Knowledge of London

@artbitesgo I always thought the king stood in a funny way. It was only recently discovered the bottom half was female...!

@Knowledgepoint Minerva masquerading as King Alfred? Love how art reinvents itself across centuries! Historical layering at its finest.

The statue of King Alfred in the gardens of Trinity Church Square, Southwark, is widely regarded as London’s oldest outdoor statue. The lower half is a 2nd-century Roman statue of the goddess Minerva, with an 18th-century Coade stone top, as revealed in 2021.

@dannykellywords Good Luck Danny, wish you all the best!

Kelly chemo countdown, day 41. BIG day: last chemo blast (for now). I come appropriately and inconspicuously dressed for vibes! Cream hoodie. MC5 shirt. And plain old lid to keep a baldy heed cosy. 🤣🤣🤣 Best wishes, vibes and prayers gratefully recieved.

I used to go there with a group of us kids in the late 1950s.

The Great Smith Street Public Baths and Wash House (opened 1893) at 34 Great Smith Street was a prominent Westminster facility featuring two swimming pools and washhouses, with its facade still standing today. Redeveloped 1990s into the Abbey Centre, community and conference hub

@stalmico From 1889 to 1965

@Knowledgepoint what year did lcc stop existing?

Hidden leftovers of London's past: LCC "Stop" Sign: A vintage London County Council (LCC) "Stop" sign can be seen at the entrance to the car park for Withy House on Globe Road. Weather beaten and hard to find - this is what I enjoy about London Curiosities.

United Dairies horse-drawn milk floats were iconic, daily fixtures, particularly in London, until the mid-20th century, fully transitioning to electric vehicles by the late 1950s. These carts known for their reliability, with horses often moving between houses without command.

@winghalf6 @LucyTrims What a waste of such a lovely place. We need more custodians of our parks and sports grounds.

This was the clubhouse I ran in Blackheath. It was compulsory purchased and I was evicted. bottom pic is how it looks now.

20 artworks, replicas of original tokens, are set into the pavement of Marchmont Street. The tokens represent the small, personal items (buttons, thimbles, coins) mothers left with their children when they were abandoned at the Foundling Hospital, hoping to identify them later.

The world's first fully automatic machine gun, the Maxim Gun, was invented and manufactured in 1881, by American-born inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in his small factory at 57 Hatton Garden. A blue plaque was erected in 1966 by the GLC to honour Maxim's engineering and invention.

The Coalbrookdale Gates are ornate, bronze-painted cast-iron gates located on the West Carriage Drive. Designed by Charles Crookes and manufactured by the Coalbrookdale Company for the 1851 Great Exhibition, they were moved to their current location in 1871.

Very hard to spot is the "Seated Boy" Sculpture: Created by artist Jean Bullock in 1976, this "curious" bronze statue depicts a young boy sitting in a contemplative pose. It is located outside the Westminster Kingsway College campus on Longford Street.

Then & Now: High Holborn and Museum Street 1947 - 2023 In 1947, the area around Museum Street and High Holborn was a heavily damaged, post-war London. As of early 2026, the "One Museum Street" project (166 High Holborn) is under active construction.

Telegraph Hill, southeast London, gets its name from a semaphore telegraph station constructed on its summit around 1795. It was part of a vital chain of signal stations created to provide an early warning system against potential invasion by French forces under Napoleon.

This gives another meaning to a "telephone book" 😂

The Lewisham Micro Library is a community book exchange housed in a disused K2 red phone box on the corner of Lewisham Way and Tyrwhitt Road, operational since 2013. Created by architect Sebastian Handley, operates 24/7 on a trust basis and considered London's smallest library.

The Mother and Son Post Box: At the corner of Gray’s Inn Road, you can find a unique "double cipher" box. It is believed to be the only one in the country featuring the emblems of two monarchs—Victoria and Edward VII—likely due to a repair using a door from a different era.

Potters Bar has several historic Coal Tax Posts, which are Grade II listed structures. These markers were erected in the 1860s to delineate the boundary of the Metropolitan Police District, which any coal or wine arriving was liable for tax to the City of London Corporation.

Victoria and Albert Museum (Exhibition Road): The west wall of the V&A (and neighboring Natural History Museum) still shows visible pockmarks and damage from a 1941 bomb. This is often described as one of the most poignant "wounds" left unrepaired as a memorial.