churches
Voices from the Strand – Peter Babington, Priest in charge of St. Mary-Le-Strand
In this episode of Voices from the Strand we talk to Canon Peter Babington, Priest-in -charge of St. Mary-Le-Strand who only started last September 2020! We warmly welcome Peter to the Strand community and in this recorded conversation he regales us on his life’s calling, how the pedestrianisation project will affect the church and his…
Read MoreGeorge E. Street’s Royal Courts of Justice: architectural visions of the Strand
In 1873, George E. Street began building his most visible architectural project: the Royal Courts of Justice. The project, which required eleven years of construction, became one of his last, as Street did not live to see the Courts completed in 1882. According to Street’s son, the New Law Courts project, as it was called…
Read MoreThe Island Churches of the Strand
Many King’s students have likely passed the ‘Island Churches’ of the Strand as they make the pilgrimage from Somerset House to the Maughan Library. Likewise, many Strand dwellers may recognise their spires from afar, perhaps unaware of their history. Just a few minutes walk separate St Mary le Strand, located between Bush House and the…
Read MoreStrandlines by Nora Geist
February is LGBTQ+ History Month in the UK! Strandlines invites contributions from all Strand-dwellers, visitors, and dreamers all year round, however, we launched a call this year for contributions to mark the History Month. The post and photographs below were contributed by Nora Geist. Thank you, Nora, for sharing your own ‘strands’ with us! We…
Read MoreKing’s College London Chapel Preservation Project
At King’s College London Archives our remit is to preserve and provide access to the material in our care. This project is an experiment in how we might apply that philosophy to digitally preserve our physical objects and spaces. The buildings of King’s have a rich history and have changed much over the years. The…
Read MoreLayers of the Strand
Today, I have been time travelling. I explored the farm around Trafalgar Square. I squeezed into a tiny top room in Devereaux Court to hear Isaac Newton speak. I paid a ferryman tuppence to take me to the floating coffee house on the Thames to look over the water at Somerset House. This is all…
Read MoreLife (and Death) beneath the Virtual Strand
Since its retirement from public service in 1994 Aldwych tube station (née Strand) has been busily pursuing a second career in showbusiness. Scoring a part in The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ video (1996) before going on to star in films like V for Vendetta (2005), Atonement (2007) and Fast and Furious 6 (2013), it’s also broken into…
Read MoreRapid and joyous bells
‘Oranges and lemons Say the bells of St Clements’ …is or used to be well-known as the first couplet of a nursery rhyme which featured seven churches close to the City of London. The bells of St Clement Danes ring out the tune every day. The Danes built a church at Aldwych, hence the name…
Read MoreSt Mary Le Strand
In 1147 the site of St Mary le Strand was occupied by the church of The Nativity Of Our Lady and the Innocents. This was demolished in 1549 to make way for Somerset House, Protector Somerset promised to rebuild it but never did so and for nearly 200 years the parishioners had used the Savoy…
Read MorePanoramas, Dress Circles and Tubes
In 1787 Robert Barker put a patent on a way of seeing: ‘panorama’. It is said that he came upon the term when surveying the city of Edinburgh from the top of Calton Hill. Moving to London, Barker reconstructed 360 degree views in a Leicester Square art gallery; an initiative mimicked by his son on…
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