Less is More in Pimlico

Ask any London buff to name a major work by G.E. Street or G.F Watts and I'll bet within moments you will get the reply "The Royal Courts of Justice and Postman's Park". Yet both men share another major example of their work in central London, but it is one that rarely features in the guidebooks and is visited only very rarely.

The church of St James the Less stands on Vauxhall Bridge Road, just a short distance from Pimlico Tube. This month it will celebrate its 150th anniversary, the publicity surrounding this milestone may help to bring it some well-deserved and much needed attention.

The Grade I listed church was built between 1858-61 as a tribute to Dr James Monk, by his daughters. The land, in what was then one of the poorest areas of Westminster, had been donated by Westminster Abbey.  It was referred to at the time as a 'lily among weeds' and also 'one of the most remarkable and beautiful of modern Gothic churches'.

The architect was George Edmund Street, this was his first church in London and he really went to town on the detailing. The interior is a heady mix of polychromatic brickwork, decorative ironwork, ornate stone carving, stained glass and marble columns all set beneath a painted ceiling. It is like walking into a jewel box. The exterior is treated with the same attention to detail. The distinctive campanile style tower is set with semi-precious stones and even the iron railings are rendered as works of art. More details on the architecture from Victorian Web.

But the most distinctive decoration in the church is this work by artist George Frederick Watts.

The glowing image above chancel arch is often referred to (even by Pevsner) as a wall-painting or as a fresco but in fact it is a mosaic. G.F. Watts did complete the work The Saviour in Glory or The Doom as a mural in 1861, it was his very last mural. However the mural quickly deteriorated and it was replaced with a Venetian glass mosaic to the original design, under Watts' supervision, in the 1880's.

If you have not visited the church before the upcoming celebratory weekend might be an ideal opportunity to do so. On Sunday, 31 July 2011, it will be 150 years to the day since the consecration of St James the Less Church in 1861. On Saturday 30th, the church is holding a community fete. There will be a variety of different things going on, including food and drink, musical entertainment and children's activities. On the Sunday there will be a celebratory service, followed by yet more food, drinks and entertainment.

To get an invitation, email Jane Petrie - jane.petrie@sjtl.org, or phone 020 7630 6282. and she will send you an invitation in the post - so do include your postal address. You can also follow updates on their Facebook page.


If you can't make the weekend celebration, the church is open to visitors everyday between 9am and 1pm, though you may have to ring the bell at the church office.

The church, whilst still very beautiful, is beginning to show its age. A long backlog of repairs and cleaning work is required to return it to full glory. The total cost of restoration and cleaning is estimated at £438, 000 including £16,000 just to clean and conserve the Watts mosaic. In the grand scheme of things this is not a fortune to spend on a Grade I listed masterpiece, if you would like to get involved in the church's fund-raising do contact them.

The author of this blog is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours throughout Westminster, see tabs for details.

Not Quite Tower Bridge

For those of you who have been following the series of pictures of Tower Bridge under construction, please bear with me. I put the first post out on Saturday and it generated a very high level of interest. The second post went up on Monday and things went to a level that this blogger never expected and has never experienced!

In addition to many kind comments, tweets, Facebook likes and so forth I have also been inundated with emails and phone calls. The interest has been global, from Argentina to China as well as the US, Canada and the UK. Last night I was getting more hits from New Zealand and Australia then back in the UK and this morning South Africa topped the chart!

The third post, with the final six photos of the bridge nearing completion, was planned for today. But there is a hitch: the man who saved the pictures in the first place, and who let me share them here, is away for a few days. He is totally unaware of all the interest his pictures have generated.

I feel it is only fair to let him know how popular they are, let him share the fun of seeing traffic come to them from all over the globe and also ask him whether he would be willing to share a few more details about where they came from and  how he saved them. After all, if anyone deserves the praise for sharing these historic photos it is him rather than your author. So I will wait until his return before publishing any more of his pictures.

In the meantime (I do realise this is hardly a suitable replacement for the intended images) but I did spot this outside Dolphin Square in Pimlico and it made me smile.

Back tomorrow with a more sober piece on a GE Street and GF Watts masterpiece that is about to celebrate an important anniversary. Thanks in advance for your forbearance.

The author of this blog is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours throughout Westminster, see tabs for details.

Royal Heritage of a Pimlico Curry House

July 1st 2011 will mark what would have been Princess Diana's 50th birthday. For one Pimlico Curry House her memory is ever present.

Many restaurants have pictures of celebrities who have dined within but Top Curry Centre in Lupus Street have taken their celebrity association to a different level. In the window, they have a large framed picture of the future Princess walking right past their front door.

The photo shows Diana walking to work at the Young England Kindergarten, just around the corner in St George's Square. It was taken by Peter Simpson of The News of the World.

I suppose, that in celebrity association terms, having a photo of Diana, Princess of Wales walking past your business still trumps having a photo of some minor personality tucking into a Vindaloo on site.

Top Curry Centre has certainly done more than the Young England Kindergarten to remind us of Pimlico's Royal connection. The nursery where Diana worked has no plaque and makes no mention at all of her employment on their website.

So bizarre though the display is, I think we should be grateful to Top Curry Centre for providing the only public memorial to this happy phase of Diana's life in Pimlico.

This is a Canvas - Definitive Street Art?

This is a Canvas

Spotted in Pimlico, on Vauxhall Bridge Road, near the corner with Regency Place.

A number of the same messages have cropped up in London on walls and bollards, often in different typefaces. I don't know if they are all by the same artist. As this one is sprayed directly onto the street, it has become my favourite.

A Welcome Return to Windsor Castle

Really pleased last night to be able to enjoy the reopened "Windsor Castle", formerly "The Cardinal", formerly "The Windsor Castle"! This is my local Sam Smith's and has been greatly missed. It stands in Francis Street
handy for Victoria or Pimlico.

I have said it before on this blog (but nowhere near as many times as I have to friends and family) that for me Sam Smiths run the best pubs in London. Okay, there maybe one you might want to miss out in Soho until they landlord is upgraded to a more tolerant model and another that isn't really a pub.

All of them feel authentic, restorations are always sympathetic. The Windsor Castle is no exception here, a beautiful restoration and busier than I have ever seen it. All in all there are 37 treats (well currently 35 that I know of) waiting to be enjoyed.

None have music or TV. The prices are exceptionally good, under £2.50 for a pint They also  serve decent and reasonable food with some veggie options.

All beers are produced by the brewery and are made without any additives and are suitable for vegans. They also produce fully organic beers. All other drinks and snacks are Sam Smith brands too. You cannot buy a Coke or a Jack Daniels!

Sam Smiths  never advertise. They do not even put their name on their pub signs or publish a list of the pubs they own. This gives them a “hidden gem” quality.

James Gretton has done a fantastic job tracking them all down and producing a map to help spotters.

James Gretton's map is here.

This has made it so much easier to complete my "set", thank you!

(A couple of notes, The John Snow in Soho is famously gay intolerant and the George & Vulture is more of a restaurant than a pub.)

London's Venerable Facilities for Gentlemen

I posted on issues associated with Pimlico's new high-tech pissoir the other day. In that post I mentioned two far older examples of pissoirs that still exist on the streets of London and I was asked for photos, so here we go. This first one is at the junction of Regency Place and Horseferry Road.

And for those of you excluded from visiting, by dint of distance, gender or bashfulness, here too is the interior.

 

Self-flushing is not an issue here, as it was in Pimlico. The little basin empties directly into the trough and effects a very gentle (i.e.completely ineffective) flush. The overly snug facility is free, open 24 hours a day and looks like it has been providing a vital service for well over a century.

Sadly this second example is closed.

It stands in Star Yard, just off Carey Street behind the Royal Courts of Justice. Of course G.E Street's gothic 1882 masterpiece grabs most of the attention in this part of town but this little structure, of a similar vintage, deserves a look too. It is locked now and hasn't been in service for years but I did manage this glimpse of an inside view through the ventilation grille.

It seems sad that the current generation of (male) lawyers are being deprived of an atmospheric opportunity to stand in the footsteps of their  forbears. Perhaps the Inns of Court and the Law Society could liaise with Camden Council to instigate a refurbishment?

A Bigger Splash in Tachbrook Street

Coming out of Pimlico Station cross-legged folk might find themselves drawn to this new addition to the street scape.

On closer inspection it becomes clear that is not only a free, kiosk style toilet,

but is also a double pissoir! This high-tech version updates that, rare for London, idea of permanent site for the relief of Gentlemen in nearly full public view. The Victorian pissoirs in Star Yard and Horseferry Road do provide much more privacy but they don't self flush like this one. The other modern examples in Theatreland are just vile and are only open for use during peak periods! This one is open 24 hours a day throughout the year.

They have helped to solve a local problem and Westminster City Council should be applauded for introducing them. The air certainly smells sweeter in key points since their introduction. However there is one problem.

 

In the interests of research I recently tried them. Not in full daylight and certainly not as the nearby Pimlico Academy was ringing the home-time bell! I chose a discrete moment. As I stepped up to the task a sensor in the floor detected my arrival and immediately began to flush. All very hygienic. It continued to flush at a rate that outpaced me for my entire visit. Small water droplets hit my face and I noticed them too on my hands and elsewhere. 

I had been wearing a blue cotton shirt and chinos that day. Only when I returned home, a short distance away, did I realise that I had been horizontally showered by the machine! Little spots of damp from calf to collar were abundant.

I can only suggest that if you do need to use them, before the council turn down the water pressure, you do so only if wearing black all over, and preferably in synthetic fabrics, to avoid potential embarrassment.

Meryl Streep Filming in Pimlico!

As I write, my local newsagent is being turned into a set for the new Meryl Streep film "Iron Lady" based on the life of Margaret Thatcher.

The shop, Victoria Greetings Cards is near Gastronomica in Tachbrook Street, SW1 and will star as a corner shop.

Update: The shop owner tells me that Meryl Streep arrived on set at around 8.30pm and was there for around an hour. Some more details here.