Plan of the Tunnel with reference to the main roads and objects on the eastern part of London. Engraved and printed by W Warrington, for the Thames Tunnel Company.
From the New York Public Library and used with permission.
Archive of posts filed under the Prints category.
Haymarket Opera House, 1830
Built in 1791 by William Taylor to replace the theatre burnt down in 1789 during evening rehearsals. The first public performance was in 1793 and the theatre was then the largest in England. The theatre was renamed Her Majesty’s in 1837 when Victoria came to the throne.
From The Face of London by Howard Clunn.
Millbank Penitentiary, 1829
Built in 1799 at a cost of £500,000 and designed by Jeremy Bentham. The walls were octagon shaped and enclosed 16 acres. Every convict sentenced to transportation was first sent to Millbank. The buildings held 1,120 prisoners until the prison was closed in 1890 and demolished in 1893. The Tate gallery then expanded on to the site.
From The Face of London by Howard Clunn. The engraving is probably based on a painting by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd.
Further reading:
Cholera and the Thames: a detailed artice by Johanna Lemon and Peter Daniel.
Tate Britain: the dreaded Millbank prison.
Knowledge of London: recent pictures of remains of some of the cells.
Wikipedia.
Royal Aquarium, c1880
Covent Garden Theatre, 1858
The third theatre on the site (the previous ones burned down in 1808 and 1856). Designed by Edward Middleton Barry and built by the Lucas brothers. The theatre opened on May 15 with a performance of Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots and became the Royal Opera House in 1892.
From the Illustrated London News, May 15, 1858.
