After crossing Fulham road…

Sir Nigel Ross Playfair (1874 – 1934) was an English actor and director, known particularly as actor-manager of the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in the 1920s. 
Fortnum & Mason sells a rich, bitter marmalade, made for Sir Nigel since the 1920s and named in memory of him.

This rather trim building on Thurloe Square came about due to the fact that, 20 years after the construction of the square, 23 of this houses were sold to the Metropolitan District Railway despite uproar from landowner H.B. ALEXANDER, in order to build an extension of the original Metropolitan Railway, whichhad opened in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon. Its steam trains ran underground connecting the railway termini at Paddington and King’s Cross, with several intermediate stations, and rapidly brought people to and from their place of work in the City of London.

Many of the houses on the square were designed by London architect George Basevi, a student of neo-classical architect SIR JOHN SOANE. They were all fairly traditional, boasting beautiful columned porches at their entrances.

Before you continue, there is More to see Around SOUTH KENSINGTON LU STA

Then, in case you want to continue exploring:           GLOUCESTER ROAD & EARLS COURT are not far away

BUS ROUTES ALONGSIDE CROMWELL ROAD OLD BROMPTON ROAD and FULHAM ROAD

Orifginally, a HIGH CHURCH project, with HOLY TRINITY, BROMPTON. J A SHAW STEWART MP, leading member and founder (he cofounded, as well, KEBLE COLLEGE, OXFORD).

Architect: W BUTTERFIELD, disciple of PUGIN. He designed, as well, ALL SAINT’S, MARGARET ST., FITZROVIA.

A composition and material choice without regard to adjacent buildings (SURVEY OF LDN)

Small belfry tower, square shoulders, very high. Completed 1877. Orig. polych. decor restored, after  complete  whitewashing in the 1820s.

Built between 1881 and 1888, the buildings on either side of the garden were designed by Ernest George and Peto, a firm that grafted Northern European urban motifs onto plainer Queen Anne style stock.^[1

James Gunter (25 July 1731 – 19 September 1819)^[1] was an English confectioner, market gardener and property developer who laid the foundations for what became one of the great residential estates in West London, developed by his descendants, the "Redcliffe Estate" and The Boltons in Little Chelsea and West Brompton.

Back to your tour…

See the original front door  of the first building. In the PEDIMENT MOSAIC, Queen Victoria greets the bearers of inventions. Behind, the Crystal Palace, and names of countries exhibiting in GE.

South of the GARDEN, through the SHOP, then MOSAIC FLOORS, made by women convicts in WOKING PRISON. F.MOODY did the drawings. It was part of the V&A vision of social responsibility: the exposture to arts and crafts, leading to social improvements.

A plaster copy in two parts. A door?: space for storage, haircuts for staff?

A daylit gallery… A  TOWNHOUSE of a nobleman (MORLAIX, BRITTANY). Spiral staircase combined with long landings to rooms. The offset newel post is a single piece of decorated oak with patterns and figures that declare the owner’s polit/relig allegiance.

From a famous TUDOR BED to MORRIS and  MCINTOSH.

SACKLER COURTYARD. New white porcelain. You SEE now the orig. 1873 building 

A Renaissance technique, scratching a design into layers of plaster. This was the site of the boilers, before being revealed to the public. A project of Amanda Levete Architects has allowed as well a new underground space to be created digging down 40 m. into the earth and opening a new connection with EXHIBITION ROAD

The dents and chips are remnants of the German military bombing campaigns of World War II. For 11 months, London and many other parts of England were besieged by an aerial bombardment commonly known as the Blitz.

Despite being under constant bombardment, the museum mostly remained open during the air raids.

in the central nave of the Cast Courts is a wonderful mosaic floor. Known as 'opus criminale', or 'criminal work', the floors were made by female convicts at Woking Female Prison. Design drawings by Frank Moody, one of the V&A's in-house designers, were sent to the prison where the prisoners were to assemble the mosaic. This formed part of the museum's founding vision of social responsibility: that exposure to art and the craft of making could lead to social improvement.

A piece of a Brutalist council estate in the V&A. A piece of the East End in West London

ENJOY a few more V&A MUSEUM  trails 

Collections In EAST LONDON

One of the most forceful and energetic members of the GE1851 committee, became a leading campaigner for the creation of a museum to continue the GE educational and cultural work… And, as well, the RAH was very much his idea… And the RCOLMUS evolved from the music training school he helped to found… And, as FELIX SUMMERGY, wrote illustrated children’s books…And he was a postal reformer, helping ROWLAND HILL to sep up the PENNY POST, which encouraged the sending of…seasonal greetings…

The first collection of cards was exhibited in the museum in 1843.

Again on tour

The memorial commemorates people displaced as a result of the Yalta Conference at the conclusion of the Second World War. Created by the British sculptor Angela Conner, the work consists of twelve bronze busts atop a stone base. The memorial was dedicated in 1986 to replace a previous memorial (also by Conner) from 1982 that had been repeatedly damaged by vandalism.

The impetus for the memorial can be traced to letters in the 1970s to The Spectatorand The Times calling for something to remember those who were “forcibly repatriated by the Allies to the Soviet and Yugoslav authorities at the end of the Second World War, a crime that was carefully hushed up at the time and even concealed from Parliament for fear of the outcry that would have resulted”

The location was however to be a problem, as the small park is owned by the Crown Estate, and the Foreign Office had concerns about placing a memorial on government land that explicitly criticized former UK government policy.

It was eventually approved in May 1980 by Margaret Thatcher, and dedicated in March 1982.

As well, nearby

“God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another “. NEWMAN felt unable to find God’s work within the the Church of England. 
A brilliant Anglican scholar and preacher, one of the leading lights in the OXFORD MOVEMENT, a High Church attempt to forge a path between Catholicism and the voices of DISSENT and EVANGELICALISM.

By his 40s he was moving steadily towards a belief in Rome as the home of the true Church. In 1845 he was received into the RC CHURCH. The apostasy of such a prominent figure in VICTORIAN ANGLICANISM caused great controversy.

Ordained in 1846: he devoted himself to create a Catholic University in Ireland and to the established of the ORATORY OF ST.PHILIP NERI in BIRMINGHAM, serving as its rector in the 1850s. Pope Leo XIII appointed him cardinal in 1879. His spiritual journey is accounted for in APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA was a response to fierce criticism from CHARLES KINGSLEY.

Holy Trinity Brompton with St Paul's, Onslow Square and St Augustine's, South Kensington, often referred to simply as HTB, is an Anglican church in London, England.

Prior to the construction of Holy Trinity Brompton, the present site was a part of the large Parish of Kensington which was served only by the nearby St Mary Abbots church. In the early 1820s the area was in the midst of a substantial population increase, so a decision was taken to purchase the land and construct a new church.

The church was a Commissioners' church, receiving a grant from the Church Building Commission towards its cost. The full cost of the church was £10,407 (equivalent to £1,140,000 in 2023),^[5]towards which the Commission paid £7,407. The architect was Thomas Leverton Donaldson.^[6] Holy Trinity is a Grade II listed building

Brompton, sometimes called Old Brompton, survives in name as a  WARD in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. Until the latter half of the 19th century it was a scattered village made up mostly of market gardens in the county of Middlesex. Where the old turnpike highway (Fulham Road) meets today's Thurloe Place and becomes Brompton Road is sometimes called BROMPTON CROSS. The old hamlet of Brompton carried on straddling the secondary Brompton Lane, later Old Brompton Road, for the whole of its length. In modern terms Old Brompton centred on today's South Kensington tube station, Gloucester Road tube station and their contiguous streets, and continued all the way to West Brompton station, between Earl's Court and Chelsea.

PRINCE ALBERT thought science to be rather “godless”, however he wished ton encourage its use especially in  the manufacturing industry. Though the SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM had some science exhibits, PROFESSOR HUXLEY urged the set up of a SCIENCE MUSEUM, “to remove the displays from its present, filthy, repulsive, unwholesome sheds there”. Building started in 1914, but during the Great War it was used as gov. offices. In 1928, King GV opened the SCIENCE MUS. In 1961 the museum was completed, after the WW2  and postwar delay. Over 7 acres of exhibits about continuing human invention. Here you have some highlights

Still more interesting things NEARBY

Back to the tour: The lbtc takes you along EXHIBITION ROAD, a beautiful paving…

The courtyard was named Sackler Courtyard after the Sackler family, associated with the Purdue Pharma company accused of fuelling the opioid crisis in the US. Theresa Sackler, the chair of the Sackler Trust, sat on the V&A's board of trustees at the time the Courtyard was opened.

In 2019 US photographer and activist NAN GOLDIN and her group P.A.I.N.(Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) held their first anti-Sackler performance protest outside of the United States at this place in London, demanding that the museum “abandon the Sackler name”, remove signage at the institution linked to the family and stop receiving donations. Goldin led a group of 30 demonstrators in placing bottles of pills and red-stained “Oxy dollar” bills on the courtyard's tiled floor. At the time, the museum's director Tristram Hunt supported the family and refused to change the name. He told a press conference "we’re proud to have been supported by the Sacklers."

In 2022 the Museum bowed to the pressure and removed the name. No new name was announced at the time for the courtyard, but 2023 maps of the museum show the name Exhibition Road Courtyard in it.

And After the VICTORIA & ALBERT… a more urban shortcut towards knightbridge and hyde park corner

In the 18th and 19th centuries the name of Languedocian spa town of Montpellier had been a byword for pleasant and healthy place… No spa here  in KNIGHTSBRIDGE, though!. Definitely, a name that occurs very often in England. No doubt, the English were lovers and good patrons of the continental spa towns! 

Remember, you are following the regular route,  along EXHIBITION road…

This art deco apartment block was designed by Adie, Button and Partners, the architects of the spectacular Stockwell Bus Garage. 

The AMERICAN CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS is a MORMON CHAPEL. Dating from 1960, is surmounted by a needle spire of golden bricks. Cladded in PORTLAND stone, 4 storey building, in reinforced concrete, incorporating a chapel, cultural hall, children’s section and a family history centre.

A 14-year UCLA study, completed in 1997, tracked mortality rates and health practices of 10,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California, indicating that Church members who adhered to the health code had one of the lowest death rates from cancer and cardiovascular disease in the United States. It also found that Church members who followed the code had a life expectancy eight to 11 years longer than the general white population of the United States (citation from the CJCofLdS)

Next door to the Goethe-Institut in London, Stein’s Berlin “is an authentic family-owned German & Bavarian restaurant with a touch of class thanks to its Kensington clientele blending with the passion and dedication of German owners Bele & Reinhard Alexander Weiss who opened this third site of the Stein’s restaurant brand here following on from the much-loved Stein’s outdoor restaurant in RICHMOND and Stein’s restaurant & biergarten in KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES”

When demolition began in 1957, plans had already been announced for the new COMMONWEALTH INSTITUTE, in HOLLAND PARK, housed in a building in part preserved in what is now the DESIGN MUSEUM>>>>.

In old Anglo-Saxon “GORE” was a narrow triangular piece of land, wedge-shaped. The GORE ESTATE had, at its centre, GORE HOUSE

In 1787, Wilberforce came into contact with Thomas Clarkson and a group of activists against the slave trade, including Granville Sharp, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. They persuaded Wilberforce to take on the cause of abolition, and he became a leading English abolitionist. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for 20 years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
In 1820, after a period of poor health and with his eyesight failing, Wilberforce further limited public activities,^[171] although he became embroiled in unsuccessful mediation attempts between King George IV, and his estranged wife Caroline of Brunswick, who had sought her rights as queen of the realm.^[1] Wilberforce still hoped "to lay a foundation for some future measures for the emancipation of the poor slaves".^[172] Aware that the cause would need younger men to continue the work, in 1821 he asked MP Thomas Fowell Buxton to take over leadership of the campaign in the Commons.^[171] As the 1820s continued, Wilberforce increasingly became more of a figurehead for the abolitionist movement,

D’ORSAY was an artist and a dandy. Il créa des parfums pour son égérie. En 1865 sa famille a décidé de l’être en valeur l’héritage olfactif et en 1908 a autorisé a créer une société de parfums, qui a devenu la COMPAGNIE FRANÇAISE DES PARFUMS D’ORSAY

D’ORSAY s’est fait fabriquer un nouveau modèle de voiture dite COUPÉ  D’ORSAY, qui a connu un grand succès en Angleterre 

Christmas 1851. London was triumphantly asserting itself as the centre of the world. This was the year of the Great Exhibition, one huge show-and-tell at the Crystal Palace; a self-congratulatory jamboree on the wonders of the British Empire and the power of modern industry and technology. But for all the city's wealth, countless Londoners lived in squalor and hunger, or else suffered the indignities of the workhouse.

It was also a city uniquely gifted with philanthropists, do-gooders and the agents of Christian charity. With winter setting in, the newspapers were filled with appeals to help the needy. "The outdoor poor... the casual poor... the thousands in London who are ashamed to beg," would be particularly hard-hit by a lack of food over Christmas time. Various institutions provided handouts and shelter, but a one-off feast in the streets of SOHO would fill the bellies of unprecedented numbers of impoverished Londoners. At the centre of proceedings was ALEXIS SOYER, often called the first celebrity chef.

In 1892, The Gore Hotel was opened by sisters Miss Ada and Ms Cooke, descendants of Captain James Cook. The 50-bedroom luxury hotel has featured in many music videos and photo shoots, such as for Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones.

NEARBy: kensington!.  WHY NOT A SMALL DETOUR?. And, afterwards, notting hill…

ST.MARY-ABBOTTS CHURCH

And Notting hilL is not far AWAY. On your way you might by visiting…

Your tour continues turning left, alongside prince consort road

1913. Arch. ASTON WEBB. Stone. Apsed entrance, flanked by giant sculptures. The buildings are vast, but homogenous in proportion, human in scale, clean lined, right-angled, and hollow square ranges, surrounding interconnected quadrangles. 

Foundation stone 1890: The brass band of SAMSON FOX LEEDS FORGE (who had given £30.000 towards the cost of the building) nearly blew the marquee away!. Op. 1893. Arch. Sir Arthur BLOMFIELD (born in FULHAM PALACE, as his father was the Bishop of London, and great church builder). He was apprenticed with HARDWICK. And future writer THOMAS HARDY joined his practice. Neo-Gothic, Flemish Mannerist
Separate entrances: men / women

It works as a conservatory; undergraduate to doctor in Western Music (classical). Top institution in performing arts.

Saturdays’ Junior dept., for kids.

Principals of major London orchestras are faculty members.

Exhibitions: Dept. of PORTRAITS. MUSEUM OF INSTRUMENTS (from the 15th, mostly European). HANDEL spinet, HAYDB clavichord.

Performing venues: FLEMING CONCERT HALL, BRITTEN THEATRE, RECITAL HALL, PARRY ROOMS

Remembered as a conductor, but trained as an organist (next door) and became a great cathedral organist.

Made his debut as a conductor at the  1921 PROMS. Late 1920s worked with DIAGHILEV’s BALLET RUSSE.

1950s. First conductor of BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

This statue was first located in the HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY garden. In fact, this was the first monument mooted in his honour, the one that he declined.
But later,  the figure of  BRITANNIA was substituted. She was superseded by a statue of QV, but as the prince died before completion, he was made the subject again!. And the flight of granite steps was built free of charge by JOHN WELK.. And the builder offered to do the monument at cost price and to pay for any excess over the estimate.

The NTSch.for M is part of RAM. The RCO is now based in Birmingham.
1875, in a NEO-JACOBEAN style. The idea of NTSfM was from Prince ALBERT. In 1876 ARTHUR SULLIVAN became principal. Their vision, during the building of MUSEUMLAND, was the creation of a school with a wider acceptance of music students than the elite of the ACADEMY at MARYLEBONE.

Financed by Sir ChJamFREAKE, builder of the SMITH’S CHARITY ESTATE, on a site leased by the COMMISSIONERS, where “the strange sounds of practicing would be least inconvenient to the neighbourhood “.

RE LT HH COLE (HENRY COLE’s son)  and florid, ornate , decorations by FW MOODY (teacher at the NATSch; and the work, executed by his students), that almost  obscure ihe small  BUILDING: Chocolate brown panels, patterned in cream, sky blue sgraffito,  a frieze of putti, carrying musical instruments, garlands incorporating the VR monogram, around the door

The entrance to door 12 on the south steps is now flanked by two-metre bronze figures of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The permanent additions to the building, created by artist Poppy Field, were unveiled by His Majesty The King when he attended the Festival of Remembrance in. Kvember 2023.

Built in 1901, thus a NEO-GOTHIC church

Designed by GEORGE BODLEY, great church arch., nearing the end of his career. In the style and manner of a 14th c town church, to serve the dwellers of the newly created district. The organ of the demolished -1870-KNIGHTSBRIDGE CHAPEL was recased then (and rebuil in 1958).

The East wall is windowless in anticipation of being overlooked by adjacent developments, thus breaching the east end altar tradition. Interesting decoration. 
After 1901 boundary changes, you are in WESTMINSTER

A little detour?. NEARBY, QUEEN’S gate mews PH