London is full of little hidden attractions which most guidebooks will never tell you about, so here are a few of the better and free places to see as you’re wandering around the city.
1) The London Wall was built by the Romans as a way to protect the city of London, or Londinium as they called it, from all those nowelldoers who lived around it. Surprisingly the wall survived pretty much intact until the Middle Ages when it was regarded as the boundary for the City of London.
After this the wall slowly disappeared and today only sections of it are still visible. The best preserved part is at Cooper’s Row where a high portion of the wall remains, along with one of the latter additions of a 13th-century bastion near the Barbican. The wall looks a little out of place surrounded by all the modern buildings, but is still a remarkable achievement considering it was built around the 2nd Century AD.
2) Jeremy Bentham at University College London or to be more precise, the skeleton of this famous Victorian reformer still sits today in the university. He instructed that upon his death, his skeleton would be sat fully clothed on his favourite seat with his embalmed head placed on top. He sits inside a glass fronted box and watches proceedings, and rumours suggest that he might even be taken to some university council meetings. That’s him above sitting watching the students.
3) Britain’s Smallest Police Station is currently believed to be in the south-east corner of Trafalgar Square, although there is some debate as to whether it’s still generally used. Originally installed in 1926 to keep an eye on protesters in Trafalgar Square, the police station is still the smallest place in the country where a person can be arrested and formerly charged with an offence. For the most part today it’s just another architectural curiosity.
4) Savoy Theatre “Farting Lamp” is one of the last of a breed more officially known as the Carting Lane Venting Lamp. What did it vent? Sewer gases according to most reports as a cheap way to keep the street lights burning, since all were at the time gas lamps.
The Carting Lane lamp which is located just round the corner from the Savoy Hotel and Savoy Theatre, but somehow managed to survive. Most other examples were converted to “town gas” or removed and replaced with electric lights as the old methane gas lamps did risk a little bit of a smell, and very nasty explosions.
5) Crystal Palace Park’s Dinosaurs might have been good at keeping the gas London lights burning, at least if they weren’t just sculptures. The dinosaurs might not look too much like those from Jurassic Park, but these date from around 1853 when the study of such creatures was only in its infancy. The sculptures caused a major uproar because they followed the new Theory of Evolution rather than the established church teachings where dinosaurs really didn’t fit.
6) The Ragged School Museum might not be the most famous educational museum, but what it does show is life in one of the free (charity) schools of London. At a time when you had to pay for an education, these Ragged Schools offered albeit limited educational facilities with basic English and maths. The school also gives an idea what general life was like for the kids of East London during the Victorian times.
7) A Ferryman’s Seat might not sound like much to visit, but for those interested in London’s history this is a very important location. The seat is located on the banks of the Thames close to where the Globe Theatre stands, and was once used by the ferrymen who gave people crossing from Bankside to the South Bank. At the time there was only one London Bridge, so without a great deal of walking, paying one of the ferrymen was the only real option.
Today the seat is set into a modern building, the original building having since been long demolished, but it is still situated in the exact location of the original.
8) Hyde Park’s Pet Cemetery is one of those more unusual places to visit, but London Cemeteries do seem to hold rather a fascination with the public. This one is for our four legged friends and was founded by the Victorian’s in 1880, although today it is partly hidden by undergrowth behind Victoria Gate lodge. Over 300 pets graves are marked here including dogs, cats, birds and even a monkey! To book an appointment to view, you need to contact Hyde Park police.
9) The Old Operating Theatre was discovered in St Thomas’s Church, Southwark, in 1957 having been boarded up for many years. It is believed the theatre was originally built in 1822, and today has been restored to include some of the more primitive medical equipments used at the time. Remember, this was at a time when there was essentially no anaesthetic except perhaps a lot of whiskey – ouch!
10) Two survivors of the Great Fire of London can be found around West Smithfield in a street called Cloth Fair. All the buildings around these are newer styled as they were destroyed by the fire in 1666, but these two survived as they were surrounded by the walls of a priory which shielded them from the flames.
Beyond the 10: There are of course lots more visitor attractions in London both well known and hidden away. With thanks to Dizzy Dee for pointing out these locations.
