1.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Royal Parks of London
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The Royal Parks of London are lands originally owned by the monarchy of the United Kingdom for the recreation of the royal family. They are part of the possessions of The Crown. With increasing urbanisation of London, some of these were preserved as freely accessible open space, there are today eight parks formally described by this name and they cover almost 2,000 hectares of land in Greater London. Bushy Park, Greenwich Park and Richmond Park are in the suburbs, the Royal Parks agency also manages Brompton Cemetery, Grosvenor Square Gardens, Victoria Tower Gardens and the gardens of 10,11 and 12 Downing Street. Hampton Court Park is also a park within Greater London. The public does not have any right to use the Parks, as public access depends on the grace and favour of The Crown. The Royal Parks Agency manages the Royal Parks under powers derived from section 22 of the Crown Lands Act 1851, the current regulations are the Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997. They are managed by The Royal Parks and are policed by the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police, the main form of funding for the Royal Parks is a central government grant. This contrasts with most of Londons other parks, which are funded by local borough councils, the Royal Parks generate additional income from commercial activities such as catering and staging public events such as concerts. The Royal Parks Foundation is a charity which raises funds to protect, support. They have a number of schemes such as adoption and champion programmes. The plan was welcomed by Royal Parks but it is yet to be implemented following the 2012 London Olympic games, the Royal Parks Parks and open spaces in London Walking in London Thurston, Hazel. Royal Parks For The People, Londons Ten, UK and USA, David and Charles. Includes listing of the Parks with black-and-white photographic plates
4.
City of Westminster
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The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which also holds city status. It occupies much of the area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon creation, Westminster was awarded city status, which had previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. Jamess Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council, the current Westminster coat of arms were given to the city by an official grant on September 2,1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had an identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington. The original arms had a portcullis as the charge, which now forms the crest. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England, in the mid-11th Century king Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct, Westminster briefly became a city in 1540 when Henry VIII created the short-lived Diocese of Westminster. Following the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, a court of burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, Jamess, Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. The Westminster Metropolitan Borough was itself the result of an amalgamation which took place in 1900. Sir John Hunt O. B. E was the First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster, the boundaries of the City of Westminster today, as well as those of the other London boroughs, have remained more or less unchanged since the Act of 1963. On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge, Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard, five people - three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. More than 50 people were injured, an investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors, Westminster City Council is currently composed of 44 Conservative Party members and 16 Labour Party members
5.
London Borough of Camden
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The London Borough of Camden /ˈkæmdən/ is a borough in north west London, and forms part of Inner London. The southern reaches of Camden form part of central London, the local authority is Camden London Borough Council. The borough was created in 1965 from the area of the metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St Pancras. The borough was named after Camden Town, which had gained its name from Charles Pratt, the transcribed diaries of William Copeland Astbury, recently made available, describe Camden and the surrounding areas in great detail from 1829–1848. There are 162 English Heritage blue plaques in the borough of Camden representing the diverse personalities that have lived there. The area is in the part of the city, reaching from Holborn. Neighbouring areas are the City of Westminster and the City of London to the south, Brent to the west, Barnet and Haringey to the north and Islington to the east. It covers all or part of the N1, N6, N7, N19, NW1, NW2, NW3, NW5, NW6, NW8, EC1, WC1, WC2, W1 and it contains parts of central London. Camden Town Hall is located in Judd Street in St Pancras, Camden London Borough Council was controlled by the Labour Party continuously from 1971 until the 2006 election, when the Liberal Democrats became the largest party. In 2006, two Green Cllrs, Maya de Souza and Adrian Oliver, were elected and were the first Green Party councillors in Camden, Camden was the fourth to last council to drop out of the campaign, doing so in the early hours of 6 June. Borough councillors are elected every four years, between 2006 and 2010 Labour lost two seats to the Liberal Democrats through by-elections, in Kentish Town and Haverstock wards. A Labour Councillor in Haverstock ward also defected to the Liberal Democrats in February 2009, at the local elections on 6 May 2010 the Labour party regained full control of Camden council. The new council is made up of 30 Labour,13 Liberal Democrats,10 Conservatives, at the Councils AGM, Labours Nasim Ali took office as Camdens first leader from the Bengali community. Labour Councillor Jonathan Simpson was elected the Mayor of the Borough, the organisations staff are led by the Chief Executive who is currently Mike Cooke. Each directorate is divided into a number of divisions headed by an assistant director and they in turn are divided into groups which are themselves divided into services. This is a model to most local government in London. Pancras in the south, represented by Labours Keir Starmer, in 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise throughout the 19th century as the district became built up
6.
Regent's University London
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Regents University London is a private non-profit university located in London, United Kingdom. Regents University is only the second institution in the UK that was granted the status of a private university, the university has an international student body with students coming from 130 countries overall. 15% of Regents students are from Britain, another 40% come from elsewhere within the European Union. 15% of the come from the US. The university has its campus in Regents Park, Central London and it is one of the two largest groups of buildings in the park, along with the London Zoo, and was built on the site of South Villa, one of the original eight Regents Park villas. Regents University was established in 1984 as Regents College, in 1985, Regents College acquired the former campus of the University of Londons Bedford College in Regents Park. The site was leased by Bedford College in 1908, and a new set of buildings designed by the architect Basil Champneys was opened by Queen Mary in 1913, the buildings were modified and added to over the years, especially after bomb damage during the Second World War. Bedford College merged with Royal Holloway College in 1985 and moved to Royal Holloways campus at Egham in Surrey, Regents College gradually expanded and the European Business School London moved to the College campus in 1987. In July 2012 it was announced that Regents College had been awarded taught degree-awarding powers from 1 September 2012, institutions that have degree-awarding powers in the UK are known as recognized bodies of which there are over 150. In February 2013 Regents College agreed to acquire American InterContinental University London from Career Education Corporation, in March 2013 the UKs Department for Business Innovation and Skills announced that Regents College had met the criteria to become a university. Regents University London is a limited by guarantee, not having a share capital. It is a charity, registered at the Charity Commission under charity number 291583. The companys directors are also the Trustees and members of the charity, the Board of Trustees is responsible for the stewardship of the charitys assets, strategic decision-making and ensuring compliance with charitable objectives. The newly appointed chair is Dr. Diana Walford CBE, formerly Principal of Mansfield College, day-to-day operational management is delegated to the Vice-Chancellor and other senior management employees. In the financial year ended 31 July 2014, Regents University London had an income of £53.17 million. 85% of the income generated was from tuition fees, and 50% and 45% of total expenditure were for operational costs. At year end Regents University London had total net assets of £21.115 million, cash surplus for the period was £17.776 million vs. £20.189 million in the previous year. The university offers means-tested bursaries, merit awards and awards from the Kevin Spacey Foundation Scholarships, in 2014/15417 scholarships were granted to individuals
7.
London Zoo
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London Zoo is the worlds oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on April 27,1828, and was intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1832 the animals of the Tower of London menagerie were transferred to the zoos collection and it was eventually opened to the public in 1847. Today it houses a collection of 698 species of animals, with 20,166 individuals, the zoo is sometimes called Regents Zoo. The Society also has a spacious site at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to which the larger animals such as elephants. As well as being the first scientific zoo, ZSL London Zoo also opened the first Reptile house, first public Aquarium, first insect house, ZSL receives no state funding and relies on Fellows and Friends memberships, entrance fees and sponsorship to generate income. After his death the third Marquis of Lansdowne took over the project, the zoo opened in April 1828 to fellows of the Society, providing access to species such as Arabian oryx, greater kudus, orangutan and the now extinct quagga and thylacine. The Society was granted a Royal Charter in 1829 by King George IV and he set about a major reorganisation of the buildings and enclosures of the zoo, bringing many of the animals out into the open, where many thrived. This was an inspired by Hamburg Zoo, and led to newer designs to many of the buildings. Mitchell also envisaged a new 600-acre park to the north of London, in 1931 Whipsnade Wild Animal Park opened, becoming the worlds first open zoological park. The first woman to be a curator at the London Zoo was Evelyn Cheesman, in 1962, Caroline, an Arabian oryx, was lent to Phoenix Zoo, Arizona in the worlds first international co-operative breeding programme. Today the zoo participates in breeding programmes for over 130 species, at the beginning of the 1990s, the zoo had almost 7,000 animals, the nearest any other collection came to in Britain was Chester Zoo, with just under 3,500 animals. Many of the species in London Zoo could not be anywhere else in the country, such as the wombat. Although this vast collection was part of the appeal, it may also have been one of the main causes of its financial problems. This contributed to the zoo being faced with closure in the 1980s, due to the public change of attitude to animals kept in captivity and unsuitably cramped space, the zoo also suffered dwindling visitor numbers. One benefit of the swell of support was the development of volunteer staff. Employed by both Education and Animal care, these volunteers give one day a week to assist the running of London Zoo and can be recognised by their red pullovers. On September 27,1940, high explosive bombs damaged the Rodent house, the Civet house, the office, the propagating sheds, the North Gate
8.
Stucco
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Stucco or render is a material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a dense solid. It is used as coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural. Stucco may be used to cover less visually appealing construction materials such as metal, concrete, cinder block, or clay brick and adobe. In English, stucco usually means a coating for the outside of a building, and plaster one for interiors, as described below, but other European languages, importantly including Italian, do not have the same distinction, stucco means plaster in Italian and serves for both. This has led to English often using stucco for interior decorative plasterwork in relief, especially in art history, the difference in nomenclature between stucco, plaster, and mortar is based more on use than composition. Animal or plant fibers were often added for additional strength, in the latter nineteenth century, Portland cement was added with increasing frequency in an attempt to improve the durability of stucco. At the same time, traditional lime plasters were being replaced by gypsum plaster, traditional stucco is made of lime, sand, and water. Modern stucco is made of Portland cement, sand, and water, lime is added to increase the permeability and workability of modern stucco. Sometimes additives such as acrylics and glass fibers are added to improve the properties of the stucco. This is usually done with what is considered a one-coat stucco system, lime stucco is a relatively hard material that can be broken or chipped by hand without too much difficulty. The lime itself is white, color comes from the aggregate or any added pigments. Lime stucco has the property of being self-healing to a degree because of the slight water solubility of lime. Portland cement stucco is very hard and brittle and can easily crack if the base on which it is applied is not stable, typically its color was gray, from the innate color of most Portland cement, but white Portland cement is also used. Todays stucco manufacturers offer a wide range of colors that can be mixed integrally in the finish coat. As a building material, stucco is a durable, attractive and it was traditionally used as both an interior and exterior finish applied in one or two thin layers directly over a solid masonry, brick or stone surface. The finish coat usually contained a color and was typically textured for appearance. The lath added support for the wet plaster and tensile strength to the brittle, cured stucco, while the increased thickness, the traditional application of stucco and lath occurs in three coats — the scratch coat, the brown coat and the finish coat
9.
Terraced house
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They are also known in some areas as row houses or linked houses. Terrace housing can be throughout the world, though it is in abundance in Europe and Latin America. The Place des Vosges in Paris is one of the examples of the style. Sometimes associated with the class, historical and reproduction terraces have increasingly become part of the process of gentrification in certain inner-city areas. Yarmouth Rows in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk is an example where the building fronts uniformly ran right to the property line, Townhouses are generally two- to three-storey structures that share a wall with a neighbouring unit. As opposed to an apartment building, townhouses do not have neighbouring units above or below them and they are similar in concept to row houses or terraced houses, except they are usually divided into smaller groupings of homes. The first and last of these houses is called an end terrace, in Australia, the term terrace house refers almost exclusively to Victorian and Edwardian era terraces or replicas almost always found in the older, inner city areas of the major cities. Terraced housing was introduced to Australia from England in the century, basing their architecture on those in the UK, France. Large numbers of terraced houses were built in the suburbs of large Australian cities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne. Detached housing became the style of housing in Australia following Federation in 1901. The most common building material used was brick, often covered with cement render, many terraces were built in the Filigree style, a style distinguished through heavy use of cast iron ornament, particularly on the balconies and sometimes depicting native Australian flora. In the 1950s, many urban renewal programs were aimed at eradicating them entirely in favour of modern development, in recent decades these inner-city areas and their terraced houses have been gentrified. The suburbs in which houses are often found are often sought after in Australia due to their proximity to the CBD of the major cities. They are therefore sometimes quite expensive even though they are not the preferred accommodation style. The lack of windows on the side, the gardens. The lack of off-street parking that most have is also an issue for the majority Australians, terraced housing has long been a popular style in Paris, France. The Place des Vosges was one of the earliest examples of the style, in Parisian squares, central blocks were given discreet prominence, to relieve the façade. Terraced building including housing was used primarily during Haussmanns renovation of Paris between 1852 and 1870 creating whole streetscapes consisting of terraced rows
10.
John Nash (architect)
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John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London under the patronage of the Prince Regent, and during his reign as George IV. Nash was also a pioneer in the use of the Picturesque in architecture and his best-known buildings are the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, and Buckingham Palace. Many of his buildings were built by the property developer James Burton, in return, Nash promoted the career of Burtons son, Decimus Burton, who assisted him with several of his designs and later became a famous architect in his own right. Nash was born during 1752 in Lambeth, south London, the son of a Welsh millwright also called John, from 1766 or 67, John Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor, the apprenticeship was completed in 1775 or 1776. On 28 April 1775, at the now demolished church of St Mary Newington, Nash married his first wife Jane Elizabeth Kerr, initially he seems to have pursued a career as a surveyor, builder and carpenter. This gave him an income of around £300 a year, the couple set up home at Royal Row Lambeth. He established his own practice in 1777 as well as being in partnership with a timber merchant. The couple had two children, both were baptised at St Mary-at-Lambeth, John on 9 June 1776 and Hugh on 28 April 1778. The claim that Jane had faked her pregnancies and then passed babies she had acquired off as her own was brought before the Consistory court of the Bishop of London. His wife was sent to Aberavon to lodge with Nashs cousin Ann Morgan, in an attempt at reconciliation Jane returned to London in June 1779, but she continued to act extravagantly so he sent her to another cousin, Thomas Edwards of Neath. She gave birth just after Christmas, and acknowledged Charles Charles as the father, in 1781 Nash instigated action against Jane for separation on grounds of adultery. The case was tried at Hereford in 1782, Charles who was guilty was unable to pay the damages of £76. The divorce was finally read 26 January 1787 and his career was initially unsuccessful and short-lived. After inheriting £1000 in 1778 from his uncle Thomas, he invested the money in building his first known independent works, 15–17 Bloomsbury Square, but the property failed to let and he was declared bankrupt on 30 September 1783. His debts were £5000, including £2000 he had been lent by Robert Adam, a blue plaque commemorating Nash was placed on 66 Great Russell Street by English Heritage in 2013. Nash left London in 1784 to live in Carmarthen, to where his mother had retired, in 1785 he and a local man Samuel Simon Saxon re-roofed the towns church for 600 Guineas. Nash and Saxon seem to have worked as building contractors and suppliers of building materials, Nashs London buildings had been standard Georgian terrace houses, and it was in Wales that he matured as an architect. He went on to design the prisons at Cardigan and Hereford and it was at Hereford that Nash met Richard Payne Knight, whose theories on the picturesque as applies to architecture and landscape would influence Nash
11.
Decimus Burton
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Decimus Burton FRS FRSA FSA FRIBA was one of the foremost English architects of the 19th century. He was an exponent of the Greek revival, Georgian. He also worked on Buckingham Palace, where he was responsible for the removal of Nashs Marble Arch facing the building to its present site and his siblings included James Burton and Henry Burton. Decimus was the 10th child of the property developer James Burton and Elizabeth Westley, of Loughton, Essex, daughter of John and Mary Westley. On his fathers side, his grandparents were Rev. James Haliburton and Margaret Eliott, daughter of Sir William Eliott, 2nd Baronet and aunt of George Augustus Eliott. Decimus was descended from John Haliburton, from whom Sir Walter Scott and he was a cousin of the American judge and author Thomas Chandler Haliburton and thence of the lawyer and anthropologist Robert Grant Haliburton and Arthur Lawrence Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton. Decimus spent his years in his father’s mansion, Mabledon House, in Kent. Decimus left Tonbridge School in 1816, due to his fathers social standing, he was able to enter the Royal Academy Schools directly, in 1817, without having been articled to an architect. Here he was taught by Sir John Soane, for whom his brother, Decimus then trained with his father, during which time he receive drawing lessons from George Maddox. Decimus was exceptionally learned, as the diversity of his library, part of which was auctioned by his nieces, the sale catalogue listed 347 separate lots, some of which ran into many volumes. L. L. Buffon and Bernard Germain de Lacépède, alongside these, topographical views and surveys of cities and counties pepper the collection. There were also some texts, including volumes by Charles Percier and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet, a complete set of Giovanni Battista Piranesis works. This goes some way towards explaining the formal character of his architecture. Decimus was an exponent of the Greek revival style of architecture, although, uniquely. In his later career, he designed buildings in the Gothic revival style, the ‘old English’ style. Decimus was one of the first architects to consider the implications of architecture on the creation of urban environments in which they featured. Evidence given by Burton to two parliamentary select committees shows the diversity of his experience and, by virtue of his being asked, the esteem in which his opinion was held by contemporaries. Burtons evidence to the committee of the House of Commons
12.
Regent's Canal
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Regents Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin, the canal is 13.8 kilometres long. As with many Nash projects, the design was passed to one of his assistants, in this case James Morgan. Work began on 14 October 1812, the Camden to Limehouse section, including the 886-metre long Islington tunnel and the Regents Canal Dock, opened four years later on 1 August 1820. Various intermediate basins were also constructed, many other basins such as Wenlock Basin, Kingsland Basin, St. Pancras Stone and Coal Basin, and one in front of the Great Northern Railways Granary were also built, and some of these survive. The City Road Basin, the nearest to the City of London, soon eclipsed the Paddington Basin in the amount of goods carried, principally coal and these were goods that were being shipped locally, in contrast to the canals original purpose of transshipping imports to the Midlands. The opening of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838 actually increased the tonnage of coal carried by the canal. However, by the twentieth century, with the Midland trade lost to the railways, and more deliveries made by road. There were a number of projects to convert the route of the canal into a railway. The railway company failed, but in 1846 the directors of the canal went about trying to obtain an Act of Parliament to allow them to build a railway along its banks. The scheme was abandoned in the face of opposition, especially from the government who objected to the idea of a railway passing through Regents Park. In 1859, two schemes to convert the canal into a railway were proposed. One, from a company called the Central London Railway and Dock Company, was accepted by the directors, in 1860 the Regents Canal Company proposed a railway track alongside the canal from Kings Cross to Limehouse, but funds could not be raised. Further schemes over the twenty years also came to nothing. In 1883, after years of negotiation, the canal was sold to a company called the Regents Canal. A new purpose was found for the route in 1979. These 400 kV cables now form part of the National Grid, pumped canal water is circulated as a coolant for the high-voltage cables. The canal is used today for pleasure cruising, a regular waterbus service operates between Maida Vale and Camden, running hourly during the summer months
13.
Grand Union Canal
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The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line starts in London and ends in Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks and it has arms to places including Leicester, Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Northampton. Tolls had been reduced to compete with the railways, but there was scope for further reduction. The Regents Canal and the Grand Junction Canal agreed that amalgamation and modernisation were the way to remain competitive. The Grand Union Canal in its current form came into being on 1 January 1929 and it was formed from the amalgamation of several different canals, and at 286. Although the Grand Union intended to buy the Oxford Canal and Coventry Canal, however, the onward sections from Braunston to Birmingham had been built as narrow canals – that is, the locks could accommodate only a single narrowboat. An Act of Parliament of 1931 was passed authorising a key part of the scheme of the Grand Union. The narrow locks between Napton and Camp Hill Top Lock in Birmingham were rebuilt to take widebeam boats or barges up to 12 feet 6 inches in beam, or two narrowboats. Lock works were completed in 1934 when the Duke of Kent opened the new locks at Hatton. However, these improvements to depth and width were never carried out between Braunston and London. Camp Hill Locks in Birmingham were not widened, as it would have very expensive and of little point. A new basin and warehouse were constructed at Tyseley, above Camp Hill, the three sections between Norton junction and the River Trent are mixed in size. From Norton to Foxton, the route is a narrow canal, from below Foxton to Leicester it is a wide canal. From Leicester to the Trent, the route is effectively the River Soar, another Act of 1931 authorised the widening of the locks at Watford and Foxton, but with Government grants for this section not forthcoming, the work was not carried out. The Grand Union Canal was nationalised in 1948, control transferring to the British Transport Commission, commercial traffic continued to decline, effectively ceasing in the 1970s, though lime juice was carried from Brentford to Boxmoor until 1981, and aggregates on the River Soar until 1996. However, leisure traffic took over, and the canal is now as busy as it ever was, with leisure boating complemented by fishing, towpath walking and gongoozling. One end of the Grand Union Canal is at Brentford on the River Thames in west London, the locks on the canal are numbered south from Braunston, and Thames Lock is lock number 101. From the Thames Lock, the canal and the River Brent are one and the same, and the waterway is semi-tidal until the double Gauging Lock at Brentford is reached
14.
Port of London
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The Port of London lies along the banks of the River Thames from the capital to the North Sea. Once the largest port in the world, it is currently the United Kingdoms second largest port, the port is governed by the Port of London Authority, a public trust established in 1908, whose responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames. The port can handle cruise liners, roll-on roll-off ferries, and it is not located in one area - it stretches along the tidal river, including central London, with many individual wharfs, docks, terminals and facilities built incrementally over the centuries. The Port of London has been central to the economy of London since the founding of the city in the 1st century and was a contributor to the growth. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was the busiest port in the world, with wharves extending continuously along the Thames for 11 miles, in World War II it was a prime target for the Luftwaffe during The Blitz. The first evidence of a reasonable sized trading in London can be seen during Roman control of Britain, the construction involved expanding the waterfront using wooden frames filled with dirt. Once these were in place the wharf was built in four stages moving downstream from the London Bridge, the port began to rapidly grow and prosper during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and saw its final demise in the early 5th century with the decline in trade activity. The changes made to the banks along the port made by the Romans are so substantial, London became a very important trading port for the Romans at its height in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The harbour town grew and expanded quickly, the lavish nature of goods traded in London shaped the extravagant lifestyle of its citizens and the city flourished under Roman colonization. The Roman expansion of facilities and organisation of the London harbour have remained as the base of the London harbour until today. Until the beginning of the 19th century, shipping was handled entirely within the Pool of London on the stretch of the River Thames along Billingsgate on the side of the City of London. All imported cargoes had to be delivered for inspection and assessment by Customs Officers, the Pool saw a phenomenal increase in both overseas and coastal trade in the second half of the 18th century. Two thirds of coastal vessels using the Pool were colliers meeting an increase in the demand for coal as the population of London rose, coastal trade virtually doubled between 1750 and 1796 reaching 11,964 vessels in 1795. In overseas trade, in 1751 the pool handled 1,682 ships and 234,639 tons of goods, by 1794 this had risen to 3,663 ships and 620,845 tons. By this time the river was lined with nearly continuous walls of wharves running for miles along both banks, and hundreds of ships moored in the river or alongside the quays, the three great horseshoe bends would be cut off with locks, as huge wet docks. This was not realised, though a smaller channel, the City Canal, was subsequently cut across the Isle of Dogs. Londons Docklands had their origins in the lack of capacity in the Pool of London which particularly affected the West India trade, throughout the 19th century a series of enclosed dock systems was built, surrounded by high walls to protect cargoes from river piracy. These included West India Docks, East India Docks, London Docks, Surrey Commercial Docks, St Katharine Docks, Royal Victoria Dock, Millwall Dock, Royal Albert Dock, and Tilbury docks
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Anseriformes
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In fact, these living species are all included in Anatidae except for the three screamers and the magpie goose. All species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface, the males, except for the screamers, also have a penis, a trait that has disappeared in Neoaves. All are web-footed for efficient swimming, the earliest known Anseriform is the recently discovered Vegavis, which lived during the Cretaceous period. It is thought that the Anseriformes originated when the original Galloanserae split into the two main lineages, the extinct dromornithids may possibly represent early offshoots of the anseriform line, if they arent stem-Galliformes instead, and so maybe Gastornis. The ancestors of the Anseriformes developed the characteristic bill structure that they still share, the prehistoric wading presbyornithids were even more bizarre. The Anseriformes and the Galliformes are the most primitive neognathous birds, Anatidae systematics, especially regarding placement of some odd genera in the dabbling ducks or shelducks, is not fully resolved. See the Anatidae article for information, and for alternate taxonomic approaches. Some unusual groups, such as the extinct Gastornithidae and Dromornithidae, are found to be at the base of the Anseriformes family tree. Anatidae is traditionally divided into subfamilies Anatinae and Anserinae, the Anatinae consists of tribes Anatini, Aythyini, Mergini and Tadornini. The higher-order classification below follows a phylogenetic analysis performed by Angolin,2007, Mikkos Phylogeny Archive, the clade Somaterini has a single genus Somateria. List of Anseriformes by population Agnolin, F. Brontornis burmeisteri Moreno & Mercerat, un Anseriformes gigante del Mioceno Medio de Patagonia, revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. Clarke, J. A. Tambussi, C. P. Noriega, erickson, G. M. & Ketcham, R. A. Definitive fossil evidence for the extant avian radiation in the Cretaceous, & Zusi, R. L. Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds based on comparative anatomy. Zoological Journal of the Linnen Society, murray, P. F. & Vickers-Rich, P. Magnificent Mihirungs, The Colossal Flightless Birds of the Australian Dreamtime
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Zoological Society of London
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The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. Between 1816 and 1826 discussions between Stamford Raffles, Humphry Davy, Joseph Banks and others led to the idea that London should have an establishment similar to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and it would house a zoological collection which should interest and amuse the public. Raffles was the first chairman and president, but died only a few months in office. It received a Royal Charter from George IV on 27 March 1829, the purpose of the society was to create a collection of animals for study at leisure, an associated museum and library. In April 1828 the Zoological Gardens were opened to members, in 1831 William IV presented the Royal Menagerie to the Zoological Society, and in 1847 the public were admitted to aid funding, and Londoners soon christened the Zoological Gardens the Zoo. London Zoo soon had the most extensive collection of animals in the world, a History of the ZSL, written by Henry Scherren, was published in 1905. The History was criticised as inadequately researched by Peter Chalmers Mitchell in 1929, as the twentieth century began, the need to maintain and research large animals in a more natural environment became clear. Peter Chalmers Mitchell conceived the vision of a new park no more than 70 miles away from London and thus accessible to the public, and at least 200 acres in extent. In 1926, profiting from the depression, the ideal place was found, Hall Farm, near Whipsnade village, was derelict. ZSL bought the farm in December 1926 for £13,480 12s 10d, in 1928 the first animals arrived at the new Whipsnade Park – two Amherst pheasants, a golden pheasant and five red jungle fowl. Others soon followed, including deer, llamas, wombats. In 1931 Whipsnade Park was opened to the public as the worlds first open zoological park, in June 2015 ZSL rebranded, taking on a new tagline - Lets Work for Wildlife. The new brand will be used to boost awareness in the UK and beyond of ZSL’s global conservation programmes, scientific research, fundraising, the Institute of Zoology is the scientific research division of the ZSL. It is a research institute, which specialises in scientific issues relevant to the conservation of species. The Institute of Zoology focuses its research on five areas, evolutionary biology, genetics, ecology, reproductive biology, the Institute of Zoology was graded 4 in the 1997–2001 UK Research Assessment Exercise, and publishes reports annually. From the late 1980s the Institute of Zoology had been affiliated to the University of London, however, in 2000 this was replaced with a partnership with the University of Cambridge. ZSL runs ZSL London Zoo, ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and had planned to open an aquarium, the society published the Zoological Record from 1864 to 1980, when the ZR was transferred to BIOSIS. The Society has published the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, now called the Journal of Zoology, since 1998 it has also published Animal Conservation
17.
St John's Lodge, London
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St Johns Lodge is a private residence. Since 1994 it has been leased by the family of Brunei. It is the London home of Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei and it is located on the Inner Circle of Regents Park, London, which until 1965 was in the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone and is now part of the City of Westminster. It was built in 1812 and designed by the architect John Raffield, the lodge was the first house to be built in Regents Park. The Royal Parks service describes it and The Holme as the two villas remaining from John Nashs original conception of Regents Park. Which would have included a palace, as well as many large villas. Other owners of the lodge have included Lord Wellesley, Sir Isaac Goldsmid, the building was occupied by the University of Londons Institute of Archaeology, from 1937 to 1959, and by the history and classics departments of Bedford College, from 1959 to 1983. The adjoining gardens have been open to the public since 1928
18.
Winfield House
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Winfield House is a mansion set in 12 acres of grounds in Regents Park, the second largest private garden in central London, after that of Buckingham Palace. Since 1955, it has been the residence of the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. Jamess. It is Grade II listed as an exceptional ambassadors residence and as a notable Neo-Georgian town house containing numerous features of note, the first house on the site was Hertford Villa, the largest of the eight originally built in the park as part of John Nashs development scheme. The actual house was designed by Decimus Burton for the notorious Regency rake, Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford, later occupants included newspaper proprietor Lord Rothermere and the American financier Otto Hermann Kahn. Kahn lent it during World War I to a new charity for blinded servicemen, the villa was damaged by fire in 1936 and was subsequently purchased by the American heiress Barbara Hutton, who demolished it. In 1936, Hutton had a built in the Neo-Georgian style, designed by Leonard Rome Guthrie of the English architectural practice Wimperis, Simpson. She agreed to the request and chose a new name, derived from her grandfather Frank Winfield Woolworth, Huttons only child, Lance Reventlow, was born in Winfield House. During World War II, the house was used by a Royal Air Force 906 barrage balloon unit and it was visited during the war by film actor Cary Grant, who was married to the owner at the time. Between February 1951 and June 1952, it was the home of comedian, after the war, Hutton sold the house to the American government for one dollar. In the early 1950s, the building was used as the London officers club for the U. S, after extensive alterations, Winfield House became the ambassadors official residence in 1955. The previous residence at 14 Princes Gate having been deemed inadequately secure, the first ambassador in residence was Winthrop Aldrich, others include Walter Annenberg, Anne Armstrong, and John Hay Whitney. The house has been visited by Queen Elizabeth II, several U. S. presidents, the interiors have undergone extensive alterations at several points, including 1969 by William Haines, decorator and former silent film star. First-floor rooms, including bedroom with painted Etruscan decoration and a French marble chimney-piece with columns, Neo-Georgian wrought iron stairs with scrolled decoration and brass hand-rail to attic floor, on which numerous 1930s features survive from the former nursery suite. Winfield House in the DeCamillo Companion
19.
London Central Mosque
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The London Central Mosque is a mosque located near Regents Park in London, United Kingdom. It was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, completed in 1978, the main hall can accommodate over 5,000 worshippers, with women praying on a balcony overlooking the hall. The mosque holds a chandelier and a vast carpet, with little furniture. The inside of the dome is decorated with broken shapes in the Islamic tradition, there is also a small bookshop and halal café on the premises. The mosque is joined to the Islamic Cultural Centre which was opened by King George VI in 1944. The land was donated by George VI to the Muslim community of Britain in return for the donation of land in Cairo by King Farouk of Egypt and Sudan on which to build an Anglican cathedral. 1900 -1931 Several efforts were made to build a mosque in London, including one, initiated by Lord Headley,1939 Lord Lloyd of Dolobran, then Chairman of the British Council, works with a Mosque Committee, comprising various prominent Muslims and Ambassadors in London. The gift, moreover of a site for a mosque would serve as a tribute to the loyalty of the Moslems of the Empire, the British Government is persuaded to present a site for a mosque in London for the Muslim community of Great Britain. 1947 The Mosque Committee registered the London Central Mosque Trust Limited as a Trust Corporation in September, at the time, seven representatives from six Muslim countries acted as Trustees. 1954 -1967 Several designs were considered for the mosque, there were long protracted planning applications to various authorities but the necessary planning approval was not granted. 1969 An Open International Competition was held for the design of the building, over one hundred designs were submitted, from both Muslim and non-Muslim applicants. The design finally selected was by the English architect Frederick Gibberd, further donation was provided by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the United Arab Emirates. 1977 Work was completed in July for the total cost of £6.5 million, the first Director of the Islamic Centre was the Raja of Mahmudabad. A special fund paid for a new Educational & Administrative wing which was completed in 1994 and this was donated by the king of Saudi Arabia Fahd bin Abdul Aziz. The Good Builder, The John Laing Story, the Islamic Cultural Centre & The London Central Mosque Land for Central London Mosque in Regents Park, given free by British government
20.
Regent's American College London
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Regents American College London, is a part of Regents University London, the campus of which was originally built in 1913 in the midst of Regents Park in central London, UK. Until 2007 the college was known as British American College London, RACL was the official London campus of Webster University, St. Louis, USA but the arrangement ended in 2015. As of September 2015 RACL will offer its own Liberal Arts undergraduate programmes based on the U. S. curriculum, the student body is primarily international, with large populations from the Middle East, USA, South Asia and Eastern Europe. The college offers a choice of majors in management, media, international relations, politics, psychology. The college brings the Liberal Arts curriculum of American higher education to the UK, Regents American College London registers around 400 students a year, from 65 different countries. Students come from affiliated schools, study programs, as well as full-time degree seeking students
21.
Primrose Hill
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Primrose Hill is a hill of 213 feet located on the northern side of Regents Park in London, and also the name given to the surrounding district. The hill summit has a view of central London, as well as Hampstead. Nowadays it is one of the most exclusive and expensive areas in London and is home to many prominent residents. The nearest stations to Primrose Hill are Chalk Farm tube station to the northeast, the defunct Primrose Hill railway station sits on the railway lines that separate the Primrose Hill area from Camden Town. Like Regents Park, Primrose Hill was once part of a great chase appropriated by Henry VIII, later, in 1841, it became Crown property and in 1842 an Act of Parliament secured the land as public open space. It has always one of the more fashionable districts in the urban belt that lies between the core of London and the outer suburbs, and remains expensive and prosperous. Primrose Hill is an example of a successful London urban village, due to the location. In October 1678, Primrose Hill was the scene of the murder of Edmund Berry Godfrey. In 1792 the radical Unitarian poet and antiquarian Iolo Morganwg founded the Gorsedd, there is, as in most places in London, graffiti on Primrose Hill. However, the one that seemed to impact the public most was a lyric about Primrose Hill by the band Blur, the graffiti read And the views so nice until it was removed in 2012. Some have tried to restore it, but none have yet succeeded, there are seven English Heritage blue plaques in Primrose Hill commemorating the historic personalities that have lived there. The plaques mark the residences of poet Sir Hugh Clough, historian and broadcaster A. J. P. Joan Bakewell also lives in the area
22.
Central London
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Central London is the innermost part of London, UK. Over time a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. From 2004 to 2008, the London Plan included a sub-region called Central London comprising Camden, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth and it had a 2001 population of 1,525,000. The sub-region was replaced in 2008 with a new structure which amalgamated inner and outer boroughs together and this was altered in 2011 when a new Central London sub region was created, now including the City of London and excluding Wandsworth. However, districts at the edge of this subregion such as Streatham, Dulwich. During the Herbert Commission and the subsequent passage of the London Government Bill, the first two were detailed in the 1959 Memorandum of Evidence of the Greater London Group of the London School of Economics. It had an population of 350,000 and occupied 7,000 acres. The area had an population of 400,000 and occupied 8,000 acres. During the passage of the London Government Bill an amendment was put forward to create a central borough corresponding to the used at the 1961 census. The population was estimated to be 270,000
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Belsize Park
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Belsize Park is an area of north-west London, England, in the London Borough of Camden. It gives its name to a ward of the borough, called Belsize, which covers most of Belsize Park and it is located 3.4 miles north-west of Charing Cross and has a station on the Northern line. Some nearby localities are Hampstead to the north and west, Kentish Town and Gospel Oak to the east, Camden Town to the south east and it is a lively area with many restaurants, pubs and cafés along Haverstock Hill and also Englands Lane. Hampstead Heath is a 10- to 12-minute walk, Primrose Hill park is a 5-minute walk from Englands Lane and provides some of the best views of Central London. Belsize Park is in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency whose present MP is Tulip Siddiq, the name is derived from French bel assis meaning well situated. The Manor of Belsize dates back to 1317, the name comes from the 17th-century manor house and parkland which once stood on the site. The estate built up between 1852 and 1878, by time it extended to Haverstock Hill. After World War I, the construction of blocks of flats began, in World War II, a large underground air-raid shelter was built here and its entrance can still be seen near the tube station at Downside Crescent. The area on Haverstock Hill north of Belsize Park underground station up to Hampstead Town Hall, when the area was rebuilt, the opportunity was taken to widen the pavement and build further back from the road. It is also in the short film Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, of which the song was covered by Mireille Mathieu, Engelbert Humperdinck. Belsize Park is also referenced on Sleepers 1995 debut album Smart in the song Lady Love Your Countryside with the lyrics And we could spend our lives puking in Belsize Park. The Camden Town Group artist Robert Polhill Bevan and his wife Stanislawa de Karlowska lived at 14 Adamson Road from 1900 to 1925. Kirsty MacColls song England 2 Columbia 0 features the line, we went to a pub in Belsize Park and it is also the place of residence for the Jewish community targeted by Hitler during the Second World War in the novel The Morning Gift. Novelist Peter Straub entitled his 1983 poetry collection Leeson Square and Belsize Park in part after his time in residence in the Belsize Park region of London, Belsize Park and the surrounding quarters were the setting for a long-running radio drama, Waggoners Walk. This daily serial ran from April 1969 to May 1980 each weekday on Radio 2, Belsize Park is mentioned in the Hitchcock thriller, Dial M for Murder by the lead character Tony Wallace (played by Ray Milland when coercing his accomplice, C. A. Belsize Village was recently the setting for a Direct Line Insurance advert featuring Harvey Keitel, there are records of a Belsize Park Rugby Club in North-West London since the 1860s. In 1871, Belsize was one of the clubs at the meeting of the Rugby Football Union. In 1878, Belsize moved to form Rosslyn Park RFC, becoming one of Englands leading clubs, in 1971, Belsize Park RFC was re-established by a group of local players
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Hampstead
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Hampstead, commonly known as Hampstead Village, is an area of London, England,4 miles northwest of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath and it has some of the most expensive housing in the London area. The village of Hampstead has more millionaires within its boundaries than any area of the United Kingdom. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon words ham and stede, which means, and is a cognate of, the growth of Hampstead is generally traced back to the 17th century. Trustees of the Well started advertising the medicinal qualities of the waters in 1700. Although Hampstead Wells was initially most successful and fashionable, its popularity declined in the 1800s due to competition with other fashionable London spas, the spa was demolished in 1882, although a water fountain was left behind. Much luxurious housing was created during the 1870s and 1880s, in the area that is now the ward of Frognal & Fitzjohns. Much of this remains to this day. The large Victorian Hampstead Library and Town Hall was recently converted and extended as a creative industries centre, on 14 August 1975 Hampstead entered the UK Weather Records with the Highest 155-min total rainfall at 169 mm. As of November 2008 this record remains, Hampstead became part of the County of London in 1889 and in 1899 the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead was formed. The borough town hall on Haverstock Hill, which was also the location of the Register Office, Hampstead is part of the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency, formed at the 2010 general election. It was formerly part of the Hampstead and Highgate constituency, since May 2015 the area has been represented on Camden Council by Conservative Party councillors Tom Currie, Oliver Cooper and Stephen Stark. The area has a significant tradition of educated liberal humanism, often referred to as Hampstead Liberalism, michael Idov of The New Yorker stated that the community was the citadel of the moneyed liberal intelligentsia, posh but not stuffy. As applied to an individual, the term Hampstead Liberal is not synonymous with champagne socialist, the term is also rather misleading. As of 2016, all the component wards of Hampstead elect a full slate of Conservative councillors, the bridge pictured is known locally as The Red Arches or The Viaduct, built in fruitless anticipation of residential building on the Heath in the 19th century. The largest employer in Hampstead is the Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, George Martins AIR recording studios, in converted church premises in Lyndhurst Road, is a current example, as Jim Hensons Creature Shop was before it relocated to California. It was recently restored by Notting Hill Housing Trust, notable and longstanding are La Gaffe, Gaucho Grill, Jin Kichi, Tip Top Thai, Villa Bianca and, in May 2016, Patara. Hampsteads rural feel lends itself for use on film, an example being The Killing of Sister George starring Beryl Reid
25.
The Royal Parks
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The Royal Parks is an organisation within the UK Government that manages the eight Royal Parks and certain other areas of garden and parkland in London. The Royal Parks is an agency of the Department for Culture, Media. The Chief Executive of the agency is Andrew Scattergood, the agencys primary focus is on management and conservation of the 1976 hectares of Royal Parks. The agency runs programmes of activities and events to outdoor recreation. It also allows parties to run such activities within the grounds to further these objectives. The Royal Parks also regulates filming, audio recording and the taking of photographs in these areas for anything other than personal use through the issuing of licences and it also issues news permits to the media for the specific purpose of covering breaking news items relating to the Parks. In September 2005, the agency was awarded the EST Best Practice Award at the GreenFleet Awards, the awards recognise achievements in green fuels and alternative transport technologies. The agency negotiated a contract for the installation of LPG fuel bunkers, each new contract awarded by The Royal Parks requires the contractor to use green fuel. The plan was welcomed by Royal Parks but has not yet been implemented
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Crown Estate Paving Commission
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The Crown Estate Paving Commission is the body responsible for managing certain aspects of the built environment around Regents Park, London. It was established by statute in 1824 and it fulfills some local government functions, and is one of the few bodies in the United Kingdom still empowered to levy rates on residential property. Although it has local government functions and tax-raising powers, its members are not elected but are appointed by the Lords of the Treasury and it is a separate body from the Crown Estate, which holds the freehold of Regents Park. The CEPC was established by statute in 1824, when it was responsibility for care. It has retained responsibility for the Waterloo gardens in Carlton House Terrace, the CEPC was explicitly excluded from the Metropolis Management Act 1855 that otherwise reformed local government in the metropolitan area of London. The CEPC has enforced the 1851 act through court actions, in 1944, a Scottish MP was fined for failure to remove signs advertising a club. CEPC commissioner Sir John Ritblat was also on the board of the festival, since 1851 the area of the commission has been Regents Park between the Outer Circle and, clockwise from Gloucester Gate, Albany Street, Marylebone Road, Allsop Place and Park Road to Hanover Gate. The eastern section is in the London Borough of Camden and the section is in the City of Westminster. The Commission also maintains the gardens adjacent to the public park. It also regulates requested modifications, such as pathways, the public park itself is managed by The Royal Parks. CEPC has statutory authority under the 1851 Act to collect rates from the occupiers of buildings in the streets which it manages numbering about 1,200, before 1990 residents in the CEPC area paid lower General Rates to the councils. The introduction of the Community Charge brought this to an end, CEPC applied for a Council Tax Local Discount, which would reduce the Council Tax of residents in the CEPC area and increase it in the rest of the London boroughs, but it was refused. Official website Crown Estate page on the management of Regents Park
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Crown Estate
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As a result of this arrangement, the sovereign is not involved with the management or administration of the estate, exercising only very limited control of its affairs. Naturally occurring gold and silver in the UK, collectively known as Mines Royal, are managed by The Crown Estate, historically, Crown Estate properties were administered by the reigning monarch to help fund the business of governing the country. In return, he received a grant known as the Civil list. By tradition, each subsequent monarch agreed to this arrangement upon his or her accession and this was intended to provide a long-term solution and remove the politically sensitive issue of Parliament having to debate the Civil List allowance every ten years. Subsequently, the Sovereign Grant Act allows for all future monarchs to simply extend these provisions for their reigns by Order in Council. The act does not imply any change on the nature of the estates ownership. The history of the Crown lands in England and Wales begins with the Norman conquest, when William I died, the land he had acquired by right of conquest was still largely intact. His successors, however, granted estates to the nobles and barons who supplied them with men. The monarchs remaining land was divided into manors, each managed separately by a seneschal. The period between the reigns of William I and Queen Anne was one of alienation of lands. However, the disposals outweighed the acquisitions, at the time of the Restoration in 1660, by the end of the reign of William III, however, it was reduced to some £6,000. Before the reign of William III all the revenues of the kingdom were bestowed on the monarch for the expenses of government. As the state expanded, the cost of the civil government exceeded the income from the Crown lands and feudal rights. As a result, and to avoid embarrassment, he was granted a fixed civil list payment. Although the King had retained large hereditary revenues, his income proved insufficient for his charged expenses because he used the privilege to supporters with bribes. Debts amounting to over £3 million over the course of Georges reign were paid by Parliament, and the civil list annuity was then increased from time to time. It is intended that future funding will be set as a fraction of The Crown Estate revenue and paid through the annual Treasury Estimates process, the Grant is to enable The Queen to discharge her duties as Head of State. I. e it meets the central staff costs and running expenses of Her Majestys official Household – such things as official receptions, investitures, garden parties and so on
28.
Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings
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The Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings occurred on 20 July 1982 in London. Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated two bombs during British military ceremonies in Hyde Park and Regents Park, both in central London. The explosions killed 11 military personnel, four soldiers of the Blues & Royals at Hyde Park, seven of the Blues & Royals horses also died in the attack. One seriously injured horse, Sefton, survived and was featured on television programmes and was awarded Horse of the Year. In 1987, Gilbert Danny McNamee was convicted of making the Hyde Park bomb and he served 12 years before being released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, his conviction was later quashed. No one has ever been charged in connection with the Regents Park bombing, at 10,40 am, a nail bomb exploded in the boot of a blue Morris Marina parked on South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park. The bomb comprised 25 lb of gelignite and 30 lb of nails and it exploded as soldiers of the Household Cavalry, Queen Elizabeth IIs official bodyguard regiment, were passing. They were taking part in their daily Changing of the Guard procession from their barracks in Knightsbridge to Horse Guards Parade, three soldiers of the Blues & Royals were killed outright, and another, their standard-bearer, died from his wounds three days later. The other soldiers in the procession were badly wounded, and a number of civilians were injured, seven of the regiments horses were also killed or had to be euthanised because of their injuries. Explosives experts believed that the Hyde Park bomb was triggered by remote by an IRA member inside the park, the second attack happened at about 12,55 pm, when a bomb exploded underneath a bandstand in Regents Park. Thirty Military bandsmen of the Royal Green Jackets were on the stand performing music from Oliver, to a crowd of 120 people. It was the first in a series of advertised lunchtime concerts there, six of the bandsmen were killed outright and the rest were wounded, a seventh died of his wounds on 1 August. At least eight civilians were also injured, the bomb had been hidden under the stand some time before and triggered by a timer. Unlike the Hyde Park bomb, it contained no nails and seemed to be designed to cause harm to bystanders. The IRA claimed responsibility for the attacks by deliberately mirroring Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers words a few months before when Britain entered the Falklands War and they proclaimed that, The Irish people have sovereign and national rights which no task or occupational force can put down. Reacting to the bombing, Thatcher stated, These callous and cowardly crimes have been committed by evil and we shall not rest until they are brought to justice. The bombings had a impact on public support in the United States for the Irish republican cause. Sefton, a horse that survived the attack at Hyde Park despite suffering serious wounds, a memorial marks the spot of the Hyde Park bombing and the troop honours it daily with an eyes-left and salute with drawn swords
29.
Tyburn
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Tyburn was a village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch and the southern end of Edgware Road in present-day London. It took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne and it was also known as Gods Tribunal, in the 18th century. The village was one of two manors of the parish of Marylebone, which was named after the stream, St Marylebone being a contraction of St Marys church by the bourne. Tyburn was recorded in the Domesday Book and stood approximately at the west end of what is now Oxford Street at the junction of two Roman roads, the predecessors of Oxford Street and Edgware Road were roads leading to the village, later joined by Park Lane. In the 1230s and 1240s the village of Tyburn was held by Gilbert de Sandford, Eleanor had been the wife of King Henry II who encouraged her sons Henry and Richard to rebel against her husband, King Henry. In 1236 the city of London contracted with Sir Gilbert to draw water from Tyburn Springs, water was supplied free to all comers. Tyburn had significance from ancient times and was marked by a monument known as Oswulfs Stone, the stone was covered over in 1851 when Marble Arch was moved to the area, but it was shortly afterwards unearthed and propped up against the Arch. It has not been seen since 1869, public executions took place at Tyburn, with the prisoners processed from Newgate Prison in the City, via St Giles in the Fields and Oxford Street. After the late 18th century, when executions were no longer carried out in public, they were carried out at Newgate Prison itself, the first recorded execution took place at a site next to the stream in 1196. William Fitz Osbert, the populist leader of the poor of London, was cornered in the church of St Mary le Bow and he was dragged naked behind a horse to Tyburn, where he was hanged. In 1571, the Tyburn Tree was erected near the modern Marble Arch, the Tree or Triple Tree was a novel form of gallows, consisting of a horizontal wooden triangle supported by three legs. The Tree stood in the middle of the roadway, providing a landmark in west London. After executions, the bodies would be buried nearby or in later times removed for dissection by anatomists, the crowd would sometimes fight over a body with surgeons, by fear that dismemberment could prevent the resurrection of the body on Judgement Day. The first victim of the Tyburn Tree was Dr John Story, a plaque to the Catholic martyrs executed at Tyburn in the period 1535 -1681 is located at 8 Hyde Park Place, the site of Tyburn convent. The gallows seem to have replaced several times, probably because of reasons of wear. After some acts of vandalism, in October 1759 it was decided to replace the permanent structure with new moving gallows until the last execution in Tyburn, the executions were public spectacles and proved extremely popular, attracting crowds of thousands. The enterprising villagers of Tyburn erected large spectator stands so that as many as possible could see the hangings, on one occasion, the stands collapsed, reportedly killing and injuring hundreds of people. This did not prove a deterrent, however, and the continued to be treated as public holidays
30.
Barking Abbey
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Barking Abbey is a former royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as one of the most important nunneries in the country, originally established in the 7th century, from the late 10th century the abbey followed the Rule of St. Benedict. The abbey had an endowment and sizable income but suffered severely after 1377, when the River Thames flooded around 720 acres of the abbeys land. Despite this, at the time of the dissolution it was still the third wealthiest nunnery in England, the abbey continued to operate for almost 900 years, until its closure in 1539, as part of King Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries. During its existence, the abbey had many notable abbesses including several saints, former queens, the abbess of Barking held precedence over all other abbesses in England. The ruined remains of Barking Abbey now form part of an open space known as Abbey Green. Barking Abbey was one of two founded in the 7th century by Saint Erkenwald. Erkenwald founded Chertsey Abbey for himself, and Barking Abbey for his sister Saint Ethelburga, Erkenwald and Ethelburga were of royal ancestry and were born in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey. It is said Ethelburga chose to become a nun to avoid having to marry King Edwin of Northumbria, however, this seems doubtful and there may have been confusion between Ethelburga and Æthelburh of Kent. Either way, Ethelburgas brother Erkenwald founded Barking Abbey specifically for her, Ethelburga served as the Abbeys first abbess. Saint Hildelitha, a nun brought from abroad to teach Ethelburga, Erkenwald himself would die at the abbey in 693, although his body was taken to Chertsey Abbey for burial. The abbey was endowed by the East Saxon Princes, who came from the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of the East Saxons/Kingdom of Essex, the abbey was initially dedicated to Saint Mary. However, it was dedicated to both Saint Mary and Saint Ethelburga. Saint Wulfhilda became abbess of Barking Abbey during the 10th century, Wulfhilda had grown up at Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire. King Edgar the Peaceful fell in love with Wulfhilda at Wilton, eventually Edgar tried to entrap Wulfhilda, getting her aunt, Abbess Wenflaeda of Wherwell to fake an illness and summon Wulfhilda, Edgar was the one waiting when Wulfhila arrived. On arriving, Wulfhilda found his fervour so alarming that she fled, leaving her sleeve in his hand, Wulfhilda pursued her ambition and became a nun. King Edgar then created her Abbess of Barking and donated considerable estates to Barking Abbey, Wulfhilda herself donated 20 villages to the abbey and established another monastery at Horton in Kent. King Edgars eventual queen, Ælfthryth became jealous of Wulfhilda, Wulfhilda was later restored by Edgars and Ælfthryths son, King Æthelred the Unready
31.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
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Although the policy was originally envisaged as increasing the regular income of the Crown, much former monastic property was sold off to fund Henrys military campaigns in the 1540s. Professor George W. Bernard argues, The dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530s was one of the most revolutionary events in English history. one adult man in fifty was in religious orders. Very few English houses had been founded later than the end of the 13th century, there was a Medieval proverb in England that said if the Abbot of Glastonbury married the Abbess of Shaftesbury, the heir would have more land than the King of England. The 200 houses of friars in England and Wales constituted a distinct wave of foundations almost all occurring in the 13th century. Friaries, for the most part, were concentrated in urban areas, however, the religious changes in England under Henry VIII and Edward VI were of a different nature from those taking place in Germany, Bohemia, France, Scotland and Geneva. Bernard says there was concern in the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries about the condition of the monasteries. Pastoral care was seen as more important and vital than the monastic focus on contemplation, prayer. English monasticism in the 1530s may have faced grave and urgent problems, Henry wanted to change this, and in November 1529 Parliament passed Acts reforming apparent abuses in the English Church. These Acts sought to demonstrate that establishing royal jurisdiction over the Church would ensure progress in religious reformation where papal authority had been insufficient, the monasteries were next in line. The stories of monastic impropriety, vice and excess that were to be collected by Thomas Cromwells visitors may have been biased and exaggerated. Levels of monastic debt were increasing, and average numbers of professed religious were falling, only a minority of houses could now support the twelve or thirteen professed religious usually regarded as the minimum necessary to maintain the full canonical hours of the Divine Office. Extensive monastic complexes dominated English towns of any size, but most were less than half full, renaissance princes throughout Europe were facing severe financial difficulties due to sharply rising expenditures, especially to pay for armies, fighting ships and fortifications. Most tended, sooner or later, to resort to plundering monastic wealth, protestant princes would justify this by claiming divine authority, Catholic princes would obtain the agreement and connivance of the Papacy. Monastic wealth, regarded everywhere as excessive and idle, offered a standing temptation for cash-strapped secular, in terms of popular esteem however, the balance tilted the other way. By the time Henry VIII turned his mind to the business of monastery reform, the first case was that of the so-called Alien Priories. As a result of the Norman Conquest some French religious orders held substantial property through their daughter monasteries in England, some of these were merely granges, agricultural estates with a single foreign monk in residence to supervise things, others were rich foundations in their own right. Such estates were a source of income for the Crown in its French wars. If the property with which a house had been endowed by its founder were to be confiscated or surrendered, then the house ceased to exist, whether its members continued in the religious life or not
32.
Henry VIII of England
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Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII, Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. Despite his resulting excommunication, Henry remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings to England. Besides asserting the supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quash dissent, and he achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich and his contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated, and accomplished king, and he has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne. He was an author and composer, as he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three – Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret, and Mary – survived infancy and he was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York, in May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. Henry was given an education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French. Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, as Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15 of sweating sickness, Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public, as a result, the young Henry would later ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship
33.
Prince regent
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A prince regent, or prince-regent, is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e. g. as a result of the Sovereigns incapacity or absence. Regents Park, Regent Street and Regents Canal in London were all named in honour of him. Nash, under the patronage of the HRH Prince Regent, planned a palatial summer residence for the Prince,50 detached villas in a parkland setting and elegant terraces around the exterior of the park. This was all part of a plan, to develop The Regents Park and lay out an elegant new street, Regents Street, to link it to St Jamess Park. This period is known as the British Regency, or just the Regency, the title was conferred by the Regency Act on February 5,1811. Subject to certain limitations for a period, the Prince Regent was able to exercise the powers of the King. The precedent of the Regency Crisis of 1788 was followed, the Prince of Wales continued as regent until his fathers death in 1820, when he became George IV. The years of Luitpolds regency were marked by artistic and cultural activity in Bavaria. Numerous streets in Bavarian cities and towns are called Prinzregentenstraße, many institutions are named in Luitpolds honour, e. g. the Prinzregententheater in Munich. Prinzregententorte is a cake with chocolate butter cream named in Luitpolds honour. At Luitpolds death in 1912, his son Prince Ludwig succeeded as Prince Regent, Ludwig held the title for less than a year, since the Bavarian Legislature decided to recognise him as king. Prince Charles of Belgium served as Prince Regent of Belgium from 1944 to 1950 during the German captivity and then exile to Switzerland of his elder brother, King Leopold III of Belgium. On 5 September 1944 the Soviet Union declared war on the Kingdom of Bulgaria and on 8 September Soviet armies crossed the Romanian border, in the Kingdom of Swaziland, queen mothers have temporarily stepped in when the sovereign was either a minor or unable to reign for other reasons. More prince-regents are to be found in List of regents, crown Prince Frederick of Denmark served as regent from 1784 to 1808 for his father, King Christian VII of Denmark, who was insane. Prince William of Prussia served as regent from 1858 to 1861 for his older brother King Frederick William IV of Prussia, who had become mentally unfit to rule. Prince Dorgon of the early Qing dynasty served as regent for his nephew, Dorgon was instrumental in moving Manchu forces into Beijing in 1644, proclaiming the Qing dynasty to be the legitimate successor to the Ming dynasty. In Qing dynasty historical records, Dorgon was the first to be referred to as Shezhengwang, rameses The Great Prince Chun of the late Qing dynasty served as regent from 1908 to 1911 for his son Puyi, the Xuantong Emperor. Apart from Dorgon, Zaifeng was the person in Chinese history who was specifically referred to as Prince Regent
34.
George IV of the United Kingdom
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George IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover following the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent during his fathers mental illness. George IV led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era and he was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace and he even forbade Caroline to attend his coronation and asked the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in a desperate, unsuccessful attempt to divorce her. For most of Georges regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister and his ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable and irresponsible. At all times he was much under the influence of favourites, taxpayers were angry at his wasteful spending at a time when Britons were fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. He did not provide leadership in time of crisis, nor act as a role model for his people. Liverpools government presided over Britains ultimate victory, negotiated the peace settlement, after Liverpools retirement, George was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it. His only child, Princess Charlotte, died before him in 1817 and so he was succeeded by his younger brother, George was born at St Jamess Palace, London, on 12 August 1762, the first child of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. As the eldest son of a British sovereign, he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth, he was created Prince of Wales, on 18 September of the same year, he was baptised by Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Duke of Cumberland, George was a talented student, and quickly learned to speak French, German and Italian, in addition to his native English. He was a witty conversationalist, drunk or sober, and showed good, the Prince of Wales turned 21 in 1783, and obtained a grant of £60,000 from Parliament and an annual income of £50,000 from his father. It was far too little for his needs – the stables alone cost £31,000 a year and he then established his residence in Carlton House, where he lived a profligate life. Animosity developed between the prince and his father, who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the heir apparent, the King, a political conservative, was also alienated by the princes adherence to Charles James Fox and other radically inclined politicians. Soon after he reached the age of 21, the prince became infatuated with Maria Fitzherbert and she was a commoner, six years his elder, twice widowed, and a Roman Catholic. Despite her complete unsuitability, the prince was determined to marry her, nevertheless, the couple went through a marriage ceremony on 15 December 1785 at her house in Park Street, Mayfair. Legally the union was void, as the Kings consent was not granted, however, Fitzherbert believed that she was the princes canonical and true wife, holding the law of the Church to be superior to the law of the State. For political reasons, the union remained secret and Fitzherbert promised not to reveal it, the prince was plunged into debt by his exorbitant lifestyle
35.
Architect
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An architect is someone who plans, designs, and reviews the construction of buildings. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, which derives from the Greek, practical, technical, and academic requirements for becoming an architect vary by jurisdiction. The terms architect and architecture are used in the disciplines of landscape architecture, naval architecture. In most jurisdictions, the professional and commercial uses of the terms architect, throughout ancient and medieval history, most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans—such as stone masons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Until modern times, there was no distinction between architect and engineer. In Europe, the architect and engineer were primarily geographical variations that referred to the same person. It is suggested that various developments in technology and mathematics allowed the development of the gentleman architect. Paper was not used in Europe for drawing until the 15th century, pencils were used more often for drawing by 1600. The availability of both allowed pre-construction drawings to be made by professionals, until the 18th-century, buildings continued to be designed and set out by craftsmen with the exception of high-status projects. In most developed countries, only qualified people with appropriate license, certification, or registration with a relevant body, such licensure usually requires an accredited university degree, successful completion of exams, and a training period. To practice architecture implies the ability to independently of supervision. In many places, independent, non-licensed individuals may perform design services outside the professional restrictions, such design houses, in the architectural profession, technical and environmental knowledge, design and construction management, and an understanding of business are as important as design. However, design is the force throughout the project and beyond. An architect accepts a commission from a client, the commission might involve preparing feasibility reports, building audits, the design of a building or of several buildings, structures, and the spaces among them. The architect participates in developing the requirements the client wants in the building, throughout the project, the architect co-ordinates a design team. Structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers and other specialists, are hired by the client or the architect, the architect hired by a client is responsible for creating a design concept that meets the requirements of that client and provides a facility suitable to the required use. In that, the architect must meet with and question the client to ascertain all the requirements, often the full brief is not entirely clear at the beginning, entailing a degree of risk in the design undertaking. The architect may make proposals to the client which may rework the terms of the brief
36.
Regent Street
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Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent and was built under the direction of the architect John Nash, the street runs from Waterloo Place in St Jamess at the southern end, through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, to All Souls Church. From there Langham Place and Portland Place continue the route to Regents Park, the street was completed in 1825 and was an early example of town planning in England, replacing a number of earlier roads including Swallow Street. Nashs street layout has survived, although all the buildings except All Souls Church have been replaced following reconstruction in the late 19th century. The street is known for its retail stores, including Liberty, Hamleys, Jaeger. The Royal Polytechnic Institution, now the University of Westminster, has based on Regent Street since 1838. Regent Street is approximately 0.8 miles long and begins at a junction with Charles II Street as a continuation of Waterloo Place. It runs north to Piccadilly Circus, where it left before curving round the Quadrant to head north again. It ends at a junction with Cavendish Place and Mortimer Street near the BBC Broadcasting House, with the road ahead being Langham Place, the southern section of the road is one-way northbound and part of the A4, a major road through West London. From Piccadilly Circus northwards, it is numbered A4201, though in common with roads inside the London congestion charging zone, the number does not appear on signs. Nearby tube stations are Charing Cross, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, the lattermost being one of the busiest underground stations in London, numerous bus routes, such as 6,12, and 13, run along Regent Street. Regent Street was one of the first planned developments of London and it was hoped the road could link Pall Mall and the Haymarket, of which has since declined in quality. A further problem was increased congestion around Charing Cross, which would benefit from road improvements, the street was designed by John Nash, who had been appointed to the Office of Woods and Forests in 1806 and previously served as an adviser to the Prince Regent. He put forward his own plans for the street in 1810 following the death of Fordyce, envisioning broad, architecturally distinguished thoroughfares and public spaces. Nash originally wanted to construct a straight boulevard in the style seen in French cities. The northern section involved demolishing most of the existing Swallow Street, the road was designed to curve east between Oxford Street and Piccadilly so that it did not meet St Jamess Square, and the circuses allowed visual continuity down the street. The central section, known as the Quadrant, was designed for shops appropriated to articles of fashion and taste and it was built with a colonnade made out of cast-iron columns, allowing commuters to walk along the street without having to face bad weather. The road was planned to end outside Carlton House in Pall Mall, Nash insisted that businesses on the new street would be of high-quality, rivalling that of the nearby Bond Street, common trades such as butchers or greengrocers were not allowed
37.
Carlton House Terrace
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Carlton House Terrace is a street in the St Jamess district of the City of Westminster in London. Its principal architectural feature is a pair of terraces of white stucco-faced houses on the side of the street overlooking St. Jamess Park. These terraces were built on Crown land between 1827 and 1832 to overall designs by John Nash, but with detailed input by other architects including Decimus Burton and they took the place of Carlton House, and the freehold still belongs to the Crown Estate. The land on which Carlton House Terrace was built had once been part of the grounds of St Jamess Palace, known as the Royal Garden, the latter was at one time in the possession of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and was later called Upper Spring Garden. From 1700 the land was held by Henry Boyle, who spent £2,835 on improving the house in the Royal Garden. Queen Anne issued letters patent granting Boyle a lease for a term of 31 years from 2 November 1709 at £35 per annum, Boyle was created Baron Carleton in 1714, and the property has been called after him since then, although at some point the e was dropped. She died in 1772 and the house devolved to her son, the property was granted by George III to his eldest son, George, Prince of Wales on the latters coming of age in 1783. The Prince spent enormous sums on improving and enlarging the property and he was at loggerheads with his father, and the house became a rival Court, and was the scene of a brilliant social life. When the Prince became King George IV in 1820 he moved to Buckingham Palace, by 1829 the Commissioners reported that the site was completely cleared and that part of it had already been let on building leases. Materials from the demolition were sold by auction, with some fixtures transferred to Windsor Castle and to The Kings House. After Carlton House was demolished the development of its site was originally intended to be part of a scheme for improving St Jamess Park. For this John Nash proposed three terraces of houses along the north of the Park, balanced by three along the side, overlooking Birdcage Walk. None of the three terraces and only two of the three northern ones were built, the latter being the west and east sections of Carlton House Terrace. These two blocks were designed by Nash, with James Pennethorne in charge of the construction. Nash planned to link the two blocks with a large domed fountain between them, but the idea was vetoed by the King, the present-day Duke of Yorks Steps took the place of the fountain. In 1834 the Duke of Yorks Column was erected at the top of the steps and it consists of a granite column designed by Benjamin Wyatt topped with a bronze statue by Richard Westmacott of Frederick, Duke of York. The houses are unusual among expensive London terraces in having no mews to the rear, the reason for this was that Nash wanted the houses to make the best possible use of the view of the park, and also to present an attractive façade to the park. The service accommodation was placed underneath the podium and in two storeys of basements, according to the architectural historian Sir John Summerson Nashs designs were inspired by Ange-Jacques Gabriels buildings in the Place de la Concorde, Paris
38.
St James's Park
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St Jamess Park is a 23-hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St Jamess area, the park is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that comprises Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. The park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, the Mall to the north, Horse Guards to the east and it meets Green Park at Queens Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its centre, opposite the entrance to Buckingham Palace. St Jamess Palace is on the side of The Mall. The closest London Underground stations are St Jamess Park, Green Park, Victoria, the park has a small lake, St Jamess Park Lake, with two islands, West Island, and Duck Island, named for the lakes collection of waterfowl. A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since pelicans were donated by a Russian ambassador in 1664 to Charles II. While most of the time the wings are clipped, there is a pelican who can be flying to the London Zoo in hopes of another meal. The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a view west towards Buckingham Palace framed by trees. Looking east the view includes the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with Horse Guards, the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany Fountain on Pelican Rock, and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower, and the Shard behind. In 1532, Henry VIII bought an area of marshland through which the Tyburn flowed from Eton College. It lies to the west of York Place acquired by Henry from Cardinal Wolsey, it was purchased in order to turn York Palace, subsequently renamed Whitehall, a 775 metre by 38 metre canal was created as evidenced in the old plan. The king opened the park to the public and used the area to entertain guests and mistresses, such as Nell Gwyn. The park became notorious at the time as a place for impromptu acts of lechery, as described by John Wilmot. In the late-17th and early-18th centuries cows grazed on the park, at the same time, Buckingham House was expanded to create the palace, and Marble Arch was built at its entrance, whilst The Mall was turned into a grand processional route. It opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887, the Marble Arch was moved to its current location at the junction of Oxford Street and Park Lane in 1851 and the Victoria Memorial was erected between 1906 and 1924. Media related to St Jamess Park at Wikimedia Commons Visitor information at the Royal Parks website
39.
Garden city movement
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The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by greenbelts, containing areas of residences, industry. Inspired by the utopian novel Looking Backward and Henry Georges work Progress and Poverty, Howard published his book To-morrow, the garden city would be self-sufficient and when it reached full population, another garden city would be developed nearby. Howard envisaged a cluster of several cities as satellites of a central city of 58,000 people, linked by road. Howard’s To-morrow, A Peaceful Path to Real Reform sold enough copies to result in a second edition and this success provided him the support necessary to pursue the chance to bring his vision into reality. Howard believed that all agreed the overcrowding and deterioration of cities was one of the troubling issues of their time. He quotes a number of respected thinkers and their disdain of cities, Howard’s garden city concept combined the town and country in order to provide the working class an alternative to working on farms or ‘crowded, unhealthy cities’. To build a city, Howard needed money to buy land. He decided to get funding from gentlemen of responsible position and undoubted probity and he founded the Garden City Association, which created First Garden City, Ltd. in 1899 to create the garden city of Letchworth. However, these donors would collect interest on their investment if the city generated profits through rents or, as Fishman calls the process. Howard tried to include working class cooperative organisations, which included over two members, but could not win their financial support. In 1904, Raymond Unwin, an architect and town planner, along with his partner Barry Parker, won the competition run by First Garden City Ltd. to plan Letchworth. However, the architects ignored Howard’s symmetric design, instead replacing it with a more ‘organic’ design, Letchworth slowly attracted more residents because it was able to attract manufacturers through low taxes, low rents and more space. Despite Howard’s best efforts, the prices in this garden city could not remain affordable for blue-collar workers to live in. The populations comprised mostly skilled middle class workers, after a decade, the First Garden City became profitable and started paying dividends to its investors. Although many viewed Letchworth as a success, it did not immediately inspire government investment into the line of garden cities. Likely in frustration, Howard bought land at Welwyn to house the garden city in 1919. The purchase was at auction, with money Howard desperately and successfully borrowed from friends, the Welwyn Garden City Corporation was formed to oversee the construction
40.
History of the British Army postal service
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The postal service of the British Army is today provided by the British Forces Post Office but its origins may be traced back to Saxon times. The origins of the BFPO can be traced back to Saxon times, in particular the Royal Post established in the reign of King Edward IV to support his troops engaged in a war against Scotland. Henry VIII appointed Sir Brian Tuke Master of Posts in 1513, Tuke set about formalising the Royal Posts and established regular posting stations between London and Dover. The Royal Posts provided a courier service while Henry was campaigning in France, during the reign of Elizabeth I postal routes were laid for her armies campaigning in Ireland and Scotland. A special postal route was laid to the West Country in 1588 to carry news, in 1632, Charles I appointed Thomas Witherings as the Postmaster of foreign mails. Two years later a state letter monopoly formally came into being and it was used to raise revenues to sponsor state activities including war. Postage was paid on receipt of the letter by the addressee, both the Royalist and Parliamentarians maintained their own postal systems during the English Civil wars. The Parliamentarians appointed Edmund Prideaux as Master of the Posts, Couriers and Messengers, in this capacity he established within the Post Office an instrument of state control, called the Secret Office. This office was charged with gleaning intelligence from intercepted mail, elements of the Secret Office still exist today under the auspices of the Home Office and its secret intelligence services. The most famous Royalist messenger was James Hicks, a Post Office employee, the Parliamentarian New Model Army employed its musicians as messengers. In 1660 Colonel Sir Henry Bishop was appointed Postmaster General, he had served a Royalist officer during the Civil War and was given the patent of the Post Office as a reward. These impressions known as Bishop Marks were the first of their kind anywhere in the world and were the runner of todays cancellation marks. English troops were engaged in the War of the Spanish Succession and campaigned under the command of John Churchill, mail was sent by through the Post Office system using the packet boats that sailed between Harwich, England and Dutch port of Hellevoetsluis. On the Continent the military mail was handled by the Thurn & Taxis Post and this service was referred to as the Common Post. In addition to the Common Post Marlborough used the Queens Messengers to carry his communications between his Headquarters and the English Court, the Queens Messengers were members of the Royal household detailed with the task of carrying despatches on behalf of the Monarch and her/his ministers. They came into existence in the 1640s and they travelled on horseback and used the official Post Office packet services to cross over the Continent. A direct line can be drawn from todays Defence Couriers of the British Army to these Messengers, in 1743 the first distinctive post mark appeared on letters sent by British troops campaigning in Europe. The Thurn & Taxis Post, who processed the mail on behalf of the British army, Mr Sutton was appointed Postmaster to the Army in 1747, but no more is known of him
41.
Royal Engineers
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The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers, and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It is highly regarded throughout the military, and especially the Army and it provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is headed by the Chief Royal Engineer. The Regimental Headquarters and the Royal School of Military Engineering are in Chatham in Kent, the corps is divided into several regiments, barracked at various places in the United Kingdom and around the world. In Woolwich in 1716, the Board formed the Royal Regiment of Artillery and established a Corps of Engineers, the manual work was done by the Artificer Companies, made up of contracted civilian artisans and labourers. In 1782, a Soldier Artificer Company was established for service in Gibraltar, ten years later the Gibraltar company, which had remained separate, was absorbed and in 1812 the name was changed to the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners. The Corps has no battle honours, in 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt, was granted. The motto signified that the Corps had seen action in all the conflicts of the British Army. In 1911 the Corps formed its Air Battalion, the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces, the Air Battalion was the forerunner of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. In 1915, in response to German mining of British trenches under the then static siege conditions of the First World War, before the Second World War, Royal Engineers recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a six years with the reserve or four years. Unlike most corps and regiments, in which the age limit was 25. They trained at the Royal Engineers Depot in Chatham or the RE Mounted Depot at Aldershot, the Royal Engineers Museum is in Gillingham in Kent. Britain having acquired an Empire, it fell to the Royal Engineers to conduct some of the most significant civil engineering schemes around the world, some examples of great works of the era of empire can be found in A. J. Smitherss book Honourable Conquests. The Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, commanded by Richard Clement Moody, was responsible for the foundation, the Royal Albert Hall is one of the UKs most treasured and distinctive buildings, recognisable the world over. Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the leading artists from every kind of performance genre have appeared on its stage. The Hall was designed by Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, the designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Much of the British colonial era infrastructure of India, of which survive today, was created by engineers of the three presidencies armies and the Royal Engineers. In 1838 he designed and built sea defences for Vizagapatam and he masterminded the Godavery Delta project where 720,000 acres of land were irrigated and 500 miles of land to the port of Cocanada was made navigable in the 1840s
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Mount Pleasant Mail Centre
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The Mount Pleasant Mail Centre is a mail centre operated by Royal Mail in London, England. The site has previously operated as one of the largest sorting offices in the world and it is located in the London Borough of Islington, on the boundary with the London Borough of Camden. It was officially opened on 30 August 1889 when the Post Office Act was passed by Parliament and it was built on the location of the former Coldbath Fields Prison that ceased to function in 1885. The original prison gate was incorporated into the post office and not demolished until 1901, the remaining sections of the prison were demolished in 1929, when the new wing was built as an extension to the Letter Office. From 1927 to 2003, Mount Pleasant was connected to other major Royal Mail offices and railways stations in London, in the 1970s, it pioneered the use of optical character recognition for sorting purposes with the installation of a machine in 1979. It is located on a 12-acre site in the Mount Pleasant area of Clerkenwell, Mount Pleasant hosts the British Postal Museum & Archive, located in Freeling House on the back of the sorting office. A Post Office branch forms part of the site, fronting on to Rosebery Avenue and it is proposed by Royal Mail that half the site will be used for residential and commercial redevelopment. The remaining operational part of the site is being modernised, the site is the mail centre of the EC postcode area, the N postcode area, the W1 postcode district and the WC postcode area. Mount Pleasant, an exhibition curated by the British Postal Museum & Archive
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George V
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
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Mary of Teck
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Mary of Teck was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India as the wife of King-Emperor George V. Although technically a princess of Teck, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, she was born and her parents were Francis, Duke of Teck, who was of German extraction, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III. She was informally known as May, after her birth month, the following year, she became engaged to Albert Victors next surviving brother, George, who subsequently became king. Before her husbands accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and she supported her second son, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, until his death in 1952. She died the year, during the reign of her granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Victoria Mary of Teck was born on 26 May 1867 at Kensington Palace and her father was Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, the son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg by his morganatic wife, Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde. Her mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the child and younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. She was baptised in the Chapel Royal of Kensington Palace on 27 July 1867 by Charles Thomas Longley, before she became queen, she was known to her family, friends and the public by the diminutive name of May, after her birth month. Mays upbringing was merry but fairly strict and she was the eldest of four children, the only girl, and learned to exercise her native discretion, firmness, and tact by resolving her three younger brothers petty boyhood squabbles. They played with their cousins, the children of the Prince of Wales, may was educated at home by her mother and governess. Although her mother was a grandchild of King George III, May was only a member of the British Royal Family. Her father, the Duke of Teck, had no inheritance or wealth, however, the Duchess of Teck was granted a parliamentary annuity of £5,000 and received about £4,000 a year from her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge. Despite this, the family was deeply in debt and lived abroad from 1883, the Tecks travelled throughout Europe, visiting their various relations. They stayed in Florence, Italy, for a time, where May enjoyed visiting the art galleries, churches, in 1885, the Tecks returned to London, and took up residence at White Lodge, in Richmond Park. May was close to her mother, and acted as an secretary, helping to organise parties. She was also close to her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, during the First World War, the Crown Princess of Sweden helped pass letters from May to her aunt, who lived in enemy territory in Germany until her death in 1916. In December 1891, May was engaged to her second cousin once removed, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. The choice of May as bride for the Duke owed much to Queen Victorias fondness for her, as well as to her strong character, however, Albert Victor died six weeks later, in a recurrence of the worldwide 1889–90 influenza pandemic
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Royal Botanic Society
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The Royal Botanic Society was a learned society founded in 1839. Its purpose was to promote botany in all its branches, soon after it was established, it leased the grounds within the Inner Circle in Regents Park, London for use as an experimental garden. The garden was open to members and their guests and also to the public for a fee on certain days of the week. It included large palm-houses and a water-lily house, in the summer, flowershows, fetes, and other entertainments were held there. In 1932 it failed to secure a renewal of the lease, and its surviving record were deposited in the St. Marylebone Public Library. The site became Queen Marys Gardens, which is run by the Royal Parks Agency, and is fully open to the general public without charge as part of Regents Park
