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The Garden Museum
[Update July 2017: The Garden Museum and Cafe have been redeveloped since this post]
The Garden Museum (formerly the Museum of Garden History) is in the deconsecrated St Mary’s church next to Lambeth Palace in North West Kennington. Even if you’re not interested in gardening, it’s worth a visit for the good quality vegetarian cafe and the lovely garden (there’s a charge to enter the museum but not the shop, cafe or garden).
The knot garden with the walls of Lambeth Palace in the background:
William Bligh lived in Kennington, on Lambeth Road in a house that is now a B&B, and was buried at St Mary’s. Appropriately enough for a site that was to become a garden museum, his grave features the breadfruit plant which he discovered and brought back to England. Presumably whoever designed his grave was hoping he would be remembered for this, rather than for being the ship’s captain who inspired the Mutiny on the Bounty.
The well-stocked shop featuring gifts for gardeners and books:
The interior of the museum:
Kennington actress Storme Toolis breaks TV taboos
A sex scene in the BBC’s New Tricks is “believed to be one of the first on TV involving a disabled actress” said the Evening Standard in rather non-committal language. Storme has also appeared in The Inbetweeneers.
The Imperial War Museum has reopened after refurbishment
One of London’s finest museums is back. The current special exhibition is on spies – topical. We haven’t been since the refurb so more when we have.
Kennington: celebrity party zone with Cara Delevingne and Rita Ora
We may be a little late in covering the #DKNYArtworks party that took place at the old Lambeth Fire Station on Whitgift Street earlier this summer, but we have good reason: we pride ourselves on lack of hype here, and we wanted to make sure that when we said that Kennington hosted this summer’s hottest party, nothing was going to trump that. Now in mid-August, it’s safe to say that SE11 can take the crown, after a night that featured Cara Delevingne stagebombing Rita Ora’s set (attempting a duet and showing off her very own take on the twerk), and appearances from an array of London’s bright youngish things including Eliza Doolittle, Henry Holland, Nick Grimshaw, Professor Green, Millie Mackintosh, and Bella Freud.
The old Lambeth Fire Station is part of an historically important fire brigade complex, sitting just behind a fire practice tower, and the more architecturally remarkable art deco moderne London Fire Brigade Headquarters on the Albert Embankment.
Cycle PS
The Kennington branch of Cycle PS has now closed, but they do have branches in Camberwell and Battersea, and Kennington still has Balfe’s Bikes and ReCycling.
Cycle PS is a stylish new cycle shop and cafe bar at the top of Kennington Park Road, which is London’s second biggest street for cycling. On Friday nights Cycle PS stay open late – ideal for a drink before heading to the Lobster Pot.
Exterior:
Interior:
Kennington architecture in the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition
This week is the last week of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Its architecture section features the design of the new building where the Florence Nightingale pub and concrete monstrosity York House used to be on the roundabout at the bottom of Westminster Bridge. What’s being built in their place is a “glistening, crystalline 18-storey landmark office building” in an area already ripe with redevelopment – there are three relatively new Park Plaza hotels nearby including two on the roundabout, plus Foster & Partners’ new towers on Albert Embankment.
In the Summer Exhibition you can also see some of the alternative designs that were considered for York House, but this was the chosen design:
The Dog House: an appreciation
We once read something online complaining about the Dog House due to its late opening and its liberal use of the pavement for seating. These are the two best things about this Kennington institution. It’s right in the heart of Kennington at Kennington Cross, and the fact that people are always sat outside enjoying themselves until the early hours of the morning makes the area feel vibrant. It’s a little rough around the edges and we rarely visit a pub past 11pm nowadays, but when we do, it’s nice to know the Dog House will be open and buzzing. They have window boxes in full bloom at present, and they lend their tables to the Kennington Association for their occasional table top sales. Regulars at the pub include Morrissey* and Steve Lamacq**.
Flowers:
The Dog House at night:
And in the day:
* Clarification here
** Steve Lamacq actually does drink in the Dog House sometimes.
Sally White now have a rather attractive sign on their shopfront
For more on Sally White, see our earlier post.
Brunswick House and LASSCO
LASSCO is an architectural reclaim company based in Brunswick House, a cavernous Georgian mansion on the gyratory in West Kennington. If architectural reclaim doesn’t sound much fun, it really is – imagine a museum where everything’s desirable and everything’s on sale. A whole room of taps. Antique baths for only £4000. If money was no object, this is where you’d go to furnish your house.
Brunswick House is also the best restaurant in the area, with food that’s more than matched by the atmosphere as you eat amongst the antiques and curiosities – look for the price tags on your chairs and tables. The restaurant is run by one of the Boxer family, who are also behind the nearby Italian deli and cafe Italo (which is just off Bonnington Square, the best advert there could be for squatting, but more on that another time), and Frank’s Café and Campari Bar atop a multi-story car park-cum-sculpture gallery, which is leading the regeneration of Peckham. For more on the Boxer family, see here.
Adrian Amos from LASSCO was featured in this week’s ES Magazine in one of the rooms at Brunswick House:
This is the main restaurant room:
Here’s a collection of signs from the exterior wall of the house:
For more photos of beautiful LASSCO objects, click here.
