This gallery contains 4 photos.
The 11th edition of the sculpture trail sees new contemporary artworks join existing pieces in the City of London.
Blog Archives
The house that soap built | The history of Unilever House in Blackfriars’
The neo-classical office block at the Victoria Embankment was built in the 1930s on the site of a popular hotel.
Unilever House overlooks the Thames embankment
Anyone who crosses the River Thames at Blackfriars Bridge can’t help but notice the imposing, curved façade of Unilever House. The grand structure has been looming over the Victoria Embankment for the past 90 years and is home to one of the biggest FMCG companies in the world.
‘Controlled Energy’ by Sir William Reid Dick looms over a side door
Unilever House stands on the site of Bridewell Palace, which was originally built for King Henry VIII (1491-1547) in the early 16th century. Erected on the banks of the River Fleet, the Bridewell was used as a royal residence, orphanage, prison and poorhouse during its three centuries of its existence. After the Bridewell buildings were demolished in the 1860s, part of the site was acquired by Belgium hoteliers, the de Keysers. The family’s first hotel, the Royal Hotel, originally stood at No.s 6, 8, 9 and 10 Chatham Place (a row of houses in New Bridge Street), and was founded by patriarch Joost Constant Fidel Armand de Keyser (b.1801) in 1845. His son Sir Polydore de Keyser (1832-1898) took over management of the hotel around 1856 and acquired part of the Bridewell site for a new hotel in the 1870s. Then named De Keyser’s Royal Hotel, the new building featured 300-400 bedrooms and was designed by architect Edward Augustus Gruning (1837-1908), who also designed the German Gymnasium in King’s Cross. When the new, five-storey hotel opened in September 1874, it catered to a first-class, mainly continental clientele. By 1882, a second wing of the hotel had opened, making the hotel the largest in London.
De Keyser’s Royal Hotel circa 1900
(Postcard print from Wikimedia Commons)
The hotel was acquired by the Crown during World War I in 1916, renamed Adastral House and became the London HQ of the Royal Flying Corps until they moved further down the Embankment to the Hotel Cecil in 1918. The owners of the hotel sought compensation for loss of income during the forces’ occupation, with the government claiming it had prerogative power to take possession of buildings without compensating the owner. In 1919, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the hotel and granted the owners compensation. The battle has become an important case in constitutional law, which is still used today. Read the rest of this entry
Wild Table of Love | Pull up a stool and dine with the animals at Gillie and Marc’s latest public sculpture
The story behind the art installation in Paternoster Square, on show until May 2023.
Wild Table of Love by Gillie and Marc stands in Paternoster Square
Sculptures of familiar characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman, have been spotted in cities across the world, bringing messages of love, acceptance and adventure. And for their latest stop… the City of London’s Paternoster Square. British-Australian artist duo Gillie and Marc have brought their beloved characters to host an animal banquet in the shadow of the British capital’s iconic St Paul’s Cathedral.
In a sculptural installation unveiled last summer, Dogman and Rabbitwoman share a feast with 10 of the world’s endangered animals: African elephant, hippo, Masai giraffe, koala, Bengal tiger, chimpanzee, Grevy’s zebra, Northern white rhino, lion, and mountain gorilla. The animal sculptures’ relaxed meal is in contrast to their real-life fight for survival. The bronze animals are perched on their own stools as they surround a table covered in crockery and food. Directly opposite the hosts are two empty stools, waiting for members of the public to take a seat. Although the sculpture is on show until the summer, they have recently been accompanied by a festive collection of fir trees over the Christmas period.
Pull up a stool…
- The Wild Table of Love is on show now until May 2023. At Paternoster Square, St Paul’s, City of London, EC4M 7DX. Nearest stations: St Paul’s or City Thameslink. For more information, visit the Gillie and Marc website.
Take a walk on the arty side as Sculpture in the City launches free tours to mark Sculpture Week London
City of London Guides will be taking art lovers on free guided tours of this year’s SITC artworks.
Summer Moon by Ugo Rondinone is among the artworks on the Sculpture in the City walk
© Nick Turpin
Sculpture in the City is launching a series of free guided walking tours of its latest edition to coincide with Sculpture Week London 2022.
The inaugural Sculpture Week takes place from 12-18 September 2022 and celebrates London’s wide collection of public sculpture. The week-long event is a collaboration between Frieze Sculpture, the Fourth Plinth programme in Trafalgar Square and Sculpture in the City. During the celebration, the latest Fourth Plinth commission will be unveiled, as well as the opening of this year’s Freize Sculpture in Regent’s Park.
Sculpture in the City is an annual public art exhibition, which sees contemporary sculptures erected at various sites across the City of London. Currently in its 11th edition, the 2022/23 collection launched in June, with pieces in situ until spring next year. The 11th edition of SITC features 20 artworks from internationally acclaimed and emerging artists, as well as six sculptures from the previous year.
During Sculpture Week London, Sculpture in the City has teamed up with City of London Guides to host free guided walking tours of the 11th edition artworks, displayed against a backdrop of some of the Square Mile’s most iconic architecture.
- Sculpture in the City tours for Sculpture Week London 2022 take place from 13-18 September 2022. Tues-Fri 6pm-7.30pm, Sat-Sun 11.30am-1pm and 6pm-7.30pm. Meeting point: Undershaft, City of London, EC3A 8AH. Nearest station: Aldgate, Bank or Liverpool Street. For more information and to register for a free place, visit the Sculpture in the City website.
Find out what else is on in London right now
Aldgate Pump | The story behind the City of London’s historic water pump
There has been a watering hole on the spot since at least the 13th century
The old Aldgate Pump in the City of London
Situated at the junction of Aldgate, Fenchurch Street and Leadenhall Street stands a historic water pump. Although not the first iteration of the pump, the Aldgate Pump has long been symbolic as the start of London’s East End. For years, it was famous for being the starting point for distances between the City of London into Middlesex and Essex. It takes its name from nearby Aldgate, one of the original Roman gates into the City.
The Aldgate Pump in 1874.
Credit: Wellcome Library, London
There has been a watering spot at the site since at least the 13th century, initially as a well during the latter part of King John’s (1166-1216) reign. Historian John Stow (1524-1605) lived near the Aldgate well in the tumultuous year of 1549 and recalls witnessing from his own doorstep the execution of the Bailiff of Romford for alleged ‘rebellion’. Stow wrote in his 1598 book, ‘Survey of London’: “The Bailiff of Romford, in Essex, was one, a man very well beloved. He was early in the morning of St Magdalene’s Day, brought by the Sheriffs of London and the knight-marshall to the well within Aldgate, to be executed upon a gibbet set up that morning.” The well appears on Braun and Hogenburg’s London map in 1574, as well as on The Agas Map of Early Modern London in 1633.
By the 18th century, developments in engineering meant the Aldgate well had now become a pump to accommodate the booming London population. What is believed to be the first illustration of the Aldgate pump appeared in 1798, depicting it as an obelisk erected on a plinth, topped by a lantern, with further lamps on each side. The pump was served by one of the capital’s many subterranean streams. Read the rest of this entry
Exploring the stories behind the art | Inspired! exhibition launches at Guildhall Art Gallery
Exhibition explores the theatre, literature and music which has inspired the visual arts.
The ‘Old Drury Lane Theatre on Fire’ by Abraham Pether (1809) is one of the artworks in the Inspired! exhibition
Artists find inspiration in many places, often in real-life subjects, such as people or landscapes. However, there’s a wealth of artworks which have grown from the fictional – be it theatre, literature and music. Launching this spring at the Guildhall Art Gallery is a new exhibition which explores the way artists have turned to poetry, plays, novels and music to inspire their work.
A large section of Inspired! will focus on Victorian story-telling. Much of the period’s artwork was nostalgic in reaction to the Industrial Revolution with artists looking back to simpler times, thanks to William Shakespeare‘s works, Medieval folktales and Greek myths. For example, Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of actor John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) as Coriolanus in the Bard’s tragedy. Meanwhile, the burning of Drury Lane Theatre in 1808 was depicted by Abraham Pether’s painting the following year.
For those who enjoy Pre-Raphaelite art, pieces by William Holman Hunt (1827-1910), John Everett Millais (1829-1896) and George Frederic Watts (1817-1904) found inspiration in the Romantic poets and the work of John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle. Also at the exhibition include works inspired by the likes of Sir Walter Scott, Chopin, Joseph Addison, among many others.
-
Inspired! Art inspired by theatre, literature and music runs from 8 April – 23 December 2022. Tickets: £8. Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall Yard, City of London, EC2V 5AE. Nearest stations: St Paul’s, Bank or Moorgate. For more information, visit the City of London.gov website.
Palace, Prison and Poorhouse | The story of Bridewell in the City of London
Originally built as a Tudor palace, the name ‘Bridewell’ has now become synonymous with prisons around the world.
Office block 14 New Bridge Street incorporates the rebuilt gatehouse
Today, the City of Westminster is associated with royal residences, with Buckingham and St James’s Palaces and Clarence House located in the borough. Although it’s been some time since British monarchs resided in the City of London, there are still reminders of former royal abodes to be found within the Square Mile. While the Tower of London is an obvious historic relic of the royal City, there is also another less noticeable remainder just over a mile away.
A relief portrait of King Edward VI
Situated on the busy A201 road, leading north from Blackfriars Bridge, is Bridewell Court. It consists of a 19th century gatehouse, which forms an entrance to an office building, currently home to a law firm. If you look above the archway, you’ll spot a clue to the site’s fascinating history: a relief portrait of King Edward VI (1537-1553).
Bridewell Palace was built in the 16th century on the site of St Bride’s Inn, on the banks of the River Fleet. It was a huge site, spanning south from the existing gatehouse towards where the Unilever building on the Embankment stands today. The structure was the main London residence for King Henry VIII (1491-1547) during the early part of his reign in 1515-1523 after acquiring the site from Cardinal Wolsey (1473-1530). The palace complex comprised of three-storey royal lodgings surrounding two courtyards. A bridge led from the palace over the Fleet to the Dominican priory of Blackfriars. Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) lodged at Bridewell while the validity of their marriage was being debated at Blackfriars when the King was hoping to re-marry Anne Boleyn. By the 1530s, it was leased to the French Ambassador. Following Henry VIII’s death, the property passed onto the ownership of his son, Edward VI.
_1.012_-_Bridewell_in_1666.jpg)
Bridewell Palace, 1666.
(From Old and New London, Illustrated, by Walter Thornbury)
During his short reign, Edward VI gave Bridewell to the City authorities in 1553 to be used as a women’s prison, workhouse and orphanage for homeless children. Many of the female prisoners sent to Bridewell were prostitutes. By 1556, the complex also included a hospital. In 1557, Bridewell was paired with Bethlehem Hospital (aka ‘Bedlam’) in Bishopsgate for administrative purposes. However, as with most buildings in the area, the Bridewell complex was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666, but was rebuilt soon after. Read the rest of this entry
The Panyer Boy of St Paul’s | What is the story behind this 17th century relic?
Just a few feet from an entrance to St Paul’s tube station stands an old relic of London.
Panyer Boy is an ancient plaque erected by St Paul’s tube station
Aside from St Paul’s Cathedral, there isn’t much left in the City of London from the 16th and 17th century. Wars, fires and redevelopment have dramatically changed the architecture and even road layouts of the original Square Mile. With large-scale buildings being completely wiped from existence over the years, it’s impressive when a small piece of London’s heritage manages to survive.
The Panyer Boy is an ancient plaque in Panyer Alley, near the entrance to St Paul’s tube station. It depicts a naked child – likely a baker boy – sitting on a bread basket. Underneath the cherubic boy, are the words: “When ye have sought the City Round. Yet still this is the highest ground. August 27th 1688.” The quote is by English historian John Stow (1524/5-1605) and dates from 1598 – nearly a century earlier than the date below on the plaque. “This is the higher ground” refers to the long-held belief that Ludgate Hill was the highest hill in the City of London, however it’s actually Cornhill, which currently stands at 58ft (17.7metres) above sea level.
The inscription is dated 1688
Despite the date stamp of the late 17th century, the mystery of the origins and original location of the Panyer Boy still continues. This stone effigy has been remounted from building to building as the surrounding environment has changed around him. Panyer Alley has existed for centuries and takes its name from ‘pannier’ – the basket or box from which the young baker boys would sell bread. Pannier is an Old English term deriving from the old French word ‘panier’. Some historians have speculated Panyer Alley was named after The Panyer inn, which stood nearby on Paternoster Row until it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
The carving of the child has somewhat eroded over time, making it even harder to work out what’s actually going on in the carving. Is the child holding a bunch of grapes or a loaf of bread? Stow certainly believed he was holding the fruit as he wrote in his Survey of London: “…a boy fitting upon it, with a bunch of grapes as it seems to be, held between his naked foot and hand, perhaps of Plenty…” This part of the City of London was known for its bakers, with nearby Bread Street the location of the capital’s bread market from Medieval times. Read the rest of this entry
Sculpture in the City 2021/2022 | Alfresco art exhibition is back in the Square Mile
The free contemporary art exhibition has returned to the City of London for its 10th edition, running until spring 2022.
Bloom Paradise by Jun T Lai is one of the artworks taking part in Sculpture In The City
The annual, outdoor exhibition of contemporary art is back in the City of London. Launched in June 2021, the 10th edition of Sculpture in the City runs until spring 2022. The exhibition sees the streets of the Square Mile turned into an alfresco gallery space for a variety of different sculptures.
Among the artists taking part in the 2021/2022 display include Alice Channer, Ruth Ewan, Isabella Martin, Mike Ballard, Oliver Bragg, Mark Handforth, Eva Rothschild, Laura Arminda Kingsley, Tatiana Wolska, Guillaume Vandame, Bram Ellens, Jake Elwes, Jun T Lai, Regitze Engelsborg Karlsen, Almuth Tebbenhoff, Rosanne Robertson, Laure Prouvost and Elisa Artesero. The sculptures and installations have been erected at various points around the City, such as Leadenhall Market and the ‘Cheesegrater’.
- The 10th edition of Sculpture In The City is on from now until Spring 2022. At various sites around the Square Mile. Nearest stations: Fenchurch Street, Monument or Liverpool Street. For more information and a map of the artworks, visit the Sculpture In The City website.
Read more on London’s art exhibitions and installations here.
Leadenhall Market celebrates 700 years with a series of free events
Enjoy live music, art exhibitions and guided history tours at the City of London’s iconic market hall.
Leadenhall Market will celebrate 700 years of history with a series of events
© Leadenhall Market
With so many of London’s original market halls no longer serving their original purpose, it’s a notable feat to still be trading centuries later. This summer, Leadenhall Market will market 700 years of selling with a series of events.
The City of London market was established in 1321 on the heart of what was Roman London, meaning people have been trading on the spot for nearly two millennia. The site is still owned by the City of London Corporation, who were gifted it by former Lord Mayor Richard ‘Dick’ Whittington back in 1411. When the current Sir Horace Jones-designed building was erected in the Victorian era, Leadenhall was known for being a meat, poultry and game market. Today, it is now a destination for diners and drinkers, as well as boutique shopping.
This July and August, there will be a series of free events exploring the market’s vast history. From live music to exhibitions, to organised tours and self-guided walks, there will be plenty of activities on offer.
- Leadenhall Market guided tour (Wednesdays 6.30pm-7.45pm, 7 July – 4 August)
Discover the secrets of the Victorian arcades of Leadenhall Market on a guided walking tour. They are free to join, but limited spaces require booking.
- Lunchtime Lives (Thursday and Friday lunchtimes, 15 July – 6 August)
Enjoy live music from across the decades, from Victorian music hall to ’50s jazz and street bands.
- Legends of Leadenhall self-guided tour
Discover the characters of Leadenhall’s past and its fascinating tales with an interactive audio guided tour. Find the QR code on posters within the market to download the app and play at your leisure.
- Electric City exhibition (open daily until midnight, now until 31 July)
The team behind God’s Own Junkyard in Walthamstow have curated an exhibition of stunning neon art, from film sets of the past 40 years. Free to visit. An information hub is open 11.30am-7pm Wed-Sat.
- UAL Graduate Showcase (Open daily until late August)
Check out the designs of final year students from the University of the Arts London. One of the market’s shop windows will be displaying costumes for theatre productions, animal models, set design maquettes and creative boards.
- Leadenhall Market are celebrating 700 years during July and August 2021. At Leadenhall Market (access from Gracechurch Street, Lime Street and Whittington Avenue), City of London, EC3V 1LT. Nearest stations: Monument or Fenchurch Street. For more information, visit the Leadenhall Market website.
Find out what else is on in London this August.
Read more on the history of Leadenhall Market.
Memoirs Of A Metro Girl 