Places Archive

  • Poverty_map_old_nichol_1889

    Rookery

    Posted on May 23, 2010 | No Comments
    A rookery (also sometimes described as a stew) was the colloquial British English name historically given to a city slum occupied by poor people and frequently also by criminals and prostitutes. Such areas were overcrowded, with low quality housing and little or no sanitation; poorly constructed dwellings were often crammed into...

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  • Bedlam

    Bedlam

    Posted on October 11, 2009 | No Comments
    The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London is a psychiatric hospital in Beckenham, south east London. Although no longer in its original location and buildings, it is recognised as the world’s first and oldest institution to specialise in the mentally ill. It has been variously known as St. Mary Bethlehem, Bethlem...

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  • Out of place artifacts

    Out of place artifacts

    Posted on September 18, 2009 | No Comments
    1. In 1967, at a depth of 400 feet underground in the Rocky Point Mine in Gulman, Colorado, human bones and a four-inch-long copper arrowhead were found embedded in a silver vein. According to geologists, the rock deposit was several million years old, so neither...

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  • El Badi Palace

    El Badi Palace

    Posted on July 12, 2009 | No Comments
    El Badi Palace (Arabic: قصر البديع‎ – meaning the incomparable palace) is located in Marrakech, Morocco, and it consists nowadays of the remnants of a magnificent palace built by the Saadian king Ahmad al-Mansur in 1578. The original building is thought to have consisted of...

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  • Holophusikon

    Holophusikon

    Posted on July 5, 2009 | No Comments
    The Holophusikon (or Holophusicon, also known as the Leverian Museum) was a museum of natural curiosities exhibited at Leicester House, on Leicester Square in London, England, from 1775 to 1786 by Ashton Lever. The collection was acquired by a James Parkinson (not the famous doctor) through a lottery in 1786, but continued to be...

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  • Egyptian_Hall,_Piccadilly_1815_edited

    The Egyptian Hall

    Posted on July 5, 2009 | No Comments
    The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, commissioned by William Bullock as a museum to house his collection (which included curiosities brought back from the South Seas by Captain Cook), was completed in 1812 at a cost of £16,000. It was the first building in England to be influenced by the Egyptian style, partly inspired by...

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  • The Regents Canal

    The Regents Canal

    Posted on November 28, 2008 | No Comments
    The Regent’s Canal was built to link the Grand Junction Canal’s Paddington Arm, which opened in 1801, with the Thames at Limehouse. One of the directors of the canal company was the famous architect John Nash. Nash was friendly with the Prince Regent, later King...

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