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Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the former stately home of Kenwood House and its estate. The south-east part of the heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law. Running along its eastern perimeter is a chain of ponds – including three open-air public swimming pools – which were originally reservoirs for drinking water from the River Fleet. The heath is a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, and part of Kenwood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Lakeside concerts are held there in summer. The heath is managed by the City of London Corporation, and lies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporation Of London
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's financial sector. In 2006, the name was changed from Corporation of London as the corporate body needed to be distinguished from the geographical area to avoid confusion with the wider London local government, the Greater London Authority. Both businesses and residents of the City, or "Square Mile", are entitled to vote in City elections, and in addition to its functions as the local authority—analogous to those undertaken by the 32 boroughs that administer the rest of the Greater London region—it takes responsibility for supporting the financial services industry and representing its interests. The corporation's structure includes the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Court of Common Council, and the Freemen and Livery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Hibbert
Christopher Hibbert MC (born Arthur Raymond Hibbert; 5 March 1924 – 21 December 2008) was an English author, historian and biographer. He has been called "a pearl of biographers" (''New Statesman'') and "probably the most widely-read popular historian of our time and undoubtedly one of the most prolific" (''The Times''). Hibbert was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of many books, including ''The Story of England'', ''Disraeli'', ''Edward VII'', ''George IV'', ''The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici'', and ''Cavaliers and Roundheads''. Biography Arthur Raymond Hibbert was born in Enderby, Leicestershire in 1924, the son of Canon H. V. Hibbert (died 1980) and his wife Maude. He was the second of three children, and christened Arthur Raymond. He was educated at Radley College in Oxfordshire before he went up to Oriel College at the University of Oxford. He was awarded the degrees of BA and later MA. He left Oriel College to join the Army, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The London Encyclopaedia
''The London Encyclopaedia'', first published in 1983, is a 1100-page historical reference work on the United Kingdom's capital city, London. The encyclopaedia covers the Greater London area. Development The first edition of the encyclopaedia was compiled over a number of years by antiquarian bookseller Ben Weinreb and by the historian Christopher Hibbert, and was revised in 1993, 1995, and 2008. It has around 5,000 articles, supported by two indices—one general and one listing people, each of about 10,000 entries—and is published by Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan. In 2012, an Mobile app, app was developed by Heuristic-Media, and released as ''London—A City Through Time''. Toby Evetts and Simon Reeves, partners in Heuristic-Media, discussed the development of the app with ''The Guardian'' in 2013, describing how 4,500 entries had to be plotted onto a guide map by hand. Antecedents The encyclopaedia builds on a number of earlier publications, including: *''John Stow, Surv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan Board Of Works
The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in March 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with the rapid growth of the metropolis, which it accomplished with varying degrees of success. The MBW was an appointed rather than elected body. This lack of accountability made it unpopular with Londoners, especially in its latter years, when it fell prey to corruption. Background The growth of an urban area around the historic City of London had rapidly accelerated with the increase in railway commuting from the 1830s onwards. However, its local government was chaotic, with hundreds of authorities having varying fields of responsibility and overlapping geographic boundaries. Providing a specific service in a given area might need the co-ordinat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Land
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a right in, or over, common land jointly with another or others is usually called a commoner. In the New Forest, the New Forest Commoner is recognised as a minority cultural identity as well as an agricultural vocation, and members of this community are referred to as Commoners. In Great Britain, common land or former common land is usually referred to as a common; for instance, Clapham Common and Mungrisdale Common. Due to enclosure, the extent of common land is now much reduced from the millions of acres that existed until the 17th century, but a considerable amount of common land still exists, particularly in upland areas. There are over 8,000 registered commons in England alone. Origins Originally in medieval England the common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shane Gough, 5th Viscount Gough
Shane Hugh Maryon Gough, 5th Viscount Gough (born 26 August 1941) is a peer of the United Kingdom. He was educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. Son of Hugh William Gough, 4th Viscount Gough, MC, and Margaretta Elizabeth Maryon-Wilson. Lord Gough resides at the family seat, Keppoch House, near Dingwall, Scotland, but also has a London residence. His current employment is in London. He is unmarried, and there is currently no heir to the peerage or baronetcy. Career Lord Gough was educated at Abberley Hall School and Winchester College. He served as an officer in the Irish Guards (Household Division, British Army),'GOUGH', Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2009 ; online edn, Nov 2009. following in family tradition. Although he followed his father into the Guards, his most famous military forebear is undoubtedly Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough. After leaving military service he worked as a stockbroker. Freemasonry He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Spaces Society
The Open Spaces Society is a campaign group that works to protect public rights of way and open spaces in the United Kingdom, such as common land and village greens. It is Britain's oldest national conservation body and a registered charity. Founding The society was founded as the Commons Preservation Society and merged with the National Footpaths Society in 1899, becoming the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society. It later renamed itself the Commons, Open Spaces and Footpaths Preservation Society, before adopting the present name. An early example of direct action taken by the society was its overnight removal of two miles of railings that enclosed Berkhamsted common in 1866 with the aid of 120 people. The society also campaigned for the creation of the National Trust. Its founders and early members included John Stuart Mill, Lord Eversley, William Morris, Sir Robert Hunter, and Octavia Hill. The last two founded the National Trust in 1895 along with Canon Rawnsley. Lor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill (3 December 1838 – 13 August 1912) was an English social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a family of radical thinkers and reformers with a strong commitment to alleviating poverty, she herself grew up in straitened circumstances owing to the financial failure of her father's businesses. With no formal schooling, she worked from the age of 14 for the welfare of working people. Hill was a moving force behind the development of social housing, and her early friendship with John Ruskin enabled her to put her theories into practice with the aid of his initial investment. She believed in self-reliance, and made it a key part of her housing system that she and her assistants knew their tenants personally and encouraged them to better themselves. She was opposed to municipal provision of housing, believing it to be bureaucratic and impersonal. Another of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its appearance. A butler is usually male, and in charge of male servants, while a housekeeper is usually a woman, and in charge of female servants. Traditionally, male servants (such as footmen) were better paid and of higher status than female servants. The butler, as the senior male servant, has the highest servant status. He can also sometimes function as a chauffeur. In older houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as ''majordomo'', ''butler administrator'', ''house manager'', ''manservant'', ''staff manager'', '' chief of staff'', ''staff captain'', ''estate manager'', and ''head of household staff'' are sometimes give ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry II Of England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king of England. King Louis VII of France made him Duke of Normandy in 1150. Henry became Count of Anjou and Count of Maine, Maine upon the death of his father, Count Geoffrey V, in 1151. His marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, former spouse of Louis VII, made him Duke of Aquitaine. He became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1158. Before he was 40, he controlled England; large parts of Wales; the eastern half of Ireland; and the western half of France, an area that was later called the Angevin Empire. At various times, Henry also partially controlled Scotland and the Duchy of Brittany. Henry became politically involved by the age of 14 in the efforts of his mother Empress Matilda, Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to the Anarchy, claim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and since Edward the Confessor, a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey. Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100. According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at the site (then known as Thorney Island) in the seventh century, at the time of Mellitus, Bishop of London. Construction of the present church began in 1245 on the orders of Henry III. The church was originally part of a Catholic Benedictine abbey, which was dissolved in 1539. It then served as the cathedral of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
