Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
very poor taste. On the same floor is
Restless Surface
, an interactive display on the
earth's elements, soil and rock erosion and, of course, global warming.
Down one floor,
From the Beginning
covers the geological history of the planet
from the Big Bang to the present day. The display ends with a crystal ball, which
predicts the earth's future (bleak, but probably not within our lifetime). More
alluring is
Earth's Treasury
, a dimly lit display of lustrous minerals and crystals,
gemstones and jewels. Exhibits include rocks that shine in UV light, carved artefacts
such as a lapis lazuli necklace, and even some recently discovered kryptonite (the
mineral that weakens Superman).
Finally,
Earth Today and Tomorrow
(on the ground floor) is a look at how we are
running down the earth's non-renewable natural resources, and polluting the planet in
the process. Ironically, one of the chief sponsors is Rio Tinto, the distinctly
environmentally unfriendly mining company.
18
Brompton Oratory
Brompton Rd • Mon-Fri 6.30am-8pm, Sat 6.30am-7.45pm, Sun 7.30am-8pm • Free •
T
020 7808 0900,
W
bromptonoratory.com •
!
South Kensington
London's most flamboyant and atmospheric Roman Catholic church, the
Brompton
Oratory
stands just east of the V&A. The first large Catholic church to be built since
the Reformation, it was begun by the young and unknown Herbert Gribble in 1880
and modelled on the Gesù church in Rome, “so that those who had no opportunity
of going over to Italy to see an Italian church had only to come here to see a model of
one”. The ornate Italianate interior, financed by the Duke of Norfolk, is filled with
gilded mosaics and stuffed with sculpture, much of it genuine Italian Baroque from
the Gesù church and Siena cathedral, notably the seventeenth-century apostles in the
nave and the main altar, and the reredos of the Lady Chapel. The pulpit is a superb
piece of neo-Baroque from the 1930s, with a high cherub count on the tester. True to
its architecture, the church practises a “rigid, ritualized, smells-and-bells Catholicism”,
as one journalist put it, with daily Mass in Latin, a top-notch choir on Sundays and
some very high-society weddings throughout the year.
Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore • Guided tours depart from Door 12 • £11.50 •
T
0845 401 5045,
W
royalalberthall.com •
!
South Kensington or
High Street Kensington
The funds raised on the death of the Prince Consort in 1861 were squandered on the
nearby Albert Memorial (see p.246), and it took considerable effort by Henry Cole, his
collaborator on the Great Exhibition, to get funding to complete the
Royal Albert Hall
.
Plans for this splendid iron- and glass-domed auditorium had been drawn up during
the prince's lifetime, with an exterior of red brick, terracotta and marble that was
already the hallmark of South Ken architecture. Completed in 1871, the hall has
hosted everything from Miss World to pop gigs, and is the main venue for London's
most democratic classical music festival, the annual Henry Wood Promenade Concerts,
better known as the
Proms
(see p.413).
FRENCH CONNECTIONS
Part of South Ken's cachet is thanks to its
French connections
, with a French school and
creche, a couple of bookshops, a deli and several genuine patisseries and brasseries clustered
around the
Institut Français
(
W
institut-francais.org.uk) on Queensberry Place, which itself
maintains an interesting programme of theatre, cinema and exhibitions.
A further French sight worth checking out is the gorgeous Art Deco
Michelin House
, a
short walk to the south down Brompton Road. Faced in white faïence and decorated with
tyres and motoring murals by French artists in 1911, its ground floors now house the shop,
café, oyster bar and restaurant of
Bibendum
(
W
bibendum.co.uk), all run by Terence Conran.
