckingham Palace and is home to one of the most impressive sculptural groups in London.
The biggest and most obvious is the Wellington Monument by Richard Westmacott and others include the Monument to the Cavalry of the Empire showing a fine St George and the Dragon by Adrian Jones; Alexander Munro’s 'Boy and Dolphin', and R.C Belt’s 'The Byron'.
In the central reservation facing the gate, and surrounded by traffic...[more]
The Imperial War Museum is unique in its coverage of conflicts, especially those involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present day. It seeks to understand the history of modern war and ‘war-time experience’.
The Museum spans a huge range of activities not only at its main London location but also at its four further branches of which the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms and the historic ship HMS Belfast are in London. The location of the main museum ...[more]
The Institute of Contemporary Arts has been spearheading new trends in the visual arts since 1946, and played a key role in introducing Pop Art and bring the British Brutalist art and architecture movement to the world.
The ICA was founded in 1946 as a space in which artists, writers and scientists could debate new ideas away from the traditionalist atmosphere of the Royal Academy. The first premises were temporary and played host to two shows, "40 Years of Modern Art" and "40,000 Years of Mode...[more]
There has been a keeper of the Crown Jewels since 1207. They are currently housed in the Jewel House in the Tower of London. The regalia are removed from the Jewel House only on the authority of the Lord Chamberlain and only the Crown Jeweller can handle them. The present British Crown Jewels are considered to be the most valuable and one of the largest jewellery collections in existence.
The current Jewel House was finished in 1994 and cost £10m. The previous incarnation, built in 1967, had b...[more]
The Jewel Tower was built around 1365 to house Edward III’s treasures and is sometimes referred to as the “King’s Privy Wardrobe”. A compact three storey stone building it is one of two surviving sections of the old Palace of Westminster and stands opposite Westminster. It was built as part of the palace’s defensive walls. It survived the great fire of 1834 because it was detached from the main palace complex.
Until 1834 the House of Lords’ archives were stored in the Tower but they...[more]
The Jubilee Gardens were opened in 1977 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. There is also a memorial to the causalities that the International Brigade suffered in the Spanish Civil War just before World War II. The site was used during the Festival Of Britain, just after the war, to house the Dome of Discovery and the Skylon exhibits.
Skylon was an achingly modern cigar-shaped building while The Dome of Discovery was the inspiration for the Millennium Dome built further down the r...[more]
A former residence of the great English poet John Keats, Keats House in Hampstead is now a museum dedicated to his memory and works. The museum has been closed since December 2006 for a large-scale restoration but is set to reopen in summer 2009.
Visitors to the museum will be able to view the garden area where Keats is reputed to have written some of his most famous poems, and artefacts relating to Keats and those close to him, such as housemate Charles Armitage Brown and lover Fanny Brawne.
...[more]
Kensington is a district of west London highly regarded as an affluent and densely populated area.
Kensington High street won the award of London Second best shopping street in 2005, thanks largely to its wide range of shops and cafes of which the majority are typically upmarket.
Kensington's southern end also has a variety of smaller shops found closely to south Kensington tube station. South Kensington also connects to the southern end of exhibition road, which is a famous area of London co...[more]
Kensington Gardens covers an impressive 275 acres of central London and is located to the west of Hyde Park. It is one of London Royal Parks and is open from 6am to dusk all year round. Deck-chairs are available from April to September during daylight hours with weather permitting. The gardens are separated from Hyde Park and are often regarded as being more formal and the smarter of the two parks.
Kensington Gardens were laid out in 1738 to include features such as the Round Pond, formal aven...[more]
Kensington Palace has been a royal residence since 1689 when the King wanted to take advantage of the then suburban village location to ease his asthma. More recently it was famous for being the official residence of Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Palace is now home to The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke and Duchess of Kent; and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and is used informally by Prince Henry, as well as his cousin Zara Phillips.
The Palace was greatly improved by Sir Chris...[more]
Possibly the most exclusive address in Britain and accessible only to the mega-rich, Kensington Paace Gardens is known colloquially as Billionaire’s Row.
Built in the grounds of Kensington Palace, the super-rich home buyer can enjoy the repute of having aristocratic neighbours including the Duke and Duchess of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. However, the majority of its current occupants are embassies and ambassadorial residences rather than private houses.
The street began life...[more]
The Kensington Roof Gardens are the largest roof gardens in Europe covering some 1.5 acres. They are on the 6th floor of the former Derry and Toms building on Kensington High Street - access is through a doorway marked "99 Kensington High Street". The Gardens are situated 30 meters about street level with a panoramic view over west London through windows in the walled edge.
Owned by Richard Branson since 1981, the gardens are open to the public, unless a prior booking has reserved the area - t...[more]
Kenwood House is a fascinating place to visit. It is managed by English Heritage and it attracts around a million visitors each year. It was the location for part of the filming of 'Notting Hill' and featured on the 1930s London Underground posters by Margaret Calkin James.
The original house dates back to the early 1600's. William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield bought it in 1754 and commissioned the well-known architect, Robert Adam, to remodel it. He added the library, one of the most famous i...[more]
By popular reputation, King's Cross is one of the less desirable areas of London, having been associated with social problems such as drug abuse and prostitution in the 1980s and early 90s. Today's King's Cross is enjoying a renaissance. In the 1990s the King's Cross Partnership was established, to fund regeneration in the area. During this period a number of new cultural institutions opened their doors, with the London Canal Museum opening in 1992, the British Library relocating to the area in ...[more]
Lambeth Palace is not only the official residence for the Archbishop of Canterbury, it is also the home of the Lambeth Palace Library. The library holds the historic records of the Church of England which dates back to 1610 when it was founded as a public library by Archbishop Richard Bancroft.
Lambeth Palace was acquired by the Archbishopric over 800 years ago. It stands on the south bank of the River Thames, which was a low marshy area at that time, accessible mainly by boat. In 1381, during...[more]
Leicester Square is one of the busiest spots in London. Especially on Friday and Saturday nights, the whole pedestrianised area can seem like one big party. It wasn't always like this.
Before the local council's long-awaited clean-up of Leicester Square in 1993, many locals avoided the area, mainly due to the small patch of grass at the centre of the square which was a haven for junkies. Now that's closed in the evenings and it is safe to wander. Today a copy of the Shakespeare memorial in West...[more]
The building is a famous architectural landmark and the home of the Lloyd's of London insurance market. The building's essential 'workings', such as lifts, staircases, power units and water pipes are on the outside, leaving the inside serenely clutter-free.
The building was designed by Sir Richard Rogers and construction was finished in 1986. The building consists of three main towers and three service towers around a central, rectangular space.
The modern building stands 88 metres tall and ha...[more]
Lloyds is perhaps most famous for the financial scandal in the 1990's where many wealthy people were left in financial ruin by a disastrous investment scheme. It isn't actually a company but rather a meeting place for corporations and wealthy private individuals, known as Names, to pool and spread risk.
Edward Lloyd, who gave the Society its name, had no background in finance or insurance. He owned a coffehouse which was popular with sailors, merchants and shipowners as he served shipping news ...[more]
The London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall. It first opened its doors in 1997 and attracts around a million people a year to its varied displays. The collection is spread over three floors and contains around 350 different species of fish. There are 14 zones in the aquarium reflecting the range of aquatic habitats found throughout the world. These include the Indian Ocean, tropical freshwater, mangrove and rain-forest zones. Highlights of the Pacific Zones include various...[more]
The current bridge is often shown in the media with the throng of commuters journeying to work into The City from London Bridge Station.
A bridge has existed near this site for nearly 2,000 years. The first bridge across the Thames in London was built here in 50AD. It was probably a wooden military pontoon bridge. The town of Londinium was in fact a small trading settlement that developed around the bridge.
The bridge suffered the same fate as Londinium itself after the Romans left - it was a...[more]
Based in Tooley Street a stone's throw from London Bridge station, The London Dungeon is a museum of London's macabre history.
The Dungeon uses dark comedy to tell the story of events in the history and literature of London. Themes include the bubonic plague, the boat Ride to Hell (which simulates entry to the Tower of London by the water entry at Traitor's Gate), Sweeney Todd (the fictional Demon Barber of Fleet Street who cut his clients' throats and had them baked into pies), the real-life ...[more]
The biggest and grandest independent lending library in the world, the London Library was founded in 1841 and originally housed at the Traveller's Club, 49 Pall Mall. It moved to its current location at 14 St. James's Square in 1845.
The principle founder of the library was Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish satirist, historian, teacher and commentator who was highly influential in Victorian England. He had become dissatisfied with some of the rules and practices of the British Library.
The library is...[more]
Built by the Romans to worhsip the god Mithras, the Temple of Mithras was discovered during building work in Walbrook, City of London, in 1954.
It is believed that the temple was built in the mid 3rd-century and dedicated to Mithras or possibly to several deities popular at the time. In the early fourth century, it was rededicated to Bacchus. However, marble likenesses of other Roman gods such as Minerva and Serapis were also found during the excavation.
The excavation of the site was overseen...[more]
The London Pavilion began as a music hall which occupied a roofed section of the yard of the Black Horse Inn, a space it shared with Dr Kahn's Delectable Museum of Anatomy. In 1885, as roads were developed through part of this site, the London Pavilion Theatre was built. It opened in 1885, and immediately received positive reviews, having been designed with more luxury and splendour than it's previous humble location. The theatre was heralded as the beginning of a new era in theatre, and it d...[more]
The London Transport Museum is a world-class collection of transport vehicles, exhibits and artifacts that tell the story of transport in London and its relationship with the city from the 19th century to the modern day.
The main site is at Covent Garden in an iron and glass building dating from Victorian times. Until 1971 it was part of the fruit, vegetable and flower market and lay empty until 1980 when the Transport Museum was established. The museum is open to the public every day. In 2007 ...[more]
The London Wetland Centre is a large area of London covering more than 100 acres converted into a wide range of wetland features and habitats. The area used to be a large mash land with several small reservoirs before being transformed and officially opened in May 2000. It now plays host to a wide variety of birds and wildlife that cannot be found anywhere else in London. The BBC program "Seven Natural Wonders" highlighted the centre as one of the wonders of the London area.
It was the first u...[more]
London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo and houses one of the largest collection of animals in the UK with over 750 species. The Zoological Society of London was established in 1826 and still manages London Zoo today.
Current highlights for visitors to the zoo include:
- the newly opened Animal Adventure children's zoo which allows kids to immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, smells and experiences of life in the Animal Kingdom.
- the Butterfly Paradise which features species fr...[more]
Generally known as 'Lord's', the Lord's Cricket Ground is the home of cricket in the UK. It was named after its founder, Thomas Lord, and is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club. A museum on site lays claim to the title of oldest sporting museum in the world.
The ground is home to a number of teams and organisations, playing host to Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board, and the European Cricket Council.
Today's Lord's is in fact the third ground to be established by T...[more]
Marie Tussaud's mother worked as housekeeper for a doctor in France who had a penchant for wax models. The attraction's oldest piece was made by Dr Philippe Curtius in 1765 and is of Louis XV's mistress.
Marie became his student and during the French Revolution would search through the corpses to find the decapitated heads of famous citizens to create death masks. Mary inherited her mentor's collection of waxworks on his death in 1794 and moved to London in 1802 from where she traveled around ...[more]
Marble Arch is one of the best known icons in London. It is made of white Carrara marble and stands at the edge of Hyde Park and the end of Oxford Street. This site is close to where Tyburn gallows were situated. They were used for public executions from 1388 to 1793. The area around the Arch and the underground tube station nearby are all known as Marble Arch today.
Historically only the royal family and the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery were allowed to pass through the Arch. It was orig...[more]
Mayfair is one of the most prestigious addresses in London, and it's high property prices have become legendary thanks partly to it being the most expensive segment on the British Monopoly board. This area was developed and built upon in the middle of the 17th century, before which it was the location for the annual May fair, giving the district it's name.
Development of property in Mayfair was a shrewd business move even in the 1700's. It was deliberately designed to be a luxury residentia...[more]
The Special Intelligence Service Building is a distinctive and iconic piece of architecture housing a very secretive organisation. It is cheekily known as Legoland by locals as well as Babylon on Thames due to its resemblance to an ancient Babylonian ziggurat.
Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister in 1988, approved the purchase of the site. At the time the existence of MI6 was not officially acknowledged. It is said to have cost £152 million to develop, including some special modifications to ...[more]
This bridge was famously nicknamed the 'wobbly bridge' after it had to be closed to the public only two days after it opened due to an alarming swaying caused by large crowds. The problem was apparently due a phenomenon know as Synchronous Lateral Excitation - a feedback loop where walkers on the bridge would subconsciously respond to small sideways movements by over compensating and amplifying the effect.
The bridge opened on June 2000 after a competition to design the bridge was won by an in...[more]
The Monument, as it is more commonly known, is a 62 metre tall stone Roman doric column situated near where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner marks the point near Smithfield where the fire stopped. The height marks the distance to the site in Pudding Lane where the fire began at Thomas Farynors bakery. At the time of construction in 1677 it was the tallest freestanding stone column in the world.
It is possible to reach the top of the Monum...[more]
The National Monument to the Women of World War II, the first of its kind in the UK, was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth in 2005 and is a tribute to the vital contribution of the women who answered Churchill’s call.
Costing almost £1m the bronze memorial represents the uniforms and working clothes worn by women during World War II. Designed by the celebrated sculptor, John Mills, the design won an open competition judged by a panel of experts....[more]
The Museum of London documents the history of the city via a series of chronological galleries containing original artefacts, models, pictures and diagrams detailing archaeological discoveries and urban development.
The museum nestles next to the remains of the Roman city wall, on the edge of the City of London. This is the oldest part of London and now the financial district. It was opened in 1976 and was designed by architects Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya. Entry to the museum is free. The ...[more]
The Museum of the Docklands is a fascinating museum on the Isle of Dogs. It tells the story of the Port of London from Roman times to the closure of the Docks in the 1970s and also its subsequent redevelopment as a commercial and residential area. The industry around the Thames has been the driving force of London's prosperity for hundreds of years. The museum was opened in 2003 and is housed in Grade I listed sugar warehouses, which were built in 1802 and are just a short distance from the new ...[more]
The National Gallery houses a collection of significant art works from the past 800 years.
With less than 3,000 paintings, the collection is relatively small, but includes works from most major art movements. Each painting in the gallery has been chosen for it's importance to the development of art in Western society with paintings dating from as early at the 13th century.
The National Gallery was founded in 1824 when the government used the repayment of an Austrian war debt to purchase 38 pa...[more]
Containing what is arguably the finest collection of maritime art and antiquities in the world, The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is the pre-eminent place to learn about Britain's proud naval history. It is one part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, which also incorporates the Royal Observatory and the 17th Century Queen's House.
The museum holds over two million items, including maritime art, public records, ship models and plans, navigational instruments and instruments f...[more]
Designed by Lord Norman Foster and unveiled in 2005, the National Police Memorial commemorates the 4000 UK police officers killed in the course of their duties.
The memorial was built after a campaign for a national memorial, with £2.3 million donated by members of the public, which notably included £500,000 from the film director Michael Winner.
The memorial was a collaboration between the celebrated architect and designer Lord Norman Foster and his Danish colleague Per Arnoldi. The structu...[more]
The National Portrait Gallery was the first gallery exclusively dedicated to collecting and exhibiting portraits, and is home to a collection of artworks depicting some of the most famous and significant people from British history.
It now houses over 120,000 portraits, photographs and sculptures of figures from the past four hundred years, from Shakespeare and Sir Walter Ralegh to Paul McCartney and Margaret Thatcher. Traditionally portraits were only admitted into the gallery after the subj...[more]
The Natural Museum is home to Dippy, a 32 metre long Diplodocus, a 25 metre Blue Whale and Archie, an 8 metre long squid amongst others. In fact the museum boasts over 70 million specimens split between five main collections of plants, insects, rocks, fossils and animals including specimens collected by Darwin.
Dippy is the cast of a Diplodocus skeleton donated by Scottish American industrialist Andrew Carnegie to King Edward VII copied from the original held at the Carnegie Museum. The succes...[more]
Dominating London's most celebrated square is Nelson's Column. It was completed in 1842 on the site once used to house the royal hawks and horses. The striking Corinthian column commemorates the death of one of Britain's best-loved heroes, Admiral Horatio Nelson. He died after sealing victory over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
At the top of the column, which is the same height as Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, is the grand sandstone statue of the famous admiral. Around the ba...[more]
Notting Hill is a cosmopolitan district known for hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival, the Portobello Road Market and the 1999 film starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
Notting Hill his known as an affluent and fashionable area with attractive terraces of large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants centred around Westbourne Grove and Clarendon Cross. The phrase "The Notting Hill Set" refers to a new generation of Conservative politicians including the Leader of th...[more]
Sited in the Greenwich area of the East of London is one of the UK's biggest and most iconic structures. Now known as The O2, the enormous canopied marquee with yellow support towers was constructed for the Millenium Experience and was known as The Millenium Dome. In the pre-title sequence of the 1999 James Bond film The World is Not Enough, a high-speed boat chase along the Thames ends in an exciting tussle on top of the Millennium Dome.
The Millenium Experience was a year-long exhibition, hel...[more]
The Old Bailey is perhaps the best known of England's Crown Courts, which deal with the most serious crimes. It stands on the site of the medieval Newgate Gaol, on the old city walls, called baileys, which gave the court its name.
There have been a number of court buildings on the site. The original court was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was rebuilt as an open-air court in 1674, and refronted in 1734. The new enclosed court reduced the space for spectators and worse, led t...[more]
The Old Operating Theatre museum is famed for its intriguing interiors, gory history, and tales of disturbing medical practices. It is found at the top of a wooden spiral staircase in the barn-like roof space of St Thomas Church in the old Herb Garret . While the Garret has a charming old world atmosphere of oak beams and bundles of herbs, the Theatre itself is a shocking reminder of the harsh reality of life before modern science and technology.
The location may seem bizarre but the church wa...[more]
The Old Royal Naval College is the centrepiece of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. UNESCO described this as "the finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles". The building has worn a number of guises throughout its varied and interesting history.
The building started life in 1694 as the Royal Naval Hospital, a residential home for injured sailors. The idea was to provide a counterpart to the Chelsea home for old soldiers, and residents...[more]
Old Spitalfields Market is popular for its stalls of selling food, antique and vintage goods as well as fashion and art. It is busiest on a Sunday when the historic location just outside the City of London is packed full of trendy young things, local residents and tourists.
Old Spitalfields Market started as a means of distributing food to the growing population of London, during the reign of Charles II in the late 17th century. At that time, the market was held open air in a field, and the bu...[more]
The Old Vic is a prestigious and historic theatre. It shares its name with a repertory group founded by the great English actor Sir John Gielgud in 1929 which later formed the core of The National Theatre group, led by Sir Laurence Olivier.
In 2003 the American actor Kevin Spacey was appointed artistic director of the Old Vic. He began to stage a series of high-profile modern pieces, often casting himself in a starring role, other times taking the director's chair.
The theatre was founded in ...[more]
The original Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the Elizabethan playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, to which Shakespeare belonged. It was destroyed by fire in 1613 by the misfiring of a canon during a production of Henry VIII. It was rebuilt by 1614 and eventually pulled down by the Puritans in 1644.
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is a reconstruction built only 230 metres away from the original site. It opened in 1997 thanks to an American actor and director, Sam Wanamaker, who founded ...[more]
Osterley Park was built as a stately home in the 1500's for Sir Thomas Gresham, a wealthy banker. It is one of many rural houses which served as quasi-country retreats for wealthy city families. It is open to the public - highlights include an extravagantly designed 'party house' created by the famous 18th-century architect Robert Adam, a 'below stairs' exhibition exploring what life was like for servants living and working on a wealthy estate, and a rare 18th-century garden, currently being re...[more]
The intersection of Regent Street and Oxford Street is known as Oxford Circus. The area is often phenomenally busy due to its proximity to busy shopping areas such as Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and Bond Street and the bars and restaurants of Soho and Leicester Square. It is served by Oxford Circus tube station, which is directly beneath the junction itself.
Westminster City Council have announced plans to redesign the area. A £4m makeover that will create a new pedestrian interchange much l...[more]
Oxford Street is one of Europe's most popular shopping destinations. It has over 300 shops and is the home to many 'flagship' stores of Britain's most famous retailers. These stores are often used for new product launches and celebrity promotions.
Oxford Street is famously decorated each Christmas with electric lights which are switched on by a popular celebrity of the day.
The heavy congestion on Oxford Street has been the subject of debate, with some advocating pedestrianisation and a tram li...[more]
The OXO Tower got its name from the famous beef stock products of the same brand name. They were made by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company, who used it during the 20th century as a cold store. The building is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames and is easily identified by its prominent tower with OXO shaped windows. It was originally built for the Post Office as a power station in the late 1800s.
The Art Deco design can be attributed to the architect Albert Moore, who demolished th...[more]
Pall Mall is famous for being the location of many exclusive gentlemen's clubs. The clubs evolved from 17th century coffee houses where gentlemen would take refuge from their wives. Most of the clubs seen today date from the 19th century. The stately interiors of the clubs are well-preserved but unfortunately only members and their guests are admitted.
Pall Mall takes its name from the game 'palle-maille', a cross between croquet and golf, that was played here in the early-17th century.
The ...[more]
Parliament Square was created in 1868 in an attempt to improve the flow of horses and cabs around the Palace of Westminster, and was the first location in London to use traffic signals.
The square features several statues of politicians, including Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and Robert Peel. The most recent statue to be erected, was of Nelson Mandela in 2007.
The square has been a traditional spot for protests against government decisions in the 21st century. In 2000, the square was ...[more]
Picadillyis home to some of London's most famous shops and hotels, including Fortnum & Mason, Hatchards book shop, the Ritz Hotel and the Royal Academy of Arts which was founded by George III in 1768 to promote the arts.
Modern Picadilly now runs from Hyde Park Corner in the West to Picadilly Circus in the East, a famous London Landmark in the heart of which stands a bronze fountain topped by a figure of a winged archer. Although popularly called Eros, the pagan god of love, the figure was in...[more]
The British phrase "it's like Piccadilly Circus around here" is used to express the fact a place is particularly busy. Indeed it is said if you spent long enough at the Circus you would eventually see everybody you know.
"Piccadilly Circus" was the code name given to the assembly point of the Allied Forces in the D-Day invasion in the English Channel. It is still a popular meeting point today. Friends agree to meet by the Statue of Eros (or Cupid).
Everybody uses the wrong name for the stat...[more]
Many of history's most famous poets, playwrights and writers are buried or commemorated in Westminster Abbey, and this tradition led to part of the South Transept being named Poet's Corner.
The first person to be interred there was Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales. A magnificent tomb, designed by Nicholas Brigham, was erected in his memory. The poet Edmund Spencer, best known for his epic poem The Faerie Queene, is buried nearby.
Although William Shakespeare is buried at Stra...[more]
Portobello Market is one of the most famous street markets in the world. It is a populart destination for Londoners and tourists alike. The market is held every Saturday and is known for its antiques and second hand clothing stalls.
The area has many links with popular culture appearing in films, television series, music and books. It is made most famous by the 1999 film "Notting Hill' where a number of scenes were filmed in and around the market area. The famed blue door, however, no longer e...[more]
The Prospect of Whitby, or the 'Devils tavern' as it was formerly known, was built around the 1520s and is said to be the oldest riverside tavern. In its hayday the pub was a favoured meeting place for sailors, smugglers & cut-throats. Sir Hugh Willoughby sailed from here in 1533 in a disastrous attempt to discover the North-East Passage to China.
The old stone floor is all that remains of the original building, as fire in the early 19th century destroyed everything else. The pub was then rebu...[more]
A 2 kilometre-square piece of parkland in the Marylebone area, Regent’s Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. The modern park dates from 1811; it was previously used as a hunting park and for small holdings.
The park is structured around 2 ring roads: the Outer Circle and the Inner Circle. Roads link the two circles, but the rest of the park is for pedestrians only. White stucco houses designed by the famous architect John Nash line three sides of the park, and Regent’s Canal runs acros...[more]
Richmond used to be a small village, and has retained a rural feel thanks to the large green areas bordering it. Richmond Park is a large area of wild heath and woodland that was first enclosed by Charles I as a hunting park, and the Old Deer Park has wide green lawns and playing fields. The area has many small parks and walkways along the Thames which offer spectacular views. Small boats can be hired on the river, and there is also a tour boat which runs regularly from the bank. This stretch o...[more]
Richmond Park has been used as a rural space since King Edward's reign in the 13th century, when it was known as the Manor of Sheen. Henry VII changed the name to Richmond Park two centuries later.
The park is London's largest walled urban park, having been enclosed by Charles I in 1637 to keep his deer within the area. He allowed access to the public via gates, and these walls and entrances are still evident today.
The park still contains over six hundred red and fallow deer, whose numbers...[more]
In 1906 The Ritz opened to the public for the first time, and a legend was born. It was created by Cesar Ritz the man dubbed "hotelier to Kings and King of hoteliers" by Edward VII.
Architects Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis designed a stunning French chateau-style masterpiece with a wealth of clever details including light wells which allow rooms with no outside windows natural light, projecting dormer windows and tall chimneys which break the skyline, a sophisticated for the time ventilation...[more]
A mainstay of the London art scene for over two hundred years, the Royal Academy is the place to view the best of British art. The collection covers works from the heyday of Turner and Constable to the work of today's pioneering, and sometimes controversial, visual artists.
The Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768 and functions as both a gallery and a school. The Royal Academy of Art postgraduate school is Britain's longest established art education institution and is based in Burlington H...[more]
The Royal Air Force Memorial was unveiled in 1923 and was dedicated initially to the memory of all the airmen who died during the First World War. This honour has now been extended to all airmen of subsequent conflicts.
Sitting astride the pinnacle of the elegant Portland stone pillar is a gilded eagle, which in the original plans was intended to face the other way. Architect Sir Reginald Blomfield decided to have the eagle facing symbolically to France.
A further, rather poignant reminder o...[more]
The Royal Albert Hall is best known as a venue for the The Proms. This is an eight-week summer season of classical music concerts building up to the triumphal, flag-wavinginlgy partirotic finale that is the "Last Night".
The hall is used as a live venue all year round hosting pop concerts, ballet, opera, award ceremonies and various charity and community events. The Beatles, The Who and Led Zeppelin have all played there.
The Hall is a Grade I listed building with a capacity of 5,500 people i...[more]
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew is an internationally-renowned centre of botanical research and education and has extensive gardens open to the public. The institution will celebrate its 250th birthday in 2009.
Kew Gardens, as it is usually known, attracts around 1.5 million visitors a year. This is the largest visitor count for any paid-entry garden in the UK. Visitors can enjoy the conservatories, herbarium, cafes and, in the winter months, an ice rink. Visitors can also view the grounds vi...[more]
Playing host at different times to concerts by the London Philharmonic, the Eurovision Song Contest and heavy metal band Motorhead, The Royal Festival Hall is a vast concert, dance and events venue contained within the Southbank centre.
Built as part of the Festival of Britain on the site of the former Lion Brewery, the Royal Festival Hall first opened its doors in 1951. Since then, the foyer doors have consistently remained open, even it there are no performances on, which has made the foyer s...[more]
The current Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace has housed the State carriages, including the Gold State Coach, and stabled the carriage horses since the 1820s. It was designed by John Nash. More recently it has been used as a garage for the vehicles used by the Royal family and for State occasions.
The first Royal Mews was located at Charing Cross in the 14th. Century, and it was at this site that the royal hawks were kept during the 'mew' or moulting, hence the name mews .
The old Royal Mews at...[more]
The National Theatre is the home of English drama. Audience members can enjoy a varied programme, ranging from Shakespeare and other classics to new plays by contemporary playwrights. Visitors to the National outside performance times can enjoy a backstage tour where they learn about the inner workings of the theatre. There is also a bookshop, an exhibition space, and several restaurants and bars.
The theatre's origins can be traced to The National Theatre Company, which was based at the nearby...[more]
The Royal Observatory was the first purpose built scientific research facility in Britain, established in 1675 by King Charles II as a place for his first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed,to carry out careful study and measurements of the heavens in order to improve navigation. At the time, navigation for sailors was more of an art than a science, and many ships, cargoes and lives were lost each year due to inaccurate measurements and time keeping.
The observatory building was designed by the...[more]
The Royal Opera House plays host not just to The Royal Opera but also to The Royal Ballet and its own in-house orchestra. It is often referred to as simply Covent Garden.
The oldest parts of the existing building are the façade, foyer and auditorium which date back to 1858 - almost every other part of the complex was created in a massive reconstruction project during the 1990s. The main auditorium is Grade 1 listed, meaning it is a building "of exceptional interest". The auditorium consists of...[more]
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The Saatchi Gallery is a gallery for contemporary art named after its reclusive creator Charles Saatchi. He is the co-founder of the global advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi and husband of the popular television cooking personality Nigella Lawson. Saatchi and Saatchi was the largest advertising agency in the world before Charles and his brother were forced out of their own company in 1995.
The gallery opened in 1985 in order to display the impressive personal collection amas...[more]
Savile Row is a short street in Mayfair internationally famous for men's bespoke tailoring. It is thought that the term "bespoke" originated in Savile Row when cloth for a suit was said to "be spoken for" by individual customers. Often referred to as the “golden mile of tailoring” Savile Row has dressed every icon of male elegance from Nelson, Valentino and Astaire to Sinatra, Jagger and Jude Law as well as crowned heads, statesmen and captains of industry.
Today Savile Row remains the home...[more]
The Savoy Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel which is one of London's most prestigious and opulent hotels, with 263 rooms and panoramic views of the River Thames. It is currently undergoing a £100 million refurbishment which is due to be completed by the late summer of 2009.
The hotel was built in 1889 by Richard D'Oyly Carte, who also owned the Savoy Theatre. Both buildings take their name from the magnificent Savoy Palace which once used to stand at the site. The hotel opened under the mana...[more]
The wonderful Savoy Theatre in the West End of London was opened in 1881and became the first public building in the world to be lit by electricity. About 1200 incandescent lamps were lit by a 120 horse-power generator. The theatre was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte, whose family name is synonymous with opera productions even today.
The first performance was Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, 'Patience' which transferred from the nearby Opera Comique.The Savoy Theatre became the home of the D'O...[more]
The Science Museum originated from a collection of items contributed by the Great Exhibition in 1857 and in 1885 the collection was named the Science Museum. The Museum is housed in a 1928 building designed by Sir Richard Allison, and entrance is free.
The priceless collection of over 300,000 items includes the first typewriter, steam engines such as Stephenson's Rocket and Puffing Billy and a working model of the Difference Engine by Charles Babbage. There are several full sized aeroplanes and...[more]
Close to St James' Park and Westminster, and about 400 miles from Scotland, New Scotland Yard is the official name of the London Metropolitan Police's headquarters building.
Known colloquially as 'The Yard', the name derives from the original location of the headquarters on Great Scotland Yard, near Whitehall.
There have been several explanations given for the origins of the name. These include prior ownership of the street by a man called Scott in the Middle Ages, its prior status as a depa...[more]
The Serpentine Gallery is situated in the classical Tea Pavilion and takes its name from the nearby Serpentine lake in Kensington Gardens.
The Serpentine Gallery is one of London's most popular free attractions and regularly attracts over 700,000 visitors per year. One of the main reasons for it high visitor numbers is its public displays of modern and contemporary art as well as its exhibitions and architecture. Many notable and famous artists have had work displayed at the gallery including, ...[more]
The Serpentine is the famous stretch of water in Hyde Park. It is a source of pleasure for many Londoners who stroll around it or can hire row boats. The UK's largest solar-powered boat is also used during the summer to carry passengers across.
The Serpentine has been an important focal point in London festivities including the 1814 celebrations of the Victory at Trafalgar and the 1851 Great Exhibition, when the famous Crystal Palace was built along its shores.
The Serpentine Lake was formed ...[more]
Since the 1980s Butler's Wharf has been transformed from a run-down site into luxury flats with restaurants and shops. Terence Conran owns several of the restaurants, which include Butler's Wharf Chop House, Pont de la Tour and Cantina del Ponte. Its main thoroughfare is called Shad Thames - a name also given to this area.Its artistic character has encouraged a variety of other businesses to move to the area including architects, small art galleries and wine merchants. It has been used as a loca...[more]
Shaftesbury Avenue is considered the heart of West End London. It is home to many of London's theatres and also marks the start of London's Chinatown and Soho.
The Avenue was built in the late 1800's to provide a link for traffic between St Giles and Soho, freeing up the congested streets and clearing the area of slum dwellings in the process. The street was named after Anthony Ashley Cooper the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury.
In the evening you can find street artists on the pavement at the Picadill...[more]
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is an authentic reconstruction of the original Elizabethan theatre that once stood close to this site. The original Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's company of players called "The Lord Chamberlain's Men". It was constructed from the timber of an even earlier theatre built in Shoreditch. When the land lease expired, Shakespeare's players and their friends hurriedly dismantled the theatre and rebuilt it on the current site.
The theatre had quite an eve...[more]
This is the site of the fictional residence of Sherlock Holmes and the location of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. However, when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the books, house numbers on Baker Street only went up to 100.
A Study in Scarlet was written by Doyle in 1887. One passage states "We met next day as he had arranged, and inspected the rooms at No. 221B, Baker Street, of which he had spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large airy sitting-r...[more]
Shoreditch is an area in the East End of London which is known for its artisitic community, trendy residents and its nightlife. It is often linked with nearby Hoxton as a destination for bright young things to show off the latest in asymmetrical haircuts and way out fashion at the numerous clubs and bars in the area. The media savvy residents are parodied in Channel 4's comedy program Nathan Barley which follows a character who is a webmaster, guerrilla filmmaker, screenwriter, DJ and in his own...[more]
Sir John Soanes was a famous neo-classical architect who lived in London from 1753-1837. His home and studio are now the home of the Soane Museum, which holds some unique drawings, features and antique stonework that he had collected. It is also an important centre for students of architecture.
In his will, Soane's left a legacy to fund a Curator, (who was expected to be male!) and a female Inspectress. Sir John Summerson held the Curator's position from 1945 to 1984, assisted by Dorothy Strou...[more]
The Palace of Placentia was part of the impressive collection of buildings in Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames. It was built in 1447 by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and was demolished in the 17th century to make way for the Greenwich Hospital which later became the Royal Naval College.
Humphrey named his Palace 'Bella Court' but unfortunately he fell from favor with the Queen, Margaret of Anjou, and was imprisoned for high treason, where he later died. The Queen then claimed the Pa...[more]
Sloane Square is a fashionable and expensive area of London. The square lies at the east end of the trendy Kings Road and at the south end of the more conventionally smart Sloane Street linking to Knightsbridge. The upper class inhabitants became known as the "Sloane Rangers" in the 1980's. It is named after Sir Hans Sloane whose family owned the land in the 1700's.
The Royal Court Theatre and Peter Jones department store are both impressive buildings situated on the square. The River Westbour...[more]
Somerset House is a grand Renaissance building on the south side of the Strand. Previously used as a royal palace, today it plays host to a university music department and a collection of artworks, whilst the courtyard hosts music concerts, film screenings and, in the winter, a beautiful ice rink.
The site was first used for a residence in 1549 when the owner, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, pulled down an old Inn of Chancery and several other houses which stood on the site and built himself ...[more]
Streatching along 2 miles of the south side of the River Thames, the South Bank is an area of regeneration and development and was the original site of the Festival of Britain in 1951. In ancient times the area was known as "Lambeth Marsh". It has now developed into an impressive hub of culture and arts, centred around the Royal Festival Hall and Arts Centre.
The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room were openend in 1967, the Hayward Gallery in 1968, and the National Theatre in 1976. Nearby...[more]
The Southbank Centre consists of the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery. It lies between County Hall and Waterloo Bridge on the Thames. It is the largest centre for arts in Europe stretching across 21 acres.
The Centre attracts more than three million visitors and stages nearly a thousand paid performances of music, dance and literature each year.
The Southbank Centre developed from the Festival of Britain in 1951 which was an event showcasing the best in sc...[more]
The Southwark area is more commonly known as The Borough, as it sat just outside London's city limits. It became popular among businesses and traders who could avoid paying taxes to the government of the City of London.
Southwark has always been a site for markets and fairs, and still holds the popular Borough Market famed for its food. In the 1300's this was an important local market held in the high street. It was moved to it's current location in 1756 by an act of Parliament in order to...[more]
Southwark Cathedral has many interesting historical stories and claims to fame in its lengthy past. The present building is mainly Gothic and dates back as far as 1220, making it the first Gothic Church to be built in London. Even before that date a minister of Southwark is recorded, so it has certainly been a centre of Christian worship for over a thousand years.
Southwark Cathedral's interesting history includes the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket , preaching here just days before his...[more]
Speakers Corner in Hyde Park is an area where anyone is allowed address the public. There are many speakers corners across London and around the world, but this is the most famous.
Speakers are permitted to talk about any topic as long as they remain within the law and are not profane. Police are generally tolerant although they may step in if they receive complaints. The speakers are more at risk from rebuke and ridicule from the passing public. There are many experienced, regular speaker...[more]
Spencer House was commissioned In 1756 by John, the 1st. Earl Spencer, and from the start it was recognised as one of the most ambitious aristocratic town houses ever built in London. Today, it is the city's only great eighteenth-century private palace to survive intact.
The first architect to work on Spencer House was John Vardy, who studied under William Kent, and who was responsible for the external facades of Spencer House and the design of the ground floor rooms including some of the fur...[more]
The SS Robin is the oldest complete steam coaster still in existence in the world. She can be found on the River Thames in West India Quay. The boat operates as an educational centre, providing technology-driven workshops for schoolchildren and a photographic gallery. It is a far cry from the work she was built for, carrying raw materials around the coastal waters of the UK and Europe. She is one of only 3 ships on the core collection of National Historical Ships Register, along with the Cutty S...[more]
According to the famous nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons" "I do not know, says the great bell of Bow". It is said that you are only a true Cockney, a term of endearment for a working class Londoner, if you are born within earshot of this church's bells - the "Bow Bells" as they are known were used to signal a curfew in the City of London. The same bells are credited with persuaded Dick Whittington to turn back from Highgate and remain in London to become Lord Mayor.
The current building was b...[more]
St Pancras railway station underwent a huge redevelopment at the turn of the millennium and reopened as St Pancras International, with a new terminal for Eurostar trains that now connect the UK to Europe via the Channel Tunnel. It boasts Europe's longest champagne bar and has regained its earlier status as the ‘cathedral of the railways’
The design of the original station and adjoining hotel was decided by a competition in 1865. The winner was the architect George Gilbert Scott's. His huge ...[more]
The magnificent dome of St. Paul's Cathedral has been a well-known London landmark for the past 300 hundred years. The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed a huge part of London, including the previous “Old St Paul’s”. This latest building is thought to be the fifth cathedral on this site and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in magnificent Baroque style. It was completed in 1708.
Old St Paul's was actually 40 metres taller than its replacement as well as being longer and wider. Inde...[more]
The location of the most expensive house in the world and formerly home to the cream of the British aristocracy, the exclusive St James Square is now dominated by international businesses and exclusive clubs.
Georgian and neo-Georgian architecture predominates. There is a private garden at the centre featuring a statue of William III on horseback, which was erected in 1808.
In the 1700s the fashionable eastern, northern and western sides of the square abounded with dukes and earls. They were a...[more]
The area of St James was first developed as a luxury residential location in the 1660's following permission from Charles II. The area has always been an exclusive area of London, first as a upper class aristocratic neighborhood and now as a lavish commercial center. It encompasses many of the most renowned place names in London, such as Picadilly, Haymarket and Pall Mall.
The luxury shops in St James cater to commodities traditional valued by the ranks of high society, such as fine wines, c...[more]
St James' Palace is one of London's oldest palaces and has been home to monarchs and other members of the Royal Family since it was originally built by Henry VIII in the mid 1600's. Although Queen Victoria declared Buckingham Palace to be the official London residence of the Monarch in 1837 it is still a working palace, and the Royal Court is formally based here.
St James Palace is actually a large complex of buildings, including Clarence House, which is the home of Prince Charles, heir to th...[more]
St. James's Park, at the very heart of London, dates back to 1532 and is the oldest of London's Royal Parks. When King Henry VIII first purchased the land from Eaton College, it was just a marshy watermeadow prone to flooding by the River Tyburn. In the thirteenth century a leper hospital was founded here dedicated to St. James the Less, and it is from this ancient hospital that the Park took its name.
The Park was drained and landscaped by James I who kept exotic animals and birds there, incl...[more]
The Swan Inn on the Bayswater Road is a historic pub that formed a resting point for stage coaches proceeding towards London. It is thought that its original name was The Saracen's Head. The highwayman Clade Duval is said to have stopped at the Inn for once last drink before being escorted away to his hanging at Tyburn....[more]
A beautiful house and gardens in West London, Syon House is the London residence of the Duke of Northumberland and his family. Visitors can view the magnificent State and Private Apartments and enjoy the spectacular Great Conservatory and 40 acres of gardens.
The Thameside house is set in 200-acres of grounds. Near the banks of the Thames is a tidal meadow, flooded twice a day by the river. The gardens are maintained in a nineteenth century style despite the fact that they were laid out by famo...[more]
Tate Britain is the national gallery of British art from 1500 to the present day and houses the most complete collection of its kind in the world. Its sister gallery, the Tate Modern, is downriver further along the Thames and shows more international, contemporary pieces.
The gallery was opened in 1897 on the site of the old Millbank Prison. Formerly known as the National Gallery of British Art it became commonly known as the Tate Gallery after its founder Sir Henry Tate. It was renamed Tate Br...[more]
The Tate Modern is an international art gallery of modern art situated in the former Bankside Power station. Entry is free for the permanent collection however specific exhibitions may have a charge. Since the museum's opening in 2000, it has become one of the most popular destinations for Londoners and tourists. The power station's Turbine Hall, a huge space of some 3,400 square meters and 5 stories in height is given to specifically commissioned contemporary works of art which are often unorth...[more]
The Temple Church was built as the headquarters of the ancient order of the Knights Templar and is located between the River Thames and Fleet Street. It is a rare round church, and lent its name to the surrounding area, which is known as Temple. The church features in Shakespeare's play Henry VI. It is also portrayed in the novel and the film of 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown.
The Knights Templar purchased the site in 1160 and built a large monastic compound which included a church, residence...[more]
The Boot is an old-fashioned London pub near King's Cross. The name probably came from the leatherworkers who would have frequented this pub in times past, or it may have been corrupted from the word 'Boat" as it was once close to a tributary of the River Fleet.
Perhaps the most famous customer was Charles Dickens, who is known to have drunk here. He featured The Boot pub in his tale of Barnaby Rudge. He described it as "a lone house of public entertainment, situated in the fields at the back o...[more]
Held in the South West London suburb of Wimbledon, the Championships are usually simply referred to as 'Wimbledon'. The tournament has run since 1877 and is the only one of the four 'Grand Slam' competitions still held on grass courts. It is generally considered to be the most prestigious tennis contest in the world.
The tournament runs for 14 days across June and July. The climax is the mens' singles finals, which takes place on a Sunday. Many traditions and customs contribute to the convivial...[more]
'The Clink' is a popular slang term for a prison and probably originated from this notorious prison in Southwark.
Today there is a Clink Prison Museum (with mixed reviews) which retells the historic story. It stands on the original site in a warehouse basement.
The Clink probably gave its name to both the street, Clink Street, and the local manor, the Clink Liberty. The prison was built by the Bishop of Winchester between 1107 and 1144. There was both a men's and women's prison - the first kn...[more]
The Comedy Store is a popular comedy club that opened in 1979. It is named after The Comedy Store Club in the US, although they are not affiliated.
The Comedy Store was the center of the 'alternative' comedy of he 1980's which included comedians such as Rik Mayall, Ben Elton and Alexei Sayle. The venue is home to the improvisational group called The Comedy Store Players. The current team includes Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence and Richard Vranch who have appeared on TV shows such as Whose Line Is ...[more]
Sitting on the Southbank of the Thames, the Hayward Gallery is named after Sir Isaac Hayward, a fomer leader of the London City Council. It has no permanent collection but instead hosts three or four temporary exhibitions a year, for which it charges entry.
The Gallery has no particular remit as regards a specific era or style and has hosted exhibitions including the works of Da Vinci, Munch and the French Impressionists, amongst many others. In its recent history, the gallery has tended to co...[more]
The restuarrant critic AA Gill noted that "A table at The Ivy is one of the most sought-after pieces of furniture in London". Popular with the rich and famous, a reservation is notoriously difficult to obtain - it is the restaurant to be seen for all manner of celebrities.
In 1917, the Ivy was only a modest cafe when the owner Abel Gandellini and Mario Gallati joined forces and started attracting theatre goers and the acting fraternity. The actress Alice Delysia told Glandellini " Don't worry...[more]
The Lamb public house was named after William Lamb, who erected a water conduit in 1577, along what became known as Lamb Street. The pub was built in Bloomsbury during the 1720s and was refurbished in the Victorian era. It has an interesting 'snob screen' which still remains in the pub. It was originally to separate the better-off customer from the common man who would sit in the bar. The pub's most famous customer was Charles Dickens, who lived nearby. ...[more]
The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel as it is also known, was commissioned as part of London's Millennium celebrations. It was originally planned as a temporary exhibit, but it's popularity has ensured that it will be a permanent attraction for the foreseeable future.
The wheel is constantly in motion, traveling at about ten inches per second, less than one mile per hour. The wheel has 32 capsules for passengers, each of which represents one of London's 32 boroughs. Once aboard, it take...[more]
The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey stands as a symbol for all the unknown soldiers who died on foreign battlefields, and who were buried where they fell. The identity of the British soldier buried at Westminster Abbey has similarly never been revealed, and all that is known of him is that he fell on the battlefields of France during the Great War of 1914-1918
An army chaplain, Reverend David Railton, first conceived the idea of a Tomb through his work on the Western Front whe...[more]
The Windmill Pub was built in 1971 and has gained a favorable reputation as music venue hosting up and coming artists and new music. In the past it has attracted a range of clientele from bikers to the Irish community. The band 'The 5768's' performed in the Windmill just after they had appeared as the house band in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill 2. Other notable British acts that have played in the Windmill include The Enemy and Hard-Fi.
...[more]
Britain’s highest bar is perched at the top of this tower. The bar serves champagne, posh canapes and cocktails and prices are top end but are well worth it for the spectacular views. It only has a capacity of 70 so reservations are essential.
Tower 42 will soon lose its status as the City of London's tallest building, at 183m high, to new developments at Bishopsgate and Leadenhall after nearly 30 years. It was built in 1980 by Natwest bank - seen from above it closely resembles their logo - ...[more]
The image of Tower Bridge's two towers, upper walkway and raising bridge are iconic throughout the world. Both a major tourist attraction and a working bridge, over 40,000 motorists and pedestrians use it every day.
The bold, patriotic colours that today make the bridge so distinctive actually date from the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977; prior to this the bridge was decorated in chocolate brown colour.
The need for a bridge towards the East of London arose during the 19th century. The increa...[more]
The Tower has been a palace, fortress, and prison since William the Conqueror built the iconic White Tower in 1078. The stark square building has been joined by several others over the years which are surrounded by two rings of defensive walls and a moat. The Tower of London has also served as a place of execution and torture, an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels.
In Britain, the phrase "sent to the...[more]
Trafalgar Square is named after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when Admiral Lord Nelson led the British Royal Navy to defeat Napoleonic ships from Spain and France. The focal point of the Square is Nelson's column, which stands proudly in the center, guarded by four bronze lions.
There is a large plinth at each corner of the square. Three are occupied with statues. One of King George IV, and two of the British generals Henry Havelock, and Sir Charles James Napier.
The fourth plinth has b...[more]
The former village of Tyburn was located to the west of London, at the modern site of Marble Arch. Its name has become synonymous with the infamous, and rowdy, public executions that it hosted.
Hangings at Tyburn utilised a notorious contraption called the "Tyburn Tree", a sort of wooden triangle with three supports, on which three felons could be hanged at once. The site of the "tree" is today marked by three brass triangles, mounted on an island in the middle of Edgware Rd.
The village ori...[more]
The V &A is among the largest museum of arts and design in the world and houses a collection of over 4.5 million objects. It has its origins in The Great Exhibition of 1851 when it was known as The Museum of Manufactures.
The museum holds objects from all over the world with works of art spanning from ancient times 5000 years ago to the present day. It has 12 acres of space and 145 galleries that are split four collections. These are Word and Image; Sculpture, Metal work ceramics and glass; Fu...[more]
Standing at the centre of the Queen's Gardens right in front of Buckingham Palace, the Victoria Memorial is an impressive 26 metres high. The memorial includes a large statue of Victoria facing eastwards, the Angel of Justice facing north-westwards, the Angel of Truth facing south-eastwards and Charity, facing towards the palace.
The memorial was built by sculptor Thomas Brock and unveiled in 1911 with a surround created by Sir Aston Webb from over 2,000 tonnes of white marble. The plinth, rais...[more]
Victoria Park was created in the 1840's and stretches over 218 acres of land. The 'People's Park' as it was dubbed in the late 19th century is still popular with families today. It has many amenities and activities for children, including a petting zoo, a play park and paddling pool.
The park was designed by Sir James Pennethorne in a similar manner to Regent's Park which was designed by Pennethorne's teacher, John Nash.
The land had originally been part of the Bishop's Palace estate, but hea...[more]
Vinopolis is a unique business and wine tasting attraction developed by vintner Duncan Vaughan-Arbuckle. It is situated beneath railway arches, on the South bank of the River Thames.
It opened in 1999 offering comprehensive wine tours. It then developed as a corporate events venue and a whisky and spirit retail outlet. The latest addition to the visitor attraction is the Caribbean Rum experience which is sure to be popular with guests as they learn about the rum production process and sample t...[more]
For those who enjoy French art and porcelain, the Wallace Collection is a delightful collection of over 5500 treasures. It began as the private collection of Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, who left it to his illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace. His widow left the collection of 15th-19th century decorative arts to the nation in 1900. One condition was that no piece can ever leave the collection, even on loan, so it remains gloriously intact.
The museum is free and it situate...[more]
With fantastic views of Westminster, the South Bank and the London Eye to the west and Canary Wharf to the East, Waterloo Bridge is one of the best ground-level spots for viewing the grandeur of London.
It was first opened in 1817 as a toll bridge and was designed by John Rennie. From the time of its design in 1809 up to its opening it was known as the Strand Bridge, but was named Waterloo Bridge in honour of the British victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The bridge was r...[more]
Founded by SIr Henry Solomon Wellcome from his own extensive collection, the Wellcome Collection is a museum of all things medical. Wellcome amassed his collection whilst travelling the world; he had an avid interest in the history of medicine and the diversity of medical practice across the globe. The collection includes books, manuscripts, archives, films and pictures. It was opened to the public in 2007.
The museum seeks to explore ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art a...[more]
The triumphal Wellington Arch has been in the ownership of English Heritage since the end of the 20th century.
Designed by Decimus Burton and completed in 1830, the arch took four years to build and like nearby Marble Arch was planned by George IV to celebrate Britain’s victories in the Napoleonic Wars. Originally known as the Green Park Arch, and sometimes referred to as Constitution Arch, it was intended as the grand Western approach into London. However, the intended ornate exterior had t...[more]
Wembley Stadium is the home of English football. It is used for the national games played by the England football team and it seats 90,000 spectators. It is also used for other sporting events and concerts and will host the UEFA Champions League Finals in 2011.
Musical concerts have been performed at Wembley by George Michael, Muse, Metallica, Foo Fighters and Madonna. The Concert for Diana, a charity memorial concert ten years after the death of the Princess of Wales, and the charity concert ...[more]
The West End contains many of London's tourist attractions, businesses and of course theatres. It has several public squares such as Trafalgar Square, and many circuses on the busy roads. The entertainment district centres around Leicester Square and Covent Garden while the shopping district is based around Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Bond Street.
It has always been an area of London which was favoured by the rich as it was conveniently upwind of the smoke created by the crowded City of L...[more]
West Hampstead in the 19th century was a small village better known as West End. During the late part of the 19th century a railway line was built in the area, and the surrounding area that was predominantly used as farmland became used for housing estates.
West Hampstead enjoys the reputation for being slightly up-market and so has a mixture of shops, cafes and restaurants to reflect this. The area is also popular for its nightlife and attracts locals and many people from the surrounding nort...[more]
The area of Westminster was named after the West Minster Abbey, or monastery, and has traditionally been the location of British government since the 11th century. The area encompasses many of London's oldest and most famous buildings, including Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. London is actually two cities - the City of London to the east developed into the financial centre of modern London and a political and cultural centre developed at ...[more]
A Gothic masterpiece of the 13th to 16th centuries, Westminster Abbey is a unique display of British history. It holds the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the tombs of kings and queens, and numerous memorials to statesmen, poets, scientists, warriors and musicians. Today it is still a church dedicated to regular worship and to the celebration of great events in the life of the nation. Neither a cathedral nor a parish church, Westminster Abbey is a “Royal Peculiar” under the jurisdiction of t...[more]
Westminster Bridge is the only Thames Bridge to span seven arches and is the oldest in the central area of the river. Designed by Thomas Page, the Gothic detailing is by Charles Barry who designed the Palace of Westminster. It is 252 metres long and 26 metres wide, and was opened in 1862. It is open to road and foot traffic. When it was first constructed it included a pair of 2 metre wide tramways, but the tracks were removed in 1952.
The bridge is painted mainly green to match the leather sea...[more]
Opened in 1903, Westminster Cathedral is the spiritual home of Catholics in England and Wales and the largest Roman Catholic church in those two countries. Built on the former site of the Tothill Fields Bridewell prison, construction began in 1895.
It was consecrated in 1910, with the delay due to the fact that the laws of the Catholic church stipulate that the consecration ceremony cannot take place until the building is finished both externally and internally and the building must be free of ...[more]
Whitehall is the wide street stretching from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament. It is difficult to imagine that 200 years ago it was a narrower, residential road with terraced houses. Today, it is where many government offices are located. In fact the term Whitehall is often used to refer to the government in general.
Whitehall was originally the street that ran up to the front of the Palace of Whitehall which occupied the area before it was virtually destroyed by fire in 1698. The...[more]
One of the oldest pubs in London Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was rebuilt shortly after the Great Fire of 1666. There has been a pub at the location since 1538.
The entrance, in an unassuming alley of Fleet Street, lists the reign of 15 monarchs through which the pub has survived. Some of the wood paneling in the pub could be original and the vaulted cellars are thought to belong to a 13th century Carmelite Monastery. There are numerous gloomy bars and rooms and an open fireplace in the winter.
O...[more]
Ye Olde Cock Tavern is a public house dating back to the 17th century whose customers have included Samuel Pepys, Alfred Tennyson and Charles Dickens.
Rebuilt in the 1880's and moved across the road to make way for the Bank of England the pub suffered a major fire in 1990 destroying many original ornaments and document - it has since been restored. ...[more]
The 1996 bombing of the Docklands area ended a two year ceasefire by the IRA and caused significant damage to parts of the East London's financial sector.
The bomb consisted of a half tonne of explosives made from ammonium nitrate fertilizer and fuel-oil and was hidden in a lorry parked near the South Quay Station at a crucial intersection. A phone tip off allowed the area to be evacuated, but two employees of a local newsagents were unable to leave in time, and were killed. Despite the evacu...[more]
2 Willow Road was a designed by architect Ernő Goldfinger who was a Hungarian-born architect and designer of furniture, and a key member of the architectural Modern Movement.
The house is in the centre of 3 terraced houses built in 1938 and all 3 of the terraces were built in concrete and were faced in red brick. The construction was widely opposed as it required the demolition of a number of cottages that occupied the area. Among the supports who opposed the demolition was Ian Flemming, the n...[more]
Aldersgate was a gate in the London Wall. Rebuilt in 1617 and damaged in the Great Fire of London it stood until 1761. It gave its name to Aldersgate Street.
The street housed the Bishop of London and his Chapel in the 18th century due to its proximity to St Paul's Cathedral compared to his official residence in Fulham. The church of St Botolph Aldersgate was also on this street which was where John Wesley, founder of the Wesley Methodist Movement, was converted in 1738 as commemorated today b...[more]
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is best known for its Wimbledon Tennis Championships. The Club is situated in Wimbledon and is primarily a private members' tennis club.
It was founded in 1868 as the All England Croquet Club. Shortly afterwards the first tennis championships were played, in 1877, ironically to raise funds for a horse-drawn roller for the croquet lawns. Tennis was a new sport, and serving at that time was underarm. By 1882 it had become the main sport of the club.
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All Saints' Church was designed by Charles Hollis, a local architect, and built between 1821-1823. It was on foundations laid 425 years earlier by the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of St Mary de Graces, who owned the land at that time.
Following the building of the new West India Docks in 1800 and the East India Docks in 1806, the area was quickly populated by the dockyard workers. With the arrival of the wealthier merchants to the thriving area, Poplar became a Parish in its own right, and t...[more]
The Arcola theatre was opened in September 2000 By founder & art director Mehmet Ergen. The theater's aim is the produce high quality productions with social and political references to its local community as well as the general public. Housed in a stunning converted factory in Hackney, Arcola holds the unique position of being supported by established theatre literati as well as young, upwardly mobile innovators
The studio is comprised of a large box space and two smaller studios below this. T...[more]
An incredible 120,000 fans visit the Arsenal Football Club Museum every year. It was rehoused in the Northern Triangle Building in 2006, at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal's home ground.
The Museum is a treasure trove of memorabilia including Charlie George's football shirt from the 1971 FA Cup Final; Michael Thomas's boots from the epic title-deciding match against Liverpool in 1988-89 and Alan Smith's shirt from the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. There is also a custom trophy on show comme...[more]
The original Arsenal Stadium was built in 1913 at Highbury, when Woolwich Arsenal moved from the Manor Ground at Plumstead. Initially the football club leased the land from St John's College of Divinity but bought the stadium outright in 1925. In its time, the stadium hosted matches for England and for the 1948 Olympics, as well as the famous 1966 World heavyweight boxing match between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali, which was won by Ali.
Arsenal always refused to install perimeter fencing and w...[more]
This pub was a favourite of TS Eliot the famous poet. This vast pub was built during the great pub boom of the late 19th century and retains some of the original features which made it a fashionable and modern building of its day.
The grand and highly decorated Flemish Renaissance style exterior, with its 'tourelle' or rounded turret on the corner, shows the wealth and confidence of its owners. The interior was no less impressive. The surviving French embossed and cut glass mirrors at the far e...[more]
Founded in 1824, private gentlemen’s club The Athenaeum only opened its doors to women in 2002. The Athenaeum was designed by Decimus Burton who was just 24 when he received the commission. The large library contains some 80,000 books, and the great staircase has seen many famous figures pass by including 52 Nobel Prize winners. Past illuminaries include: Winston Churchill; Cardinal Basil Hume; Anthony Trollope; Sir Barnes Wallis; Charles Kemble; Walter de la Mare; Lord Palmerston; Sir Arthur...[more]
The distinctive Balfron Tower is a 27-storey high block of flats in Poplar, near the Blackwall Tunnel. It was designed by architect Ernő Goldfinger in 1968 in the typical modern architectural style of the 1960s. Goldfinger was pleased with his design and even moved into Flat 130 for a few months to obtain the opinions of the new residents. Balfron Tower was part of the Brownfield social housing development, which included Carradale House and Glen Kerry House. Despite some calling the building ...[more]
The Bank of England is colloquially known as The Old Lady of Treadneedle Street. It was founded by a Scot, William Paterson, in 1694 and moved to its current location in 1734.
The issue of banknotes has been one of the functions of the bank since its inception. The notes were at first entirely hand-written and then partly printed with a cashier still signing each note by hand. They were not fully printed until 1855 and until the 1930's all notes were “white notes” – that is, they were pr...[more]
The Barbican Estate is a grade II listed residential Estate set over a 35 acre site that was bombed in the war. It was built between 1965 and 1976 and designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon.
The Barbican estate is now 40 acres and home to around 4,000 people living in 2,014 flats. The Estate has won its place as a listed building due to its architectural importance as London's finest example of concrete Brutalist architecture.
There are 13 terrace blocks surrounding a lake and green...[more]
Bayswater is one of the most cosmopolitan areas in west London. The area includes a high Arab population, a Greek community around the Greek Orthodox Church, a Brazilian community and many American residents.
It has two busy high streets; Queensway and Westbourne Grove. As well as many hotels, there are some excellent ethnic restaurants serving the neighbourhoods. Bayswater is popular with celebrities and Claudia Schiffer is known to have a home in the area, amongst others....[more]
Rolling Stones bass guitarist Bill Wyman was born William George Perks on 24 October 1936 in Lewisham Hospital. His parents lived here in what was 38 Miall Road (now demolished and called Miall Walk)....[more]
The Black Museum is a collection of artefacts relating to the world of crime and criminality as well as law enforcement and crime detection. It is based in New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police. The museum is open to any police officer from any of the UK's police forces by written request, but is not open to the public.
The museum was founded in 1948. The original intention was to collate artefacts that would assist the police in their study of criminality, but the publ...[more]
Bloomsbury in central London has come a long way since it was described in the Domesday book in 1086 as an area of vineyards with 'wood for 100 pigs'. Nowadays it is noted for its fine squares, museums, medical and educational establishments and its literary connections with the Bloomsbury Group
The central point of Bloomsbury today is the site of many large hotels which lie between Tavistock Sqaure and Russell Square. These are known as some of the finest squares in the area.
Tavistock Squar...[more]
Bromley Hall, situated on Brunswick Road in Bow, is probably the oldest brick-built house in London. It was built in 1490 by the Holy Trinity Priory, on the even older foundations of the 12th century Lower Bramerley Manor. The Hall was built as an early Tudor Manor House in the London district of Bow. Henry VIII seized the Hall in 1531 as part of his Dissolution of Monasteries, and refurbished it for his own use as a hunting lodge. He decorated it with paintings and rich tapestries which were hu...[more]
The Camden Town area of London is famous for it's markets, as well as an open attitude to popular culture.
The Regents Canals runs through this part of London, and trips on canalboats from Camden Lock have become a popular activity with locals and tourists alike, particularly in the warmer summer season.
The canal used to be an important transport route and large barges would be pulled up the canal by horses. Some of the handrails along the canal bridges show deep groves from the towropes u...[more]
An urban nature reserve in the unlikeliest of places, Camley Street Natural Park sits in the heart of the King's Cross area. It covers 2 acres of land on the banks of Regent's Canal near St Pancras Lack and is a wildlife sanctuary.
Despite its small size, the park offers visitors tours through a number of habitats, including wetlands, meadow and woodlands. The park is run by the London Wildlife Trust.
The area around King's Cross has recently undergone something of a rejuvination and it is hop...[more]
Killed in an accident during construction, a member of the crane crew dressed in green overalls apparently now haunts the 25th floor on which he died.
...[more]
Built from 1827-32 on the site of the former London residence of the Prince Regent, Carlton House, the name Carlton House Terrace in fact refers to two terraced streets in the St James district of London.
The houses which form the terrace have wonderful views of St James’ Park and were created by the great architect John Nash, with input from colleagues including Decimus Burton. Nash deliberately departed from the traditional format for expensive London terraced houses by not including a mews...[more]
Chelsea Bridge is used for road and pedestrian traffic. It is an impressive self-anchored suspension bridge, which comes into its own when night falls, when it is illuminated by numerous footlights.
The original structure was a suspension bridge designed by Thomas Page with construction beginning in 1851 and completed in 1858. A toll was charged to cross the bridge and this charge remained in place until 1879. The current bridge was designed by G Topham Forest and opened in 1937.
Despite its n...[more]
Designed by Herbert Baker and opened in 1933, the Chiswick Bridge is one of the chief road bridges of West London. The bridge links Mortlake and North Sheen on the South side with Chiswick in Hounslow on the North side.
The structure is a reinforced concrete arch bridge, made up of three main spans and two smaller spans and faced with nearly three and a half thousand tons of Portland stone.
Construction of the bridge, which is 185 metres in length and 21 metres in width, took place between 193...[more]
Clapham is popular with 20-somethings who move there after university attracted by its mix of green space and lively night life in its many bars and restaurants.
Clapham has an entry in the 11th century Domesday Book and probably dates back to Anglo-Saxon times. Its name comes from the old English words 'clopp' and 'ham' which means an enclosure near a hill. The area began to be developed in the late 17th century and grand merchant houses were built in the Old Town and around Clapham Common. ...[more]
The Criterion theatre forms part of the famous 'west end' theaters in London and is a grade II listed building with a capacity of 588.
In 1870 a competition was held for the design of the site, then a 17th century posting Inn. Thomas Veriety was the winner and was asked to design the concert hall in the basement and also a restaurant, dinning rooms and the ballroom.
The original plan of building a concert hall was changed during the early stages of construction to become a theatre rather tha...[more]
A series of sculptures set in ornamental gardens in Sydenham Hill, south London, the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are now totally discredited as accurate dinosaur models but are nevertheless an enjoyable sight for visitors to London.
The sculptures were commissioned in 1852 and unveiled in 1854. They were the first dinosaur sculptures in the world, predating the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species by six years.
The sculptures were commissioned as part of a project to develop the grou...[more]
Named after the huge glass and iron structure that hosted the Great Exhibition in 1851 and was moved to the area in 1854, Crystal Palace is also famous for such diverse attributes as fibreglass dinosaurs and ring-necked parakeets.
The area takes its name from the Crystal Palace, which was constructed to house the Great Exhibition in 1851, a celebration of Britain's scientific and engineering contributions to the world during the industrial revolution. In 1854 the structure was moved to the area...[more]
This West End institution was built in 1890 and leased by a retired Dutch sea captain who saw a gap in the market for an oyster bar. The place quickly became a meeting point for passing Netherlanders, and was a regular haunt of the exiled Dutch Resistance during World War II. In 1959 it was renamed De Hems in honour of the Captain and has stuck to its Dutch identity to this day.
During the early 1960s this pub became the watering hole for British music business. Journalists, managers, agents a...[more]
Dulwich Picture Gallery was the world's first purpose-built public art gallery. It was built in 1817 upon the death of the collector, Sir Francis Bourgeois, who left £2,000 for architect Sir John Soames to create a purpose-built gallery. Soames designed the gallery with overhead skylights to illuminate the paintings, and this idea has influenced art gallery designs ever since.
The famous collection of paintings was collected by Sir Francis Bourgeois and his partner, Noel Desenfans, for the Kin...[more]
Durham House, near the Strand, was historically the London residence of the Biship of Durham.
The house was built around 1345 by Bishop Thomas Hatfield. It had a large chapel and an impressive, high-ceilinged entrance hall. On the Strand side there was a courtyard and private apartments overlooked the River Thames. The residence was often used by the nobility, including Henry IV, his son Henry, (later Henry V), and their royal retinues.
The house was church property from its inception until Bi...[more]
Built by the East India Dock Company in 1803, the East India Docks were designed to facilitate trade with the Indian subcontinent and China: chiefly good such as spices, indigo, silk and Persian carpets. This was a vastly popular area: the tea trade alone was worth some £30 million a year.
The docks were set-up after the successful creation of the West India Docks in 1802 and were based on the site of the pre-existing Brunswick Docks. They could handle East Indian Company ships of up to 1000 ...[more]
Eaton Square in Belgravia has a reputation as an exclusive address in London. Together with Belgrave Square and Chester Square it was built in 1826 to 1855 by Thomas Cubitt for the Grosvenor Estate. It is arranged around six private gardens and was named after Eaton Hall in Cheshire, home of the landowners, the Dukes of Westminster. The present Duke of Westminster has his own London home in the square
The regular terraced buildings are wide, serene and regal. They have period stucco facades, w...[more]
When this station is closed people say that you can hear the steps of an invisible runner, strange tappings and doors being thrown open. What follows is a testimony from someone on the BBC's h2g2 (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) online encyclopedia - a tube driver on the London Underground. He's actually seen the ghost but didn't appear to be all that impressed:
"Twas around six of the evening at a Bakerloo line Underground Station - about a week ago. I was in pursuit of my duties as an emplo...[more]
The Thames Clipper commuter service departs from the Embankment Pier. It goes first west to Waterloo Pier and then east to Q.E.2 Pier and the O2 building. There are also many local cruises which operate from the pier at peak times. ...[more]
The Elephant and Castle has witnessed dramatic changes in recent times, just three hundred years ago the area was sparsely populated. The area has always been an important traffic junction and was once known as 'the Piccadilly of South London'.
In the early 1960's the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre was built, the first of its kind in Europe.
It was about this time that London's 'best animal-based' giant shopping centre-located statue was borne. This fantastic statue has now been described...[more]
The Emirates stadium has been home to Arsenal football club since it opened in July 2006. The stadium is commonly known as 'the Emirates' as has a capacity of 60,355. This puts it as the 5th largest stadium in the UK. The Emirates stadium takes is name from Emirates airlines and is contracted to be officially named as such for at least 15 years thanks to a £100 million sponsorship deal between Emirates and Arsenal FC.
The Emirates stadium cost £430 million to build , and Sir Robert McAlpine w...[more]
The Empire has been a theatre, a ballet venue and was the site of the first commercial film projection in the UK.
The Empire Theatre opened in 1884 as a venue for variety shows and ballet. It had a capacity of about 2,000. Hervé, credited with inventing the genre of operetta in Paris, premiered his Diana in 1888 and Cleopatra in 1889 at the theatre.
Auguste and Louis Lumière used the venue to show the first commercial projected film in 1896 - it ran for 18 months.
After hosting 'Lady Be Go...[more]
The name was inspired by the Empire State Building as well as the Empress Hall it replaced on the site. It was built in 1961 with 28 floors and loomed rather depressingly over Hammersmith and Fulham until a 2003 renovation smartened it up substantially. Three floors were added to give it a height of 117m as well as a private revolving bar on the top floor called 'Orbit'.
The building was designed for use by the Admirality - it was intended to look like the bow of a warship from any angle. Its...[more]
The Fan Museum opened in 1991, and was the first museum dedicated to the study and appreciation of hand held fans.
The collection includes over 4,000 fans and similar objects, and also hosts travelling temporary exhibitions. The collection focuses on 18th and 19h century fans and is also a conservational space for older fans.
As well as galleries, displays, and a reference library, the museum contains an education centre about the history, use and craft of fans and holds fan making classes.
...[more]
Created to bring the history of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the Royal Arsenal to life, "Firepower" is a refreshingly different military museum in Woolwich.
The original aim of the museum was to preserve Royal Artillery history but today's museum has evolved beyond this remit and attractions include interactive exhibits, a cinema and a weapons gallery. Together, these attractions tell the story of the 2 million men and women who have served in the Royal Artillery since its foundation.
T...[more]
Fitzrovia derives it's name after the Fitzroy tavern in the area which in turn was named after Charles Fitzroy, the Baron Southampton who first developed the area in the 1700's.
While many other residential areas nearby were developed by individual wealthy landlords, and feature well organized, straight roads, Fitzrovia was formed by many minor landowners and has a more suburban feel.
In the 1800's the area saw many Chartist protests and meetings, some of which were atttended by Karl Marx.
...[more]
The Florence Nightingale Museum is based at St Thomas' Hospital and is open to the public every day of the week. Florence Nightingale is famous around the world for her influence on modern nursing and the exhibition tells the story of her life and work. It includes personal artefacts, a life-size reconstruction of a Crimean ward scene and an audio-visual presentation. All of which reveal how she grew from a serious and solitary child to an internationally recognised figure. Complimentary guided...[more]
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (commonly known as the Foreign Office) was created in 1968 as the most recent merger between departments which have constantly changed as the British Empire has condensed. The department is responsible for promoting and protecting British interests abroad, and in 2006 created a list of priorities to be used as a framework for UK activities oversees, and covered issues such as 'making the world safer from global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction' 'Red...[more]
Fulham Palace is owned by the Church of England. It was the country home of the Bishops of London from the 11th century until 1975. It is currently a museum with an extensive botanical garden and is managed by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, along with the Fulham Palace Trust. Admission to the Palace museum is free and the grounds are open from dawn to dusk daily. The museum displays paintings from the Palace, stained glass, carvings and the bishop's cope. These are on display in ...[more]
Golden Square was probably designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1670's and quickly became the political and ambassadorial district of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Today, Absolute Radio is based at No. 1 Golden Square and the square is also the home to the London office of M & C Saatchi.
The Square features in Charles Dickens' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, as where Ralph Nickleby lives in a spacious house and has his "establishment". Dickens describes the Golden ...[more]
If you ever happen to visit Paddington Station, take a stroll along Platform 1 to see the Great Western Railway War Memorial. This monument commemorates the lives of the employees of the Great Western Railway who died during World War I.
The main part of the monument is a large bronze statue depicting a First World War soldier dressed in battle clothes and wearing a helmet, scarf and greatcoat. Poignantly, the soldier is reading a letter from home. The stonework depicts the emblems of the Roy...[more]
The Greenwich Visitor Centre is part of the former Greenwich Hospital and provides an exhibition of the history and attractions on the Greenwich World Heritage Site. The buildings were part of the Old Royal Naval College, and the Visitor Centre is in the Pepys Building, near the famous Cutty Sark.
This free exhibition tells the history of Greenwich, first as the site of a royal residence, and then as the famous naval college and maritime centre.
Exhibits cover the history of the Palace of Pla...[more]
The first Hammersmith Bridge was sanctioned by Parliament in 1824 to join Barnes, on the south of the River Thames, with Hammersmith on the north side. This was the first suspension bridge over the Thames and was designed by William Tierney Clark.
1n 1870 more than 11,000 people crowded onto the bridge to watch the Oxford-Cambridge boat race pass by, which greatly alarmed the owners. In 1884 a temporary bridge was erected whilst a replacement bridge was constructed.
The current suspension bri...[more]
The area of Hampstead takes it's name from the Anglo Saxon terms meaning 'settlement near pigs', and while the rural feeling is still evident in the trees and parklands in the area, it has been developed into one of London's most affluent neighbourhoods.
Hampstead was first developed in the early 18th century when the medicinal value of it's spring waters made it a popular spa resort. The spa itself was knocked down in 1882, but luxury residences began to be built in the area, some of whic...[more]
Harringay Arena was once a popular and well-used arena, purpose built for ice-hockey. It had a wooden floor which covered the ice, for boxing matches. It was designed by Dr Oscar Faber as an octagonal-shaped building, reminiscent of the Toronto maple Leaf gardens arena. It was built in just 8 months during 1936. The huge steel roof was built by Dorman Long and Co, pioneers of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and more recently the new Wembley Stadium.
Harringay Arena had a seating capacity for 10,000 s...[more]
Harringay was a popular venue for greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway from 1927 until its closure in 1987.
The stadium was founded by the politician and entrepreneur Brigadier-General Alfred Critchley, who, after witnessing his valet lose huge amounts of money betting on horses, noted in his autobiography that grehound racing might be a cheaper alternative for the lower classes.
The stadium held up to 50,000 people, with 3,000 seats and terraced grounds as standing space for the rest.
...[more]
187 Dollis Hill may be an unlikely setting for a Clive Barker horror yarn, but this was the house that became the gateway to hell, in the classic film 'Hellraiser' (1987). In the film is was called 66 Lodovico Street....[more]
Highbury was built in 1271 to replace the decaying manor of Tolentone. As the second house was built on the hill it was named Highbury.
Records show that during the construction of the new manor several tiles were found which were believed to have dated to Roman times, and indicated that the hill may have served as a garrison during summer months.
It was owned by the Priory of St John of Jerusalem also referred to as the Knights Hospitallers in England. The organization was led by a wealth...[more]
This Hilton hotel overlooks Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace gardens. The Queen opposed its construction in the early 1960s because of the intrusion and has never attending any functions held at the hotel.
It is perhaps most famous for hosting a meeting in 1968 between The Beatles and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Subsequently they joined him in Uttar Pradesh, India to meditate.
It has 28 storeys, 450 rooms and is 101 metres tall. The Park Lane Hilton is one of several other Hilton hotels in Lond...[more]
Hogarth's House in as 18th century home that was once residence to William Hogarth, who was a famous English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist.
The House operated as Hogarths country retreat from 1749 until his death in 1764. Hogarth also had a town house in Leicester square, central London, but it was demolished in 1870. Although to have a property in Chiswick now may not be seen as a country retreat, in the 18th century Chiswick was a large villa...[more]
38 Aubrey Walk is where the late pop icon Dusty Springfield lived from 1968 to 1972. Dusty died of breast cancer in March 1999 at the age of 59. The singer was known as the white Queen of Soul, and was most famous for her 1960s hits Son of A Preacher Man, I Only Want To Be With You and You Don't Have To Say You Love Me. Her beehive hairdo and panda eye make-up made her instantly recognisable in both the UK and US where she had a string of top ten hits. Her first single success came in 1964 with ...[more]
3 Paradise Row, is the house that the first Jewish boxing champion lived in from 1788 - the legendary Daniel Mendoza. The actor Peter Sellers was a descendant of Dan Mendoza. Prints of the boxer can be seen on Inspector Clouseau’s wall in the Pink Panther films.
Daniel Mendoza was an English prizefighter, who was boxing champion of England from 1792-95. He was a Sephardic Jew, and is sometimes called the father of scientific boxing. Before Mendoza, boxers generally stood still and merely swap...[more]
Horse Guards was designed in the Palladian style by William Kent. After Whitehall Palace was destroyed by fire in 1698 this Grade I listed building was built on the site of the Old Guard house of the palace in 1753.
To the rear, the palace’s ‘tiltyard’, an enclosed courtyard for jousting popular with Henry VIII, became the Horse Guards Parade. This area has been used for a variety of reviews, parades and other ceremonies and is the site of the annual Trooping the Colour, which commemorat...[more]
It was here in room 507 that Jimi Hendrix overdosed and died at the Samarkand Hotel on September 18th 1970. Hendrix, one of the stars of the recent Isle of Wight pop festival, whose blatant sexuality on stage made him the centre of countless controversies, had been found by his beautiful West German girlfriend in a coma in bed at her hotel.
Twenty-three-year-old Monica Danneman called an ambulance and but it is disputed whether he dies prior to the ambulance arriving or en route.
Hendrix had b...[more]
Hoxton is the area to the north of the City of London and is often linked with Shoreditch and jointly called Hoxditch. Originally a marshy area of fields, residents would harrass citizens who walked across the area, damaging the fields. Moated manor houses were built in the area during Tudor times, for ambassadors and courtiers to enjoy the country air. The Portuguese ambassador drew many Catholics to his private chapel where forbidden mass was secretly celebrated. One resident, Sir Thomas Tresh...[more]
The Hungerford Bridge is the central bridge of a modern three-part structure spanning the Thames and leading from Royal Festival Hall on the south side to Charing Cross station on the north side.
The bridge is a steel-truss railway bridge and is often known as Charing Cross Bridge as it carries trains running to and from that terminus. The two flanking footbridges were added in 2002 and are properly known as the Golden Jubilee Bridges, but are more commonly known as the Hungerford Footbridges.
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Island gardens is a beautiful public park with stunning views up, down and across the river . Situated on the river Thames it offers superb cross river views of the classical buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, the national Maritime museum with the glorious Greenwich park as a backdrop. The Island gardens used to enjoy a fantastic view of the famous ship, the Cutty Sark, but this is now under restoration due to a fire in May 2007.
The painting by Canaletto 'Greenwich Hospital from the N...[more]
The Isle of Dogs is on record as far back as 1588. Its name may be derived from the Isle of Ducks, or named after the greyhounds of Edward III. In fact there are several possibilities relating to the ancient land use for dogs, and no one can be sure which is the true origin of its name.
The Isle of Dogs is in a huge loop of the River Thames, with two bridges linking the island to the east and west entrances of the West India Docks. It had a brief moment of fame when in 1970 it declared itself ...[more]
The Jamaica Wine House is the site of the first coffee house in London. It is now a pub and is set within a labyrinth of medieval courts and alleys in the City of London. It has historic links with the sugar trade and slave plantations of the West Indies and Turkey. There is a plaque on the wall which reads 'Here stood the first London Coffee house at the sign of the Pasqual Rosee's Head 1652.'
Rosee was a manservant brought to London from Ottoman Smyrna by his former employer, Mr Daniel Edwar...[more]
Specialising in every kind of umbrella, walking stick, mace and cane imaginable. Walking inside 'James Smith & Sons' provokes a feeling akin to stepping back in time.
Whether you want to celebrate the great British Summer, want an umbrella that will last forever, or just fancy taking in a historic jewel in London's retail crown...this is the place....[more]
Kennington is best known as the location of England's most famous cricket stadium, The Oval. The area is logged in the Domesday Book under the name Chenintune, and the records in that first census state that the land was owned by Teodric the Goldsmith and contained: 1 hide and 3 virgates; 3 ploughs, 4 acres (16,000 m2) of meadow. The value of which was said to total three pounds.
In 1337 Edward III gave the grounds to his eldest son, Edward "the Black Prince" who built a grand royal palace o...[more]
Lambeth Bridge was opened in 1932 by King George V. It is defined by its red paint which is the same colour as the benches in the in the House of Lords, unlike the green paint used on Westminitser Bridge which is the same colour of the benches in the House of Commons.
At the southern end of the bridge is Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canturbury whilst over the other side, by Horseferry Road, the site of an old ferry across the Thames, is the top secret Headquarters...[more]
These pubs were originally one building, a Victorian workhouse. They were separated into two via a large underground tunnel. This is filled in now but you can still see where it used to be. The building was the site of a glassblower’s at one stage and the Leicester Arms was in fact the children's play area of the workhouse....[more]
The Lewisham rail crash was the third worst rail crash in the UK. It occurred in December 1957 just outside the St Johns railway station, when the Cannon Street to Ramsgate Express, known as the "Man of Kent" ran into the Charing Cross to Hayes train. The train carriages were deflected into an overbridge, which collapsed onto the carriages causing a terrible death toll. In total 90 people died and 173 were injured. It was particularly devastating as it was the evening rush hour. The train was pa...[more]
Leyton Cricket Ground has been the hallowed turf of cricket for over 200 years. It was the headquarters of the Essex County Cricket Club from 1886 to 1933, and again from 1957-1977.
The current pavilion was built in 1886 and it is still used at the grounds by local schools who also use the sports fields.
In 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes of Yorkshire made a world record first class partnership with a wicket of 555. That remained a record until 1945 for any wicket. It was only in 1976...[more]
Limehouse Studios was a working television studio complex that ran from 1983 to 1989. Like many areas of Canary Wharf, and indeed London in general, the site is built upon layers of history. The building started life as a banana and rum warehouse before being converted into two studios, production areas and post production offices.
The studios were built using a high tech architectural design placing the studios inside concrete shells that rested on giant spring mechanisms to reduce vibra...[more]
Linley Sambourne House is now open as a museum and served as the home of renowned Victorian punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne and is a unique example of a late Victorian townhouse still intact from that era.
Sambourne lived with his family in the Kensington town house from 1874 until his death in 1910. The house was then past to his wife Marion who was past in 1914 and was inherited by their son Roy. Roy kept the house largely unchanged and retained almost all of the furniture and decora...[more]
The London Amora generated a buzz when it opened in Picadilly Circus in 2007. It is designed to educate people about every aspect of a healthy relationship and is the world's first touring visitor attraction to explore the themes of love, relationships and sex.
The exhibit has nine distinct areas, each dealing with a different aspect of these core themes and includes all forms of media, including animatronics.
The displays are designed to encourage communication and openness about issues w...[more]
A building with a varied history, The London Charterhouse has functioned as a monastery, an aristocratic residence, a hospital, a school and, today, a charitable home for male pensioners.
The Charterhouse was established in 1371 in Smithfield, to the north west of the City of London. Its site was close to a 1348 plague pit in which the bodies of the victims were buried. It was established as a Carthusian monastery, and the renowned scholar and politician Thomas More visited for spiritual recupe...[more]
The Docklands in East London were part of the Port of London, at one time the world's largest port. With the decline of the Port in the late 20th century the area has been redeveloped as a residential and commercial centre.
Docklands is now a sought-after area in which to live and work. Warehouses have been converted into apartments, and the docks are used for recreational boat marinas and watersports centres. There is some friction between the upmarket new communities and the original residen...[more]
The London Docklands Arena was a surprisingly unsuccessful indoor arena and exhibition centre, first opened in 1989. It was situated on the Isle of Dogs, in the London Docklands. It was home to the London Knights ice hockey team, the London Towers basketball team and the Greater London Leopards basketball team. It had a seating capacity for up to 12,500 spectators.
Despite a £10 million refit in 1998, it failed to become a success and closed in 2005. Its main problem was a lack of transport to...[more]
The London Gas Museum housed a gas-powered radio and other gas related exhibits and documented the industry from the past two hundred years.
Since the museum's closure the exhibits have been in the care of The National Gas Museum Trust, who may create a permanent display or use them in other gas museums in Britain....[more]
This was the site of the London Planetarium. Opened in 1958 on the site of an old bombed out cinema an 18m diameter dome allowed 330 people to better understand the night sky and the universe. One of the world's first digital systems was installed at a cost of £4.5m in 1995 which, along with their lectures and Planetarium staff, helped teach astronomy students from University College London as well as enchanting the public.
The Planetarium was rebranded by its owners Madame Tussaud's in 2006 ...[more]
The London Stock Exchage is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. It was founded in 180, but the trading of shares began much earlier in history.
The first shares were sold to raise money for two major voyages. The first was the Muscovy Company's project to reach China via the White Sea north of Russia. The second, better known voyage, was the East India Company's voyage to India and the East. The companies sold shares to merchants who then had a share in any profits, much the same ...[more]
Set within a stone surround and iron grill on Cannon Street in the bustling City of London many of the thousands of pedestrians who pass the London Stone each day may be unaware of its long and fascinating history.
The stone is said to be the place from which the Romans measured all the distances in Britannia. For this reason, it was recognised for hundreds of years as the heart of the City of London. Deals were struck and oaths sworn by the stone, as a signifier of authority.
In 1450, Jack Ca...[more]
London Waterloo is one of London's major railway interchanges, and also incorporates an underground station and a secondary station, Waterloo East, which offers a regional service to the South East. It handles nearly 170 million passengers per year, more than any other UK station, which makes it the second busiest station in Europe, after Paris' Gard du Nord.
The station was first opened in 1848 by the London and South Western Railway. In its early days it was perhaps a little strangely organis...[more]
Madame JoJo’s is an internationally renowned entertainment venue in London’s Soho, combining cabaret, club nights and live performance. Madame JoJo’s has been the venue of choice for The Scissor Sisters, Marc Almond, Siouxsie Sioux, Bloc Party, and The Kings Of Leon.
The kitsch style interiors with crimson velvet banquette seating, gilded art-deco balustrades make it a popular venue for filming, high profile celebrity / corporate events and live showcases. It featured in the November 2005...[more]
Marlborough House was donated by Queen Elizabeth II for use as a Commonwealth centre in 1953. Today, it is a venue for international conferences and summit meetings.
Originally, Marlborough House was designed by Sir Christoper Wren as a town house for the Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, and completed in 1711. The Dukes of Marlborough occupied the house until 1817, after which it was used by members of the Royal Family as their London residence until 1861.
Prince Albert then arranged f...[more]
Marylebone Station is both a National Railway and an Underground Station situated in central London. Originally designed to have 10 platforms, cost cutting exercises meant that it opened in 1899 with just 4 platforms and the north wall was completely omitted. It is the smallest and youngest of London's mainline stations. Passenger traffic initially was low, as trains ran through rural routes and had difficulty competing with the lucrative Intercity passenger business. In the 1980s it received a ...[more]
Based at Thames House since 1995, Britain’s security service is known as MI5 which stands for Military Intelligence, Section 5. The civil service commonly refer to it as Box 500 - its official wartime address of PO Box 500.
As the UK’s counter-intelligence and security agency it handles the country’s internal security although it does have a limited overseas role to support its aims. The scope of its work includes protecting British parliamentary democracy and economic interests, count...[more]
M15, the Security Service, has its headquarters at Thames House, a Grade II listed building overlooking Lambeth Bridge, a few hundred yards south of the Houses of Parliament on the north bank of the Thames. The Secret Intelligence Service's distinctive "ziggurat" building at Vauxhall Cross, which is often mistaken for the Security Service's headquarters, is located on the other side of the Thames near Vauxhall Bridge.
Thames House was designed by Sir Frank Baines, the Principal Architect of th...[more]
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The Secret Service Bureau was founded in 1909 as a joint initiative of the Admiralty and the War Office to control intelligence services in the U.K and abroad. It eventually split into naval and army sections specialising in foreign and internal espionage.
At the beginning of World War One the foreign section became Military Intelligence Section 6 or MI6. The first director, Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith Cumming, signed himself with a capital"C" in green ink which was...[more]
The Millbank Tower was built in 1963 for Vickers, a famous name in British engineering, and was originally called the Vickers Tower.
The 118 metre high skyscraper boasts impressive office spaces with exorbitant rental fees to go with it.
Tenants have included the United Nations, as well as both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
The tower's many amenities include a large lecture theatre and meeting spaces, making it ideal for large conferences or big campaigns, and both politica...[more]
As a legendary venue for clubbers the world over, the Ministry of Sound was also home to the 'Spice Girls' in their 1997 film 'Spiceworld: The Movie'. ...[more]
The cellars of this pub are connected to an old tunnel used by prisoners to escape from the Millbank Penitentiary, to avoid being deported to Australia. It is said to be haunted by those who didn't make it out.
...[more]
Mount Street gardens is a public garden of Mount St. in the Mayfair area of London. They were created in 1889 after a redevelopment of the area. The gardens were a former burial ground of St. Georges church in Hanover Square. They were named after the Mount field which was an area with a fortification dating from the English civil war that was called Oliver's Mount.
In 1854 the burial ground was closed as an act of parliament was passed where by burial grounds in central London were closed due...[more]
From the rugby-obsessive to the casual enthusiast, the World Rugby Museum provides something for everyone who has ever felt the lure of the scrum.
The museum is based at Tiwckenham Stadium, the home of the English national Rugby Union team. It was established in 1996.
The name of the museum reflects the fact that the museum is very much dedicated to world rugby and not just the English game. The history of the sport is recounted through a variety of traditional and interactive displays. The mu...[more]
The pub dates back to the early 19th century when the huge houses of Belgravia were built. This mews was where the horses and carriages were kept. The pub catered to the footmen and stable-hands who lived on-site to care for the horses.
...[more]
The Nell of Old Drury is one of the oldest pubs in Covent Garden and has undergone a number of incarnations.
An underground tunnel connects the pub and the Theatre Royal opposite which was allegedly used by Charles II when visiting Nell Gynne during the late 1600s.
The pub was originally called the Lamb but was re-named The Sir John Falstaff by the Victorians. During this period, pubs were often used as exhibition venues for what was considering exotic at the time. The Sir John Falstaff was ho...[more]
With its stiking central column, glass atrium and horizontal stripes, No 1 Poultry is a building that divides architecture critics and the public alike. The building houses office space and retail outlets and is topped by the Coq d'Argent restaurant where diners and drinkers can enjoy lovely rooftop gardens and stunning views.
The building was designed by James Stirling and completed after his death by his architectural partner Michael Wilford. It is one of the best examples of postmodernist ar...[more]
The Odeon is the largest single screen cinema in the UK and one of the few with its circle and stalls remaining intact. Its hard to miss as its black polished granite facade and 37m high tower dominates Leicester Square - it holds many European and World film premieres.
A rather misguided renovation in 1967 spoiled some wonderfully camp details - when the cinema opened in 1937 it had a magnificent art-deco interior with a ribbed ceiling, a sculpture of two naked nymphs leaping towards the sc...[more]
The Truman Brewery was one of London and indeed Britain's most succesful brewing houses.
The Truman family are recorded as entering the trade in 1666 when Joseph Truman joined William Bicknall's Brewhouse in Brick Lane. Joseph later became manager and the Truman family expanded the business to become the largest brewery in London in the 18th century.
In the mid 1700's, Huguenot immigrants from France introduced the use of fermented hops to England, and the Truman brewery was quick to use ...[more]
For nearly 30 years, this house at 51 Alexandra Park Road was the unofficial embassy and headquarters of the ANC in the UK and home to Oliver Tambo. The exiled leader of the African National Congress, he fled to the UK from South Africa in 1960 to run the ANC abroad. He was praised by Nelson Mandela as the anti-apartheid icon's closest friend and comrade for over five decades....[more]
This is the Stratford site of the London Olympic Stadium which will be the centrepiece of the 2012 Summer Olympics. It will have a capacity for the Games of approximately 80,000 and will house the athletics events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.
The consortium behind the stadium, prosaically entitled "Team Stadium" were also the team behind the new Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal FC, and the Olympic stadium for the 2000 Sydney Games.
The design was released and w...[more]
The original Wembley Stadium opened in 1923 and was demolished in 2003. It was built by Sir Robert McAlpine and was first known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium after the event it was created to house. Although originally planned to be destroyed when the exhibition was over, it was described as the world's greatest sporting arena of it's day, and allowed to remain open for other sporting events.
The FA Cup final between the Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United was the first event to b...[more]
At the height of its importance in 1611 the Palace of Whitehall hosted what is believed to be the first known performance of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. The palace, covering some 23 acres, and with more than 1,500 rooms, was the largest palace in Europe and the main residence of English monarchs in London since 1049 until 1698 when all except Inigo Jones's Banqueting House and the Whitehall and Holbein gates, were destroyed by fire.
The palace, which was more like a small and excl...[more]
Edwin Cross was the last known commoner to exercise the right of letting small cattle (goats) graze on Plumstead Common and neighbouring Woolwich Common in the 1970s.
Substantial remains of the Old Mill still stand and have been incorporated into the public house of the same name....[more]
In the late 1960s a poltergeist was blamed for pushing a pregnant woman down the staircase at a home on Fairlop Road - fortunately her unborn child was unhurt. The presence also opened drawn curtains and close doors, while one witness heard a woman sobbing on the landing.
...[more]
The tall black chimneys of Portcullis House are a striking example of London's easy and respectful integration of bold new architecture with traditional and historic buildings. Built in 1992 as office space for Members of Parliament and their staff, the building also incorporates Westminster tube station, which was added as part of London Underground's Jubilee Line extension project.
A great feat of engineering, the project began with the lowering and reinforcement of the existing District Line...[more]
The Prince Charles Cinima is an independent cinema with cult status. It was built in 1961 and operated as a porn cinema for a short time showing " Emanuelle " and "Caligula". It was then used to show cult, arthouse and classic films notably Quintin Tarantino films. It is said to be his favourite cinema and has a bar named after him. It also has a toilet cubicle named after another famous art film director Kevin Smith. The theatre also famously hosted "Trigger Happy T.V". The host presenter Dom J...[more]
The PS Tattershall Castle is a 1934 steamer which is now a floating pub and restaurant. It served originally as a passenger ferry on the River Humber, transporting passengers between Hull and New Holland. A ferry service had existed in that spot since Roman times. In WW2 the steamer was used to tether barrage balloons. Finally, in 1981, it was made redundant with the opening of the Humber Bridge. It was towed to London and refitted as a restaurant costing several million pounds. A sister Humber ...[more]
What was just a quaint, traditional English pub in Mayfair was thrust into the limelight in early 2008 after Madonna and Guy Ritchie were rumoured to have bought it.
Built in the 1750's, it is the second oldest pub in Mayfair. It was previously owned by close friend Greg Foreman, the son of notorious former London gangster Brown Bread Fred, Freddie Foreman.
...[more]
Putney Bridge links Putney, on the south side of the River Thames, with Fulham on the north side. The bridge was designed by Sir Jacob Ackworth, constructed by carpenter Thomas Phillips and was opened in 1729. It was the only bridge between London Bridge and Kingston Bridge at that time and it had tolls at either end.
The necessity for a bridge was apparent as the Prince of Wales was often inconvenienced by the ferry, after returning from hunting in Richmond Park. He asked Sir Robert Walpole, c...[more]
A successful rowing club based at Kew on the River Thames, Putney Town Rowing Club has had a successful history since its founding in 1922.
The club was founded at the Half Moon Hotel in Putney and was originally based under theneath the Duke's Head pub, moving in 1986 to a one-story boathouse in Kew. When arsonists burnt down the boathouse in 1992 club members raised funds (helped along by funding from the football pools) to create a new, purpose-built facility. This was finished in 1995 and b...[more]
Antony Gormley's Quantum Cloud was commissioned for a site next to the Millennium Dome in London. At 30 metres high, it is Gormley's tallest sculpture to date. It is constructed from a collection of tetrahedral units made from 1.5m long sections of steel. The steel sections were arranged using a computer model with a random algorithm starting from points on the surface of an enlarged figure based on Gormley's body.
The sculpture was completed in 1999 in time for the opening of the Millennium Do...[more]
The Queen's Theatre forms on of the famous 'west end 'theaters in London. It was officaially opened in Oct 1907 and became a Grade II listed building in June 1972.
The Theatre was designed by W.G.R Spragues to act as a twin to the Gielgud Theatre.
The Queens theatre keeps many of its original Edwardian interior despite having a modern shell on the building. This was due to a rebuild of the exterior due to damage caused by a german bomb in september 1940.
The first play to be produced was Madal...[more]
Railway Fields is the most unlikely setting for a Nature Reserve in the centre of Harringay, North London, but it is surprisingly successful. (Note the different spelling of Harringay, with an 'a' which is an area of London, within the Borough of Haringey with an 'e'). The area was originally a goods yard, back in 1868, for the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway, as it name suggests. It was closed in 1967 as it was no longer needed to store piles of coal.
Haringey Council initially used ...[more]
The body of the Ripper's generally agreed first victim Polly is found in the early hours of Friday, August 31, 1888. She was found still breathing but suffering from multiple wounds & incisions, across from Essex Wharf (warehouse) and Brown and Eagle Wool Warehouse and Schneiders Cap Factory in a gateway entrance to an old stableyard between a board school (to the west) and terrace houses (cottages) belonging to better class tradesmen. An apparition of a glowing woman has been seen here laying i...[more]
The Rivoli Ballroom captures the essence of a former era, when glitter balls, chandeliers and red flock wallpaper were 'de rigeur'. Tastes change, and the Rivoli is now one of London's few surviving ballrooms. It was built in 1913 as the Crofton Park Picture Palace, and became a ballroom in 1957, adding a sprung maple wood dance floor in 1959.
Nowadays it is a live music venue, as well as the home for jive, rock and roll and swing bands and dancers turning back the clock. It is also a popular f...[more]
Rotten Row is a wide pathway which runs along one side of Hyde Park. The path was originally created as a driveway for King William III in the late 1600's as a way for him to travel by horse to and from St James Palace and Kensington Palace.
The track was originally called Route de Roi, which is French of the Kings Path, but was commonly mispronounced and the road became known as Rotten Row.
The road was the first route in Britain to be artificially lit, as William installed 300 oil lamps the...[more]
The royal air force museum was opened in 1972 by her majesty the Queen and is a museum dedicated to aviation and the history of flight.
The Museum is situated on the site of the original London Aerodrome, used for the great Hendon Air Shows between the two World Wars. On its day of opening the museum housed just 36 aircraft but now contain over a hundred and thirty aircraft, artefacts, aviation memorabilia, fine art and photographs covering the history of aviation from early balloon flights to ...[more]
The Royal Arsenal was established in 1671 as the Woolwich Warren, later renamed the Royal Arsenal on the suggestion of King George III. The site was the source of most of Englands ordnance research and production for hundreds of years.
Originally an ordnance storage depot, in 1695 an ammunitions lab was added and in 1717 a gun foundry was established. In the late 1700's prison labourers were used to build a long, brick boundary wall over seven feet high, and in the early 1800's they were emp...[more]
The Royal Artillery Barracks were built between 1776 and 1802. They were used by the RA until July 2007 when the barracks were closed. The Royal Artillery Barracks is famed for having the longest continuous building facade in the UK.
Woolwich was not only home to the Royal Artillery Barracks but was also home to the Royal Arsenal complex which for over 200 years served as the British Government's principal armaments manufacturing facility.
As the barracks are no longer used by the RA the mini...[more]
The Royal Court theatre was opened in september 1888 as the New court theatre. Walter Emden & Bertie Crewe were the original designers and constructed the original building in red brick and an Italianate style. The original theatre could seat 841 people.
the Theatre now runs as a non-commercial theatre and has gained acclaim for its contribution to modern theatre. The English stage company acquired it in 1956 and still runs productions there to this day.
In the early 20th century both Harley ...[more]
The Royal Victoria Dock was opened as the first of the Royal Docks in 1855. It was the first dock to be built to the specifications for steam ships, and it's large size meant that it instantly flourished, as it could dock larger ships than most of the other docks. The dock was also the first to implement the use of hydraulically powered machinery, and to establish a connection with the national railway system, making it the most efficient dock in London.
By the mid 1800's the Royal Victoria...[more]
The Savoy Palace was a grand, noble residence which was destroyed in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Its site now houses the Savoy Theatre and Savoy Hotel. These grand, impressive buildings preserve the name of Savoy, which originated from Peter, Count of Savoy, who received the land in 1246 as a gift from Henry III.
The Savoy Palace was the grandest nobleman's residence in the whole of medieval London. It was in a highly-desirable area, nestling between the City and the village of Charing (now C...[more]
Schomberg House, on the south side of Pall Mall is a Mansion with a colourful history. Its name derives from the 3rd. Duke of Stombery, Meinhardt Schomberg, a Huguenot general in the service of the British crown. He commissioned work on the Mansion in 1694, and it was adapted from Portland House, which in turn has been created by the Countess of Portland by converting two houses into a single residence.
Meinhardt Schomberg's dukedom became extinct on his death in 1719 and the house was subseque...[more]
Seaford House, a four-floor, white stucco building in the exclusive Belgravia district, is one of the grandest and most impressive aristocratic mansions in London. It is a Grade 2-Star listed building, which indicates that it is a building of 'particular architectural or historic interest'.
The house was designed by Philip Hardwick, a celebrated English architect best known for Liverpool's Albert Docks and London's grand, and now sadly demolished, Euston Arch.
The house dates from 1842, when H...[more]
The Seaman's Hospital Society was established in 1821 and operated as a charitable hospital until 1986. It was specifically set up to provide care for Merchant Navy seaman, fishermen and their families. The work continues today at St Thomas Hospital in what is known as the Dreadnought Unit.
The society today funds the Seafarers Benefits Advice Line which is run by Greenwich Citizens Advice Bureau. It also raises funds for seafarers needing nursing and residential care, and it provide hardship g...[more]
This quaint pub is hidden away behind the Royal Courts of Justice. It is one of a handful of local buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1666 and in 2002 celebrated its 400th anniversary with a street party. Behind the smart wooden frontage is a long narrow bar and a small snug at one end, with an open fire which retains many period details.
...[more]
The shade of an old lady haunted one property along Beacontree Road, frequenting the room where her family would keep her locked up. Another presence, this time male, was more dominating; it would materialise during the night and stand over the beds of any females present in the house....[more]
This will be the site of the tallest building in the UK, the Shard of Glass or London Bridge Tower, standing some 310m tall.
Completion is scheduled for May 2012 at a cost of £435m. The architect is Renzo Piano whose most famous project is the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. He faced fierce criticism and had to endure a lengthy public enquiry to gain planing permission. He claims that the slender, spire-like form of the tower will be a positive addition to the London skyline and that its pre...[more]
The Showroom art gallery in the East End of London was formed in 1989. It is part of the community of small art galleries in that area including The Approach, Chisenhale, Interim Art, Matt''s Gallery and Modern Art. The Showroom uniquely presents four shows a year for up and coming artists to have their first solo show over a period of several months. This gives the artists time to develop and be recognized.
Many successful artists gave their first solo show at the Showroom including Mona Ha...[more]
Smithfield was originally called Smooth Field, and was a major livestock market for the area of London. A meat market is still held in the area, making it one of the oldest markets in England.
Every Friday, the market drew farmers and traders looking to buy or sell horses, pigs, cows and oxen. All walks of life were catered for, from fine horses for noblemen to swine for peasants. In 1726, Daniel Defoe called the market "without question, the greatest in the world".
The Bartholomew Fair wa...[more]
Now spilling over with successful, cutting-edge media organisations and prestigious sporting institutions, Soho Square's essential structure dates back to the 1670s when it was one of the London most fashionable addresses.
The square is home to the Football Association (the internationally renowned FA, which governs British football), the film company 20th Century Fox, Bloomsbury Publishing, the showbusiness agents International Creative Management, television production companies including Tig...[more]
Somers Town may only be known by name to the locals who live in that area, but it has many claims to fame. It has been largely influenced by the three mainline London railway stations of King's Cross, St. Pancras and Euston. It was also where a number of historic hospitals once stood, such as the National Temperance Hospital and St Pancras hospital, which in former times was the local Workhouse.
Oakshott Court flats now stands on the site of the first housing in Somers Town, namely the "Polygo...[more]
A passenger from the last westbound tube saw a train pull into South Kensington Station in December 1928. An ear-piercing whistle broke through the night and the passenger spotted a ghostly figure in a reefer jacket and peaked cap hanging from the side of the engine. Both the man and the train then vanished into the tunnel never to be seen again....[more]
The Spaniards Inn was built as a toll-gate inn in 1585. It originally had a pleasure garden with a mound from which visitors could view London and even as far as Windsor Castle. It was sited at the entrance to the Bishop of London's estate, and being just 2 hours from London by coach, it was a frequent haunt of highway men. They would hold up wealthy travelers with the well-known line "Your money or your life".
Dick Turpin is thought to have been a regular customer at the Inn, and his father wa...[more]
Spitalfields derives it's name from a shortened version of the Hospital Fields, as the area was once part of the grounds of the New Hospital of St Mary without Bishopgate, which was founded in 1197. The hospital was one of the largest hospitals in Britain at the time, and was run as a religious charity. The mortuary chapel was recently excavated by archaeologists and is now on display to the public.
The hospital was closed in 1539 by Henry III and largely demolished.
Before the hospital, the...[more]
The Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great is an Anglican church founded as an Augustinian priory in 1123. The church's name is often shortened to 'Great St Barts' and has a close proximity and relationship with 'St Batholomews-the-less', which is a smaller church inside the neighboring 'Great Bartholomew's Hospital'. he church was designated a Grade I listed building in January 1950
The Church's interior is the most significant Norman interior in London. Rahere, who was a favourite courtier...[more]
St John's Gate is a remnant of an old Clerkenwell monastery - it was built in 1504 as the south entrance to the Priory of the Knights of Saint John - the Knights Hospitallers. Very little of the original stone facing has survived as it has been through a number of periods of decay and restoration - it was particularly heavily restored by the Victorians in the late 19th century and the current Tudor-style interiors date back to this time.
Over the years the building served a number of purposes....[more]
St Johns in Smith Square was designed by the Baroque architecht Thomas Archer, and was completed in 1728. It is held up as one of the most beautiful examples of architecture of the period.
Legend has it that when Archer sought the Queen Anne's opinion and asked her what she would like the church to look like, she overturned her footstool and said 'Like that!'. Archer was faithful to her gesture, creating a building with four towers, one at each corner.
After the church was damaged during ...[more]
St Leonard's church has existed on this site in some form or another since the 1100's.
The current building dates to the mid 1700's and the church has strong connections with Elizabethan actors due to it's close proximity to the Curtain Theatre and England's first dedicated playhouse, which was called simply The Theater.
Famous Shakespearean actors are buried here, including James Burbage who founded The Theatre playhouse, as well as his son Richard who starred in the leading role in some ...[more]
With a prominent position at the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square and having achieved fame through a combination of unusual architecture, a lively musical programme and a schedule of outreach work with the homeless of London, St Martin-in-the-Fields is one of the most famous churches in Britain.
The earliest evidence for religious use of the site is a grave thought to date from 410 AD, but the earliest reference to an actual church on the site is from 1222, in a document recording a dispute...[more]
Healthcare has come a long way since St Thomas Hospital was founded in the late 12th century. It was named after Thomas Becket, who was canonised in 1173, and is likely to date back to that time. It originally provided shelter and treatment for the poor, sick and homeless and was run by an order of Augustinian monks and nuns under Thomas Becket. It was originally located in Southwark. During the 15th century it expanded to include a laying-in ward for unmarried mothers, donated by Richard Whitt...[more]
St Paul's Church, Deptford was designed by architect Thomas Archer, who also built Birmingham Cathedral and St John's Smith Square. It was built between 1712 and 1730 as part of the work of the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches. This was intended to meet the rising numbers of residents in Deptford who were tending to dissent from the established church.
Archer designed St Paul's in Roman Baroque style from Portland Stone, on a crypt with a flight of stairs leading up to the entrance. ...[more]
The Sternberg centre is the largest Jewish cultural centre in Europe and is essentially a conglomerate of number of separate but interlinked institutions. These include Leo Baeck College (a rabbi training college), the Avika School (a Reform Jewish day school), the Jewish Museum, the New North London Synagogue.and the offices of RSY Netzer, the zionist youth movement for reform judaism.
The Jewish Museum's has its origins as The Museum of the Jewish East End. The East End and especially the are...[more]
Stoke Newington is a lively district in Hackney, with many excellent pubs and a lively music and jazz scene. The town centres around the Stoke Newington Church and has a London Village community feel to it. Its residents include a large orthodox Jewish community as well as many Turkish and Irish families.
Its rural feel is in part due to the West reservoir, with its Castle Climbing centre, which was once the water board pumping station and was bizarrely designed as a Scottish castle. Clissold ...[more]
Stone House is one of the most distinctive buildings in Lewisham. Built between 1771 and 1773 from Kentish
Ragstone, the worn and limey sandstone now has a rustic appearance.
The house was built by George Gibson the younger, on land known as 'Halfpenny's field' which he had purchased in 1766, and 'Morrice's Land' which he bought in 1768.
In the 19th century it was locally known as the Comical House, as three sides feature full height projecting bay windows, but the fourth side is oddly in co...[more]
Surrey Quays, or Surrey Docks as it was formerly known, is the former Surrey commercial Docks. The area comprises the southern half of the Rotherhithe peninsula, from Canada Water to South Dock. When the docks closed in 1970, the area was left derelict until the London Docklands Development Corporation was established, under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, to redevelop the land.
South Dock became a marina, now the largest in London, and a water sports centre was developed on Greenland Dock. ...[more]
Sutton house, or 'Bryck Place' as it was originally known, is a grade II listed building that now operates as a museum, cafe & art gallery. Thanks to the Houses history with schooling & education there is also an active schools education program at the house, as well as other community programs.
Sir Ralph Sadleir, Principal Secretary of State to Henry VIII built the house in 1535 and it serves as the oldest residential building in Hackney. The house has a wide variety of occupants since it was...[more]
Sylvia Pankhurst and her American colleague, Zelie Emerson, took over a baker's shop at 198 Bow Road opposite Bow Church, and in October 1912 set up the first East London branch of the Women's Social and Political Union.
The sign on the front read in gold leaf: Votes for Women. George Lansbury's son Willie Lansbury arranged for wood from the Lansbury wood factory to be used to build a wooden platform outside the shop and from which Sylvia would address the passing crowds.
"I regarded the rousi...[more]
Teddington Lock is a working lock and weir located at the highest point that the tide reaches on the Thames.
It is situated near the border of the Port of London Authority and the Environment Agency which are the navigational authorities for the downstream and upstream parts of the river, respectively. This border point is marked on the river bank by an obelisk.
The Teddington Lock was the location of the infamous Fish-Slapping Dance sketch by Monty Python....[more]
A large studio complex where British television productions are created, Teddington Studios played a key role in the history of British film and TV.
The studio was born when a Teddington stockbroker named Henry Chinnery allowed filmmakers to use his greenhouse as a studio. Dedicated studio facilities were then built during the 1910s. A productive partnership between the great filmmaker EG Norton and the actor Henry Edwards then saw the complex expanded further and renamed Teddington Film Studio...[more]
London has always been prone to flooding, since the Thames is a tidal river. Floods have been recorded as early as 1236, when reports stated that men at the Westminster Palace had to use boats to get around. In 1663 Samuel Pepys noted another flood that left water in Whitehall, and in 1928 four people were killed by floods. In 1953 307 died in one of the worst floods in British History.
The Thames Barrier was built between 1974 and 1982 and is the second largest movable flood barrier in the...[more]
This distinguished pub has survived the Blitz and 1960's redevelopment. It was built in 1864, on the site of a pub called the Bluecoat Boy, and was named in honour of Queen Victoria's husband, the Prince Consort....[more]
This narrow wedge-shaped pub is nestled against the railway line at Blackfriars. It was built in 1875 near the site of a thirteenth century Dominican Priory, which gives the area its name and was the inspiration for the pub's design.
The Black Friar's interior is literally a work of art. It was begun in 1904, with sculptors Nathaniel Hitch, Frederick T. Callcott and Henry Poole contributing to its splendour. This pub is a lasting testament to their skill and craftsmanship. In the 1960's Sir Joh...[more]
The Blind Beggar is notorious for its connection to East End gangsters, the Kray twins. On 9 March 1966, Ronnie Kray shot and murdered George Cornell, an associate of a rival gang, the Richardsons, as he was sitting at the bar. The Murder took place in the then saloon bar.
The pub is also known as the site on which The Salvation Army started. It was outside the public house that William Booth preached his first open air sermon in 1865 which led to the establishment of the East London Christia...[more]
The Castle is the only pub in England to have had a pawnbroker's license. The Castle was visited by King George who had stopped off to enjoy a spot of cock-fighting. He realised that he had no money so he issued the landlord with a Pawnbrokers Licence, thus pawning his expensive gold pocket watch in return for some gambling cash. The Pawnbroker's Licence is still in existence today.
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'The Chesham Arms' is a friendly backstreet local. Despite being overshadowed by a 1960s council estate, it's hidden away on a pretty little Victorian terrace off Homerton High Street. ...[more]
Built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Crystal Palace stood 564 metres long and 33 metres high and was a suitably impressive and beautiful venue for that vast celebration of British invention.
Whilst the building stood at its original location in Hyde Park it accommodated over 14,000 exhibitors showing off the trophies of the British industrial revolution. It was constructed by Joseph Paxton, formerly head gardener at Chatsworth House. In his gardening work he had been involved in the crea...[more]
The Guinness Book of Records says that this pub has the smallest snug in the UK - a cosy 1.3 metres by 2.4 metres. William Morris, the famous writer, lived next door, Graham Greene and Ernest Hemingway were regular visitors and the composer of Rule Britannia lodged in the rooms upstairs. Harder to verify is the claim that King Charles II used to use this pub as a place to meet his mistress Nell Gwynne....[more]
This is where in 1929, Jack Cohen opened the first ever Tesco store, and from these humble north London beginnings the story was born a giant retail empire. Tesco moved out of Watling Avenue years ago to set up a larger store round the corner.
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Tiny and usually full, in the heart of Soho, this was a meeting place for the French Resistance during World War II before becoming a home to artistic and literary London—it's famously the place where an inebriated Dylan Thomas accidentally left his manuscript for Under Milkwood....[more]
Murderer John George Haigh met his first victim, William McSwann, here before luring him off, killing him, and dissolving his body in a bath of acid....[more]
The pub is a genuine survivor from the London Charles Dickens knew - his godfather, Christopher Huffam, sold oars, masts and ships gear around the corner from The Grapes in Church Row, near Limehouse Hole (now occupied by Aberdeen Wharf).
In the book Our Mutual Friend Dickens renamed the pub The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters, and his description of it as ‘a tavern of dropsical appearance… long settled down into a state of hale infirmity…’ with ‘corpulent windows in diminishing piles’...[more]
Famous customers of this pub have included Samuel Johnson who wrote the Dictionary of the English Language, James Boswell who wrote Johnson's biography and Charles Lamb - a famous writer who at 20 years of age suffered a period of insanity.
A rabbit warren of rooms, passageways, nooks and crannies, The Holly Bush is reminiscent of a house and is mercifully unrestored. Original gaslights hang from the ceiling, looking down onto the worn-out tables and antique, wooden floors.
The pub was origin...[more]
It's at 16 Batty Street that the infamous Israel Lipski murder happened in 1887. A failing umbrella stick salesman named Israel Lipski forced nitric acid down the throat of a fellow boarder as she lay in bed on the second floor. The trial was a sensation and, even with intervention from rabbis and MPs, Lipski was hanged within a month. This murder set off a wave of antisemitism and the name 'Lipski' became a antisemetic slur throughout the east end....[more]
This pub was named after a surgeon who helped to quell an outbreak of cholera in the area in the nineteenth century, thanks to his research into waterbourne disease.
The John Snow pub is on the site of the notorious pump that supplied cholera-infected water to local residents and took the lives of 600 Londoners in 1854. Dr. John Snow discovered the cause of the epidemic, and induced the Parish Council to remove the handle of the Broad Street pump, which ended the epidemic. Nearby, the pump wi...[more]
The Magdala is most infamous as the pub outside which Ruth Ellis murdered her estranged-lover David Blakely at 9.20pm on Easter Sunday 1955. Shooting him five times, her admission in court that "It is obvious that when I shot him I intended to kill him" led her to the gallows on 13 July 1955 - the last woman executed in Britain. These events were told in the 90s movie 'Dance with a Stranger', starring Miranda Richardson. To this day there is still heated debate over whether Ruth Ellis was a murd...[more]
This is the site from which the Mayflower set sail for America carrying the Pilgrim Fathers.
From a Rotherhithe quayside, near a pub called the Shippe, the Mayflower set sail for America. It was the spring of 1620, on board were a group of Protestants fleeing religious persecution. Captain Christopher Jones couldn't have known that his passengers were to become the most famous Americans ever, the Pilgrim Fathers.
The Mayflower and its crew returned to Rotherhithe in 1621. Jones died a year lat...[more]
In the early eighteenth century a pub called the Dog & Duck stood here, its name reflecting the hunting that took place on the surrounding swamps and ponds. The British Museum was built in the 1760's and the pub changed its name to suit. Past customers include J.B. Priestley, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Karl Marx.
The Museum Tavern was expanded in 1855 and much of what you see today dates from then or a little later. Despite the removal of partitions that divided Victorian drinkers, much of the ...[more]
Now one of the country's top entertainment venues, The O2 started life as the Millenium Dome, an enormous exhibition space built to house The Millenium Experience, a celebration of life in Britain at the start of the new millenium.
The Millenium Experience ran throughout the year 2000. There is a separate entry available recounting the history of "The Dome", as it became known colloquially.
When the Millenium Experience closed at the end of 2000 there was a period of inactivity, with the Dome ...[more]
Located in the heart of the O2, the docklands area's massive indoor entertainment complex, the O2 arena has played host to some of the music indistry's biggest names.
The arena has a capacity of up to 20,000, making it one of the largest indoor arenas in Europe. It takes up 40% of the total area of The O2, which was originally built as The Millenium Dome. "The Dome", as it was colloquially known, was built to house The Millenium Experience, on which there is a separate entry.
As the essential ...[more]
This modest pub was built in the 1670's for the workmen and masons who were rebuilding St. Brides Church designed by Sir Christopher Wren, after it was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Old Bell has been a licensed tavern for more than 300 years and has a long association with Fleet Street's printers. Caxton's apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde, moved his printing press here in 1500....[more]
The pub stands on the site of a nunnery which was demolished in the Reformation. The Mother Superior was decapitated, and her head displayed on a pole.
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The Salisbury is a magnificently preserved historic drinking house with its original cut glass and hand carved mahogony splendour in the heart of London's theatreland.
It was built originally as a restaurant called the Salisbury Stores in 1892 , evident by the double 'S' etched into the windows, but was transformed six years later into a pub. The 1890's was the boom decade for Victorian pubs and this refurbishment was an expensive and lavish affair.
Huge decorative mirrors, cut and etched glas...[more]
A 13-year-old trainee hat maker, Anne Naylor, was murdered in 1758 by her master and the master's daughter. People claim to hear her cries echoing down Farringdon Station. She has been nicknamed 'The Screaming Spectre'....[more]
This pub has gained quite a rich heritage over the years. 'The Shakespeare' was built and named in 1826 by the then landowner, John Shakespeare, alas no real relation to young William. The basement has a criminal past with dog-fighting a regular occurrence on the original flagstones (which are still there) and to top all of this, there's a ghost. A Victorian lady dressed in black has often been spotted by staff and guests frequenting the hostelry.
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This is the Soho pub that legendary Who drummer Keith Moon was barred from after letting off a smoke bomb. This is also where Bernie Rhodes (manager of The Clash) stressed to the band that he had to have 'complete control' in the running of The Clash. The band enjoyed this and Joe Strummer wrote 'Complete Control' afterwards. Allegedly this is the pub namechecked in dance classic Born Slippy by Underworld. It has also been frequented by the likes of John Lennon, Syd Barrett, and Jimi Hendrix. It...[more]
It was here in the 1960s that the 'Great Train Robbery' was planned and, allegedly, a false wall in the games room concealed the stolen millions. The pub sadly closed in 1994 and is now in commercial use as flats.
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This eighteenth century Inn was originally called the Ship & Shovel. All the coal entering this part of London was weighed and taxed by shovel load; and one of the places it was weighed and taxed was outside The Ship Inn Lime Street. Coal heavers weighed it out using large style shovels; being dusty and thirsty work they often refreshed themselves at The Ship, leaving their shovels propped against the outside wall, hence The Ship & Shovel"....[more]
The Stoop is the common nickname for the Twickenham Stoop Stadium, the home grounds of the Harlequins rugby teams for both Rugby Union and Rugby League, the two championships for British Rugby.
The stadium was created in 1963 on 14 acres of land opposite the Rugby Football Union ground, which was their previous home since 1906. It is named in honour of Adrian Stoop, a former Harlequins player and a member of England's international rugby team.
In 2006, the London Broncos became the Harlequ...[more]
This is a tiny atmospheric Irish bar. Having grown out of its minuscule basement into the bar upstairs it’s always busy. There is a spectacular collection of Irish whiskeys, and they also mix a fine list of delicious Guinness-inspired cocktails. ...[more]
The builder of the theatre, Freddy Fredericks now looks after the building. He is said to walk around at midnight, a small, tubby man dressed in brown, radiating friendliness, and has been caught on camera at least once. His initials are painted on an archway, and if removed it is said the theatre will fall....[more]
A ghost haunts the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, a character known simply as The Man in Grey. The unusual thing about the Man in Grey is that he is a daytime ghost. While most ghosts like to make their appearance in the dark of night, the Man in Grey only ever appears between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. He wears a long grey cloak and a three-cornered hat of the type used by English gentlemen in the 18th century....[more]
Now used chiefly for film and television production, the Three Mills on the River Lee at Stratfod are former working mills. The largest of the mills is possibly the largest tidal mill in the world.
At the time of the Doomesday Book, the great British survey of 1086, there were 8 or possibly 9 mills on the River Lee at Stratfod. This is the earliest recorded example of a tidal mill system.
In the middle ages the mills were acquired by Stratford Langthorne Abbey. By the 1530s their association w...[more]
The Town of Ramsgate pub is an historic pub next to an alleyway known as Wapping Old Stairs. The stairs lead down to the riverside where fishermen from Ramsgate sold their catch.
It was on Wapping Old Stairs, in 1688, that Judge Jeffries, the Hanging Judge, was captured whilst trying to flee the country after the the overthrowing of King James II of England to whom he was loyal. He was dressed as a sailor and one story claims the ship he was on, bound for Hamburg, moored at Wapping and Jeffrie...[more]
This magnificent Regency style pub was built in 1837, the year Queen Victoria came to the throne. In the mid-19th century this was one of several grand Greenwich pubs, which became famous for their Whitebait Suppers, attended by senior Members of Parliament; the Liberals at the Trafalgar, the Tories at the Ship (demolished). Many came by river, still the nicest way to reach Greenwich. Eventually the dinners lost their attraction and many of the pubs went out of business. In 1915 the Trafalgar be...[more]
London's only lighthouse on the north bank opposite the Millennium Dome. Designed in 1863, it was used for training of lighthouse keepers. Now it is an exhibition space.
The Corporation of Trinity House was originally a voluntary association of shipmen and mariners, and was granted a charter by Henry VIII in 1514 as "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious and undividable Trinity of St Clement". It received its coat of arms in 1573 and with it the authority to erect and maintain beacons, m...[more]
The Trocadero was originally opened in 1896 as a lavish, oppulent restaurant for wealthy gentlemen. The interior of the building was sumptious and extravagant with decadent paintings on the walls that reflected a romantic view of the grand days of King Arthur.
During the first world war, the Trocadero was determined to continue to offer entertainment, and served tea in one of it's halls, accompanied by concerts. In the post war era, their entertainment turned to cabaret.
The Trocadero clos...[more]
Twickenham Stadium is the home to the Rugby Football Union and hosts England's home test matches, the EDF Energy Cup , England's Six Nations, the Heineken Cup and the Guinness Premiership final. It's name is synonymous in Britain with English rugby.
The first stands of the stadium were built in 1908, after sell out games at Crystal Palace made the RFU realise how much money could be made by having their own grounds. William Williams was a committee member at the time, and prompted the RFU ...[more]
In 1810, Dean Mahomed, established the Hindoostane Coffee House at 34 George Street, the first Indian restaurant by an Asian in Britain.
At the age of 11, Mahomed joined the East India Company Army and rose to the rank of captain. He fought in a number of campaigns until 1782 when he resigned from the army and two years later arrived in Britain. Staying in Ireland he wrote and published his book, The Travels of Dean Mahomet. He later moved to Portman Square where he became an assistant to Sir ...[more]
One of a number of pub theatres in London, 'Upstairs at the Gatehouse' hosts theatrical and cabaret productions. Since its creation in 1895 it has been a music hall, cinema, masonic lodge, jazz and folk club and even hosted a performance by Simon and Garfunkel. It has been the venue for an all-female production of Hamlet, a modern interpretation of opera classics and many musicals and dramas....[more]
Vauxhall Bridge, which spans the River Effra, an underground tributary of the River Thames. was completed in 1906 by Sir Alexander Binnie and replaced a previous cast-iron structure.
The new bridge is of a steel construction and is used for both road and pedestrian traffic. The Effra empties into the Thames just to the east of the bridge.
The bridge is 80 feet wide and over 800 feet long. It is composed of five steel arches supported by granite piers. The abutments feature bronze female statue...[more]
Vestry House museum was opened in 1931, by Sir Ernest Pollock, Master of the Rolls, and is the museum for the history of the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
The building was built in 1730 by order of the parish church.
The first car ever to be built and driven in Britain is displayed in Vestry House museum. The car was created by Frederick Bremer in 1904, in Walthamstow....[more]
Walthamstow Market is a traditional 'cockney' market and is famed for being the longest daily outdoor market in europe, however it is not the largest.
The market stretches the entire length of Walthamstow high street and comprises of about 500 stalls selling a range of goods from fruit & veg to electrical parts.
The market is open 5 days a week from tuesday to saturday, with saturday being the busiest and often very crowded. On Sunday only a few shops & cafes operate in the area with a small f...[more]
Focussing on acheivements in road, rail, air and sea transport in the River Lea Valley from the early 1800s, the Pump House Steam and Transport Museum's mission is to enlighten the public on how the industrial revolution and coming of the railways changed the lives of ordinary people in the Lea Valley.
The building containing the museum is the Low Hall Pumping Station, hence the museum's title. This was in fact a sewage pumping station dating from 1885. The building is Grade II listed. A pair o...[more]
In the western section of the City of London cemetery, many local people reportedly a gravestone which glowed at night with a bright orange light. Investigations could not uncover an external light source that would explain the illumination....[more]
Wesley's Chapel was built in 1778 by John Wesley who was the founder of Methodism. The site now attracts visitors as well as worshipers and includes a museum of Methodism and John Wesley's house.
The Chapel was built to replace The Foundery, which was John Wesleys earlier chapel. The City of London granted permission for a new chapel and Wesley raised the funds needed for the foundation stones that were laid in 1777. George Dance the younger was appointed as the architect whilst the building w...[more]
The West India Docks are part of the London Docklands on the Isle of Dogs. The three docks were built by Robert Milligan, who was concerned at the theft of goods from the Pool of London, and built these more secure docks with a high wall. He served as Chairman and Deputy chairman of the West India Dock Company.
The two northern docks were built between 1800 and 1802, and were the first commercial wet docks in London. Their importance was indicated by the laying of the foundation stone by Prime...[more]
In the Middle Ages this was a plain, grassy space just outside the city walls, known as Smooth Field, where fine horses were sold. A cattle market was established in 1638 and remained until 1855, when it was moved to Islington.
Smithfield was a place of public execution for over 400 years. Here heretics, rebels and criminals were burnt, beheaded or boiled. In 1305 Scottish hero William Wallace was hanged, drawn and quartered after being dragged there behind a horse. In 1381 Wat Tyler, leader of...[more]
Westfield is London's newest shopping centre, opened in 2008 in Shepherd's Bush. It is named after the Westfield Group, who developed it at a cost of £1.6 billion on a brownfield site and it is run by Frank Lowy. This project is part of the White City district. Several other development projects are also planned on the site of the old Franco-British Exhibition of 1908.
The shopping centre is the largest urban indoor shopping centre in Europe, although many out-of-town centres exceed it, and it...[more]
White Hart Lane has been the home of the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club since 1899.
The stadium sits on the former site of an abandoned garden nursery.
It underwent considerable renovations in the early 1900's, when it was expanded to seat more spectators as well as to create more standing room. These improvements were partly funded from prize money recieved after the club's victory in the FA Cup in 1921.
It was during this rennovation that the famous copper statue of a fighting cockerel ...[more]
The Whitechapel Art Gallery was founded in 1901 and is a public gallery and was one of London's first publicly-funded galleries. The gallery is famed for it exhibitions of new up&coming artists, exhibits, contemporary artists as well as providing education & outreach programs for the local community.
In 1938 the gallery held a touring exhibition to protest the Spanish civil war, and held paintings by Pablo Picassos including "Guernica'. The gallery was also famed for its exhibition in 1956 name...[more]
Willesden Jewish Cemetery, or Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery as it is also known, was opened in 1873. This 20-acre site is located in Beaconsfield Road, Willesden in the Borough of Brent.
A number of eminent persons are interred here including Marcus Samuel (1853-1927), a founder of Shell Oil Company. He was also a well-known banker and was known by his title of 1st Viscount Bearsted. Alfred Charles de Rothschild (1842-1918) who became Governor of the Bank of England is also interred here...[more]
The William Morris gallery is a public museum devoted to William Morris who was was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist & writer. The gallery was the former family home of Morris who loved there between 1848 to 1856 and is now a grade II listed building.
The gallery displays a wide range of Morris' work and influences including his print, embroidered & woven fabrics, wallpapers, furniture rugs & carpets. The work is a collection of Morris' but also contains works by Ed...[more]
Wimbledon Stadium sounds like it should be tennis or football related, but it is in fact a greyhound stadium. This dog racing track is one of the most well-known in the UK, as it hosts the annual English Greyhound Derby.
The glass-fronted grandstand seats 8000 spectators, with refreshments services on hand, and it is also used for speedway, stock car and other racing events. The stadium has seen its share of stock cars and hot rods. Up until 2008 the Unlimited Banger World Final took place in t...[more]
The Woolwich foot tunnel was opened in 1912 and designed by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice. The runnel is 504 meters long as was built for the London City Council by Walter Scott & Middleton.
The tunnel can be accessed by both lifts & stairs, and is situated ( as is the nearby Greenwich foot tunnel) from buildings featuring a glass dome.
The tunnel serves as a pedestrian walkway when the Woolwich Ferry service is not operating. The tunnel goes directly under the river Thames from Woolwich to North Wo...[more]
Tucked away down the backstreets between the Courts and Kingsway this 200 year old pub at 2 St Clements Lane still has the original front welcoming you and continues to use the 16th century cellars below. It used to be famous for the 'no students' sign that limited its clientele down to a few punters.
According to the landlord, there is a reference in Dickens' "Mr Pickwick", in which Pickie retires to the backroom bar (the White Horse), to relax after a stressful day....[more]
This house was one of many mansions built along the route from the City of London to the royal court at Westminster in the 13th century. Originally home to the Bishops of Norwich, it was acquired by King Henry VIII 300 years later and given to the Archbishop of York in 1556 from whom it got its name. it is one of the few surviving reminders of the Italianate court style of Charles I.
Its garden used to front the Thames - the York Watergate built in 1626 survives today but is now 140m from the r...[more]
This was the site of a famous public house in the 18th and 19th century. The name Yorkshire Stingo comes from 18th century slang for strong beer. Based in a rural location when built the pub had an entry fee redeemable from the waiters to keep freeloaders out.
In 1786 is was used as a distribution centre for the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor to provide sustenance for distressed people of African and Asian origin.
It became one of the first termini for London buses in 1829 and in...[more]
The 100 club is a legendary music venue that opened in 1942.
The club has hosted some of the most famous names in the music industry from the past fifty years, including Louis Armstrong, the Rolling Stones and the sex pistols.
The club was most famous in the 1970's when it became a hot venue for punk acts and the first ever International Punk Festival was held there in 1976. Headliners included the Sex Pistols, The Clash and Buzzcocks and this event was key to punk becoming a popular mainstr...[more]
The innovative 2 Marsham Street complex was built in 2005 as the headquarters for the Home Office of the British Government. The three concrete towers which it replaced were appropriately named the Three Ugly Sisters.
The new site still maintains 3 buildings, this time known as Mary Jane Seacole, Robert Peel and Elizabeth Fry, who were all people who influenced the work of the Home Office in the past. Number 2 Marsham Street also incorporates shops, restaurants and residential flats, which cre...[more]
This is the site of a building collapse where the top two storeys of an office building came down. Initial concerns of a terrorist attack were particularly acute as the building was an office for the MP Hazel Blears and is within 100 metres of New Scotland Yard. One person was trapped for some hours and sustained serious injuries but there were no fatalities. ...[more]
The building replaced an enormous 14-storey mansion block despised by many commentators in 1976 but the building has fared little better than its predecessor - it was sometimes known to its workers as "the Lubyanka" (the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB). The 'Brutalist' design was home to the UK Home Office until 2004 and but know contains the Ministry of Justice.
...[more]
No other apartment block in London is better known or more prestigious among London most elite bachelors. Since it was converted in 1791 by Prince Frederick, both Duke of York and Albany, it has been home to many of them.
Both poet Lord Byron and Prime Minister William Gladstone (although before he took that office) have lived here. And the building has featured in the work of some of Britain's most famous novelists, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde.
To this day, its part-ownership by Peterhouse,...[more]
Albermarle Street has numerous dinstinctions, including being the first one-way street in London, historic ties with the poet Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde and links with many renowned institutions in the worlds of the arts and the sciences.
The street was constructed in 1683 by a team of developers headed by Sir Thomas Bond, who purchased the Piccadilly mansion Clarendon House from the Duke of Albemarle and demolished it to begin redeveloping the area. The same developers also built Bond Street a...[more]
Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the engineer of London's first sewage system, created the Albert Embankment in 1869 which stretches for one mile from Vauxhall Bridge to Westminster Bridge. It was designed to provide a new road and protect Lambeth from flooding. The decision to position the embankment on the Surrey side was probably due to M.P.s wishing to improve the view from the windows and terrace of the newly completed Palace of Westminster.
At the northern end a considerable strip of ground was re...[more]
Albertopolis was the name affectionately given to the area of London which contains a series of sites that were established or inspired by Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria.
These include the Natural History Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal College of Music, the Royal Geographical Society as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Albert Memorial.
These museums were created using the profits from the Great Exhibition of 1851, which showcased great educational, scient...[more]
All Saints, Margaret street is a church by the famous architect William Butterfield and is arguably one of the best examples of the High Victorian Gothic period.
Built in the mid 1800's, the church is famous for it's architecture which was described by the historian Theodore Hoppen in 1998 as a 'savage masterpiece' while architechtural critic Ian Nairn likened the building to an orgasm, saying that it "can only be understood in terms of compelling, overwhelming passion."
The church is also no...[more]
The Animals in War Memorial is a statue commemorating the animals who have worked and given their lives in combat for the nation.
The idea for the memorial came from Jilly Cooper's book, Animals in War, and was funded by £1.4 million raised in donations from the public.
Unveiled in 2004 by the Margaret, Princess Royal, the memorial is a large curved stone wall designed by the scultpor David Backhouse, and features images of animals such as horses and birds struggling in their service. There...[more]
Situated between the Strand and the Thamas and now the headquarters of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Arundel House once served as the town house of the Bishops of Bath and Wells.
The house also served for a time as the home of Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard's collection of Old Masters paintings and classical sculpture. One of Howard's sculptures, a relief from Ephesus dating from the 2nd century AD, may now be seen in the gallery at the Museum of London.
The Roman Baths, St...[more]
Ashburnham House is located in the Little Dean's Yard, right in the heart of Westminster. It is part of the Westminster School. The house is named after the family who had the house built - the Earls of Ashburnham. The house is believed to have been built in the late 1600s by Inigo Jones, the great Renaissance architect, or by his pupil John Webb. The building incorporates the remains of a Prior's house from medieval times, and the garden covers an earlier House of Commons site.
In 1731 the val...[more]
Avenue of the Stars was the UK's short lived equivalent to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and consisted of a five pointed star inscribed with the celebrity's name, set into a paved walkway.
It opened in 2005 and featured 100 notable British names from the entertainment industry, the first being Jimmy Page, the guitarist for Led Zeppelin.
The Avenue passed through Covent Garden and St Paul's Church which is also commonly referred to as the Actors Church due to its many memorials to people such as ...[more]
Baden-Powell House was built in 1961as a tribute to Lord Baden-Powell, the Founder of the Scout movement. The building committee bought the site in 1956 and the foundation stone was laid in 1959 by his wife, World Chief Guide Olave, Lady Baden-Powell. Such was the importance of the movement, that the building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
B-P House as it is known, was designed by architect, Ralph Tubbs, who gave the six storey building a modern architectural style in the style of Swiss arch...[more]
Baker Street is most famous as being the residence for Sherlock Holmes, in the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The street was developed in the 18th century by the builder William Baker, after whom the street takes it's name. It featured many high end residences, which have mostly now been converted into shops and other commercial properties.
Baker Street was home to Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive in the 1940's. The group was created "encourage and facilitate espionage and...[more]
The Bankside Gallery houses the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers, the membership of which have traditionally been granted acceptance only through a vote of their peers. This tradition has carried on for over 200 years, bestowing a particular honor on any artist who is given membership.
The museum has daily exhibitions that are open to the public from 11am to 6pm....[more]
Created as a purpose-built dining and entertainments hall for King James I, after fire burned down his previous Banqueting House in 1619.
The House was built as an adjunct to the Palace of Westminster, which had been created for King Henry VIII, who wished to glory in his new position of "Supreme Head of the Church of England". The Banqueting House at Whitehall is the only part of the original Palace of Whitehall still standing, since a second fire, in 1698, burned down the rest of the Tudor Pa...[more]
Battersea Bridge was originally constructed in 1771 and was designed by Henry Holland and was supported by 19 narrow wooden spans, which made it increasingly difficult for river traffic to pass underneath. Until construction of the bridge a ferry service operated to carry people across the river. The Bridge connects Battersea, which is south of the river, to Chelsea which lies on the North.
The bridge was completed and opened in 1771 but was not regularly used until 1772. A group of private inv...[more]
Battersea Park was opened in 1858 as a public recreational grounds. Before that, the area was a mix of fields and marshlands, used primarily for market gardens to grow produce for the City of London.
The area was also a popular location for duels. On March 21, 1829 the Earl of Winchilsea challenged the Duke of Wellington to a duel there over their opposing views on the Catholic emancipation issue. Both men deliberately missed.
The part is known for it's place in football history, as it w...[more]
Baynard Castle was for over 600 years a castle, house and Palace. The Castle was first established around the time of the Norman invasion and is said to be named after Ralph Baynard was was a Norman Landowner.
When William I captured London, Baynard's Castle as well as tower bridge were two of the original positions that he conquered.
In september 1666 The Great Fire of London engulfed the Castle with its ferocious flames and heat. It was hoped that the huge stone wall surrounding the castle ...[more]
Bedford sqaure was built between 1775 and 1783 as an area for the upper middle classes.
Bedford square has been home to a wide range of residents throughout its history, many of whom are noted as part of history for a wide variation of contributions to society, including Lord Eldon, who was the longest serving British Lord Chancellor. Harry Ricardo who was one of the foremost engine designers in the development of the internal combustion engine. Thomas Hodgkin who was a British physician and co...[more]
For nearly 200 years, Belgrave Square has been home to leading memebers of the British Aristocracy, a surprisingly large number of statues and a small handful of embassies.
Back in the 1820s, four terraces of 11 or 12 grand residences were laid out by property contractor Thomas Cubitt, the 2nd Earl of Grosvenor. The square is named after Viscount Belgrave, one of the many titles bestowed upon the Duke of Westminster.
Today it lies at the epicentre of Knightsbridge with a statue still standing of...[more]
Famous former residents of Belgravia include former Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin and Arthur Neville Chamberlain, composers Frederic Chopin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, actresses Dame Edith Evans and Vivien Leigh, novelists Ian Fleming and Mary Shelley and actors Sir Sean Connery and Sir Roger Moore.
Belgravia is one of the most exclusive and expensive districts in London. The grand white stucco residences often sell for more £15 million, making it some of the most expensive real estate in t...[more]
Immortalised in a World War II song made popular by Vera Lynn and acting as residence to both Bertie Wooster in fiction and Winston Churchill in real-life, Berkeley Square is a town square in the exclusive district of Mayfair, West London.
The square was created in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent and named after the wealthy aristocratic family whose London residence Berkeley House had existed nearby until 1733.
The address is highly sought-after and the square is inhabited by th...[more]
The BFI Southbank used to be called the National Film Theatre and is one of the leading cinemas for classic, independant and art house films.
The theatre was originally located in a temporary building during the Festival of Britain in 1951, before moving to it's current site in 1957.
In 2007, the theatre was relaunched as the expanded BFI Southbank which incorporates a new studio, gallery space, shop, bar and restaurant in addition to the original three film auditoriums....[more]
The first Blackfriars Bridge was designed by Joseph Cubitt and opened in 1864. It was created to carry the trains for London, Chatham and Dover Railway and featured large carvings of the company's insignia, which can still be seen on the southern abutment which is Grade II listed and was preserved when the rest of the bridge was demolished in 1985.
Although the bridge was not stable enough to carry modern trains, the piers of this bridge have been kept for historical significance, and will be...[more]
Blackfriars derives its name from Black Freres, the French word 'frère' meaning brother, and from the black cappa worn by the Dominican Friars who moved their in 1276. London City wall was rebuilt around this area after Edward I had given permission for its construction.
Blackfriars was often the site used for great occasions of state. In 1529 it was used for the divorce hearing between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, but was also frequently used for meetings of Parliament and the Privy C...[more]
Bleeding heart yard has at least two stories of where its name derives from. It is said that the names comes from Lady Elizabeth Hatton, who was murdered here. She was the second wife of Sir William Hatton who was a wealthy land owner in London and owned the yard at the time. Urban myths say that her body was found here is 1626 torn to pieces and that her heart was still pumping blood. The other, more believed story, is that The Yard takes its name from a local pub call the Bleeding Heart, which...[more]
Bloomsbury Square was developed in the late 1600's as a high end residential area by the Earl of Southampton, whose house occupied the North of the square. The other sides of the square had terraced houses which were fashionable addresses for the aristocracy. It was one of the first residencial squares built in London.
Toward the end of the 18th century, the upper classes had begun to favor other areas of London, and by the 19th century the square was home to middle class professional fam...[more]
Bond Street is synonymous with upmarket shopping in London's Mayfair. It runs between Oxford Street and Piccadilly, which are also famous for their designer boutiques and shops. Interestingly, there is no such street as Bond Street on any London maps, as it is correctly named Old Bond Street and New Bond Street.
Most of the shops on Bond Street are designer named fashion boutiques, similar to those in Sloane Street. Sotheby's auction house remains located on Bond Street, as it has for over 100...[more]
As it name suggests, the Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum is an entire Museum dedicated to the history of Tea & Coffee. The Museum looks at all the aspects of its long 400 year history since they first arrived in the UK from Africa and the Far East.
Since the British played a major role both in the China trade and development of production in India, Ceylon and Africa, the museum naturally tells the story from a British perspective. The museum through its ceramics, metalware, prints and displays an...[more]
Bridewell Palace was built from 1515 - 1523 for Henry VIII and is named after a nearby well which is dedicated to St Bride. It was the location of discussions between the King and delegates from the Vatican over his controversial divorce from Catherine of Aragon, an action which was not condoned by the Catholic Church. The Palace was overseen by the King's chief adviser, Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, who was also a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. When Henry fell out with the church Wolse...[more]
The British Museum Reading Room was designed by Sydney Smirke in 1857 following on from a suggestion by chief librarian. The British Museum Reading Room or 'Old The British Museum Reading Room' as it is now known was surpassed in 1997 when a newer, larger more up to date reading room was built in the New British Library in St Pancras.
In 2000 the original British Museum Reading Room was opened to the public after it had undergone restoration work and added a gridsheel roof by the famous archite...[more]
The well-known Brompton Oratory is the second largest Roman Catholic Church in London after Westminster Cathedral. Opened in 1884, the dome was completed the following year. It was built in Italian Renaissance style with marble columns, a huge vaulted dome and many ornate carvings and mosaics. C.T. G. Formilli was the interior architect, and his work was completed in 1932. The Church houses statues of the 12 apostles by Giuseppe Mazzuoli, which were originally in Siena Cathedral until 1895.
T...[more]
Brunswick Square is a surrounded by many famous buildings and landmarks. It was originally part of the Foundling Hospital, which was as a children's home established for the education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children, which an still be seen to the North of the Square. Also on the North side is the School of Pharmacy which is a constituent college of the University of London.
On the South side of the Park is the International Hall which is also owned by the University of Lo...[more]
The gardens at Buckingham Palace are on the site of the former Goring Great Garden, which belonged to one of the earliest aristocratic residents of the Palace, Lord Goring.
The gardens cover 42 acres,and dates back to the late 1700's, with features from many periods and ruling monarchs including a mulberry tree that is over 100 years old.
Another historic feature is the giant Waterloo Vase carved out of a single piece of marble. Napoleon had arrogantly and prematurely commissioned this piec...[more]
The exclusive area of Mayfair is home to the Burlington Estate, which was developed and owned in the late 18th century by the Earls of Burlington. Burlington House today houses the Royal Academy (a world-famous art institution) was originally the main house on the estate.
Several famous streets were developed within the estate, including Cork Street, which is now home to many famous art galleries, and Savile Row, which is world-renowned for fine bespoke gentleman's tailoring....[more]
Burlington House has had a chequered history. It is now home to part of the Royal Academy's permanent art collection, yet at the same to the residence of some of the country's most esteemed academic societies.
Back in the 1660s, it was built as one of the first private residences on Piccadilly. After that it went through various incarnations and benefited from many additions under its ownership by first the Boyles and then the Campbells.
In the early nineteenth century the strict Palladian sty...[more]
Bush house is currently the home of the BBC World Service, and it stands between Aldwych and the Strand in central London. The building was originally owned and built by American companies. In 1919, Irving T. Bush had plans to build a new trade centre and it was opened on July 4th, America's independence Day. Lord Balfour unveiled two statues by artist Malvina Hoffman, which symbolize Anglo-American friendship. Bush House was built from Portland Stone and at the time of completion was declared t...[more]
The Cafe Royal was a popular restaurant and meeting place for society's elite in the 19th century.
It was established by the French wine merchant Daniel Nicholas Thévenon, despite only having £5 to his name after declaring bankrupcy in his home country. The restaurant was a huge success, thanks partly to its reputation for having one of the best wine cellars in the world.
In the late 1800's the Cafe Royal was a hang out for celebrities such as author Oscar Wilde and caricaturist Max Beerboh...[more]
Built from 1756 to 1761 for Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, Cambridge House was initially known as Egremont House. It was built in the Palladian style and features three storeys, a basement and an attic.
An array of reception rooms awaits the visitor on the first floor, all of them with high ceilings. This floor is the principal floor of the property and also contains a large Venetian window.
The residence was acquired in 1829 by Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and his name continue...[more]
Canada House was designed in the Greek Revival style by the architect Sir Robert Smirke, who also designed the British Museum and was completed in 1827.
In 1923 it was purchase by the Canadian government and used as part of the Commission of Canada in London.
During the war it became a home away from home for the Canadian military, as it was also the surrogate home for the Beaver Club, a lively social club founded in Montreal in the mid 1700's.
In 1993 the Canadian government closed the hou...[more]
The Canterbury Music Hall was built in 1852, and was rebuilt three times before finally being demolished by bombing in 1955.
The music hall was established by Charles Morton and his brother in law Frederick Stanley, after they successfully ran entertainment ventures in other premises from 1849.
They used their profits to build the first ever dedicate music hall in London, and following the rise of hundreds of other music halls by competitors, Morton became known as the 'Father of Halls'.
Th...[more]
Now replaced by Carlton House Terrace, the original Carlton House was the town residence of the Prince Regent for several decades from 1783.
The architect John Nash based his famed ceremonial route from St James’ Park to Regent’s Park via Regent Street, Portland Place and Park Square ending up on the approach to the former Carlton House entrance.
When Carlton House was demolished to make way for Carlton Terrace in 1827, the beautiful paintings and furniture that adorned its interiors were ...[more]
Carlyle's House was the home of the notable writer and philosopher Thomas Carlyle and his wife Jane Welsh Carlyle who is considered one of the greatest letter writers of the Victorian era and is often credited for being at least partially responsible for her husband's success.
The couple were popular with many other contemporary writers, and their house was visited by Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson and George Eliot. They also met with Charles Darwin, although he once wrote that he was ...[more]
Carnaby Street is synonymous with fashion, dating back to the 1960s. It was named after Karnaby House, which was built in 1683.
During the 1960s, designers such as Mary Quant, John Lord, Take Six and Irvine Sellars drew fashionistas to their boutiques in this area. It was also the haunt of popular music bars, such as the Roaring Twenties. The area was frequented by the Beatles, the Small Faces and the Rolling Stones as they performed and socialized at the legendary Marquee Club in Wardour Stree...[more]
The Cast Courts are 2 large halls that form part of the Victoria and Albert museum. What is notable about the these halls is that they are comprised of sculptures that are not original, but copies. A large majority of the sculptures are from the 19th century and many have stood the test of time better than the originals.
Major Henry Scott of the Royal Engineers was the chief designer of the halls and the project was completed in 1873. The Courts are spilt by corridors on two levels and the mid...[more]
Cavendish Square was built in the early 1700's by the 2nd Earl of Oxford, and named after his wife, Henrietta Cavendish-Hollace. The Square was almost not completed after financial disaster struck in the form of the South Sea Bubble when a successful trading company's stock value collapsed.
The square includes many prestigious houses belonging to titled nobles including the Duke of Portland and Quintin Hogg who was the founder of the University of Westminster.
The Square is known for it's con...[more]
Centre Point was one of the very first skyscrapers in London. It is a boxy, concrete and glass building that holds high end office spaces.
The site was once home to one of London's gallows, and superstitious people might believe that this is why the building has been haunted by controversy since it was designed in the early 1960's.
The land is leased by property tycoon Harry Hyams, who negotiated a deal to rent it for just 18,500 pounds a year for 150 years. He then proposed a design for the...[more]
Under the arches of Charing Cross station sits a hidden gem of West End theatre. Now The New Players Theatre, the venue has had previous incarnations as the Forum Cinema, a fire station, the store for the Army Corps of Cinematography and, most famously, as Charing Cross Music Hall.
The theatre opened in 1867, with its structure formed by two large arches of Charing Cross Station's underbelly. The impresarios behind the project were two brothers, Giovanni and Carlo Gatti. In 1883 the venue wa...[more]
All book lovers will have heard of Charing Cross Road, as it is the centre for specialist and second-hand bookshops in London. The street is named after the Charing Cross, erected by Edward I.
Many of the well-known book shops such as Zwemmer's and Murder One are located in the ground floor premises owned by a Housing Association. In 2001 there was a public outcry when the Association raised the rents sharply and several bookshops closed, including the Silver Moon. This had been Europe's large...[more]
The Charles Dickens Museum was opened in 1925 after the building was threatened with demolition in 1923 and brought by the members of the Dickens Fellowship. The house underwent development and renovations before being opened and is now run by an independent trust.
The house were the museum is based was home to Dickens and his family between 1837 and 1839 where he lived with his wife and three of their ten children.
The building is a typical Georgian terraced house split over four floors , an...[more]
Taking its name from its premises, a Grade I-listed 18th century house in St James Square, Chatham House actually refers to the organisation formerly-known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Its purpose is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues.
The building was designed in part by Henry Flitcroft and has been occupied by three British Prime Ministers including William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, also known as "Pitt the Elder".
Chatham House is a by...[more]
The British Army barracks was originally built to house two battalions of troops. It was the home of the Foot Guards including the Coldstream Guards and the Scotts Guards and now houses the Regimental Bands of the Irish Guards and Welsh Guards and a small signal squadron.
In 1981 there was a nail bomb attack on the Barracks by the Provisional I.R.A which killed two civilians.
In 2006 a plan was drafted to develop the site with 50% affordable housing. With the unofficial title of "Britain's...[more]
Chester square is a small residential garden square in exclusive Belgravia, which was originally developed by the Grosvenors, a prominent family of West London aristocrats. Along with neighbouring Belgrave Square and Eaton Square, Chester Square is one of the most desirable addresses in London. Famous residents have included Roman Abramovich, the billionaire Russian oligarch and owner of Chelsea Football Club, former UK Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, and Yehudi Menuhin, the celebrated violini...[more]
The Chief Magistrate of England and Wales sits at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court. The court deals with all extradition and terrorism-related cases in the UK.
Due its location, the court was originally named Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court. It opened in 1974 and was designed by CA Legerton. It is described in Pevsner's famous architectural guide to London as having "minimal personality". There were four working courtrooms when the building was opened and a further four have since b...[more]
The Coach and Horses public house stands on the corner of Greek Street, in Soho. It is particularly famous as it was the favoured watering hole of columnist Jeffrey Bernard, of Private Eye magazine, along with other writers and journalists. They noted the antics and anecdotes of the landlord, Norman Balon, who became known as "London's rudest Landlord".
His ebullient personality paid off when the pub was recreated onstage for the play "Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell" which was a roaring success. L...[more]
The wonderfully-named Cockpit-in-Court or Royal Cockpit was a London theatre initially built by king Henry the eighth for the staging of cockfights. It was located to the rear of the Palace of Whitehall, next to St James' Park.
The cockpit was one of a number of buildings built by Henry VIII for the purpose of entertainment, including a real tennis court, a bowling alley and a tiltyard (jousting arena). With these local attractions enlarging the complex of the Palace of Whitehall, the palace be...[more]
Connaught Square was the first residential development in the Bayswater area of west London. The square was named after the Earl of Connaught who lived nearby.
The square is a high end residential area, with a private gated garden at the centre where the residents hold a private party every summer.
The large four storey residences that can be seen in the square today were built in 1828, and one of the homes is owned by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Because of this, there is a stron...[more]
Connaught Village is an area that comprises of numerous shops, cafes and residential housing. The area is famed for its up market and boutique shops and is home to the famous Jimmy Choo footwear store, which is of course the ultimate fashion accessory for the lady of today.
The area forms part of the Hyde Park Estate and it is owned by wned by the Church Commissioners of England. ...[more]
Coram's Fields are spread over seven acres and contain a children's playground, duck pond,sand pits, a pets corner, a cafe and a nursery. The unique feature about Coram's Fields is that an adult, anyone over the age of sixteen, can only enter the park if accompanied by a child who is under the age of sixteen.
Coram's Fields sits on the site of the former Foundling Hospital which was founded in 1739 as a children's home established for the education and maintenance of deserted young children. ...[more]
Nestling in the exclusive West London district of Mayfair, Cork Street is best-known for the large number of fine art galleries that populate the street.
The street was developed as part of the Burlington Estate during the 18th century; the estate was created by the first Earl of Burlington, who was also 2nd Earl of Cork in Ireland, hence the street's name.
In its early history the street was associated with tailors. Beau Brummell, the famous fashion-setter who ignited the "dandy" trend and is...[more]
Coventry Street runs from Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square and it is therefore a major central London thoroughfare, with up to 150,000 people using it each weekend. The street is home to the Hard Rock casino, the Trocadero shopping centre, the Cafe de Paris and the Prince of Wales theatre and is also represented by one of the yellow squares on the London version of the board game Monopoly....[more]
Cumberland Basin served Cumberland Market and New Road (now Euston Road), and closed in 1942. The Cumberland Arm was a stretch of canal linking the Basin with Regent's Canal and stretching 1 kilometre partly through what is now London Zoo. The arm and basin were filled with rubble from demolished buildings after World War II but there is a short stub end of the canal at the Regent's canal end left housing the Feng Shang Floating Restaurant.
...[more]
Cumberland House, originally known as York House, was a mansion built in the 1760s by Matthew Brettingham for Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany. It was designed in the Palladian style for which Brettingham, one of the foremost architects of the time, is principally remembered.
The Duke of York died in 1767 aged just twenty eight, and Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn took over the mansion, hence the name Cumberland House.
The family sold the house to the Union Club in 1801, ...[more]
The Cuming Museum was opened in 1906, and exhibits the art collection donated by the Cuming family in 1902. Henry Syer Cuming described his collection in his will as:
"My Museum illustrative of Natural History, Archaeology and Ethnology with my coins and medals and… other curios".
The building also serves as a museum of the area's history and holds temporary exhibitions and educational activities for young people.
A blue plaque commemorates the birth of Charles Babbage, the engineer co...[more]
Cupers Gardens were opened in the 1680's as a placed for the public to enjoy refreshments, entertainment and leisurely strolls and were orginally known as Cupid's Gardens as it was an ideal place for courting.
The gardens overlook the River Thames, with views of Somerset House and Waterloo Bridge. They are named after Abraham Boydell Cuper, who was the gardener for the Earl of Arundel.
The gardens were known for their orchestra and fireworks, which were popular attractions at pleasure garden...[more]
Set-up permanently in 32,000 square feet of exhibition space at County Hall, Dali Universe is a collection of works by the Sanish surrealist Salvador Dali most famous for classic images like the meting clocks of his work "The Persistence of Memory".
The exhibition is comprised of over 500 works including sculptures dating from the period 1935-1984 as well as drawings, lithographs and a collection of furniture by other artists inspired by the work of Dali.
The collection was originally curated ...[more]
Pupils of Westminster School have legal rights to play football on the green of this quadrangle, a game they may have even invented.
Dean's Yard is made up of the remaining precincts of the monastery of Westminster. It was much smaller until the 1600's as the Queen's Scholar's dormitory, previously the monastery granary, stood on the south part of the green.
Westminster School resides in the buildings on the East and West side while the headquarters of the Church of England, Church House, can...[more]
The original Devonshire House was the London residence of the Dukes of Devonshire. Although the original aristocratic residence was destroyed in 1924, the office building that currently occupies the site, retains the name of the original building.
The Dukes of Devonshire were one of England's most prominent noble families and occupied the house for around two hundred years from its foundation in the early 1700s. It was built on the site of Berkely House, which was formerly occupied by Barbara V...[more]
At the time of their construction, the development at Dolphin Square comprised the "largest self-contained block of flats in Europe". The private apartments were built at a riverside Pimlico location between 1935 and 1937.
The development was composed of 1250 private apartments, a hotel and a restaurant, built by developers Richard Costain Ltd. It is said that on purchasing the site the head of the firm, Richard Rylandes Costain remarked to a colleague: “in two or three years we'll either dr...[more]
Donmar Warehouse is a non profit theatre that has seen some of the world's leading acting talent perform traditional and contemporary roles in an intimate setting which seats only 250 people.
The theatre was once the hops warehouse for a brewery, before it was bought by the producer Donald Albery who turned it into a private studio and rehearsal space for the Fonteyn's London Festival Ballet in 1961.
The theatre takes it's name from Albery's own dramatic company which he founded in 1953. it ...[more]
Dover House is an impressive Whitehall mansion with a past list of owners that includes the romantic poet Lord Byron and Prince Frederick the Duke of York, best known for his name-check in the children's song "The Grand Old Duke of York".
The building was designed by James Paine in the 1750s for its first owner, Sir Matthew Featherstonehaugh, who lived in the building from 1756 to 74. From 1777 to 1787 the building was occupied by the French Ambassador, and then Lord Amherst. In was then remode...[more]
Dover Street is well known for it's clubs and art galleries, as well as it's architecture, which includes typical examples of the Georgian period.
The street was developed by a syndicated led by Sir Thomas Bond. The same syndicate of developers were also responsible for building Bond Street and Albemarle Street.
The current houses were built over the site of a Picadilly mansion named Clarendon House, which the developers demolished.
The street was home to the publisher Edward Moxon, who...[more]
Drury Lane runs between Aldwych and High Holborn in Covent Garden. It was named after Sir William Drury, a Knight of the garter to Queen Elizabeth I. His home, Drury House was at the end of the lane. The house is recorded in history as being involved in the ill-fated rebellion of the Earl of Essex. Drury House became the home of the Earl of Craven, and later was a pub known as the Queen of Bohemia.
Drury Lane has had its ups and downs over the centuries, and it was a slum area during the 18t...[more]
A huge granite column topped with a bronze statue, the Duke of York Column commemorates Prince Frederick, Duke of York, and was erected from 1833 to 1834.
The column is sited close to the junction of Regent Street and The Mall, and stands 123 feet tall. The bronze statue which tops the column is 14 feet high, and was created by Sir Richard Westmacott.
Prince Frederick was the second-eldest son of King George III and was commander-in-chief of the British Army during the French Revolutionary War...[more]
Steeped in history and literary connections, Eastcheap is a road in the City of London, the capital’s financial district. In old English the word ‘cheap’ meant ‘market’ and the area was known as Eastcheap to distinguish it from Westcheap, the other City of London market. In medieval times Eastcheap was a major meat market.
The character Falstaff, a raging drunkard and glutton, frequents the Boar’s Head Inn, Eastcheap, in Shakespeare’s Henry IV parts I and II. This was in fact a re...[more]
Now a block of flats and offices, the Egyptian Hall in Picadilly once housed a spectacular array of artworks and South Seas curiosities and even played host to spiritualists, mediums and illusionists.
Constructed by William Bullock in 1812 the museum housed Bullock's collection of historical relics and artworks, including artefacts from the South Seas voyages of Captain Cook and Napoleonic era relics. The hall was a great contemporary success and early shows netted Bullock a small fortune. The ...[more]
Elephant and Castle is now largely referred to as 'The Elephant' and is an area of South London famed for its two large roundabouts. One of the roundabouts has a large monument in the centre that is in honor of Michael Faraday, who was a famous English Scientist born in the area that is seen as one of the pioneers who discovered electricity.
Charlie Chaplin is a former resident of Elephant and Castle as it Hollywood actor Michael Caine, who were both born in the area and grew up locally.
Ele...[more]
Ely Place sits on the land that was once Ely Palace that was home to the Bishop of Ely from 1290 to 1772. Ely Palace was used in Medieval times by the Bishops of Ely as they were held in high state and required them to have a residence in London. In 1772 Robert Taylor, a notable English architect of the mid-late 18th century, built the cul-de-sac that is there today and is the location for the Old Mitre Tavern.
The only remaining structure that still stands of Ely Palace is St Etheldreda's Chur...[more]
Now sadly demolished, Enon Chapel was located in St Clement's Lane near the Strand and played a key part in the town-planning scheme of the metropolis, by forcing burial reform and hence the creation of large cemeteries around London.
The upper part of the chapel was for church services, whilst the lower part was used for burials. The two parts were separated by a simple board floor. In 1839 the bodies of thosands of dead parishoners were discovered in the lower chapel, crammed into a 12ft by 5...[more]
Euston railway station is the main hub for trains heading to the North West of England, Wales, Scotland and the West Midlands. It was the first inter-city railway station to be built and is the 6th busiest rail terminal in London today.
The station was built in 1837 for the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway, built by Robert Stephenson. The railway route was an engineering nightmare as early trains did not have the power to negotiate the hill at Camden Town and had to be pulled up b...[more]
One of Britain’s biggest and most prestigious paediatric hospitals, the modern Evelina Children's Hospital alongside St Thomas’ Hospital on the south bank of the Thames.
The original Evelina Hospital for Sick Children was founded in 1869 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, whose wife Evelina and their child had died during childbirth.
In 1999 a plan was devised to make the Evelina the centre of all children’s services in the Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust. An architectural competition was ...[more]
Fitzroy Square takes it's name from Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton who was responsible for developing the area in the late 1700's and early 1800's.
He had originally intended to create a grand square of high end residences for nobles and gentry, however the Napoleonic Wars and the resulting drain on London's finances meant that only the south and east sides were completed before construction ground to a halt.
The North side was finally built by 1829, and the final Western side co...[more]
Fleet Prison was originally built in 1197 and contained mainly prisoners who incarcerated for debt or bankruptcy. The prison held around 300 inmates and their families many of whom were forced to beg from their cells for money. Fleet Prison was at the time a profit making organisation and inmates had to pay charges and fees for almost everything. Guards and governors would charge for key opening and for irons being taken off, prisoners also had to pay for their food and rent.
Prisoners did not...[more]
Now long gone the Fortune Theatre was one of London's premier dramatic venues from 1600 until 1642. In its day it rivalled Shakespeare's Globe , which has recently been recreated on the South Bank of the Thames.
The Fortune arose out of rivalry between two theatrical companies: the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the Admiral's Men. The former constructed a new theatre - the Globe - in Southwark, leaving the latter feeling rather outdone, housed as they were in their dilapidated Rose Theatre which wa...[more]
The Founder's Building was the primary building for the Royal Holloway College. The building was built in 1881, using funds donated by the philanthropist Thomas Holloway. The elaborate building was designed by the architect William Henry Crossland, who used the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France as his inspiration.
The college was opened by Queen Victoria in 1886, granting it it's Royal title. A statue of the monarch, and others of Thomas and Jane Holloway carved by the scul...[more]
The Gasworks gallery is an art gallery with 15 individual studios for professional artists. Three of the studios are reserved for the use of non-UK based artists on an International Residency Programme. The remaining studios are rented out to London based artists. Started in 1994, the Gasworks Residency Programme has assisted 150 artists from more than 60 countries by encouraging an exchange of ideas and experimenting with new concepts and materials.
The Gasworks Gallery offers valuable assist...[more]
The General Lying-In Hospital, or Westminster Lying-In Hospital as it was also known, was opened in 1767. Lying-In Hospitals were generally funded by voluntary donations and served the wives of poor tradesmen, soldiers and sailors.
In 1820, the General Lying-In hospital was moved into new premises designed by Henry Harrison. The cost of the new facility was £3,000. By 1879 the hospital had progressed to practising antiseptic midwifery, and a training school for midwives and midwifery nurses wa...[more]
The Geological Museum originally opened in Jermyn Street in 1835 as The Museum of Practical Geology, making it one of the oldest museums in the world dedicated to single area of science.
In 1933 it gained worldwide renown when it hosted the London Economic Conference, where delegates from 66 countries met to try to find a solution to the growing problem of a failing global economy.
After moving to new premises in Exhibition Road in 1935 the museum gained a reputation for its dioramas which ...[more]
The Golden Boy of Pye Corner marks the significant spot where the Great Fire of London which swept through much of the city in 1666, finally stopped. This monument is situated in a recess in the wall on the corner of Cock Lane in Smithfield and Giltspur Street where the 'Fortune of War' public house once stood. It was demolished in 1910.
The ancient inscription reads: This Boy is in Memory Put up for the late FIRE of LONDON
Occasion'd by the Sin of Gluttony.
Visitors will be amused to note t...[more]
Gordon Square was built in the 1820s by Thomas Cubitt who was the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century. Gordon Square is paired with Tavistock Square which lies a block away and shares the same dimensions.
The Square now belongs to the University of London and is open to the public, but used to belong to the surrounding houses as a private garden. The University of London submitted an application and The Square was recently refurbished with the aid of a Her...[more]
Grays Inn is one of four locations of the Inns of Court in London. In order for students to qualify as a barrister they must join one of the Inns and then pass 12 of it's qualifying sessions as well as the Bar Vocational Course.
The other three Inns are nearby, namely Lincoln's Inn, The Inner Temple and The Middle Temple.
The tradition of the Inns dates back to medieval times, and originally a student simply had to dine in the Inn in order to become a member. Dinners are still eaten in th...[more]
The Greenwich Playhouse is a small studio theatre above the St Christopher's Inn Pub in Greenwich. It was opened in 1990 and seats just 84 spectators.
Alice de Sousa and Bruce Jamieson founded the Galleon Theatre Company in 1988, which was a touring theatre company at that time. In 1995 they became the resident theatre company at the Greenwich Playhouse. In 1998 the theatre was threatened with closure, but a campaign to save it allowed it to reopen with new facilities in 2000. The Galleon Theat...[more]
Grosvenor Bridge, or Victoria Railway Bridge as it is also known, carries the railway over the River Thames between Vauxhall Bridge and Chelsea Bridge. It actually consists of two bridges.
The eastern side bridge was built in 1858-60 to carry trains into Victoria Station by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway company and was designed by Sir John Fowler. It was in fact the first railway bridge in Central London to cross the River Thames.
The western bridge was built a few years later, betwe...[more]
Now a hotel, Grosvenor House was one of the largest private houses in 1805 when built and it housed the Grosvenor family (better known as the Dukes of Westminster) for more than a century. It was famous for holding one of the best private art collections in the world with paintings by Gainsborough, Velázquez and other old masters. The house stayed with the Grosvenors until the First World War when the government asked to use it and afterwards was deemed to lavish and expensive for the family t...[more]
Grosvenor Square is one of the most expensive districts in London, situated in Mayfair. Sir Richard Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, developed Grosvenor Square and the surrounding area around 1721. It became one of London's most exclusive addresses and was the home of several members of the aristocracy. The houses were built around a central garden, which was intended for the private use of the residents, but is now a public park. Many of the grand houses were demolished in the 20th century to ma...[more]
Hakkasan is a high end restaurant created by Alan Yau, the man behind the Wagamama chain of Japanese restaurants.
The Hakkasan is a fusion of Oriental cuisines and was rated as 19th in British Restaurant magazine's list of the top 50 restaurants in London.
The stunning interior was designed by Christian Liaigre and cost millions of pounds. The luxurious setting captures the essence of traditional Chinese art in a contemporary style....[more]
Handel House Museum is appropriately situated in Brook Street, in what was the home of the great composer himself, George Frederic Handel. He lived there from 1723, when it was built, until 1759 when he died.
The German composer is best known for such great works as The Messiah, Zadok the Priest and the Music for the Royal Fireworks, which he composed in this very house.
The Museum today reflects the 18th century terraced townhouse as it was in Handel's time, with a basement, three main floor...[more]
Hanover Square was originally developed in the 1700's as a designer, high end residential area and was largely occupied by aristocratic nobles who were members of the Conservative Party.
Some of the original buildings can still be seen, although a lot of the square has been redeveloped over the years and displays styles of architecture from a variety of time periods.
The buildings in the Square are mostly used as offices, including the office for the British version of the magazine Vogue....[more]
Hatton Garden is most famed for its enormous array of Jewelry shops and has had a reputation since medieval times as a place to sort and buy jewelry. Since medieval times different areas of London were depicted by the types of business that operate there, Hatton Garden has become known for its jewelers, but within a short walk you could be in Smithfields which is the meat packing area. Hatton Gardens has over 300 shops dedicated to the Jewelry trade and 55 shops represent the largest cluster of ...[more]
Harmarket dates back to the Elizabethan era, when the area held a rural market. It became known as the Hay Market during the reign of William III, when farmers could sell hay and straw from their carts in the street without paying any taxes. This law was changed in 1692 after the street was paved, and a tax was charged for use of the road.
In 1930 the market moved to the Cumberland Market, but the area kept the name.
In the 19th century, the area gained a reputation for its prostitution,...[more]
The Hermitage Rooms are used as exhibition space for collections from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia. The rooms were created in the 1990's by the investment banker and philanthropist Lord Rothschild, and is funded by private donations as well as funds raised from admission fees.
The rooms were initially designed to showcase Russian works of art, although it also displayed exhibitions of Western art, photography, scultpure and Islamic art.
In 2005 the Hermitage Museum and the Pu...[more]
HM Treasury's new accommodation at 1 Horse Guards Road, Whitehall, was opened by Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Board on 25 September 2002. It is responsible for developing and executing the government's fiscal and economic policy.
The concept of a Treasury began around the time of the Norman Conquest when the Domesday Book, the first systematic tax assessment of the whole country was undertaken by William the Conqueror.
Later, during the reign of Henr...[more]
HMS President was originally called the HMS Saxifrage and was built in Renfrew in 1918. She was deliberately designed to look like a merchant ship in order to evade attack while protecting convoys during World War I.
Her original name comes from the Saxifrage genus of plants, and was renamed in 1922 when she was used as a drill ship for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
HMS President is listed on the National Register of Historic Vessels, but is still a working ship, acting as a venue for ...[more]
HMS Wellington was built in 1934 and served primarily in the Pacific Ocean, based at New Zealand before working as an escort ship for British convoys in the North Atlantic during World War II.
The ship was responsible for sinking an enemy submarine, and also played a role in Operation Dynamo which evacuated Allied troops from Dunkirk in 1940 after they had been cut off by the German Army.
The ship was converted into the Head Quarters Ship Wellington after World War II, using funds donated by ...[more]
In 1863 construction started on Holborn Viaduct and was not completed until 1869. It was designed by noted architect William Heywood and cost over two millions pounds to build.
The Holburn Viaduct now links Holburn with the City of London and spans over Farringdon Street and also the subterranean River Fleet.
On the south side of the Viaduct there are two statues by sculpture Henry Bursill which represent Commerce and agriculture. On the North side there are two statues to represent Science a...[more]
The Hop Exchange was once the centre of trade for hops which were required for the beer brewing industry. It is now a Grade II listed building in Southwark, It was designed by R H Moore in 1867 and had a glass room for viewing the hops under natural light.
Hops were grown and harvested in Kent and brought to the exchange by train or boat to be stored in the Southbank area. The exchange provided a single market for dealers to trade.
In 1920 a fire led to the top 2 storeys having to be removed a...[more]
Horseferry Road is named after the ferry which once crossed the River Thames taking passengers from Westminster Palace to Lambeth Palace. The ferry was owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who lived at Lambeth Palace. The ferry is well known historically as the starting point for King James II's escape from England in 1689. It was also the point of crossing the Thames for Princess Augusta, on the way to her wedding in 1736. She later became the mother of King George III.
The ferry declined wi...[more]
Hyde Park Barracks forms the base for the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Although the Barracks were originally sited in this location so that the Royal Cavalry could quickly reach the Palace in the event of an emergency, the Regiment is now mostly responsible for ceremonial duties at Royal and State functions in London including Trooping the Colours in June and during visits by Heads of State.
The modern buildings on the site were designed by Sir Basil Spence and stand out as the most co...[more]
Hyde Park Gate is an extremely affluent area of London and has been famed for some of its local residents. Sitting to the South West corner of Hyde Park, Hyde Park gate was most famously the Death place of Sir Winston Churchill who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945.
Due to is extremely expensive housing, Hyde Park Gate has had a rosta of very affluent residents such as at Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, founder of the scouting movement who lived at nu...[more]
Built on Millbank in the neoclassical style, Imperial Chemical House was built to house the British chemicals conglomerate ICI, or Imperial Chemical Industries.
Built from 1928 to 1931 by Sir Frank Baines, the appearance of the building echoed that of Thames House, which shares its Millbank location. The two buildings were constructed simultaneously.
Amongst the scultpures that adorn the building's interior are carved allegorical figures by Charles Sargeant Jagger. These represent areas of sci...[more]
Probably most famous for being the place where John Lennon first met Yoko Ono, the Indica Gallery was an iconic counterculture gallery situated in the basement of a bookstore in Mason's Yard.
The Indica Gallery and Bookshop were founded in 1965 by sixties trend-setters John Dunbar, Peter Asher and Barry Miles as an outlet for art and literature. The premises they chose were in the same courtyard as the Scotch of St James club, where there friend Beatles star Paul McCartney was a regular. McCart...[more]
The Inner Temple is the location of one of the four Inns of Court, establishments that all barristers must traditionally belong to in order to practice in London.
In order for students to qualify as a barrister they must join one of the Inns and then pass 12 of it's qualifying sessions as well as the Bar Vocational Course.
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple exists in a building formerly owned by the Knights Templar in the 1100's. It sustained heavy damage during the bombings in World...[more]
If Saville Row is where London gents have tradionally bought suits, then Jermyn Street, a few blocks away, is where they bought their shirts. Off-the-peg or bespoke, if you want an elegant shirt, this has always been the place to come.
Turnbull & Asser and T. M. Lewin still have flagship shops here, but time has tamed tradition, if you look hard enough you might spot a few ladies shopping for their shirts these days.
Other than those looking for shirts, Jermyn Street has traditionally been home...[more]
Jerwood Space was opened in 1998 as the first major capital initiative of the Jerwood Foundation, the Jerwood Space is now established as a theatre and dance space, as well as a gallery & meeting room location. Jerwood space is a beautifully refurbished Victorian school with a striking glazed courtyard....[more]
Kennington Park was opened in 1854 after being sponsored by the Royal family and being made into a public Park.
Kennington Park was used back as far as 1724 as a Cricket ground and is believed to be one of the earliest cricket venues in London used for major cricket matches.
From the 17th century, if not before, the south western corner of the common was selected as the South London site of public execution. The first execution recorded is of Sarah Elston, who was burnt alive for murdering h...[more]
Kensington Gore was the name for the piece of land on which the street now occupies. A 'gore' is the term for a small, triangular segment of land.
The Royal College of Art, the Royal Geographical Society and The Royal Albert Hall are all located on Kensington Gore.
The Royal Albert Hall was built on the site of Gore House, a grand residence which was then converted into a restaurant by chef Alexis Soyer, who wanted to capitalize on the trade from the Great Exhibition of 1851, held nearby i...[more]
The King's Reach Tower was built in 1972 and was designed by the well known architect Sir Richard Seifert, who also designed the Centrepoint tower and Tower 42 (formerly the NatWest Tower).
King's reach tower stands 111 meters tall and is thirty one storeys tall. Plans are in discussion to update the building by adding several floors and increasing its height to 127 meters. New shops, offices and commercial spaces around it base are due to be added as well as a possible re-cladding of the entir...[more]
The Kirkaldy Testing Museum, as its name suggests, is a museum of materials testing and is devoted to telling the history of the Kirkaldy family and its involvement in this field of engineering. The building was purpose built to house David Kirkaldy's 350 ton 'All Purpose Testing Machine', workshops, laboratory, offices and 'museum of fractures'. The Museum is open on the first sunday of each month....[more]
Knightsbridge is an exclusive area of London, famous for its upmarket department stores. These include Harrods, the largest department store in Europe; Peter Jones and Harvey Nichols. Knightsbridge is also known for its flagship stores for famous designer names such as Jimmy Choo and Chanel.
Back in Edward I's time the manor of Knightsbridge belonged to the Abbey of Westminster. It was named after a bridge crossing the River Westbourne, which now flows underground. Ancient records show that the...[more]
The area of Lambeth, or Lanchei as it was then known, was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At that time it was owned partly by Lambeth Church and partly by Count Robert of Mortain. Its considerable assets and acreage rendered £15. Lambeth Marsh was opposite the Palace of Westminster and was home to the boatmen who served the area. The village extended for 6 miles (10km) to the south and included the manors of Kennington and Vauxhall.
Lambeth Palace was built in the 15th century and has...[more]
Lancaster Gate is a 19th century development of terraced buildings in Bayswater as well as being the name of a gate into Kensington Gardens.
The two terraces of grand residences are close to Hyde Park and stand on either side of a square which once contained Christ Church. The terraces are built in classical style with English baroque detail and have a stucco finish. The Church was Gothic in style, designed by architects F & H Francis with a needle spire. Today only the tower and spire remain...[more]
Queen Victoria reportedly said "I have come from my House to your Palace " on one visit to Lancaster House. Used recently as the supposed interior to Buckingham Palace in the film National Treasure the house has long been famous for its grandeur. It was once part of St. James Palace and is a Grade I listed building. Known initially as York House it was build in a neo-classical style from Bath stone. Commissioned by the Duke of York in 1825 it was still only a shell by his death in 1827. The hous...[more]
Since 1935 Lansdowne House has been the location of the Lansdowne Club, a social club for "members of social standing" and the only club in London where from its foundation ladies had equal status with men.
Before 1935 the house was the private residence of the Petty family, Marquesses of Lansdowne. At various times other occupiers included John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Willam Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and British Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, also British Prime Minister, Archib...[more]
Le Gavroche is an exclusive and high end restaurant serving traditional French cuisine by some of the world's top Michelin star chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White.
The restaurant opened in 1967 and was owned by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux. Michel's son Michel Roux Jr took over as head chef in 1991 and continues to run a succesful and prestigious kitchen.
The restaurant has been included in the Restaurant magazine's top 50 restaurants each year.
The Gavroche also ho...[more]
Lincoln's Inn, or The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn as it is officially known, is an society dating back to 1422. It is one of the four Inns of court in London where barristers of England and Wales are called to the bar.
The original lease for the Inn was obtained in 1442 from the Bishop of Chichester, and many of the original structures still stand. The Gatehouse of Chancery Lane is one of the oldest surviving structures dating back to 1518, as well the Old Hall which dates to the late ...[more]
Lincoln's Inn Fields was developed in the early 1600's to serve as a park for the fashionable residences being built in the area. It was designed by Inigo Jones, who is credited with being the first architect to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England.
The area is named after the Lincoln's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court of London's legal system, but is not directly associated with the building, which has it's own private grounds.
From 1661 to 1848 The Lincoln's Inn Fields Th...[more]
Lisle's Tennis Court was originally built in 1656, in the style of traditional Tudor real tennis courts which included a long, earth court and tiered spectator galleries within a high roofed building.
Because of the large dimensions of the court, and the convenient seating for viewers, the Lisle's Tennis Court, like many other real tennis courts, doubled as a theatre venue.
From 1661 to 1674, the building was known as the Duke's Theatre or The Opera theatre, and was the first theatre in L...[more]
Lisson Gallery in Bell Street was founded as a contemporary art gallery by Nicholas Logsdail in 1967. It was a pioneering art gallery to promote artists who were transforming art which represented an attitude rather than a style. Close to Lisson Grove and the West End of London, it is an integral part of this diverse neighbourhood and operates as a commercial gallery to support artists by presenting and selling their work.
Lisson Gallery now represents Anish Kapoor and sculptor Richard Deacon w...[more]
Little Ben is a cast iron miniature clock tower situated at the approach to Victoria Station in Westminster. Its design mimics the much larger and more famous clock, Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster.
Little Ben was manufactured in Croydon and erected in 1892, and later restored and resited in 1981.
It is a favourite meeting place for travellers using Victoria Station, and is always set one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Inscribed on a plaque at the base of Little Ben is a rhyming coupl...[more]
Run by acclaimed Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli and his interestingly-named wife Plaxy, Locanda Locatelli is a renowned and Michelin-starred restaurant located within the Churchill Hotel on Seymour Street in London's West End. The resataurant specialises in Italian cuisine....[more]
The London Astoria opened in 1927 as a cinema, after being built on the site where a pickle factory used to stand. In 1976 the building was converted to be used as a theatre, before being used solely as a venue for musical acts.
The small venue only seats 2,000 people, making it ideal for bands just starting out on a successful career, as well as an intimate location for performances by established bands.
Radiohead and Nirvana both played at the Astoria in 1989, and U2, The Rolling Stones, ...[more]
The London Fire Brigade Museum has an impressive display of old fire appliances and other equipment and contains the history of firefighting in London Since the Great Fire of London in 1666. Exhibits range from early leather helmets to recently replaced breathing apparatus illustrating the history of firefighting in London and tours can possibly see the fire brigade training new recruits.
Built in 1820 Winchester House, where the museum resides, was both home and workplace to London's chief fi...[more]
The London IMAX was opened in 1999 and is the largest cinema in Britain, with seating for almost 500 people. It is run by the British Film Institute.
The cinema is located above a busy underground train line, but was designed to sit on anti-vibration bearings to eliminate noise and vibrations.
The distinctive building as received several awards, including the Design Council Millennium Products Award in 1999 and a Civic Trust Award in 2000....[more]
The London Palladium theatre has always been the site of entertainment. The theatre sits on the site of the Corinthian Bazaar, which housed attractions such as an aviary. In 1911 Frederick Hengler, the son of a tightrope walker, rebuilt the theatre and used it as a venue for an aquatic circus which performed within a ring filled with water. The theatre was then briefly used as the National Skating Palace, but the ice rink failed. The building was then redesigned by the famous theatre arch...[more]
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a world famous university known for its elite teachings in economic studies. The university is more commonly know as 'The London School of Economics' or ' 'LSE.
The LSE was founded in 1895 by the Fabian Society who wanted to better society by researching issues such as poverty & inequality. Street During in early yeas the university's aim was to train students to become Britains business and political elite and opened as a night school to ...[more]
The second busiest railway terminus in London after Waterloo, Victoria station opened in 1860 to provide a major transit hub north of the Thames. During World War I the station became a terminus for trains carrying soldiers to and from France, many of them wounded . A plaque on platform 8 marks the arrival of The Unknown Warrior, a symbol of all those lost in the Great War on 10 November 1920.
The Underground station is the busiest in the system being used by 76 million people in 2007 - the st...[more]
Until its demolition in 1965, very few of London's aristocratic townhouses were more lavish than Londonderry House. After he bought the property in 1819, Charles Vane set about redecorating immediately. And by 1935 his over-arching project was complete. The jewel in its crown was a grand staircase with a large skylight and Rococo chandelier. A further flight of stairs led to the Grand Ballroom, filled with male family portraits in Garter Robes. And the Dining Room held such an amazing collectio...[more]
Running from Smith Square to Great Peter Street in Westminster, the Georgian terraced houses of Lord North Street have over the years housed several of Britain's great and good including four-time Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who in 1974 alleged that renegade MI5 operatives broke into his home, and MPs Jonathan Aitken and Theresa Gorman....[more]
Ludgate Circus was built in the late 1800's as the main connection for routes in and out of Westminster and the City of London.
It was built out of Haytor granite, large quanities of which were transported to the area by the Haytor Granite Tramway, a rail line which existed purely for bringing this fine stone to London to be used for building.
Ludgate Circus is built over the river Fleet, which now runs under London as the city's largest subterranean river....[more]
The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is a French school for children aged 3 to 18 years old. It was established in 1915. The 3,500 places are filled mostly with the children of French citizens living in the London area, although roughly 12% of the students are British.
The school is named after a French politician who played a key role in the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation, and sought refuge in the Lycee during his exile in World War II.
The school is governed by the French ...[more]
Sitting on a piece of scrubland at the junction of Mandela Way and Pages Walk in Bermondsey is the arresting site of a Soviet T-34 battle tank. The tank is non-functional and is owned by a local resident, Russell Gray. It was the subject of a 2002 work by Cubitt Artists and Aleksandra Mir, who painted it pink, but it has since been repainted....[more]
Located at Mountbarrow House, 6-20 Elizabeth Street, the Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organisation with a remit to maintain managed, sustainable, environmentally-friendly fishing.
Fisheries voluntarily undergo assessment by the MSC and, if they meet the exacting environmental standards of the MSC, they are awarded a blue "eco-label" to signify their committment to responsible fishing. This allows consumers to make ethically-aware choices when buying seafood.
Founde...[more]
The Marshalsea is a notorious Prison that was made famous by the writings of Charles Dickens in many of his books. It operated as a Prison for over 500 years from around 1329 until 1842, although no-one can confirm the actual date it was built. The Prison incarcerated London's smugglers, mutineers & thieves, but was mainly used for imprisoning debtors who owed money to creditors.
In 1824 Charles Dickens's father was thrown into Marshalsea for owing £40 and 10 shillings to a baker. Dickens, ag...[more]
Mecklenburgh Square is an English Heritage Grade II listed area in Camden. These terraced houses were once the home of many famous people, as the blue plaques will attest to. The historian R H Tawney lived at number 21, as did Syed Ahmed Khan earlier in the 19th century. No 34 has been the headquarters of the Women's Trade Union League, the National Anti- Swearing League and the People's Suffrage Federation.
Theatre designer, Dorothy Glover, the lover of Graham Greene, once lived in the Square....[more]
The Menier Chocolate Factory, despite it's appetizing name is actually a theatre. Opened in 2004, the theatre is named because the building used to be a chocolate factory in the 1870's.
The venue hosts various plays and music as well as live comedy....[more]
The Metropolitan Tabernacle dates back to the 1861 and was considered the largest church of its day. It is predominantly home to the reformed baptist community and is still used as a place of worship under in present pastor, Dr. Peter Masters.
The Tabernacle fellowship can be dated back to the Mid 1600's when independent Christian organisations were banned from meeting together by the English Parliament. Persecution of these fellowships carried on until 1688 when Baptists were allowed to worsh...[more]
The Michael Faraday Memorial was built in 1961 as a Memorial to the Victorian scientist that bares its name. Michael Faraday was an English chemist and physicist (or natural philosopher, in the terminology of the time) who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Michael Faraday was born in Newington Butts near to where the Memorial is situated.
The design of the Memorial was done in 1959 by Brutalist architect Rodney Gordon whose work was described as dramatic, sc...[more]
Now featuring a popular West London bar and restaurant and an upmarket retailer, Michelin House in Fulham is not easily unrecognised as the former UK headquarters of the Michelin tyre company.
The building opened in 1911 and was designed by one of Michelin's employees, Francois Espinasse. When Michelin moved out of the building in 1985 it was purchased by the late publisher Paul Hamlyn and his business partner, the famous retailer and restaurateur Sir Terence Conran, who had both loved the buil...[more]
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of four Inns of Court which are the only establishments in London permitted to call their members to the English Bar as barristers.
In order for students to qualify as a barrister they must join one of the Inns and then pass 12 of it's qualifying sessions as well as the Bar Vocational Course. The Inns provide extra training and support for students and new barristers and there are many barrister's offices, or 'chambers' in the building. It a...[more]
Middlesex Guildhall was built between 1906 and 1913 in an art nouveau Gothic style by architect J S Gibson. It is a Grade II listed building due to its three court interiors, which English Heritage described as "unsurpassed by any other courtroom of the period in terms of quality and completeness of their fittings". The building has medieval-style gargoyles and architectural sculptures by Henry Charles Fehr. It also incorporates a 17th century doorway, which was once part of the Tothill Fields B...[more]
The Millbank Millennium Pier is famous for it's unusual and contemporary shape. It serves the Tate-to-Tate boat service, which ferries visitors across the river Thames between the two Tate galleries: the Tate Modern Gallery and the Tate Britain.
The modern steel design is by the artist Angela Bulloch and has won many awards from organizations such as the Royal Institute of British Architects and the charity 'Design and Art Direction' which promoted excellence in British design....[more]
Montagu House was actually two mansions, built there by the family of the Duke of Montagu. The first mansion was a modest home built in the mid 1700's but the 2nd Duke of Montagu. The building was in the traditional style of that time period with plain, unadorned walls and simple lines.
The second mansion was much grander and more elaborate, and was considered one of the finest private homes in London at the time. It was built for the Duke's descendant, the 5th Duke of Buccleuch in the mid...[more]
Montagu Square was built between 1810 and 1815 as part of the Portman Estate by the architect Joseph Parkinson. The Square was first leased to a builder called David Porter who named the square after his former mistress Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu.
John Summerson, one of the leading English architectural historians of the 20th century, is quoted as saying the Square is "a plain, uniform regiment of brown brick houses" comparing it unfavorably to Bryanston Square that lies to the west....[more]
The National Army Museum is dedicated to keeping a visual record of the history British Armed Forces.
It was conceived and established by Field Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer who was best known for his defeat of guerilla rebels in Malaya in the early 1950's.
The museum is comprised of four galleries covering the Making of Britain 1066-1783,Changing The World 1784-1904, World Wars 1905-1947, and Fighting For Peace 1947-present.
There is also an art gallery of the 3rd floor which co...[more]
Newcastle House was originally built in 1641 and was the then one of the two largest houses in London largest square during the 17th century.
The original house was built for the Earl of Carlisle, but was sold in 1672 to William Herbert who was the 1st Marquess of Powis, who renamed it to Powis House. This original house was burned down in 1684, but was re-built and is still effectively the house that remains there today, although many alterations have taken place. Powis then had to flee to Fra...[more]
Newgate Prison was in use in London for over 700 years from 1188 to 1902. During its time it was destroyed and rebuilt many times.
During Medieval times The Prison would be managed by two elected sheriffs who would each spend time handling the administration. The Sheriffs would then hire out the control of the prison to private 'gaolers' or 'keepers' who would take control of the running of The Prison. These 'keepers' would then be able to run the Prison as a profit making business and charge ...[more]
Newington Gardens is situated on the former site of the Horsemonger Lane Gaol, and because of that was commonly known as "Jail Park" until the mid 1960s.
The jail was designed by the architect surveyor of Surrey, George Gwilt the Elder, and was opened in 1791. At the time it was the largest prison in Britain.
The Bernhard Limey Wishing Well stands in the middle of the park, and tradition demands that instead of tossing a penny into the water to make a wish, you have to put your left shoe i...[more]
Now refitted as an office building, Norfolk House was originally built in 1722 as a residence for the Duke of Norfolk. Frederick, Prince of Wales and father of King George III was accommmodated there from 1737-1741, and his son, King George III (subject of the film the Madness of King George), was born there in 1738.
The house remained in the ownership of the Dukes of Norfolk until 1938 when it was demolished to make way for an office building, which then served as HQ for top allied military pe...[more]
Built on the site of Northumberland House, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Northumberland, the Avenue is home to The Ministry of Defence, DEFRA and the Nigerian High Commission. It is probably best known for having a square on the London Monopoly board named after it....[more]
Now a student hall of residence, the name Northumberland House has in its time been associated with rather loftier roles.
The original building was a Jacobean mansion constructed in 1605 and occupied by the Percy family, who were the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland, hence its name. The Percy family were one of England's richest and most influential aristocratic families, and Percies notably appear in several of Shakespeare's plays as well as in Ben Elton and Richard Curtis' historical ...[more]
An elegant and impressive building both inside and out, One Great George Street serves officially as the headquarters of the Institute of Civil Engineers but is also used for public events.
The building was constructed between 1910 and 1913 by James Miller, who won an architecture competition with his neo-classical design. It is situated in Westminster, close to Parliament Square.
The interior of the building boasts 19 rooms of varying sizes and styles. Each room bears the name of an important...[more]
The Opera Comique was opened in 1870 just before the building of the Globe Theatre nearby. The two buildings were alarmingly known as the 'Rickety Twins' as they were built back-to-back to a very poor standard.
The Opera house was known as the 'Theatre Royal, Tunnels' due to its long tunnel entrances. It was partly built underground and had a long flight of stairs down to the theatre, making it draughty as well as being a fire hazard. The owner, Sefton Parry, built the theatre very cheaply, ...[more]
Paddington basin is named after the nearby canal basin which was once part of the historic trans-shipment facility. It is part of the Grand Union Canal. The area has since been redeveloped and is the site of the Marks and Spencer head Office.
The Rolling Bridge, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, was built in 2004. The unique design consists of several triangular sections hinged together. When extended it is a steel and timber footbridge measuring 12 metres long. When boats need to pass, the hyd...[more]
Based outside central London in Neasdon, Paddock was Prime Minister Winston Churchill's cabinet office "of last resort", should both the regular cabinet office and his underground cabinet office at Whitehall both be destroyed during the Blitz.
Constructed in 1939 but used only twice for full meetings of the War Cabinet during the war, Paddock was abandoned in 1944. Apart from a brief period where one room was used as a social club for Post Office workers, it has remained unused ever since....[more]
Best known as an expensive address on the Monopoly board, Park Lane is an exclusive street in London's Westminster. It developed from a country lane into a major residential street in the 18th century, with the building of Grosvenor House, the Duke of Westminster's mansion, and Dorchester House which belonged to the wealthy Holford family.
Several houses were demolished at Hyde Park Corner in the 1960s to allow road widening and it is now almost an urban motorway with 3 lanes running in either ...[more]
The newly renovated Paternoster Square stands next to St Paul's Cathedral in central London. Paternoster Row is the heart of the London publishing and it shares its name with the Square.
During the 1960s the area around St Paul's was redeveloped and Paternoster Square was seen as an embarrassment in this prime area. William Whitfield proposed a redevelopment plan in 1996 which has finally come to fruitation. The new architecture reflects Sir Christopher Wren's brick and stone building of St Pa...[more]
The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art was founded in 1970, but was not open to the public until 1977. The centre is a scholarly institute and contains a library with over 12,000 volumes focuses solely on British art. The Centre also contains a number of important manuscript collections.
The centre is also closely affiliated and has ties with Yale university and provides a place for American students to be taught. It also runs a publication programme through Yale University Press and...[more]
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology was originally established in 1892 as a teaching resource at the University College. The Museum is now run by the Institute of Archaeology, which is part of the same University. There are over 80,000 items in the museum with some of the world's leading displays of ancient Egyptian historical items.
In some parts of the exhibition visitors are given torches as there is no lighting. This is to ensure the preservation of some of the most delicate items. So...[more]
The Phoenix Garden was created in 1984 as one of seven gardens to be enjoyed by the community, and is the only one of those seven remaining.
The garden occupies a space which was originally a bomb site from World War II before houses and a pub were built there. More recently the land had been used as a car park and there is very little trace of the buildings left.
The garden is managed by a committee of volunteers, who work under a registered charity, and has been awarded the highest prize i...[more]
The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, usually referred to together as the Sikorski Institute, was created in the mid 1900's in honor of the contribution of the Polish armies during World War II.
In the years after WWII, the communist government ruling the People's Republic of Poland stricly censored issues regarding the role of the Polish armed forces in aiding the allies.
The Sikorski Institute became a place to archive and exhibit materials relating to this subject. It also served as ...[more]
Pollocks toy museum began life in 1956 in a single small attic room near Covent Garden. As the success of the Museum continued to grow, so did the need for more space and other rooms where subsequently taken over in the building and the ground floor became a toy-shop. By 1969 the collection had grown so big that the entire museum needed to be moved to larger premises. Number 1 Scala Street was chosen as the new location and is still run by the grandson on the original founder Marguerite Fawdry....[more]
Featuring twentieth century and contemporary works of art by Scottish painters, the Portland Gallery is a small art gallery in Westminster.
Established in 1984 by Thomas Hewlett, the gallery has an excellent collection of works by the four "Scottish Colourists": FCB Cadell, JD Fergusson, Leslie Hunter and Samule Peploe. In addition the gallery also represents more contemporary artists, including Jack Vettriano, whose most popular work, The Singing Butler, sells more posters and postcards than ...[more]
Successfully climbed by French urban climber Alain Robert in 2007 Portland House is a 101m tall skyscraper. Completed in 1963 its 29 floors house companies including American Express. As the highest building in Victoria and Westminster it was claimed that Queen Elizabeth II demanded the building be pulled down shortly after completion as it can be seen from, and see into, the grounds of Buckingham Palace. ...[more]
Prince Henry's Room was a tavern established in 1610.
The building was built on the former site of a Templar meeting place, and is one of the few buildings within London's City limits which was still standing after the Great Fire of London in 1666.
The ceiling of one of the rooms in the tavern is highly decorated with Prince of Wales feathers, along with the initials PH. This ceiling is one of the finest and oldest existing examples of Jacobean plastering, and the building also has some or...[more]
The Princess Louise pub is a grade II listed building dating back to the 19th century. It is still famous today for its remarkable interior of dark wood and low lighting that has kept much of the appeal of its original 19th century design.
It is also listed on the Campaign For Real Ale's national inventory of historic pub interiors.
Due to its close proximity with the nearby university of London and the British museum the Princess Louise enjoys local patronage from the local professors and ot...[more]
The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court is the central space inside the buildings that make up the British Museum. It was redeveloped in the 1990's to act as a link between the museum buildings, and a central space for visitors to enjoy refreshments and shopping.
The glass roof of the Great Court was designed by Buro Happold, and is constructed with over 3,000 panes of each, each one a unique shape to conform to the curving design of the roof.
The Great Court was opened in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth...[more]
Queen Square was originally built between 1716 and 1725 and previously was known as Queen Anne's Square. In the Square there is statue that was believed to be of Queen Anne but is now thought to be Queen Charlotte who was the wife of King George III.
Towards the end of his reign King George III was treated in a house on Queen Square for mental illness. To this day many of the buildings surrounding Queens Square are for researching, administering and providing health care.
The church of St Geor...[more]
The Queen's Gallery shows around 450 works of art from the Royal Collection on a rotating basis. The Royal Collection consists of works held "in trust for the nation" as opposed to owned privately by the Queen. Open to the public daily the gallery was opened in 1962 and last renovated in 2002 by John Simpson who added the Dorric entrance portico and created three-and-a-half times more display space which allows special exhibitions of the collection's paintings, prints, drawings and watercolours,...[more]
Ranelagh Gardens were created as a pleasure garden for the public in the 1700s. The gardens were situated in the grounds of Ranelagh House which was bought by a syndicate in 1741 and subsequently opened to the public.
Although less spendid in scale, the Ranelagh Gardens were considered more fashionable that their rival, Vauxhalls Gardens, and had a higher entrance fee which ensured that the gardens were only frequented by people of a certain status.
Writer and antiquarian Horace Walpole decl...[more]
Red Lion Square was originally laid out in 1698 and takes in name from the Red Lion Inn. It is rumored that Oliver Cromwell, the English military and political leader, is buried in the square.
At the centre of the garden there is a large statue of Fenner Brockway who was was a British anti-war activist and politician. There is also a memorial in the garden to Bertrand Russell who was was a British philosopher, mathematician, historian, advocate for social reform and pacifist.
The garden in co...[more]
Number 104 Pall Mall houses The Reform Club, an exclusive gentleman's club founded in 1836 around the principles contained in the then-radical 1832 Reform Act. Nowadays, however, its function is purely social.
The founder of the club was Edward Ellice, a rich MP with a background in banking who had a zeal for reform and who was backing the 1832 Reform Act. The act proposed a wide extension of the voting franchise to many people who had never before been allowed to vote. Ellice intended his new ...[more]
The Regent Hall is one of the first Salvation Army centres in London, and was first founded in 1882 by William Booth.
The hall is often known as the Rink, as the site was a Victorian skating rink before the church was built.
Regent Hall is well known for it's internationally touring brass band, as well as being a venue for other musicians....[more]
Regent Street sits right in the centre of London's thriving, bustling West End. It runs from Langham Place down to Picadilly Circus, crossing Oxford Street at Oxford Circus, towards its northern end.
Although Sir Christopher Wren had previously drawn-up plans for a more formal street arrangement after the Great Fire of London in 1666, these plans fell through and it was only when John Nash penned his plans for broad, distinguished streets in 1811 that London's chaotic medieval street pattern wa...[more]
Aeolian Hall was built in 1876 by Sir Coutts Lindsay as the Grosvenor Gallery. He was an amateur artist who was ridiculed for his fascination for the aesthetic movement.
In 1883, Lindsay decided to light his gallery with electricity. The equipment was installed in the basement, and while some neighbours complained, others bought electricity off him for their own buildings. This was the first known electricity distribution system, but the threat of fire brought his enterprise to an end. In 1890,...[more]
Riceyman Steps was a novel by Arnold Bennet which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction when first published in 1923. The fictional Riceyman Steps were based on the steps leading up from Kings Cross Road to Granville Square now know as Gwynne Place. Bennet loved the Clerkenwell area and his book told the story of the final year in the life of Henry Earlforward, a miser who keeps a second-hand bookshop in Clerkenwell. ...[more]
The Royal Academy of Music is one of only five Conservatoires in the UK which are entitled to use the 'Royal' prefix. It is the oldest degree-granting school of music in Britain and has been part of the University of London since 1999.
The Academy was founded in 1822 by Lord Burghersh, along with the French composer and harpist, Nicolas Bochsa. Eight years later it was granted a Royal Charter by King George VI. The building was part of John Nash's design for Regency London and it stands at the ...[more]
On this site stood the Royal Aquarium, designed by Alfred Bedborough, and opened in 1876 as a venue for general entertainment.
The programme of art exhibitions, concerts, plays and classical music was not a success with the publice, and were replaced with music hall and variety acts, and dangerous and sensational tricks, the best-known being Zazel, a young lady shot from the mouth of a cannon.
Although there were large tanks meant to be filled with curious sea creatures, the Aquarium was no...[more]
The massive Portland stone Howitzer gun sited at Hyde Park Corner is The Royal Artillery Memorial, which commemorates the sacrifices of the British Royal Regiment of Artillery in World War I. It has been suggested that the Howitzer points towards the Somme region of France, the scene of some of World War I's bloodiest fighting.
The design by Charles Sargeant Jagger features a BL 9.2 Howitzer gun atop a large plinth, which is surrounded on its four sides by bronze figures representing artillery ...[more]
The Royal Courts of Justice, or the Law Courts as they are better know as, are where the Court of Appeal for England & Wales and the High Court of Justice for England & Wales are housed.
The building was built in the 1870s and had 11 architects competing for its design. George Edmund Street won the the competition and went to design the building from the foundations all the way to the ornate carvings and spires by the entrance. Building started in 1873 but was severely delayed by a masons stri...[more]
The Royal Hospital is home to around 300 retired and infirm British soldiers who need care. These retired service men are known affectionately as the Chelsea Pensioners, and until 2009 consisted exclusively of men.
The Royal Hospital was commissioned by King Charles II in 1681 as a place to house injured and elderly soldiers. Because of insufficient pension provisions, some of these men were technically still in active service so that they could continue to have an income.
The building was...[more]
Situated at 17 Bloomsbury Square, The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain is the regulatory and professional body for pharmacists in England, Scotland and Wales. All pharmacists must be registered with the society in order to practice.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society was formed in 1841 at a meeting at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, a pub on the Strand. Premises were found for the society's new School of Pharmacy at 17 Bloomsbury Square. In 1843 the society was granted a Royal Charter b...[more]
Now occupied by residential buildings, this site was formerly the Royal Surrey Gardens, popular Victorian pleasure gardens just to the east of The Oval.
Originally the grounds of the manor house of Walworth, the gardens were acquired by Edward Cross in 1831. Cross owned a menagerie at Exeter Exchange and sought new land on which to open a zoo, to compete with London Zoo in Regent's Park. Cross built a domed conservatory to house lions, tigers, a rhinoceros and giraffes and adorned his gardens w...[more]
Russell Square was developed in the 16 and 1700's by the Earls and Dukes of Bedford, and takes it's name from their surname of Russell. The street lamps around the Square still carry the Bedford Arms.
It was developed as a high end, middle class residential neighbourhood, and consisted of large, terraced houses, some of which can still be seen on the South and West sides of the square. A historical marker commemorates the building where the poet T S Eliot worked as poetry editor for Faber & ...[more]
Founded in 1857 The Savage Club is one of the most informal and convivial of London's many gentlemen's clubs. The club holds fortnightly dinners for members and their guests which are always followed by entertainment.
Several times a year the members' ladies are invited to attend an evening dinner, sometimes as part of the entertainment! On these evenings widows of former Savages (as members are known) are honoured guests and are known as Rosemaries, after rosemary, a symbol of remembrance.
T...[more]
The unusual design of this pier was the work of Beckett Rankine in 1998. Scheduled services now use Embankment Pier a little further up the Thames but it is the central London base of Woods River Cruises. ...[more]
Senate House is a 19 storey, 64 meter high building that is home to the administrative centre for the University of London.
The building is completed in a striking art deco design and was the work of architect Charles Holden in 1931. King George V started the construction process by laying he ceremonial foundation stone in 1933 and the building was completed by 1937. The original plan for the building was to be 3 times the size, but due to lack of funding and the onset of the world war the plan...[more]
The Seven Dials junction is named after a pillar bearing several sun dials which has rested at this location for over four hundred years.
The original pillar was designed and erected in the early 1690's by Thomas Neale, a British politician, and regarded by many as the first postmaster to the US.
The pillar was to form the centre of a housing development where six roads met, and although the design developed to include seven roads, the original pillar was built with just six faces.
The housin...[more]
Shell Centre is a 107 metre-high skyscraper with wings, known as the 'Upstream Building'. This is the home of one of the two main offices of Shell Oil.
Shell Centre was built by Sir Howard Robertson in 1961, on land cleared a decade earlier for the Festival of Britain. At 27 storeys high, this was the first London high-rise to exceed the height of Victoria Tower in Westminster. It is an uninspired-looking building, clad in Portland stone, with bronze framed windows. However the interior of the...[more]
Simpson's-in-the-Strand opened in it's current form as a restaurant in 1848, and since then has become one of London's most prestigious traditional eateries.
The restaurant was formed by Samuel Reiss, who had owned the Grand Cigar Divan coffee house which occupied the site, and the caterer John Simpson. Together they expanded the premises, and their use of top quality British produce and traditional roasted meats quickly established them as a popular restaurant in the city, attracting patrons s...[more]
Sketch is a top London restaurant in Conduit Street, offering 'New French' cuisine. This is loosely based on Pierre Gagnaire's Parisian restaurant cuisine, which has been awarded 3 Michelin stars. Sketch is well-known for its afternoon teas, which are legendary. In 2005 Restaurant magazine ranked it the 18th best restaurant in the world.
Sketch restaurant was opened in 2003 by Morad Mazouz who is the acclaimed owner of Au Bascou and the 404 restaurant in France. He also owns the North African ...[more]
Smith Square is famous for several buildings which are located there, in particular St Johns church, Transport House and Nobel House. It was built in 1726 by the Smith family, and house numbers 1 - 9 are the original buildings from this period.
Over the years, the square has been home to the political headquarters of both the Conservative and Labour parties.
The most notable resident of Smith Square was William Thomas Stead, who lived at no.5 from 1904 until his death in 1912.
Stead was ...[more]
The original Southwark Bridge across the River Thames was opened in 1819. It linked Southwark with the City of London. Designed by the famous architect, John Rennie, it had three iron spans supported on granite piers. It was known as the Iron Bridge and actually was the longest cast iron bridge span ever made. It was 73m long. The bridge was mentioned by Charles Dickens in his classic books 'Little Dorrit' and 'Our Mutual Friend' and it was recreated for the TV serial of Little Dorritt in 2008.
...[more]
The Speakeasy Club was opened in 1966 and was a popular late night venue for the London music industry for roughly ten years.
The club included a restaurant and a music room and was frequented by many executives from the recording industry, making it a popular place for new bands to perform in the hope of getting noticed and signed.
For this reason, the club was at the fore front of the British rock scene and during the early seventies gave a start to many of the big names of the era, suc...[more]
The Church of St Benet Paul's Wharf as it stands today was built between 1677 to 1683. The original Church that stood on the grounds before this dates back to the year 1111. St Benet Paul's Wharf is now the London Church of the Welsh Episcopalians, with many services still conducted in Welsh.
Recent excavations of the Paul's Wharf area have discovered the original foundations of the Church and have concluded that it was in very close proximity to Baynard's Castle where Both Queen Anne Boleyn a...[more]
St Dunstan-in-the-West in a Church that was first founded between 988 and 1070 AD and is dedicated to the memory of the former archbishop of Canterbury & London. The Church is the one of of it's type in England since it shares its place of worship with the Romanian Orthodox community.
The first written records that mention the Church are from 1185, but It is unclear when the Church was first erected. It is said that Saint Dunstan who was a bishop of London, and an archbishop of Canterbury, may...[more]
The ancient Saint George the Martyr Church in Southwark is named after the third century martyr, St George. The story goes that Saint George was a Roman soldier who was killed by the Emperor Diocletian in 303AD for refusing to persecute the Christians. In fact he became a Christian believer himself before his death.
The Church is recorded as far back as 1122 in the Annals of Bermondsey Abbey when the Church was given to Thomas de Ardern and his son. In 1415 St George's Church was the setting...[more]
St George's Cathedral was designed by Augustus Pugin, who was a famous architect. He worked on the designs for the new Houses of Parliament with Charles Barry. The Cathedral was opened in 1848 and Pugin himself was the first person to be married there, to his third wife, Jane.
The Cathedral was badly damaged during WW2 and was rebuilt and opened again in 1958. It is used for graduation ceremonies by the London South Bank University....[more]
St George's Church is situated in Hanover Square, in Mayfair, London. It is an Grade I listed, 18th century Anglican Church designed by architect, John James. At the time it was built, a project was being undertaken to build 50 new churches in London, to be known as the Queen Anne Churches.
Due to its connection with the composer George Frederick Handel, who worshipped there, it has strong musical connections. It has a full time professional choir and is the venue of the annual Handel Festival ...[more]
Before 2005 St George's Circus, a major road junction in Southwark, was rather an eyesore; but that year a group of "guerilla gardeners" beautified the roundabout by planting tulips, azaleas, rosemary and even a seven-foot Christmas tree. Since then the roundabout, at the centre of the 'circus' has become a famed local landmark and has appeared as a curiosity story in press throughout the world....[more]
St George's Fields were the setting of the riots in 1768, when angry protesters were demanding the release of John Wilkes, an English radical, journalist and politician.
The protest then became the starting point of the 1780 'Gordon Riots' which began in the movement to repeal the act of parliament removing penalties for Catholics.
The city decided in 1815 to relocate from Morrfields to Bethlem royal hospital as it was at the edge of the erritory it had control of in St George's Fields.
In ...[more]
St George's Fields is a residential area which take's it's name from St George's Cathedral, as this was the location of the church's burial grounds.
The land is owned by the Church of England, and the buildings are in the 'brutalist' architechtural style.
The nearby 'Archery Close' was named because the grounds used to be an archery practice ground. ...[more]
The church of St Giles in the Fields is a Grade I listed building that dates back to 1734. This church is just the most recent of buildings to occupy the site, which has been a place of worship and religious congregation since 1101, when the first small chapel was built there by Henry I's wife, Queen Matilda, as a place for lepers from the neighbouring hospital to be able to worship.
In 1665, over 3,200 people from the surrounding parish died from the Great Plague, and many of the first vict...[more]
The Anglican church of St John the Divine was built in Decorated Gothic style and was completed in 1874. The architect of this Grade I listed building was George Edmund Street who also designed the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. The interior is in highly ornate Victorian style and was designed by G F Bodley. Stone carvings by Thomas Earp, wrought iron altar rails, a carved reredos by Clayton and Bell and some beautiful stained glass windows decorated the interior, along with an organ ins...[more]
This was the site of St Martin Pomary - a church in the City of London destroyed in 1666 by the Great Fire of London. it was not lucky enough to be one of the 51 churches chosen by a committee led by Sir Christopher Wren to be rebuilt. ...[more]
St Mary-le-Strand is well-known in London as being one of two 'Island Churches'. When the church was built it suffered from traffic noise and it is now marooned in the centre of the road on a traffic island. It is the Women's Royal Naval Service official church, and within it there is a book of remembrance for those who died on active service.
St Mary-le-Strand was built at a cost of £16,000 by the Commission for Building Fifty new Churches, in 1714. James Gibbs was the architect and there w...[more]
This church is also known as the Actors' Church as it has a long running association with the nearby theatres. Inigo Jones designed the first church on this site which was completed in 1633. The first known "Punch and Judy" show was held under the portico as remarked upon by Samuel Pepys in his diary of 1662 - this is commemorated by the annual MayFayre service in May.
The first known victim of the 1665 Great Plague is buried in the churchyard. W. S. Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan) and the a...[more]
St Clement danes was built in 1682 by noted architect Sir Christopher Wren, who also designed and built 52 other churches in London including St Paul's Cathedral. The Church is now the central church used by the Royal Air Force.
The first church that stood on the same site in the 9th century was supposedly built by the danish community that occupied London at the time. The Danes were a sea fearing community and so the name 'St Clement' was given to the Church in honor of St Clement who was the...[more]
The Church of St. Margaret's, Westminster was founded in the 12th century by Benedictine monks, so that the population of Westminster could worship separately at their own simpler parish church.
St Margaret's is closely associated with the House of Commons, and since 1614 when the entire House took Holy Communion on Palm Sunday, Parliamentary services have continued to be held there.
St Margaret's hosted the wedding of Samuel Pepys to Elizabeth in 1665, and the year after John Milton married t...[more]
The earliest recording of St Nicholas Cole Abbey was around 1144 when it was mentioned in a letter from Pope Lucius II. Its strange name comes from the 4th century St Nicholas of Myrna, patron saint of children and fishermen, and Cole Abbey, a medieval phrase for traveller's shelter from the cold. Children's vestments found during the Protestant Reformation suggest that the church followed an ancient tradition of electing a boy bishop each year on Saint Nicholas Day.
In the 1272 Charter the Ab...[more]
Staple Inn dates back to 1585 where it was once used as a wool staple. It now houses the London office of the Institute of Actuaries and is the only surviving Inn of court in Chancery.
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations to one of which every barrister in England and Wales, and those judges who were formerly barristers, must belong. It was once attached to the Gray's Inn, which was is on of the four Inns of Court.
Most of the Inns of Chancery were lost during the 19th...[more]
The street named Strand, or 'The Strand' as it is more commonly referred to, was named after the old English term for river bank or shore, as the street runs close to the Thames. There has been a road there for hundreds, if not thousands of years, since Saxon times, when it was a major thoroughfare between the ancient city and the outlying settlements.
In the period before the 1600's, the street held many palaces and grand houses for bishops and earls. These palaces, including the Savoy Pal...[more]
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is a new court which will come into being in October 2009. It was established under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and will serve as the highest appellate court in all matters under English law, Welsh law and Northern Irish law. It will also determine devolution issues where the legal powers of the three devolved governments are questioned.
The Supreme Court will also hear cases concerning commercial disputes, family matters, judicial review and ca...[more]
Tavistock Square was developed in the early 1800's and was named after the Marquess of Tavistock, which is a title given to the Dukes of Bedford, to whose estate the square belongs.
The square was landscaped by the master builder Thomas Cubitt.
The square has several commemorative monuments, including a memorial to conscientious objectors built in 1995, a bust of Virginia Woolfe, and a cherry tree which was planted in 1967 for the victims of Hiroshima. In the centre of the gardens there is...[more]
The Temple Bar marks the West border of the City of London on the road to Westminster. It is one of eight border points put in place during the Medieval times in order for the City of London to regulate trade.
The others are at Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Moorgate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate, but the Temple Bar has always been the most important, as all traffic between the political center of Westminster and the City of London would pass through it. It is now the only one of th...[more]
The 2i's Coffee Bar was famous not only for its coffee, but for the musical stars who either performed or were discovered there. The coffee bar was located in Soho, in the basement of 59 Old Compton Street, when Soho was a less desirable area than it is today. The coffee bar operated from 1956 to 1970 and was owned by Paul Lincoln, a well-known Australian wrestling promoter and wrestler himself.
The bouncer at the 2i's was Peter Grant, who went on to manage Led Zeppelin. Famous names such as To...[more]
The unusually named Aquarium L-13 is a modern commercial art gallery named after the zeppelin whose bomb destroyed the original building in Farringdon Road in 1915, during WW1. It specializes in punk-based artworks by artists, musicians and writers by such names as Jamie Reid, Sexton Ming, Billy Childish, Jimmy Cauty and artists associated with the indie label 'Stolen Recordings'.
The gallery assists in the production and sale of novels, records, books, jewellery, prints, artwork, stamps, wallp...[more]
The Cartoon Museum is a collection of everything that is animated, laminated or syndicated in the world of cartoons and comics; it bridges the worlds of political cartoons, comic strips and comic books. As well as holding a large collection of actual cartoons, with over 1,200 exhibits, the museum has a library of over 3000 books related to cartoons and cartoonists. It is located at 35 Little Russell Street...[more]
The Drill Hall was used as a practice venue for the Bloomsbury Rifles which is where the building takes it's name.
Since the 1980's it has been used as a theatrical venue and houses two small theatres, rehearsal rooms and meeting spaces. The Drill Hall has grown a strong reputation for supporting gay and lesbian theatre productions and is considered Britain's leading producer of works with a homosexual theme.
It is also used by BBC radio as a venue for shows that are recorded in front of a li...[more]
Opened in 1998 the Guards museum tells the story of five regiments of the Foot Guards stationed at Wellington Barracks near Buckingham Palace - the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards. Displays include uniforms, paintings, drawings and sculptures depicting the various battles in which the regiments have fought since the 17th century. ...[more]
The Hospital is a private members only club whose purpose is to encourage the collaboration of artists from all genres including painters, musicians, actors and writers.
The club was opened in 2004 and was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and David A. Stewart of the band Eurythmics. It derives it's name from the St Pauls Hospital which used to occupy the site.
Facilities in the club include TV and music recording studios, art exhibition space, a private cinema, a restaurant which i...[more]
With a round-the-clock butler for each guest and an impossibly posh suite setting guests back a staggering £8,000-a-night, the 5-star Lanesborough hotel nestles neatly in the lap of London luxury. And what's good enough for uber-famous singer Michael Jackson has been more than good enough some of the world's best known entertainers and politicians.
Since 1733, the site can't seem to decide if it is better suited to being a hospital or a hotel. That changed in the 1970s when St.George's Hospital...[more]
Freemasons' Hall stands in Great Queen Street, as it has since it the first Masonic Hall was built here in 1775. It is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England. It is a Library and Museum and includes the Grand Temple and 23 masonic temples besides. It is a meeting place for Freemasons in the London area.
The currently building is the third Freemasons Hall to be built on this 2 1/4 acre site. It was built in Art Deco style between 1927 and 1933 by architect Henry Victor Ashley and...[more]
The London Studios is a large television complex also known as the The London Television Centre. The studios are home to most of ITV's programs as well as being the location for the filming of programs for other television networks.
The complex includes several studios as well as production and post production suites and has been the filming location for shows such as Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, The Graham Norton Show, Have I Got News For You, and Loose Women. One studio has served...[more]
The Mall was created as a ceremonial route at the turn of the 20th century running from Buckingham Palace to Admiralty Arch and on to Trafalgar Square . The work included adding a new facade to Buckingham Palace and erection of the Victoria Memorial. Unfortunately it seems to be an urban myth that in the event of an emergency the Mall can be turned into a makeshift runway for the Queen and members of the government.
The road is closed to traffic on Sundays, public holidays and ceremonial occas...[more]
The Oval has been home to the Surrey County cricket club since 1856 and is also used as an international playing-ground. Each year in late august or September the Oval traditionally hosts the final Test match of the series.
The original site was a market ground in 1844 and was owned, and still is, by the Duchy of Cornwall. In 1868 after the Surrey cricket club had established The Oval as it grounds over 20,000 supporters watched the first game of the Aboriginal cricket tour of England, the firs...[more]
The Place is situated in Duke's Road, Euston and is well known as the home of the London Contemporary Dance School since 1969. It also accommodates the Richard Alston Dance Company and the Robin Howard Dance Theatre.
Built as a Victorian Drill Hall, The Place now leads the way in developing the skills and careers of dance artists. Virtually all the contemporary dance artists in the past 40 years have some connection with The Place.
Under Richard Alston, the dance company performs on tour and ...[more]
The unique Rolling Bridge is part of the Grand Union Canal development at Paddington Basin which was built in 2004.
The designer was Thomas Heatherwick. The bridge is constructed of eight triangular sections which are hinged at the walkway level. When extended it is a steel and timber footbridge measuring 12 metres long. When boats are required to pass beneath, the hydraulic pistons curl the bridge until the two ends join, forming an octagonal shape.
The Rolling Bridge can be seen demonstrati...[more]
Sinking beneath ground level within a stone's throw of the Tower of London and the London Mayor's offices at City Hall, The Scoop is an outdoor amphitheatre in central London.
The circular rows used for seating can hold around 800 people, who enjoy films and theatre productions during the summer. In 2008 the summer season at The Scoop included Bbritish films such as Withnail and I, Atonement and The Dam Busters. The Scoop was constructed in 2002....[more]
The Bloomsbury Theatre originally opened as the Collegiate Theatre in 1968. The theatre belongs to University College London and funding for the building came from a large private donation and a grant from the University Grants Committee.
The theatre changed it's name to the Bloomsbury in 1982, and in 2001 the it became known as the UCL Bloomsbury, as the college used the theatre for student products several times a year. Also in 2001, the theatre became home for the New London Orchestra...[more]
Famed for its use in the 1970s as a punk rock venue and since used to launch the acting career of Joan Rivers, the Leicester Square Theatre had former incarnations as The Venue and Notre Dame Hall.
The building originated as the Notre Dame Hall in 1953 and was originally used as a French cultural centre. In the 1970s the punk revolution claimed the hall as a music centre. From that time until 2001 the hall thrived as a live music and dance venue.
In 2002 it was converted to a theatre, “the V...[more]
The Warehouse is a recording studio on the South bank of the Thames, near Waterloo East. It is also a well-known concert venue and the home of the London Festival Orchestra.
Back in 1992 it consisted of two abandoned warehouses which were bought up by Ross Pople and converted into the studios, concert venue and library....[more]
The Broadway Theatre, or Broadway as it is now known, is a performance venue in Barking, East London. The building was originally part of Barking Town Hall. The municipal Hall has now been refurbished as an auditorium seating 341 people. The venue has a charitable status and is run by an independent trust. Like many similar theatre venues, it aims to promote the arts in Barking, Dagenham and East London....[more]
The Michelin-starred restaurant ,'Tom Aikens', was opened by Tom Aikens and his wife at the time, Laura Vanninen in 2003. It is on Elystan Street in up-market Chelsea.
The acclaimed restaurant serves contemporary French cuisine and as well as its Michelin star, it was awarded 3 stars in the Egon Ronay restaurant guide 2005....[more]
The second restaurant opened by the brilliant young English chef Tom Aikens, Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea opened in 2006.
Tom Aikens worked in Paris and Reims under legendary French chefs Joël Robuchon and Gerard Boyer before moving to London to become head chef of Pied à Terre in 1996, where he retained the two prized Michelin stars acquired by his predecessor, Richard Neat. In 2003 he opened his forst restaurant, Tom Aikens, and the restaurant was soon awarded a Michelin star and three stars in...[more]
The Tower Lifeboat Station is one of the four bases of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution along the River Thames.
Each year there are hundreds of accidents and collisions on the busy river and following the deaths of 51 people in 1989 when the pleasure boat Marchioness sank the Government arranged for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to form a joint effort for search and rescue operations on the river.
The ...[more]
Trident Studios was a successful music recording studio which was opened by the brothers Norma and Barry Sheffield. The studio had almost instant success and recognition after the first single recorded there in March 1968, which was My Name's Jack by Manfred Mann.
Many famous British artists have recorded at the studios, including David Bowie, The Beatles, George Harrison, Peter Gabriel, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Genesis and Rod Stuart. Artists under the Beatle's own Apple label were al...[more]
The Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile was built in the late 1800's by the architect Alfrew Waterhouse and the beautiful building is a good example of his gothic style. The building was originally designed to be used as the King's Weigh House, where merchants had to have their goods weighed in order to calculate any taxes and duties owed to the Crown.
The church takes its name from the Biblical story of the Holy family's escape to Egypt to avoid King Herod's slaughter of young male childre...[more]
The Union Jack Club is a residential complex for members of the British Armed Services and their families and has over 300 housing units as well as ammenities such as a restaurant, bar and function rooms.
The idea behind the club belonged to Ethel McCaul who was a Royal Red Cross nurse in the early 1900's, and saw the need for such a residential facility.
The current Union Jack Club is the second building, the first having been damaged during World War II and finally demolished in 1970.
The...[more]
Union Street is a famed London Street and contains various Theaters, galleries and pubs.
The Street runs all the way from Blackfriars Road in the west and Borough High Street in the east. On the North side of the Street is The Union Theatre which is a leading fringe performance venue. Jerwood Space which is a well known gallery and arts venue is located on the South side of the Street. There are also other art galleries such as the RKB Gallery which is dedicated to artworks on paper.
Amongst ...[more]
Vauxhall came into being in 1317, when King Edward II gave the manor of Vauxhall to Sir Roger d'Amory for his services at the Battle of Bannockburn. At that time the land was marshy and was used as a market garden until the 18th century. The name Vauxhall was derived from the large house owned by the Faulke de Breate, called Faulke's Hall, which derived as Foxhall and then Vauxhall. When the Westminster Bridge was constructed in the 1740s the area became more accessible, especially for the Vauxh...[more]
Vauxhall Gardens was one of the leading pleasure gardens for almost two centuries. The gardens were first known as New Spring Gardens, and mentioned by the writer Samuel Pepys in his diary in 1662.
Historians for the Edinburgh Encylopedia, the engraver George Vertue and authors James Boswell and Charles Dickens also all mention Vauxhall Gardens as a prominent attraction in 17th and 18th century London.
The gardens spread over several acres of land, with landscaped gardens and walkways, and w...[more]
Having been open since 1926, the Veeraswamy restaurant on Regent Street claims the title of oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the UK.
When it first opened the restaurant served a hybrid of "Anglo-Indian" cuisine, but with time the British pallet has become more aclimatised to traditional Indian food and nowadays the restaurant serves a menu of regional Indian cuisine including dishes from Punjab, Kashmir and Goa.
In the late 1990s the restaurant was given an ultra-modern facelift - a chang...[more]
Originally built as a modern solution to London's ancient sewage system, Victoria Embankment is a road running along the north of The Thames from the City of Westminster to the City of London.
Set the task of narrowing the Thames to make way for a road, a walkway and handsome public gardens, the project took 15 years to complete. As well as helping to make London's streets less smelly, Victoria Embankment also relieved traffic clogged along Fleet Street and The Strand. ...[more]
Standing over 320 feet at the Southern End of the Palace of Westminster, the Victoria Tower houses the official parliamentary archive. It 12 floors are linked by a great wrought iron staircase with 553 steps.
The tower was built for the express purpose of housing parliamentary records with work starting in 1843, nine years after fire destroyed most of the original palace. The same fire destroyed almost all the records of the House of Commons, but the records of the House of Lords survived, as t...[more]
Adjacent to the Victoria Tower - which contains the parliamentary archives and is topped with a flagstaff carrying the Union Flag - sit the Victoria Tower Gardens.
The gardens are open to the public and were created in the 1870s by Joseph Bazelgette, who found fame in the late 19th century with his ambitious plan to provide London with a modern sewerage system.
When walking in the park visitors should look out for a statue of the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst by AG Walker. The suffragettes we...[more]
Connecting The Strand with The Embankment, Villiers Street is steeped in history and has played host to poet and author Rudyard Kipling, writer and magazine entrpreneur Richard Steele and the Charing Cross Hospital Medical School.
The street was built in the 1670s by Nicholas Bourbon on the site of York House, which was owned by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, whose name it took.
The Irish writer and magazine entrepreneur Richard Steele lived on the street from 1712 and founded both The S...[more]
The initial British terminus of the Eurostar rail-link from London to Europe, Waterloo International railway station has now been replaced as a link to the continent by St Pancras International.
The Eurostar service began in 1994 and was switched to St Pancras in 2007. The Waterloo terminus was designed by Nicholas Grimshaw and partners and completed in 1993 at a cost of £135million. It won the 1994 Royal Institute of British Architects' Building of the Year award.
There are currently no firm...[more]
Waterloo Millennium Pier is operated by the London Eye and was primarily designed as an anti-collision protection system for the Eye.
Funded by the Millennium Commission with money made available through the UK National Lottery, the construction was one of five piers opened in 2000 by the Commission on the River Thames as part of the Thames 2000 project. Other piers built at the time include Blackfriars Millennium Pier and Westminster Millenium Pier. The project formed part of a combined trans...[more]
Conveniently close to Buckingham Palace in an emergency, the barracks are home to the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards and all of the Foot Guards bands and all the Regimental Headquarters.
Princes William and Harry organised a memorial service to their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, on August 31 2007 in the Guards Chapel to mark the 10 year anniversary of her death....[more]
Established in 1887, the West London Methodist Mission is today associated with a very active programme of social outreach and community assistance.
The mission teaches the principles of Methodism, a branch of Christianity associated with preaching outside factories and workshops, to bring Christianity back to the ordinary people. Many notable Methodists, including the great socialist politician and speaker Lord Soper, worked out of the mission's base in West London.
During the early 20th cent...[more]
With historical connections ranging from Charlie Chaplin to the Perodic Table, West Square is an historic square in Kennington, south London.
The square is built on land originally owned by the Temple West family, who gave it its name. It was leased for house building in 1791.
In 1812, during the Napoleonic Wars, a tower was constructed at 36 West Square for the purpose of transmitting messages between Whitehall and the Royal Navy in Kent.
The Bethlem Hospital, now sited in Shirley, Kent, wa...[more]
While no longer used as a church this was was John Wesley’s first Methodist chapel in London’s West End as commemorated by the attached plaque. Its pulpit is now in the nearby St Giles in the Fields.
John Wesley was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian who founded the Arminian Methodist movement. Methodism was a highly successful evangelical movement in the UK, which encouraged congregants to experience Christ personally.
Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many s...[more]
The host to the first meeting of the United Nations in 1946, the site is a Methodist church, conference and exhibition centre, art gallery and office building.
It was built in 1912 on the site of an old entertainment complex, the Royal Aquarium, Music Hall and Imperial Theatre. The money was raised by over 1 million contributors giving one guinea to the "Million Guinea Fund". Although clad in a renaissance French style it is an early example of a reinforced concrete frame. The original design ...[more]
Westminster Chapel is an evangelical church that has been based in central London since 1840. The current building, seating around 1500, was opened on 6 July 1865. ...[more]
Westminster Millennium Pier was funded by the Millennium Commission and is one of five new piers opened by the Commission in 2000 as part of the Thames 2000 project. This project was part of an integrated transport and regeneration strategy for the Thames led by London’s Cross River Partnership.
Operated by London River Services the Pier is served by various river transport and cruise operators. These include City Cruises which run during the summer between Westminster and Greenwich and Crown...[more]
Weston's Music Hall operated as a music hall and theater between 1857 and 1960. The theatre underwent many redevelopment's and renaming's during its life-span and was renamed in 1868 to become the Royal Music Hall and then again in 1892 to become the Royal Holburn Theatre of Varieties and once more in 1906 when it became the Holburn Empire.
The original site for Weston's Music Hall was on the site of the Six Cans & Punch Bowl. The License for the premises was held by Henry Weston who was alrea...[more]
Whitefield's Tabernacle, which is also known as Tottenham Court Road Chapel, dates back to 1756 when it was built as a parish church for the influential Anglican minister George Whitefield.
The original church was built just west of Tottenham Court Road, however the congregation of the chapel quickly, and in 1759 the building was extended.
In 1890 the chapel was dismantled and rebuilt as Whitefield's Central Mission. This church was reduced to rubble in 1945 by the last V2 bomb to fall on Lond...[more]
Whitehall Court is one building housing two separate entities, each one having its own occupants. One end houses the National Liberal Club and was designed by Alfred Waterhouse whilst the other, which includes the Royal Horseguards Hotel, was designed by Archer and Green.
The Royal Horseguards Hotel is owned by the Thistle Group and covers 1 and 2 Whitehall Court. 3 and 4 Whitehall Court are private residences.
Whitehall Court was built in the 1880s. Famous residents have included the playwrig...[more]
Wimbledon's All England Lawn Tennis Club is known the world over for the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships. The museum is in the grounds of the Club and is dedicated to the history of the sport of tennis. It includes items dating back to 1555.
The museum is housed in purpose-built premises, and was reopened in 2006. Guided tours of the All England Lawn Tennis Club includes admission to the Tennis Museum, which is open all year round....[more]
Woburn Square was built between 1829 and 1847 and was designed by Thomas Cubitt who was the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century. The Square in the smallest of the Bloomsbury squares and was originally built to improve over the land which was at the time a swamp.
The Square takes its name from Woburn Abbey which was the main country seat of the Dukes of Bedford. The square originally contained 41 houses which were smaller in size and stature to the nearby ...[more]
Wong Kei is a unique restaurant in Chinatown. It is the second largest Chinese restaurant in the UK, and seats 500 diners. The seating policy is one of the unique features about this institution. Single diners are seated on the ground floor front dining area with the best street views, and parties with children are placed to the rear. Upstairs is reserved for business party groups. Shared tables are the norm in this restaurant. Often couples will come into the restaurants singly in order to obta...[more]
One of the English Parliament's innumerable eccentricities, the Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. It is a large, wool-stuffed cushion covered with red cloth and came into use during the fourteenth century. Its use symbolises the importance to the nation of the wool trade, which was vital to the country's prosperity.
When the Woolsack was damaged in World War Two, wool from various commonwealth nations was used in its reconstruction, symbolising the unity of the Com...[more]
The Yauatcha Chinese restaurant is situated in Broadwick Street, in London's fashionable Soho district. The restaurant was opened in 2004 by Alan Yua, who enjoyed success with his Wagamama Japanese restaurant and the chain of Busaba Eathai Thai restaurants. He is also the owner of Hakkasan, which has a coveted Michelin star rating. The Yauatcha also holds a Michelin star, which it was awarded after just one year of opening.
The Yauatcha is especially famous for its delicious Dim Sum. It was ra...[more]
York House has had a number of interesting royal residents in its historic life. It was built as a wing of St. James's Palace for Frederick, the Prince of Wales, on his marriage to Augusta of Saxe-Gotha in 1736. Prince Frederick only enjoyed York House for about a year before a quarrel with his father, King George II, led him to leave.
Princess Caroline also resided in York House in 1795, before her marriage to the then Prince of Wales, who became George IV. The Duke of Cumberland, Prince Ernes...[more]
The Young Vic Theatre, counterpart to the well-known Old Vic, stands on the South Bank of the Thames. It is situated in what was a temporary breeze-block building called the Cut, which was formally a bomb site. It is still standing and is now considered permanent. The Young Vic promotes up and coming young actors and directors and is publicly subsidised. The Old Vic stands nearby and is the first home of the National Theatre and is one of London's finest theatres.
Frank Dunlop became a founder...[more]
Zimbabwe House is, as its name suggests, the Zimbabwean Embassy building in London. It was built in 1907-08 as the headquarters for the British Medical Association, by architect Charles Holden.
The building was decorated with a series of sculptures of naked figures representing the Ages of Man, which were considered quite shocking in the Edwardian era. These were the first commissions of Jacob Epstein, who pioneered modern sculpture throughout his career. If you visit the building, you will se...[more]
The Crown Jewels includes the entire collection of items used as regalia during a monarch's coronation ceremony and other state functions. The Crown Jewels are thought to be one of the most valuable and largest jewellery collections in the world and include some exquisite and rare gems.
All of the original crown jewels from the Anglo Saxon period except for the crown were lost by King John in 1216, and had to be remade.
Most of the Crown Jewels were melted down by Oliver Cromwell when he seiz...[more]