1.
London Wall
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It is now the name of a road in the City of London running along part of the course of the old wall between Wormwood Street and the Rotunda junction where St. Martins Le Grand meets Aldersgate Street. Until the later Middle Ages the wall defined the boundaries of the City of London, although the exact reason for the walls construction is unknown, the wall appears to have been built in the late 2nd or early 3rd century. This was around 80 years after the construction in 120AD of the fort, whose north. It continued to be developed until at least the end of the 4th century, reasons for its construction may have been connected to the invasion of northern Britain by Picts who overran Hadrians Wall in the 180s. After a struggle with his rival, Septimius Severus, Albinus was defeated in 197AD at the Battle of Lugdunum, the economic stimulus provided by the wall and Septimiuss subsequent campaigns in Scotland improved Londiniums financial prosperity in the early 3rd century. The walls gateways coincided with their alignment to the British network of Roman roads, the original gates, clockwise from Ludgate in the west to Aldgate, in the east were, Ludgate, Newgate, Cripplegate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate. Aldersgate, between Newgate and Cripplegate, was added around 350AD, the length and size of the wall made it one of the biggest construction projects in Roman Britain. The completed wall, which had gateways, towers and defensive ditches, was built from Kentish ragstone and it was 2 mi long enclosing an area of about 330 acres. It 2.5 m to 3 m wide and up to 6 m ) high, the ditch or fossa in front of the outer wall was 2 m deep and up to 5 m wide. There were at least 22 towers spaced about 64 m apart on the section of the wall. After Londinium was raided on several occasions by Saxon pirates in the late 3rd century, with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Londinium ceased to be the capital of Britannia although Romano-British culture continued in the St Martin-in-the-Fields area until around 450. From around 500, an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed in the area slightly to the west of the old abandoned Roman city. But by about 680, London had revived sufficiently to become a major Saxon port, however, the upkeep of the wall was not maintained and London fell victim to two successful Viking assaults in 851 and 886 AD. Within the eastern and northern part of England with its boundary roughly stretching from London to Chester, in the same year, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that London was refounded by Alfred. Archaeological research shows that this abandonment of Lundenwic and a revival of life. This was part Alberts policy of building an in-depth defence of the Kingdom of Wessex against the Vikings as well as creating a strategy against the Vikings who controlled Mercia. The Burghal Hidage of Southwark was also was created on the southbank of the River Thames during this time, the city walls of London were repaired as the city slowly grew until about 950 when urban activity increased dramatically. A large Viking army that attacked the London burgh was defeated in 994, by the 11th century, London was beyond all comparison the largest town in England
2.
Barbican tube station
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Barbican is a London Underground station situated near the Barbican Estate, on the edge of the ward of Farringdon Within, in the City of London. It has been known by various names since its opening in 1865, the station is served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, and is situated between Farringdon and Moorgate stations, in Travelcard Zone 1. Until 2009, Barbican was additionally served by Thameslink services to, Barbican station lies in an east-west-aligned trench with cut-and-cover tunnels at either end. The modern entrance gives access from Aldersgate Street, through a 1990s building, to the north of the station are the rears of buildings that face onto Charterhouse Street, Charterhouse Square and Carthusian Street. To the south are the rears of buildings that face onto Long Lane, the station is close to the Barbican Estate, Barbican Centre, City of London School for Girls, St Bartholomew-the-Great, and Smithfield. The station was opened with the name Aldersgate Street on 23 December 1865 on the Moorgate extension from Farringdon, the stations name was shortened to Aldersgate on 1 November 1910 and it was renamed again on 24 October 1924 as Aldersgate & Barbican. On 1 December 1968 the stations name was simplified to Barbican, train services were disrupted during the Second World War when the station suffered severe bomb damage in the Blitz, particularly in December 1940. This led to the removal of the floors, and in 1955 the remainder of the street-level building was also demolished. Increasing traffic by other companies, including traffic, led to the track between Kings Cross and Moorgate being widened to four tracks in 1868, the route was called the City Widened Lines. Suburban services from the Midland Railway ran via Kentish Town and the Great Northern Railway ran via Kings Cross, passenger trains from the Great Northern line, via the York Road and Hotel curves at Kings Cross to the Widened Lines, ran until the Great Northerns electrification on 1976. As a result, Barbican is no longer a multimodal station, on 16 December 1866 three passengers were killed, a guard was seriously injured and one other person suffered shock when a girder collapsed onto a passenger train in the station. The accident was the first to include multiple passengers on the underground network, four people died during the accident, and a fifth died while awaiting trial. Service on the line was running again only 30 minutes after the accident, the station replaced an earlier building at 134 Aldersgate Street, which for many years had a sign claiming This was Shakespeares House. The station has no surface building, the station is mostly open to the elements, though there are some short canopies. The remains of the structure for a glass canopy over all four platforms may still clearly be seen. At the west end of the island platform is a disused signal box. Also from this end of the platforms may be seen the beginnings of the complex of tunnels leading under Smithfield meat market, livestock for the market was at one time delivered by rail and there was a substantial goods yard under the site of the market. Platform 1 is the most northerly, serving eastbound London Underground services, platforms 2 and 3 form an island platform, with platform 2 serving westbound services
3.
St. Paul's tube station
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St. Pauls is a London Underground station located in the City of London financial district. The station, which takes its name from the nearby St Pauls Cathedral, is on the Central line and it should not be confused with City Thameslink railway station which opened in 1990 with the name St. Pauls Thameslink, but is some distance from the Underground station. The station was opened by the Central London Railway on 30 July 1900 with the name Post Office, the name Post Office was possibly chosen instead of the more obvious St. Pauls to differentiate it from a South Eastern Railway station which already held that name. A modern ventilation shaft in the centre of the island at the junction indicates the location of the original lift shafts. When the SER station called St. Pauls was renamed as Blackfriars in 1937, the Underground station called Post Office took the name St. Pauls, at the end of the 19th century, Newgate Street was a narrow road with some of its mediaeval character remaining. To reduce land purchase and compensation payments, the CLR routed its tunnels directly under public roads, at St. Pauls the narrowness of the road required the tunnels to be placed one above the other with the westbound tunnel uppermost. The lifts originally operated to a level between the two platforms, with stairs up or down to the platforms as necessary, a high-level access passageway is visible at the lowest level leading to the disused lift lobby. During the Second World War the electricity grid control room for London, the station entrances are located around the junction of Newgate Street, Cheapside and St Martins Le Grand. St Pauls Cathedral is a distance to the south. Visitors should note that the entrance to the cathedral is at its western end. St. Pauls is also the nearest Underground station to the London Stock Exchange, other notable sites in the vicinity include the Old Bailey, Museum of London and the church of St Mary-le-Bow. London Buses routes 4,8,25,56,100,172,242,521 and night route N8 serve the station
4.
Prehistory
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Prehistory means literally before history, from the Latin word for before, præ, and Greek ιστορία. Neighbouring civilisations were the first to follow, most other civilisations reached the end of prehistory during the Iron Age. The period when a culture is written about by others, but has not developed its own writing is known as the protohistory of the culture. By definition, there are no records from human prehistory. Clear techniques for dating were not well-developed until the 19th century and this article is concerned with human prehistory as defined here above. There are separate articles for the history of the Earth. However, for the race as a whole, prehistory ends when recorded history begins with the accounts of the ancient world around the 4th millennium BC. For example, in Egypt it is accepted that prehistory ended around 3200 BC, whereas in New Guinea the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently. The three-age system is the periodization of prehistory into three consecutive time periods, named for their respective predominant tool-making technologies, Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age. The notion of prehistory began to surface during the Enlightenment in the work of antiquarians who used the word primitive to describe societies that existed before written records, the first use of the word prehistory in English, however, occurred in the Foreign Quarterly Review in 1836. The main source for prehistory is archaeology, but some scholars are beginning to more use of evidence from the natural and social sciences. This view has been articulated by advocates of deep history, human population geneticists and historical linguists are also providing valuable insight for these questions. Human prehistory differs from history not only in terms of its chronology, restricted to material processes, remains and artifacts rather than written records, prehistory is anonymous. Because of this, reference terms that use, such as Neanderthal or Iron Age are modern labels with definitions sometimes subject to debate. Palaeolithic means Old Stone Age, and begins with the first use of stone tools, the Paleolithic is the earliest period of the Stone Age. The early part of the Palaeolithic is called the Lower Palaeolithic, evidence of control of fire by early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic Era is uncertain and has at best limited scholarly support. The most widely accepted claim is that H. erectus or H. ergaster made fires between 790,000 and 690,000 BP in a site at Bnot Yaakov Bridge, Israel. The use of fire enabled early humans to cook food, provide warmth, Early Homo sapiens originated some 200,000 years ago, ushering in the Middle Palaeolithic
5.
Barbican Centre
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The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The Centre hosts classical and contemporary concerts, theatre performances, film screenings. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory, the Barbican Centre is member of the Global Cultural Districts Network. The London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are based in the Centres Concert Hall, in 2013, it once again became the London-based venue of the Royal Shakespeare Company following the companys departure in 2001. The Barbican Centre is owned, funded, and managed by the City of London Corporation and it was built as The Citys gift to the nation at a cost of £161 million and was officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1982. The Barbican Centre is also known for its brutalist architecture, Barbican Hall, capacity 1,943, home of the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the largest public libraries in London and has an arts library, a large music library. The Barbican Library houses the London Collection of historical books and resources, some of which date back 300 years, the library presents regular literary events and has an art exhibition space for hire. The music library has two free practice pianos for public use, the Barbican Centre had a long development period, only opening long after the surrounding Barbican Estate housing complex had been built. It is situated in an area which was bombed during World War II. The Barbican Centre, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the Brutalist style, has a complex layout with numerous entrances. Lines painted on the ground help would-be audience members avoid getting lost on the walkways of the Barbican Housing Estate on the way to the centre, the Barbican Centres design – a concrete ziggurat – has always been controversial and divides opinion. It was voted Londons ugliest building in a Grey London poll in September 2003, in September 2001, arts minister Tessa Blackstone announced that the Barbican Centre complex was to be a Grade II listed building. It has been designated a site of architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion. The same architectural practice also designed the Barbican Housing Estate and the nearby Golden Lane Estate, project architect John Honer later worked on the British Library at St Pancras – a red brick ziggurat. In the mid-1990s, an improvement scheme by Theo Crosby, of the Pentagram design studio, added statues. That improvement scheme added a bridge linking the Silk Street foyer area with the lakeside foyer area. The centres Silk Street entrance, previously dominated by an access for vehicles, was modified to give pedestrian access
6.
St Paul's Cathedral
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St Pauls Cathedral, London, is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grade 1 listed building and its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD604. The present church, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren and its construction, completed in Wrens lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding programme in the City after the Great Fire of London. The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London and its dome, framed by the spires of Wrens City churches, dominated the skyline for 300 years. At 365 feet high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1967, the dome is among the highest in the world. St Pauls is the second-largest church building in area in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral, St Pauls Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity. It is the subject of much promotional material, as well as of images of the dome surrounded by the smoke. St Pauls Cathedral is a church with hourly prayer and daily services. The entry fee is £18 for adults, the location of Londiniums original cathedral is unknown. In 1995, however, a large and ornate 5th century building on Tower Hill was excavated, the Elizabethan antiquarian William Camden argued that a temple to the goddess Diana had stood during Roman times on the site occupied by the medieval St Pauls Cathedral. Wren reported that he had no trace of any such temple during the works to build the new cathedral after the Great Fire. Bede records that in AD604 St Augustine consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Saxons and their king, Sæberht. Sæberhts uncle and overlord, Æthelberht, king of Kent, built a dedicated to St Paul in London. It is assumed, although unproven, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the site as the later medieval. On the death of Sæberht in about 616, his sons expelled Mellitus from London. The fate of the first cathedral building is unknown and this building, or a successor, was destroyed by fire in 962, but rebuilt in the same year. King Æthelred the Unready was buried in the cathedral on his death in 1016, the cathedral was burnt, with much of the city, in a fire in 1087, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The fourth St Pauls, generally referred to as Old St Pauls, was begun by the Normans after the 1087 fire, a further fire in 1136 disrupted the work, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240
7.
City of London Corporation
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In 2006 the name was changed from Corporation of London to avoid confusion with the wider London local government, the Greater London Authority. The Corporation is probably the worlds oldest continuously-elected local government authority, the corporations structure includes the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Court of Common Council, and the Freemen and Livery of the City. In Anglo-Saxon times, consultation between the Citys rulers and its citizens took place at the Folkmoot, administration and judicial processes were conducted at the Court of Husting and the non-legal part of the courts work evolved into the Court of Aldermen. Numerous subsequent Royal Charters over the centuries confirmed and extended the citizens rights, around 1189, the City gained the right to have its own mayor, later being advanced to the degree and style of Lord Mayor of London. The individual commissioners were nominated by the Corporation, but it was a separate body. Local government legislation often makes special provision for the City to be treated as a London borough, the Chief Executive of the administrative side of the Corporation holds the ancient office of Town Clerk of London. The Chamberlain, the City Treasurer and Finance Officer, the City Remembrancer, who is responsible for protocol, ceremonial, security issues as well as legislative matters that may affect the Corporation and is legally qualified. The Comptroller and City Solicitor, legal officer. e, former Lord Mayors, and the junior Aldermen. The Common Serjeant, the senior judge at the Central Criminal Court Old Bailey. C) The Ward Beadles, responsible to a specific Ward from which they are elected, largely ceremonial support to their respective Aldermen, and also perform a formal role at Ward Motes. In 1801, the City had a population of about 130,000 and it has risen slightly to around 9,000 since, largely due to the development of the Barbican Estate. As it has not been affected by other municipal legislation over the period of time since then, therefore, the non-residential vote, abolished in the rest of the country in 1969, became an increasingly large part of the electorate. The non-residential vote system used disfavoured incorporated companies, the City of London Act 2002 greatly increased the business franchise, allowing many more businesses to be represented. In 2009, the vote was about 24,000. Each body or organisation, whether unincorporated or incorporated, whose premises are within the City of London may appoint a number of based on the number of workers it employs. Limited liability partnerships fall into this category, though workers count as part of a workforce regardless of nationality, only certain individuals may be appointed as voters. The City of London is divided into twenty-five Wards, each of which is a division, electing one Alderman. The numbers below reflect the changes caused by the City of London Act, there are over one hundred livery companies in London
8.
Guildhall, London
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Guildhall is a Grade I-listed building in the City of London, England. It is situated off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw, the building has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation. It should not be confused with Londons City Hall, the centre for Greater London. The term Guildhall refers both to the building and to its main room, which is a medieval great hall. The building is referred to as Guildhall, never the Guildhall. The nearest London Underground stations are Bank, St Pauls and Moorgate, the great hall is believed to be on a site of an earlier Guildhall. Possible evidence for this derivation may be in a reference to John Parker, the first documentary reference to a London Guildhall is dated 1128 and the current halls west crypt may be part of a late-13th century building. Legendary British history made Guildhalls site the site of the palace of Brutus of Troy, the current building began construction in 1411 and completed in 1440, and it is the only non-ecclesiastical stone building in the City to have survived through to the present day. The complex contains several other historic interiors besides the hall, including the large medieval crypts, the old library, and it also played a part in Jack Cades 1450 rebellion. The 1783 hearing of the infamous Zong case, the outcome of which focused public outrage about the slave trade. On 16 November 1848, the pianist Frédéric Chopin made his last public appearance on a platform here. Guildhall contains memorials to Pitt the Elder, Pitt the Younger, Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, William Beckford, the Great Hall did not completely escape damage in the Great Fire of London in 1666, it was partially restored in 1670. The present grand entrance, in Hindoostani Gothic, was added in 1788 by George Dance, a more extensive restoration than that in 1670 was completed in 1866 by the City of London architect Sir Horace Jones, who added a new timber roof in close keeping with the original. This replacement was destroyed during the Second Great Fire of London on the night of 29/30 December 1940 and it was replaced in 1954 during works designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Guildhall Art Gallery was added to the complex in the 1990s, Guildhall Library, a public reference library with specialist collections on London, which include material from the 11th century onwards, is also housed in the complex. The Clockmakers Museum was previously located at Guildhall but as of 2015 has been relocated to the Science Museum, the marathon route of the 2012 Summer Olympics passed through Guildhall Yard. Two giants, Gog and Magog, are associated with Guildhall, legend has it that the two giants were defeated by Brutus and chained to the gates of his palace on the site of Guildhall. Carvings of Gog and Magog are kept in Guildhall and 7-foot high wicker effigies of them donated by the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers in 2007 lead the procession in the annual Lord Mayors Show, early versions of Gog and Magog were destroyed in Guildhall during the Great Fire of London
9.
Kensington Palace
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Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Today, the State Rooms are open to the public and managed by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces, the offices and private accommodation areas of the Palace remain the responsibility of the Royal Household and are maintained by the Royal Household Property Section. The palace also displays paintings and other objects from the Royal Collection. Kensington Palace was originally a two-storey Jacobean mansion built by Sir George Coppin in 1605 in the village of Kensington, the mansion was purchased in 1619 by Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham and was then known as Nottingham House. In the summer of 1689, William and Mary bought Nottingham House from Secretary of State Daniel Finch and they then instructed Sir Christopher Wren, Surveyor of the Kings Works to begin an immediate expansion of the house. In order to time and money, Wren kept the structure intact and added a three-story pavilion at each of the four corners, providing more accommodation for the King and Queen. The Queen’s Apartments were in the north-west pavilion and the King’s in the south-east, Wren then re-oriented the house to face west, building north and south wings to flank the approach, made into a proper cour dhonneur that was entered through an archway surmounted by a clock tower. The palace was surrounded by straight cut solitary lawns, and formal gardens, laid out with paths and flower beds at right angles. Jamess Palace, which has not been the royal residence in London since the 17th century. William had constructed the South Front, to the design of Nicholas Hawksmoor, after William IIIs death, the palace became the residence of Queen Anne. These were primarily used by the Queen to give access between the apartments and gardens. Queen Annes most notable contribution to the palace were the gardens and she commissioned the Hawksmoor designed Orangery, modified by John Vanbrugh, that was built for her in 1704. The level of decoration of the interior, including carved detail by Grinling Gibbons, reflects its use, not just as a greenhouse. Also, a magnificent 30 acre baroque parterre, with sections of clipped scrolling designs punctuated by trees formally clipped into cones, was out by Henry Wise. Kensington Palace was also the setting of the argument between Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough and Queen Anne. The Duchess, who was known for being outspoken and manipulative, was jealous of the attention the Queen was giving to Abigail Masham, Queen Anne died at Kensington Palace on 1 August 1714. George I spent lavishly on new royal apartments, creating three new state known as the Privy Chamber, the Cupola Room and the Withdrawing Room. He hired the unknown William Kent in 1722 to decorate the state rooms, the Cupola Room was Kents first commission for the King
10.
Barbican Estate
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The Barbican Complex is a prominent example of British brutalist architecture and is Grade II listed as a whole with the exception of the late Milton Court. The main fort of Roman London was built between 90 and 120 AD southeast of where the Museum of London now stands at the corner of London Wall and Aldersgate Street. Around 200 AD walls were built around the city incorporated the old fort. The Normans called it the Basse-cour or Base Court, synonymous with the modern word bailey and still applied to the outer courtyard of Hampton Court Palace. The Base Court continued to serve a military function during the reign of Edward I, by the 16th century it had passed to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The original Base court seems to have destroyed and the large building that replaced it was called Willoughby House. During World War II, the City suffered serious damage and loss of life, the Cripplegate ward was virtually demolished and by 1951 the resident population of the City stood at 5,324 of whom 48 lived in Cripplegate. Discussions began in 1952 about the future of the site, the estate was built between 1965 and 1976, on a 35-acre site that had been bombed in World War II. The complex was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, the estate of 40 acres was officially opened in 1969 and is now home to around 4,000 people living in 2,014 flats. The flats reflect the use in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s of concrete as the visible face of the building. The Minister for the Arts, Tessa Blackstone, announced in September 2001 that the Barbican complex was to be Grade II listed and it has been designated a site of special architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion and the ambition of the project. The complex is important as it is one of Londons principal examples of concrete brutalist architecture. The residential estate consists of three blocks,13 terrace blocks, two mews and The Postern, Wallside and Milton Court. These are grouped around a lake and green squares, the main buildings rise up to seven floors above a podium level, which links all the facilities in the Barbican, providing a pedestrian route above street level. Some maisonettes are built into the podium structure, there is no vehicular access within the estate, but there are some car parks at the periphery of the estate. Public car parks are located within the Barbican Centre, the top two or three floors of each block comprise three penthouse flats. Once the tallest residential towers in London, they were surpassed by the Pan Peninsula development on the Isle of Dogs. The Barbican Estate also contains the Barbican Centre, the Barbican public library, the City of London School for Girls, the Museum of London, a YMCA building was constructed between 1965 and 1971 to link the Barbican and Golden Lane Estate, it is also listed
11.
Georgian architecture
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Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The style of Georgian buildings is very variable, but marked by a taste for symmetry and proportion based on the architecture of Greece and Rome. Ornament is also normally in the tradition, but typically rather restrained. In towns, which expanded greatly during the period, landowners turned into property developers, even the wealthy were persuaded to live in these in town, especially if provided with a square of garden in front of the house. There was an amount of building in the period, all over the English-speaking world. The period saw the growth of a distinct and trained architectural profession, before the mid-century the high-sounding title and this contrasted with earlier styles, which were primarily disseminated among craftsmen through the direct experience of the apprenticeship system. Authors such as the prolific William Halfpenny published editions in America as well as Britain, mail-order kit homes were also popular before World War II. The architect James Gibbs was a figure, his earlier buildings are Baroque, reflecting the time he spent in Rome in the early 18th century. Other prominent architects of the early Georgian period include James Paine, Robert Taylor, and John Wood, the styles that resulted fall within several categories. In the mainstream of Georgian style were both Palladian architecture—and its whimsical alternatives, Gothic and Chinoiserie, which were the English-speaking worlds equivalent of European Rococo. John Nash was one of the most prolific architects of the late Georgian era known as The Regency style, greek Revival architecture was added to the repertory, beginning around 1750, but increasing in popularity after 1800. Leading exponents were William Wilkins and Robert Smirke, regularity of housefronts along a street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning. In Britain brick or stone are almost invariably used, brick is often disguised with stucco, in America and other colonies wood remained very common, as its availability and cost-ratio with the other materials was more favourable. Versions of revived Palladian architecture dominated English country house architecture, Houses were increasingly placed in grand landscaped settings, and large houses were generally made wide and relatively shallow, largely to look more impressive from a distance. The height was usually highest in the centre, and the Baroque emphasis on corner pavilions often found on the continent generally avoided, in grand houses, an entrance hall led to steps up to a piano nobile or mezzanine floor where the main reception rooms were. A single block was typical, with a perhaps a small court for carriages at the front marked off by railings and a gate, but rarely a stone gatehouse, or side wings around the court. Windows in all types of buildings were large and regularly placed on a grid, this was partly to minimize window tax and their height increasingly varied between the floors, and they increasingly began below waist-height in the main rooms, making a small balcony desirable
12.
Selfridges
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Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co. is a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the flagship store on Londons Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and opened 15 March 1909. Other Selfridges stores opened in the Trafford Centre, Exchange Square in Manchester, Lewiss and Selfridges were then taken over in 1965 by the Sears Group owned by Charles Clore. Expanded under the Sears group to include branches in Manchester and Birmingham, the shops early history was dramatised in ITVs 2013 series Mr Selfridge. The basis of Selfridges success was his innovative marketing, which was elaborately expressed in his Oxford Street store. Originally from America himself, Selfridge attempted to dismantle the idea that consumerism was strictly an American phenomenon and these techniques have been adopted by modern department stores around the world. Either Selfridge or Marshall Field is popularly held to have coined the phrase the customer is always right, in 1909, after the first cross-Channel flight, Louis Blériots monoplane was put on display at Selfridges, where it was seen by 12,000 people. John Logie Baird made the first public demonstration of moving images by television from the first floor of Selfridges from 1 to 27 April 1925. In the 1920s and 1930s, the roof of the store hosted terraced gardens, cafes, a golf course. The roof, with its views across London, was a popular place for strolling after a shopping trip and was often used for fashion shows. During the Second World War the store was bombed but survived comparatively unscathed besides the famous roof gardens, a Milne-Shaw seismograph was set up on the Oxford Street stores third floor in 1932 attached to one of the buildings main stanchions, where it remained unaffected by traffic or shoppers. It successfully recorded the Belgian earthquake of 11 June 1938, which was felt in London. In 1947, it was given to the British Museum, in 1926 Selfridges set up the Selfridge Provincial Stores company which had expanded over the years to include sixteen provincial stores, but these were sold to the John Lewis Partnership in 1940. The Liverpool-based Lewiss chain of department stores acquired the remaining Oxford Street Shop in 1951 until it was taken over in 1965 by the Sears Group owned by Charles Clore. Under the Sears group, branches in Ilford and Oxford opened, in 1990, Sears Holdings split Selfridges from Lewiss and placed Lewiss in administration a year later. In March 1998, Selfridges acquired its current logo in tandem with the opening of the Manchester Trafford Centre store, in September 1998, Selfridges expanded and opened a department store in the newly-opened Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester. Following its success, Selfridges announced they would open an additional 125, 000-square-foot store in Exchange Square, the Exchange Square store opened in 2002 as Manchester city centre started to return to normal following the 1996 Manchester bombing. A260, 000-square-foot store opened in 2003 in Birminghams Bull Ring, anne Pitcher is the Managing Director of Selfridges, while Irish retailer, Paul Kelly, who has worked for the Weston organisation since the mid-1980s is Managing Director of Selfridges Group
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