Portal:London/DYK
Did you know...
- …that St Pancras Old Church stands on what is believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England?
- …that the building now housing the Brick Lane Mosque (pictured) was built as a Huguenot chapel in 1743, and subsequently became a synagogue?
- …that there are two London churches that claim to be the "St Clements" of the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons: St Clement Danes and St Clement Eastcheap?
- …that the Neasden Temple, completed in 1995, is the largest Hindu Temple In Europe?
- …that St. John's, Smith Square is nicknamed "Queen Anne’s Footstool" because its four corner towers give it the appearance of an upturned footstool?
- …that the Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly was the first British hotel with a private bathroom to each room?
- …that the forecourt of the Savoy Hotel (pictured) is the only street in the United Kingdom where vehicles are required to drive on the right?
- …that the Mayfair hotel Claridge's has been called an "extension to Buckingham Palace" due to its royal connections?
- …that the Langham Hotel appears in two Sherlock Holmes stories and that The Goon Show broadcasts were recorded in its ballroom?
- …that Winston Churchill had a wall built for privacy between his balcony at the Dorchester Hotel and that of the room next door, which survives to this day?
- …that the Magnificent Seven are a group of 19th-century cemeteries on what were then the fringes of London?
- …that Kensal Green Cemetery is the only Victorian cemetery in Britain established by an Act of Parliament with a mandate that its bodies may not be exhumed?
- …that London's first non-demoninational garden cemetery, at Abney Park, is the most important burial place in the UK of 19th-century Congregational, Baptist, Methodist and Salvation Army ministers and educationalists?
- …that there were reports of a vampire haunting Highgate Cemetery (pictured) in the 1970s?
- …that Beatrix Potter took the names for many of the characters in her children's books from headstones in Brompton Cemetery? (There is even a certain Peter Rabbett buried there.)
- ...that the Dulwich Picture Gallery opened in 1817 with a collection assembled for a never-realised Polish national gallery, and that it was first purpose-built public art gallery in England?
- ...that the Petrie Museum ranks behind only the collections of the Cairo Museum, the British Museum and the Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin, by quantity of ancient Egyptian artefacts?
- ...that the remains of London's Roman amphitheatre can be found in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery?
- ...that the Bethnal Green Museum, now the V&A Museum of Childhood (pictured), is housed in a pre-fabricated building moved from South Kensington in 1872?
- ...that the Secretum was the name given to a cupboard in the British Museum containing a collection of supposed ancient erotica, which in fact largely consisted of Victorian fakes?
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- ...that The Clink prison in Southwark, from which the phrase "in the clink" derives, was possibly the oldest prison in England, founded in the 12th century?
- ...that Bridewell Palace (pictured), originally a residence of Henry VIII, later became a poorhouse and prison?
- ...that another defunct royal palace, the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, housed a biscuit factory and a prisoner of war camp?
- ...that Newgate Prison was rebuilt in 1782 in an architectural style known as architecture terrible, intended to discourage law-breaking?
- ...that Millbank Prison, used largely to hold convicts who were to be deported to Australia, stood on the site now occupied by Tate Britain?
- ...that Hyde Park is larger than the Principality of Monaco and has been a Royal park since 1536.
- ...that Victoria Park was laid out between 1842–1846, partially on the former hunting grounds of the Bishop of London. It contains two alcoves from old London Bridge and the oldest model boat club in the world founded in the Park on 15 July 1904.
- ...that Battersea Park was opened in 1858. In 1951 the park was transformed into the "Festival Gardens" as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations.
- ...that The Beatles shot films to accompany their songs "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" in the grounds of Chiswick House.
- ...that the Artillery Ground was set aside in 1498 for shooting and archery and was home to the original London Cricket Club. It remains in use by the Honourable Artillery Company, who have owned this private open space since 1638.
- ... that the Grade I-listed George Inn, Southwark (pictured), is London's only remaining coaching inn, and appears on a map dating to 1543?
- ... that the Spaniards Inn on Hampstead Heath appears in Charles Dickens's Pickwick Papers and Barnaby Rudge, and in Bram Stoker's Dracula?
- ... that the London Beer Flood of 1814 claimed 9 lives after a large vat of the drink burst at Meux's Brewery on Tottenham Court Road?
- ... that the vaulted cellars of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese are thought to belong to a thirteenth-century Carmelite monastery which once stood on the site?
- ... that the Fortune of War at Smithfield stood at the place where the Great Fire of London is said to have stopped, and was a popular haunt for body-snatchers?
- ... that The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie has the longest initial run of any play in history, having played continuously in the West End since 1952?
- ... that St Paul's, Covent Garden is known as the "Actor's Church" and contains monuments to such famous names as Charlie Chaplin and Vivien Leigh?
- ... that Bram Stoker was the business manager of the Lyceum Theatre from 1878 to 1898, and based the character of Count Dracula on the actor Henry Irving?
- ... that the Haymarket Theatre was once managed by John Wilkes Booth's brother-in-law, who had fled the United States after Abraham Lincoln's assassination?
- ... that the Peacock Theatre is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a dolphin called "Flipper"?
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Archive of all previous Did You Know pages from the Portal:London:
- Airports - 27 October to 22 December 2005
- London Bridge - 27 October to 22 December 2005
- Tube Station Trivia - 22 December 2005 to 3 January 2006
- Notting Hill Carnival - 22 December 2005 - 8 February 2006
- Lord's Cricket Ground - 3 January - 4 March 2006
- Routemaster - 8 February - 17 April 2006
- Football teams - 4 March - 14 May 2006
- The Dome - 17 April - 10 June 2006
- London Churches - 14 May - 25 July 2006
- Thames Tunnels - 10 June - 12 August 2006
- Oxford Street - 25 July 2006 - 20 October 2006
- Thames Whale - 12 August 2006 - 10 November 2006
- Cemeteries - 20 October 2006 - December 2006
- Hotels - 10 November 2006 - January 2007
- 04 2009 Parks and open spaces - 1 April 2009
- 05 2009 Beer and public houses - 1 May 2009
- 06 2009 London Churches - 1 June 2009
- 07 2009 City of London - 1 July 2009
- 08 2009 repeated - 1 August 2009
- 09 2009 repeated - 1 September 2009
- 10 2009 repeated - 1 October 2009
- 11 2009 repeated - 1 November 2009
- 12 2009 repeated - 1 December 2009
- 01 2010 Hospitals in London - 1 January 2010