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London's leading luxury shopping destination is Oxford Street....!

The Houses of Parliament and Elizabeth Tower, commonly called Big Ben, are among London's most iconic landmark

Eltham Palace is an Art Deco mansion on the site of Henry VIII's childhood ...

London eye is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom,

A public space and tourist attraction in central London is Trafalgar Square.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Freemasons Hall

 

Freemasons Hall



Freemasons Hall was designed after the First World War as an honor to all the masons who died. It is a very luxurious building and if you are 
 looking for the technicalities of Masonic Resorts then this is the trip for you.

Located at: Great Queen Street, London, WC2

Telephone: n/a

Opens: 10.00am to 17.00pm Monday to Saturday, Advised trips every hour

Cost: Free

Closest Train Station: Holborn Station

Dr Johnson's House

 

Dr Johnson's House

 

This is one of the few properties designed in London in 1700 that is still positioned today. Situated to the northern of Fleet Street,the home is found amongst a maze of courtyards and passages that are a memory of ancient London. Dr Samuel Johnson, who composed the terms ”when a man is sick and exhausted of London, he is sick and exhausted of life” was created on 18 September 1709 in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Although he quit Oxford without a degree, due to deficiency of funds, he nevertheless collected the Thesaurus of the English language in 1755 served by six clerks, and had written several poems, articles and books. He resided in this house from 1748 – 1759. Having been renewed to its unique state during 1911-1912 and again after the war when it experienced explosive damage, the house is open to public and on display are 18th century momentoes, prints, images and furnishings, although the house is not considered as a art gallery.

Located at: 17 Gough Square, off Fleet Street, London, EC4

Telephone: 020 7353 3745

Opens: Oct-April Mon-Sat 1100am - 1700pm May-Sept Mon-Sat 1100-1730

Cost: Grownups GBP4.00, Kids GBP1.00

Closest Train Station: Black Friars Station 










Friday, September 21, 2012

Downing Street





10 and 11 Downing Streets are the homes of the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer. These two houses are all that remain of Downing Street and are secured by huge dark metal gateways and cops on responsibility 24 hours a day. It used to be possible simply to walk through Downing Street but after a enemy strike in the 80's, the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, had the gateways set up as a protection measure. 10 Downing Street was given to the United Kingdom's first Prime Minister, Rupert Walpole, by George II in 1732. Number 11 has been the property of the Chancellor since 1806.

Located at: , London, SW1

Telephone: n/a

Opens: n/a

Cost: n/a

Closest Subway Station: Westminster Station



Downing Street




Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Clarence House

 

 

 

Clarence House

Clarence House is the London home of the Queen Mother and lies in the grounds of St James's Palace. It is never open to the public but on her birthday, August 4, the Queen Mother usually comes to the gates where crowds of wellwishers gather with flowers and other tributes. She often spends quite a time chatting with her admirers, and the informal occasion ends with a march-past of a Guards Band playing Happy Birthday to You. The original building was constructed 1825-8 by John Nash for William, Duke of Clarence, later William IV.King William succeeded to the throne in 1830 and continued to live in the house with his wife Adelaide because Buckingham Palace was still under contruction. He stayed at Clarence House until his death in 1837. It was Queen Victoria, who succeeded William as monarch in 1837, who began the tradition of royal residence at Buckingham Palace. Since then, Clarence House has served as home to a number of Royals. William's sister, Princess Augusta, moved in after her brother's death. She was followed by Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Queen Victoria's mother, between 1841 and 1861. For the next eighty years the palace was home to two of Queen Victoria's sons: Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844-1900) who built a Russian Orthodox chapel in the palace for his wife Marie, the daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1850-1942), lived in the house from 1900 until his death in 1942, during the Second World War. The chain of royal residence was broken during the war when Clarence House became the headquarters of both the Red Cross and St John Ambulance Brigade between 1942 and 1945. The house suffered heavy bomb damage, but three storeys of the original building remain despite extensive renovation and rebuilding. After the war the newly-married Princess Elizabeth (now The Queen) moved into the house with Prince Philip, and lived there until her accession to the throne in 1952. It was then that the Queen Mother and her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, moved in, though the princess now lives in Kensington Palace. Clarence House was also used by Diana during her engagement to Prince Charles. Clarence House houses the Queen Mother's household office and contains many items from her personal art collection and correspondence.

Located at: Stable Yard Gate, London, SW1

Telephone: n/a

Opens: Not open to the public

Cost: Free

Closest Subway Station: St. James Park Station

Chiswick House

 

Chiswick House

Lord Burlington's work of art designed circa 1728 is one of England's first and best Palladian cottages. The ornately designed interior contains the stunning blue velvety Space. Magnificently set out traditional landscapes with sculptures, urns and obelisks encircle the Home, as well as the recently renewed water stream. It has been said that a ghost of one of previous times chefs makes a complete British Morning meal in the delayed mid-day. Nearest tube station is Turnham Green.

Located at: Burlington Lane,Chiswick,London,W4

Telephone: 020-8995 0508

Opens: 1Apr-30 September everyday 10.00-18.00. 1 Oct-28 Oct everyday 10.00-17.00. 29 Oct-31 Mar Wed-Sun 10.00-16.00. Shut 24-26 Dec & 1-16 Jan.

Cost: Grownups £3.30 Kids (under 6) Free

Closest Subway Station: N/A

Central Criminal Court


Central Criminal Court

 

The Central Criminal Court (better known as the Old Bailey) was recognized in 1834 and motivated to try treasons, killings, crimes and violations committed on the ocean or elsewhere overseas. It consumes the site of the former Newgate Prison where community accomplishments took place. Development of the prison started on 31 May 1770 and it was finished in 1780. Soon thereafter it experienced serious harm in the riots on June 6 the same season and it was not until 1783 the maintenance were finished. The prison was however destroyed in 1902 as it was regarded deficient in many factors such as lighting and ventilation. The prison was termed as the Old Bailey, a name which is derived from the bailey which stood nearby as a protecting rampart outside the historical walls of London. The existing court building was designed by Mountford in 1907 and has observe to some amazing tests such as those of Oscar Wilde in 1895, Dr Crippen for killing his spouse, Christie, Peter Sutcliffe the ‘Yorkshire Ripper,’and many others. Some customs have taken on since the times of Newgate Prison. For example, even nowadays most judges typically bring a little number of flowers at the starting of each session, a practice that was initially designed in an attempt to somewhat cover up the fragrance of the Newgate cells. The court is open to the community but only the community exhibits where one can sit and take in a real trial. The porters will be able to tell you which test will be most exciting or, if you are that way prepared, most horrible. Kids under 14 are prohibited neither is the getting of any digital cameras or use of cellular phone devices.

Located at: Newgate Street,London,EC4

Telephone: n/a

Opens: when in session start from 10.30 am – 13.00 pm and 14.00 pm – 16.15 pm.

Cost: Free

Closest Subway Station: St. Pauls Station

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Carlyle's House


This Queen Anne house is a part of a terrace in a peaceful backwater in old Chelsea and was home to Thomas Carlyle from 1834 until his loss of life in 1881. Thomas Carlyle was a well known writer, essayist and historian who entertained many literary figures here such as Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Chopin and George Eliot. His works consist of The French Revolution. The property was changed into a art gallery in 1895 and it is obvious that much of his furnishings, books and other belongings are still in position these days. There is also a enchanting little Victorian walled yard.

Located at: 24 Cheyne Row, Chelsea, SW35HL

Telephone:  020 7352 7087

Opens: 1 Apr to 31 Oct: everyday except Mon & Tues (closed Good Fri, but open BH Mons) 11–5.

Cost: Mature £3.50; kid £1.75

Closest Train Station: Sloane Square Station(Click to see more attraction at this station)

Monday, September 10, 2012

Burlington Arcade

Ancestral heritage hunters seeking to combine a little shopping with their historical research will be pleasurably surprised when they visit The Burlington Arcade. There, next to the Royal Academy and opposite Fortnum and Mason, with an entrance on Piccadilly in the heart of London's West End, and next to Bond Street, they will be timewarped into a relic of the Regency, the longest covered shopping street in the British Isles. The Arcade was designed by Samuel Ware and built by Lord George Cavendish in 1819. Lord George lived next door in Burlington House and built the Arcade, so the story goes, to stop the rowdy Londoners of the Regency years from throwing oyster shells into his garden. He was the third and youngest son of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire. He was born on 21 March 1754, married Lady Elizabeth Compton, the daughter and heiress of the 7th Earl of Northampton, was raised to the peerage as Earl of Burlington at the coronation of William IV, and died at Burlington House in 1834 aged 80. (The Earldom of Burlington had been previously held by his maternal grandfather who had died without a male heir to succeed him in that title. The new earl was succeeded by his grandson, and after this grandson succeeded his cousin as Duke of Devonshire, the Earldom became linked to that title.) Lord George (as he was until he became Lord Burlington and moved into the House of Lords) was considered a progressive politician and survived ten Parliaments as an MP, but his most enduring achievement was the building of The Burlington Arcade. The Arcade remained in the Cavendish family, and later Charles Compton, the great grandson of Lord Burlington, who was raised to the peerage as Lord Chesham, recruited the Burlington Arcade Beadles (the corps first founded by Lord George, as he then still was, to protect the customers from the ruffians of Regency London) from his regiment, the 10th Hussars. In the ungenerous years of the Regency, veteran soldiers were heartlessly demobilised into civilian life with only their uniforms. Lord Chesham changed that. He gave the élite of his 10th Hussars civilian careers by recruiting them as constables of The Burlington Arcade. It was their job to patrol this long pavement in what was then London`s wild West End. The Beadles enforced the Regency laws which prohibited singing, humming, hurrying, making merry and staggering around with too many parcels. The Beadles of today still enforce the Regency laws of courtesy, quiet and decorum. They are instantly recognisable in their immaculately tailored Edwardian frock coats, star-bright buttons and, as the last of London's top-hatted 'bobbies', their gold-braided top hats. Although many languages are spoken in its picturesque cluster of 40 shops, The Burlington Arcade is quintessentially English. This masterpiece of Regency architecture houses a huge variety of the finest quality goods, from designer fashionwear, cashmere classics, cardigans, silk waistcoats and leather shoes, to antique, handmade and modern jewellery, fine linen, embroidery and lace, fountain pens, bone cutlery, Fabergé eggs and a wide selection of antiques. If you really seek an excuse to go shopping, then by using the occasion to visit one of the shops' museums you will have one. And to count it as historical research, just simply stroll down the length of the Arcade and enjoy its unique atmosphere. Wherever you look you will find traditional personal service and unrivalled excellence providing quality shopping in a serene environment.

Located at: Piccadilly, London, W1

Telephone:  020-7734 4511 

Opens: Depends upon shop opening times

Cost: Free

Closest Subway Station: Piccadilly Circus Station (Click to see more atrraction at this station)