St Pancras Church Garden

St Pancras Church Garden is a hidden and open garden located near to the City on Pancras Lane. The garden design was created by Studio Weave.

St Pancras Church used to reside on the very same spot in the 11th century before it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was continually used as a burial until 1853 and the church was not rebuilt. Remains of the old church can still be found under the modern churchyard.

In 1963, an excavation was carried out by the Guildhall Museum and it appeared that the burials were removed at that point. The site was left in a derelict condition until the City of London obtained the lease to it in 2010 to turn it into a public garden.

A design competition was held by the Street Scene of the City of London, where in which the winning design would be the finalised design of the garden. Studio Weave won the competition with designs that reflected the history of the site. The concept was to bring on Romanesque Architecture which resembled the past church as it raises from the ashes of the ground from where the church burnt down.

The benches were carved by the City and Guilds of London Art School students with references to the Romanesque carvings. The stone paving and wood carving follow the same designs as it takes an asymmetrical and layered design, arranged in a herringbone design. They are displayed among buildings and tall trees that brings in a lack of sunlight which adds to the atmosphere of the garden.

Plantation Lane

In one of London’s oldest parts is Plantation Lane and now features an art installation, which was installed in 2005.

Scrawled against the floor is texts that run across history making use of light, language and space. It is brought together through a collaborative project between Arup Associates and Simon Patterson.

The art installation features laser-cut letterings as it lines up along paving slits which forms a journey conjoining the texts of history as it flows and curves. The work also features a light installation of a wall of the moon surface measuring 41 metres long and 6 metres high. The work to different points of history from the Battle of Hastings to the London Blitz.

#PlantationLane

Philpot Lane Mice

Do you see it? No? Take a closer look… it’s there in the middle… Its London’s smallest sculpture as it resides on Philpopt Lane as the Philpot Lane Mice. The sculpture features mice fighting over a piece of cheese.

The story behind it is said to honour a 19th century worker who was working atop the soaring heights of the Monument. Found that his lunch was missing, he blamed it on another worker which resulted in a fisticuff between them. Unfortunately, both workers tragically fell to their deaths. Further mysterious disappearances of lunches resulted in the unveiling of the true culprits, which were found to be mice!

It’s really hard to find so putting on your eagle eyes are most definitely a must. Another thing worth checking out next door is the Sky Garden on the top level of the Walkie-Talkie building which is required to be pre-booked and is free to access as well as the alleyway Plantation Lane.

Ben Uri - Out of Chaos

As a way to celebrate their 100th year centenary, Ben Uri Gallery hosted their Out of Chaos exhibition in Somerset House, showcasing works that have seldom been seen by the public. The exhibition maps out 100 years of Ben Uri’s history in London. The exhibition contains archival materials, detailing experiences of both World Wars as well as exploring art through the mediums of migration and identity. In fact, Ben Uri has over 1,300 artworks mainly focussed around 20th century art that specialises in issues surrounding migration and identity. 

They artworks are split into their retrospective designated themed rooms which include:
Integration & Identity – A look at artists’ that have moved from their European homelands to the East End, often bringing forth their traditions and identities, or those who have become embedded in the British social and artistic life.

• Conflict & Modernism – Explores the rise of the ‘Whitechapel Boys’ group of Jewish artists’ contribution to British modernism.
• Forced Journeys – Explores the era of Nazi Germany surrounding issues of identity and migration.
• Postwar – Explores the change in the artistic landscape following the start of multiculturalism and change in the British society.
• 2001 - The Present – Focusses on the current artists exploring identity and migration through art since 2001 and of recent acquisitions. 
• The Future – Young artists across different nationalities explores art through different mediums which include film, video, installation and photography.

Sophie Robertson’s Rage and Release are companion pieces. Rage deals with the struggle as Robertson’s muse struggles to get into her corset and howls out in anger. This may reflect society’s expectations on how women fashion their body, which may have harmful consequences. Release is otherwise on the contrary to Rage as she bathes placidly, where she accepts that she is an object of desire.

Photographer Natan Dvir’s Homesh Evacuation #1 work mainly focusses on the political, social and cultural issues. He beautifully captures a powerful moment during an eviction of Jewish settlers at a settlement in West Bank of Homesh.

Shmuel Dresner’s The Ghost Town uses a collage of torn and burnt book pages as reference to the Nazi book burnings of 1933 and at the attempt of destroying the European Jewry.

Mark Gertler’s Merry-Go-Round is an illustrious painting with vociferous use of colours. It paints Gertler’s vision of a pacifist looking at a nightmare of conflict as the carousel riders have their mouths opened in an unending scream. Author D.H. Lawrence said that the painting was a “a real and ultimate revelation”.

Josef Herman’s Refugees is a poignant expressions of Jewish refugees as they try to escape the dangers during the Second World War as they leave their homes. The painting shows the deep fear in the family’s eyes as they try to make their way to safety, while a wolf in the distance has a bloodthirsty countenance.

Alfred Wolman’s Portrait of Mrs Ethel Solomon in Riding Habit presents Mrs Solomon in very minimal dark colours against her skin complexion giving her an air of control, adding to her stance of pose.

#BenUri100

Trafalgar Square - Britain's Smallest Police Station

One of the things that may be overlooked in Trafalgar is Britain’s smallest police station. Located in the south-east corner of the square, the police station has quite a touch-and-go history.

A temporary police station was placed outside the tube station entrance at Trafalgar Square at the end of the First World War. Plans were put into place to renovate and make the police station permanent but was met with objections from the public. What they did was to make a lamp post that was hollowed out adding in window slits and light fittings.

This installation was finished in 1926 with the purpose for the Metropolitan Police to observe demonstrations and protests, especially in that year was the general strike. There were claims that the window slits were put in place as to fire out at rioters who got out of hand. It is also said that there was a direct phone line in the police station that was able to link directly to Scotland Yard should there be any trouble. Not only that, each time the phone was used, the light fitting fixed atop would light up alerting nearby officers of impending troubles in the vicinity.

From the pictures below, you can see an ornamental light on top of the police station which is said to be from Nelson’s HMS Victory. The police station now is now used as a cleaning facility cupboard, which has come a long way since the conception in 1926.



Richard Saltoun - David Hall: Situations Envisaged

David Hall’s Situations Envisaged came to the Richard Saulton gallery from 17 July to 14 August 2015. The exhibition was curated by Stephen Partridge in consultation with Caroline Irving, Anna Ridley, Adam Lockhart as well as Hall’s daughter Debi Hall. The exhibition showcases the different mediums Hall uses for his art through video, photograph and installation.

Vidicon Inscriptions: The Tape shows the Hall’s approach to video experiementation with the video as it registers the motion of a polaroid shutter as it burns on to a “vidicon” tube.

The other video shown in the exhibition is the TV Fighter (Cam Era Plane) which creates a seamless connected timeline between two videos of a footage of a World War II fighter target image against another image. The overlap presents the past with the present seemingly allowing the two images coincide together as if they are both travelling together in a vacuum.

Displacement (Removal Piece) is an image of a photograph of an image of a reproduced installation of Hall’s work “removal” which was done by sanding down the gallery floor.

The Richmond Park Series are a series of 5 black and white photographs he took in Richmond Park in London.

Cinema is a series of 5 films: Actor, Between, Edge, This Surface and View. The films were made with Tony Sinden and were exhibited at Tate in 1974. Through the shaping of traditions and techniques of film, the films explore the comparison between the materiality of the screen to the image that is being projected.

A Situation Envisaged: The Rite II (Cultural Eclipse) is part of the Situation Envisaged Series, which was started in 1978. It was shown in an exhibition Video Positive ’89 held at Tate Gallery Liverpool. The installation is made up of 15 monitors stacked together with the centre TV monitor broadcasting an image of the moon, with the sounds provided by David Cunningham.

“Striking in its prescient re-interpretation of both the Minimalist Sculpture of the 1960s, of which Hall was part of, and the post-Minimalist artistic hybridity of the 1970s, which he helped to create” – Chrissie Isle on A Situation Envisaged

#SituationsEnvisaged

Carting Lane - London's Last Sewer Lamp

Round the corner from the Savoy Hotel is Carting Lane, which is best known as “Farting Lane” made famous by the Sewer Lamp suspended in between the Strand and Victoria Embankment Gardens. It is said that the lamp is the last surviving Victorian sewage lamp.

The lamp was made by Joseph Webb as a Webb Patent Sewer Lamp in the late 19th century. It was then partly powered by the town’s gas supplies and partly powered by - ahem - the methane gas collected from waste from the sewage system running through the Savoy Hotel. A good invention at the time as it - like a candle - burned off the smell of the sewage and germs as well as providing light to the street. The lamp is hollow so that the gas can travel up the lamp to keep it alight. The lamp itself now only runs on gas.

Some time ago, a lorry reversed into the lamp causing a haphazard to pedestrians so it was closed off. It was restored by Thames Gas engineers and is now protected by the London council of Westminster.

#FartingLane

Society of Antiquaries of London - Magna Carta Through the Ages

Magna Carta Through the Ages is an exhibition at the Society of Antiquaries of London held on 26 May to 31 July 2015. Conservations work were done on the 1215 draft and 1225 reissue of the Magna Carta by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Art Conservation Project, which is shown in this exhibition. The exhibition showcases three lots of Magna Carta and its reiterations, giving the history behind them.

Magna Carta Through the Ages

In January 1215, key members of the Baronial Elites demanded the reissue of the Coronation Charter that was created by Henry I which aimed to “abolish evil customs by which the kingdom of England has been unjustly oppressed”. King John at the time tried to find a leeway so said to them that he would make a decision on “Law Sunday” on 26 April (first Monday after Easter). King John and those that opposed him approached Pope Innocent to seek support from the Pope. The Pope, however, got behind King John which caused a rift between the King and Barons.

On 5 May 1215, the Barons performed the ceremony of diffidatio thus cutting ties with the king. A siege of sorts occurred when the citizens of London open the gates to the Barons with the latter declaring that they will not make peace until both parties came to an agreement. King John finding no way out agreed to the reissue of the charter.

In May 1215, the Barons were no longer happy with the reissue as well as growing demands wanted charters to be created for the Barons. Their demands were recorded first in the Unknown Charter (mid-late May) and the Articles of the Barons (10 June). In them, further changes were made with particular grievances addressed such as service in the King’s army in Poitou and raising of the war tax (also known as scutage). They Barons wanted to limit the King’s power so that he can rule accordingly to the law so the security clause was introduced (C. 49 in Articles of the Barons and C. 61 in the Magna Carta). The clause states that the King must follow the terms of the agreement even if he is reluctant to do so. Final terms of agreement were done during, what was known as Runnymede, which ran from 15 to 19 June.

The Black Book of Peterborough

A discarded draft of the Magna Carta was sent to Peterborough Abbey. The text was reproduced to become the Cartulary, which also contained information relating to the Abbey’s land. Upon the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538, a lot of the land was seized by ther King. Some of the land was given to William Cecil, who also obtained the Black Book of Peterborough, and some others were given to Baron Burley, who established the fist most famous and politically influential dynasty.

In 1778, Brownlow Cecil, ninth Earl of Exeter, donated the Black Book of Peterborough to the Society of Antiquaries of London as well as the English translation of the book. The Black Book has remained with the society ever since then. The society expressed the gratitude for his generosity saying Cecil “expressed their most respectful acknowledgements and thanks to his Lordship for his very curious and valuable present.

The Great Seal of the Magna Carta

King John did not sign any of the Charters, instead authrorised his Chancellor to mark it with the Great Seal so as to officiate the documents. 1 of 4 1215 Magna Carta with the Great Seal survived but was horrendously damaged in a fire in 1731.

In 1733, John Pine engraved the writing of the original Magna Carta in a readable format so that the text itself was preserved. He created a depiction of the seal and recreated the 25 coats of arms of King John’s Batons which encased the text. This was obtained by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1842. The exhibition only contained later copies so they would not have been stamped.

Halesowen Abbey Scroll

The 1215 Magna Carta was almost annulled by the Pope but a reissue by the minority government of King John’s son Henry III in 1216 and 1217. In 1225, Henry III come of age and was able to issue a definitive Magna Carta. He issued a contemporary which is believed to have come from the Halesowen Abbey. It became a companion to the 1217 Magna Carta which included the Charter of the Forest which included the government of royal forests. The Halesowen Abbey was founded by Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, who formed the early foundation for the basis of Henry III. The monks created their own Magna Carta which could be somehow connected to Henry III’s connection to the Bishop.

In 1558, the scroll was acquired by the Lyttelton family. Bishop Charles Lyttelton was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and became president in 1765 until death. He left the scroll to the society upon his death.

A Debate between Fellows

William Blackstone, who was a lawyer, wrote The Great Charter and Charter of the Forest which differentiated all the different Magna Cartas. This eventually led to his recommendation for election as a Fellow of the Society and his recommendation said that he was “particularly skilful in the legal and historical Antiquaries of our country”.

Bishop Lyttelton allowed Blackstone to view the Halesowen Abbey Scroll and then his private collection. Their relationship was not always rosy as Blackstone accused the scroll as not of the original. In January 1761, he wrote a paper defending his decision.

In 1762, he was elected as a Fellow of the society and yet again presented a paper that the scroll was not the original saying he had “decisive proof, or at least a violent presumption, that this Roll never passed the Great Seal”.

The Hart Book of Statutes

The 14th century volume is a collection of statutes of written laws brought together by the country’s legislative body but it is not known who commissioned this piece. It was compiled for use by the lawyers and administrator. Henry III’s 1225 Magna Carta and Charter of the Forest is incorporated in the Hart Book of Statutes showing the importance and how accepted the Charter was. It was exhibited and presented by Wulliam Henry Hart to the Society on 6 March 1862.

Presented on the side of the book are two examples of 16th Century printed editions of the Magna Carta. One from 1508, which is the first printed edition of the Magna Carta created by Richard Pynson and is possibly donated by John Bruce. The other is of Richard Pynson’s rival Robert Redman who created the first English translated edition of the Magna Carta with the copy in the exhibition possibly donated by Dr Edwin Freshfield.

#MagnaCarta

John Aldus - Tokens

John Aldus’s Tokens, were made in 2009, were installed on Marchmont Parade on Marchmont Street. In total there are 20 pieces of “Tokens” altogether. The Marchmont Parade was created in partnership between the Marchmont Association., Camden Council, Allied London Properties, Hermes, Brunswick TRA and John Aldus. The installation was opened in summer 2010.

Marchmont Street and Brunswick Centre were built on the Foundling Estate where Foundling Hospital stood. The story behind Foundling Hospital was that Thomas Coram was disgusted by the appalling conditions of the very poor and socially excluded children were living in describing it as “left to die on dung hills”. This led him to gather a set of influential Governors (William Hogarth and George Frederic Handel) seek the royal patronage of King George II. He built the Foundling Hospital in 1739 which became Britain’s first home for abandoned children.

Mothers would leave so that when they were in a potentially a better position, they will return and reclaim their child. As a way to know who their child was if they find that they are able to return, the mothers would leave token with a lot of them taking forms of a heart, one of which has become one of Aldus’s token. The tokens, most of which can now be found at the Foundling Museum, became symbols of the social history of the times when mothers were reduced to handing in their children in hopes of a better future as a reason of poverty and rules of society.

Another story behind one of Aldus’s Token is the circular coloured pieces on two of the pavement slabs. When mothers wanted to give in their child into the Hospital, they had to pick from either a bag for either for the boys or the girls accordingly to their child’s gender. Candles were snuffed out to protect the mothers’ anonymity as they enter the room. From the bags, came three coloured balls:

• White – Child would be checked to see if they were deemed able to survive through medical tests and permitted into the Hospital should they pass.
• Red – Re-entered into the ballot should a mother’s child with the white ball fail the medical test.
• Black – the mother was immediately escorted off the premises with their child.

Aldus’s Tokens are enlarged metal representations of the tokens can be found along the Marchmont Parade:

If you’re popping around to see Tokens, pop around into the Foundling Museum too where you’ll find the original tokens. Just nearby is Coram’s Fields where they have a peculiar policy of allowing access to any adult if they have a child with them. You can find concept design, sketches and models of Tokens on John Aldus's website.

#Tokens