[35] This feverish building obtained clear results: by 1880, the Port of London was receiving 8 million tons of goods a year, a 10-fold increase over the 800,000 being received in 1800. The last remaining of its kind in Westminster, this sewer gas lamp is an interesting Victorian invention to view. The nearby green is also the home of the scene where the Artful Dodger teaches the practice of pickpocketing to the naive Oliver. Discover how the capital's train lines were built via an interactive smartphone experience, or walk in the shoes of Victorian Londoners during 1851's Great Exhibition. As were sure you already know what we refer to as the Victorian period is named after Queen Victoria and her long reign from 1837 until 1901. The Victorian era could justifiably be called both the most divine and the most decrepit era in Londons history. How did a chip off a 3,500-year-old Egyptian obelisk wind up as a 19th-century fashionable Victorian cravat pin? [28], The Commercial Road was built in 1803 as a conduit for newly arrived goods from the Isle of Dogs straight into the City of London, and in 1812 an Act of Parliament provided for the docks to be integrated into the national canal system via the extension of the Grand Union Canal to Limehouse. It's on your right. [129] More than 30 petitions were submitted to various authorities between 1874 and 1885 requesting that the bridge either be widened or rebuilt to relieve congestion. [15], An Italian community coalesced in Soho and in Clerkenwell, centered along Saffron Hill, Farringdon Road, Rosebery Avenue, and Clerkenwell Road. In 1867 it passed the London-specific Metropolitan Poor Act, creating the Metropolitan Asylums Board and six new Metropolitan Asylum Districts in London. [164] The 700-person capacity Canterbury Music Hall, which opened in 1852 in Lambeth, was the first purpose-built music hall, establishing the model with its large auditorium packed with tables for dining, generally offering bawdy musical revues or individual acts. While Buckingham Palace is not wholly a Victorian building, Queen Victoria commissioned the East Wing as a necessary add-on. Crystal Palace in London. We already have this email. [6][7][8] At the beginning of the century, Hyde Park Corner was considered the western entrance to London; a turnpike gate was in operation there until 1825. Social Classes. By 1865 there were 12 principal railway termini;[89] the stations built along the lines in exurban villages surrounding London allowed commuter towns to be developed for the middle classes. Open: 10 AM - 5 PM, Wednesday - Monday (closed Tuesdays) Address: Leighton House Museum, 12 Holland Park Road London, W14 8LZ, UK. In the 1880s and 1890s tens of thousands of Jews escaping persecution and poverty in Eastern Europe came to London and settled largely in the East End around Houndsditch, Whitechapel, Aldgate, and parts of Spitalfields. The content youre reading is made by independent, expert local journalists. [63][64] The Metropolitan Board of Works (the dominant authority before the LCC), was empowered to undertake clearances and to enforce overcrowding and other such standards on landlords by a stream of legislation including the Labouring Classes Dwelling Houses Acts of 1866 and 1867. The scientist, who originated the term dinosaur, dreamed of creating a cathedral to nature the catalyst for the magnificent building we see today. [171] The Act was intended to move the provision of healthcare for the poor away from the workhouse infirmaries, whose conditions attracted much public scorn, and into six new hospitals. [162] Aided by the promotion of theatre as a respectable medium, and new technologies which made staging plays more sophisticated, 19 theatres were in operation by 1851. This area mixes old with new: warehouses have transformed into bustling modern workplaces, and their cobblestoned streets boast charming shops and eateries. Dating back to 1852, this museum provides a fascinating walk through the ages. [9][10] With the population growing at an increasing, so too did the territory of London expand significantly: the city encompassed 122 square miles in 1851 and had grown to 693 square miles by 1896.[4]. Dennis Severs house does just that. Support Time Out directly today and help us champion the people and places which make the city tick. The population of the seat of the British Empire grew from 1 million to 6.7 million in just 100 years. [48] At the end of the century, the net total of British foreign investment stood at 2.394billion. Walks do not require booking and cost 9 per person. The area became known for specializing in commerce from the Baltic, Scandinavia, and North America, especially for its large timber ponds and grain imports from North America. Dj vu! By visiting Kensal Green Cemetery, youll also be able to pay homage to some of your favourite Victorian figures, such as pioneering author Wilkie Collins and the French acrobat Charles Blondin. More comprehensive and forceful legislation was passed by Parliament with the Public Health Acts of 1872 and 1875. West of Westminster, the closest bridge was Battersea Bridge, three miles upstream. [46] The city was also the headquarters of most of Britain's shipping firms, trading houses, exchanges and commercial firms like railway companies and import houses. While the water might be off, this fountain represents the slow but substantial way London adjusted to cater to its people. [173] Boys between 12 and 14 were employed to collect horse waste from the streets, which remained the main method until cars gradually replaced horse-drawn vehicles in the 20th century. [53] Suburbs varied enormously in character and in the relative wealth of their inhabitants, with some being for the very wealthy, and others being for the lower-middle classes. Peppered with skeletons and thought-provoking nature exhibits, this museum provides a walk on the wild side with a historical twist. Begun in 1860 and completed in 1863, the Metropolitan inaugurated the world's oldest mass transit system, the London Underground; it was created by the cut-and-cover method of excavating a trench from above, then building reinforced brick walls and vaults to form the tunnel, and filling in the trench with earth. [56] The 1888 Whitechapel murders perpetrated by Jack the Ripper brought international attention to the squalor and criminality of the East End, while penny dreadfuls and a slew of sensational novels like George Gissing's The Nether World and the works of Charles Dickens painted grim pictures of London's deprived areas for middle and upper class readers. KibaKiba . 346 ratings14 reviews. We rolled along through miles of bricks and squalor, and from each cross street and alley flashed long vistas of bricks and misery. Royal Albert Hall. A large Irish population settled in the city during the Victorian era, with many of the newcomers refugees from the Great Famine (18451849). [69] When he finally found a reluctant cabbie to take him into Stepney, he described his impression as follows: "Nowhere in the streets of London may one escape the sight of abject poverty, while five minutes' walk from almost any point will bring one to a slum; but the region my hansom was now penetrating was one unending slum. [185], Atmospheric pollution caused by burning cheap soft coal created the city's notorious pea soup fog. 11 Of The Most Amazing Immersive Experiences In London That You've Just Got To Try Discover a variety of the magical immersive experiences on offer in London, from drinking to art shows, and from dining to theatre performances. It extended along the south bank of the Thames at Southwark, and to the east as far as Bethnal Green and Spitalfields. A post shared by The Merchant Taylors Company (@merchant_taylors). The first horse-drawn omnibuses entered service in London in 1829. Suburbs were aspirational for many, but also came to be lampooned and satirised in the press for the conservative and conventional tastes they represented (for example in Punch's Pooter). By 1880 there were one million gas street lamps in London, and the gas works were consuming 6.5million tons of coal annually. The American author Jack London, in his 1903 account The People of the Abyss, described the bewilderment he was met with by Londoners when he mentioned that he planned to visit the East End, many of whom had never been there despite living in the same city. [163], The music hall was a form of live entertainment which developed gradually during the first half of the 19th century. As the capital of a massive empire, London became a draw for immigrants from the colonies and poorer parts of Europe. Roaming within the shadows of the Whitechapel district, the citys most famous serial killer made his mark on the poverty-stricken areas of the East End. The Royal Vauxhall Tavern: charting an iconic LGBTQ venue Created to save an iconic queer venue from closure, this magnificent hand-drawn map shows the rich history of South London. [155] By 1893 the first director was appointed to oversee these developing science collections, which would become the core of the Science Museum upon its founding as a separate entity in 1909. A new network of metropolitan railways allowed the development of suburbs in neighboring counties from which middle-class and wealthy people could commute to the centre. In the Museum of Londons collection there are over 800 Christmas cards, many of which date back to the Victorian era. The Metropolitan Board of Works was not a directly-elected body, which made it unpopular with Londoners. While the city grew wealthy as Britain's holdings[clarification needed] expanded, 19th century London was also a city of poverty, where millions lived in overcrowded and unsanitary slums. Christmas cards were very popular with Victorian Londoners. Overcrowding was also defined as a public health 'nuisance' beginning in 1855, which allowed Medical Officers to report landlords in violation to the Board of Health. [113] Designed by Marc Isambard Brunel, it was the first tunnel in the world to be successfully built under a navigable river and took 18 grueling years to complete. How did a chip off a 3,500-year-old Egyptian obelisk wind up as a 19th-century fashionable Victorian cravat pin? [189] At their worst, the poor visibility caused by London fogs could halt traffic and required the street lamps to be lit all day. The streets were filled with a new and different race of people, short of stature, and of wretched or beer-sodden appearance. Leighton House Museum. Look up and you should see the sign. Posted on Last updated: 28th February 2022 Categories London History. [96], A succession of private enterprises were formed to build new routes after the success of the Metropolitan, the first being the Metropolitan District Line, opened in 1865. for half price. [43][44], Despite the astonishing successes of the shipbuilding industry in the first half of the century, in the last decades of the 19th century the industry experienced a precipitous decline that would leave only one large firm, the Thames Ironworks, in existence by the mid-1890s. That long-lost series of photographs, unseen for 120 years, is the dramatic centrepiece of an illuminating new exhibition called Black Chronicles II. [40] The largest and most famous ship of its day, the SS Great Eastern, a collaboration between John Scott Russell and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was constructed at the Millwall Iron Works and launched in 1858. Hint: From the barrel organ, go forwards towards the post box, turn right, go forward. Transformed from a manufacturing museum to a stately archive of galleries, the Victoria & Albert Museum provides an impressive glance back in history. Hint: From the bicycle, turn left and go through the archway, then go forward. [93][91] It was London's first underground line with electric locomotives, and the first to extend south of the river. In 1888, it was wound up and replaced with the London County Council (LCC). Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Hardcover, 293 pages purchase "It was an immense and impossible challenge," Lee says. Image is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. London's O2 . It's on your right. Booking essential. Clerkenwell is home to several locations that feature in Charles Dickens famous 1838 book Oliver Twist such as the iconic Finsbury Savings Bank on Sekforde Street. The new museum coming in 2026 will be situated at the heart of the capitals historic Smithfield area next to Farringdon. This resulted in the commission of Tower Bridge by Act of Parliament in 1885. Ever wondered what life was like in London before and during the Victorian era? The East Wing represents a Neoclassical-style grace and is the face of the iconic landmark. Do you know the proper name for this type of bicycle? These were disreputable establishments, which led some public houses to offer Song and supper rooms as a respectable middle-class alternative. The committees recommended various improvements including price reductions, better regulation, and consolidation. too often intoxicating drink; the prison, where the victims of a vitiated condition of society expiate the crimes to which they have been drive by starvation and despair; and the workhouse, to which the destitute, the aged, and the friendless hasten to lay down their aching heads and die! The result was the passing of the Public Health Act 1848, which placed the responsibility for street cleansing, paving, sewers, and water supply on the municipal boroughs rather than on property owners. It's right in front of you. Drainage in the city was handled by seven different Commissions of Sewers, and in a 100 squareyard area of Central London were four different bodies responsible for the pavement and upkeep of the streets. In 1853 the number of Irish in London was estimated at 200,000, so large a population in itself that if it were a city it would have ranked as the third largest in England, and was about equal to the combined populations of Limerick, Belfast, and Cork. [77] Thus, with only three hospitals in operation when the epidemic of 1881 began, the MAB was overwhelmed. With over 2.7 million items of interest in the museums permanent collection, this cultural haven is one of Londons best free museums. Victorian era, in British history, the period between approximately 1820 and 1914, corresponding roughly but not exactly to the period of Queen Victoria 's reign (1837-1901) and characterized by a class-based society, a growing number of people able to vote, a growing state and economy, and Britain's status as the most powerful empire in the world. [65] In 1890 the shortcomings of the existing legislation were refined and condensed into one comprehensive piece of legislation, the Houses of the Working Classes Act. The Crossness Pumping Station will have you question what you once believed of sanitation networks (not a very generic topic that crosses the average Joes mind, we hope). Trams were restricted to operating in the suburbs of London, but they accessed the major transport hubs of the City and the West End, conveying passengers into and away from the suburbs. Based on the events surrounding the fall of Troy, the event features over 100 rooms to explore while you uncover incredible tales and secrets along the way. They frequently imitated the success of earlier periods of speculative housing development from the Georgian era, although the Victorian era saw a much wider array of suburban housing built in London. Built in 1833, this spooky Victorian haunt boasts Gothic monuments and beautifully mournful tombstones. Skip the dusty novels, here's how to experience London life as a Victorian. [134] The first gaslight in London was installed in the Lyceum Theatre in 1804, by the German-born entrepreneur F.A. Only two of these, in Central London and the Poplar and Stepney District, were fully realized, with the other four districts using reconstituted facilities from the old infirmaries because of cost overruns.[172]. In the Victorian age, hand-made artificial flowers was one of London's trades. At the time, it was the biggest city in Western Europe in fact, Londons population during the Victorian era was at a then all-time high. What are some of the differences between Victorian toys and toys today? [57][58] Infamous since the mid 18th century, St. Giles was defined by its prostitutes, gin shops, secret alleyways where criminals could hide, and horribly overcrowded tenements. The following year the two ships were purchased along with another, Castalia, and the fleet was moved to Long Reach at Gravesend, where it served 20,000 patients between 1884 and 1902. We've captured it in 3D for you to explore! Click/touch the white circles on the ground to move [94] The Metropolitan initially ran from Farringdon in the east to Paddington in the west. Try it yourself using felt tips and colouring pencils or embellish your pictures with sequins and glitter! [201] It was observed that certain varieties of flower refused to bloom in London or its vicinity, and many trees perished due to pollution. [129][50] It rests on two piers sunk deep into the river bed, constituting some 70,000 tons of concrete and stone, while the towers and bridge itself are framed in 11,000 tons of steel clad in Cornish granite and Portland Stone. [79] The two-wheeled hansom cab, first seen in 1834, was the most common type of cab on London's roads throughout the Victorian era, but there were many types, like the four-wheeled Hackney carriage, in addition to the coaches, private carriages, coal-wagons, and tradesman's vehicles which crowded the roads. [202] One of the trees that was resistant to the smoky environment was the London plane tree, which sheds its bark regularly and thus resisted the accumulation of soot which killed other trees. Charles Dickens Jr. described the "London particular" in his Dictionary of London of 1879: As the east wind brings up the exhalations of the Essex and Kentish marshes, and as the damp-laden winter air prevents the dispersion of the partly consumed carbon from hundreds of thousands of chimneys, the strangest atmospheric compound known to science fills the valley of the Thames. [161] By 1899 there were 61 theatres across London, 38 of which were in the West End. [93] An extension to the western suburb of Hammersmith was built and opened in 1868. Try out these attractions that encompass olden day London to see just how different our lives as Londoners are today. Construction started on this famous bridge in 1886 in what was one of the most complex architectural projects of the Victorian era. Leadenhall Market appears in the first Harry Potter as the mystical location of Diagon Alley a magical place, indeed! In contrast to the conspicuous wealth of the City of London and Westminster, there was a huge underclass of desperately poor Londoners within a short range of the more affluent areas. [3] In 1897, the population of Greater London[clarification needed] was estimated at 6.292million. Find out more When the London sewerage system was completed, the death toll in London dropped dramatically, and epidemics were curtailed. The growth of Transport in London in this period fueled the outward expansion of suburbs, as did a cultural impetus to escape the inner city, allowing the worlds of 'work' and 'life' to be separate. Six celebrities were immersed in a recreation of impoverished life in Victorian Britain to take on the challenge of living in the past for 4 days. Construction began in 1886, and the Prince of Wales opened it to the public in 1894. His novels such as Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Bleak House are filled with wonderful descriptions of life in the city. From behind the walls of Pentonville prison, these men share their views of post-WWII London and their experiences as Londoners. Do you recognise any types or makes of food that we still use today? London shipyards lacked the capacity, and the ability to expand, for building the large vessels in demand by the later 19th century, losing business to newer shipyards in Scotland and the North of England, where labor and overhead costs were lower, and iron and coal deposits much closer. [152][151], The great complex of museums at South Kensington began with the purchase of a vast tract of land (known as Albertopolis) at the instigation of the Prince Consort and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. [166], In 1829, Home Secretary Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police as a police force covering the entire urban area, with the exception of the City of London, which formed its own police force under a separate jurisdiction in 1839. Outside of the City of London, which resisted any attempts to expand its boundaries to encompass the wider urban area, London had a chaotic local government system consisting of ancient parishes and vestries, working alongside an array of single-purpose boards and authorities, few of which co-operated with each other. A post shared by Time Out London (@timeoutlondon). [39][41] The ancient Royal Dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford, founded by Henry VIII in the 16th century, were too far upriver and too shallow due to the silting up of the Thames, forcing their closure in 1869. The first horse-drawn tramways were installed in 1860 along the Bayswater Road at the northern edge of Hyde Park, Victoria Street in Westminster, and Kennington Street in South London. [39] Over the next few years, five out of the nine armored ironclads commissioned by the Navy to follow the example of the Warrior would be constructed in London. Sir Horace Jones constructed the covered market structure we see today. Bazalgette's system is still in use today.[179]. Three key exhibits make up this experience, all utilising state-of-the-art virtual tech. Sewers were far from extensive, and the most common form of human waste disposal was cesspools, some 200,000 by mid-century, which were often open and prone to overflowing. A loosening of these restrictions in the early years of the 19th century allowed small theatres to open which could only put on plays interspersed with musical numbers. Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder: The Unsolved Murder that Shocked Victorian England by Paul Thomas Murphy. [61], Mass demolition of slums like St. Giles was the usual method of removing problematic pockets of the city; for the most part this just displaced existing residents because the new dwellings built by private developers were often far too expensive for the previous inhabitants to afford. Lee Jackson (Editor) 3.78. [37] This type of work was low-paid and highly unstable, drying up depending on the season and the vagaries of world trade. In 1800, the city only had about 1 million people living in it, but a century later, there were 6.7 million. [5], At the beginning of the 19th century, the urban core of London was bounded to the west by Park Lane and Hyde Park, and by Marylebone Road to the north. [161] The duopoly granting exclusive rights to the "winter theatres", dating back to the 17th century, forbade rival theatres from operating despite the huge growth in London's population and in theatre attendance. Between 1850 and 1860 the mortality rate from typhoid was 116 per 100,000 people. [200], The grass of the Royal Parks took on a permanent soot colour, as did the sheep that were then allowed to graze in Regent's Park and Hyde Park. See some of the weird and wonderful highlights of over 1,700 Valentines Day cards in the museum collection. [132] London Bridge remained the city's busiest artery for the entire century, averaging 22,242 vehicle and 110,525 pedestrian crossings per day in 1882. Our immersive Victorian Walk experience recreates the winding streets of 19th-century London. [202] It became the go-to planting along streets and in gardens throughout the 19th century. [47] As the Industrial Revolution gathered pace, an insatiable demand for capital investment in railroads, shipping, industry and agriculture fueled the growth of financial services in the city. Lord Byron excoriated the state of St. Giles during a speech to the House of Lords in 1812, stating that "I have been in some of the most oppressed provinces of Turkey, but never under the most despotic of infidel governments did I behold such squalid wretchedness as I have seen since my return in the very heart of a Christian country. One of these was the Thames Tunnel, declared the "Eighth Wonder of the World" when it opened in 1843. The street stretches from Pall Mall at its southern terminus (built closer to the Haymarket to avoid St. James's Square), crosses Piccadilly (creating Piccadilly Circus in the process), from where it curves west via the Quadrant and then runs due north, joining with Langham Place and Portland Place to create the link to Regent's Park. [105] This required extensive demolition in the slums of Soho and St. Giles, with the MBW responsible for rehousing over 3,000 laborers in new-built tenements over the ten-year period it took to construct the roads. From the first passenger railway in 1836 to the electric tramways in the early 1900s, London was moving full steam ahead into an age of innovation. [36], Shipping in the Port of London supported a vast army of transport and warehouse workers, who characteristically attended the "call-on" each morning at the entrances to the docks to be assigned work for the day. Ad revenue is Time Outs main source of income. [40] The Thames Ironworks was employed not just in shipbuilding, but in civil engineering works around London like Blackfriars Railway Bridge, Hammersmith Bridge, and the construction of the iron-girded roofs of Alexandra Palace and the 1862 International Exhibition building. Pollution and a smoky atmosphere prevailed at all times of year because of industrial activity and the sheer concentration of domestic fires: an estimated 3.5 million tons of coal were being consumed each year in London by 1854. [136] In 1813, Westminster Bridge was lit by gaslight, and the London theatres installed gas between 1817 and 1818. Zweli Chibumba - Staff Writer 4 January, 2023 London-related events during the 19th century, William Luckin, "The final catastrophecholera in London, 1866. London: Penguin 1972. They included the Embankment from 1864,[102] Northumberland Avenue,[103] Clerkenwell and Theobalds Roads all from 1874. The Victorian Era in Britain was dominated by the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). [120] The four stone bridges grew progressively more decrepit as traffic increased: Westminster Bridge was badly subsiding by the 1830s,[121] and several piers collapsed in 1846. By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.
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