February 8, 2024 • 51 mins
In this captivating podcast episode, Hazel Baker and guest Maggie Coates take listeners on a journey through the hidden gem of Two Temple Place.
Maggie Coates, a Camden tour guide and a volunteer at Two Temple Place, shares insights into its Victorian origins and its owner, William Waldorf Astor. Astor's vision for the building, nestled among larger structures near Middle Temple, reflects both secrecy and security, evident in features such as a basement vault and strong rooms.
Listeners gain insight into the meticulous preservation efforts undertaken by successive custodians, ensuring the building's historical fabric remains intact. From its use as an office building to its role as a venue for private functions, weddings, and even filming locations, Two Temple Place continues to enchant visitors with its rich history and architectural grandeur.
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(00:01):
Welcome, dear listeners, to another fascinating episode.
Of the London history. Podcast where we dive into the
vibrant and diverse past of thisgreat city.
I am your host Hazel Baker, a qualified London tour guide and
founder of London guidedwalks.co.uk.
Whether you're a born and bred Londoner or a curious listener,
(00:23):
join us on a journey through time as we explore the city
together. Each episode is supported by
show notes, transcripts, photos and further reading, all to be
found on our website. If you enjoy what?
We do. Then you'll love our guided
walks and private tours that we offer throughout the year.
All bookable. Online@londonguidedwalks.co.uk
(00:47):
Subscribe now to never miss an episode and if you enjoy the
show, please leave us a review and rating to help spread the
word to other history lovers. Nestled amidst the hustle and
bustle of London 2, Temple Placestands on the north Bank of the
Thames, a place where the past whisper secrets to those who are
(01:12):
willing to listen. It's a building with a story to
tell, and today we're here to uncover some of its mysteries.
As we step into this historical treasure trove, we're joined by
Camden tour guide Maggie Coates,someone who knows 2 Temple Place
like the back of her hand. Together we'll explore its
(01:35):
architectural marvels, delve into its fascinating exhibitions
and in cover the stories that make this place a living
testament to the city's grandeur.
Maggie is one of our London guided walks, his tour guides
doing her World War 2 and Churchill tour, and also Magical
Bloomsbury. So welcome, Maggie.
(01:58):
Hello, Hazel. Today, I think we'll be having a
look at the beds, addressing itsarchitecture and its history,
and also some of its fascinatingexhibitions.
Because this is a. Bit of a.
Hidden Gem and I don't think many people would have actually
really noticed this before. So before we get into it and
maybe it's worth, if you give our listeners A brief overview
(02:22):
of maybe where 2 Temple places and its historical relevance.
To London OK, it's 2 Temple places, It's address, so it's
not far from Temple tube stationoverlooking Embankment Gardens
and that's the reason for it being there really.
That whole area was redeveloped in the Victorian era and
(02:44):
previously all the industry. The buildings around there had
been related to Pemside activities and it was chosen by
its owner William Waldorf Astor as being a quite a secretive
little place. When it was built it was between
two large buildings. It's next to Middle Temple, so
there was a large Victorian library which sadly was
(03:08):
destroyed during the Second World War.
But it had a tall, steeped, gabled roof.
And on the other side was a verytall building that belonged to
the London School Board. So it was a small building
nestling among big buildings even from the beginning, and now
it's surrounded by modern officedevelopments going up to the
Strand. It is still a hidden gem I
(03:28):
think. It really is.
It's one of those ones that unless you really walk past and
look at your SO maybe focusing on the the little alleyway to
get through to Fleet Street or focusing and get into what a
temple, you don't really notice it.
And I suppose that's part of themagic, isn't it?
It is we quite often. I'm a volunteer there when the
exhibition is open for four months of the year and quite
(03:51):
often people come in and say I've already passed it.
I've often thought, what is thisbuilding?
Or I used to work around here past it every day and didn't
even realise it was open. So yes, it isn't known very
widely, but hopefully it will get more so as the years go by.
Yes indeed, and it has been hostto a number of fascinating
(04:12):
exhibitions over the years. And can you maybe share some of
the most memorable ones? It opened to the public about 11
years ago when it was bought by the Bulldog Trust, a charity
that was set up to run it. And the first exhibition was
about William Morris, which obviously there's a link in time
there because it's a Victorian building.
(04:33):
It's at the same time as WilliamMorris, which was pretty
popular. In fact, there are still a
couple of items in the building that from that exhibition.
And then each year the brief hasbeen to introduce collections in
the rest of Great Britain. That highlights from some
collections that aren't well known around a particular theme.
So we've had things like the gems that were collected by the
(04:56):
cotton magnets of Manchester, sothe Cornish artists.
So it's had that brief. Last year we had a slight break
from that because of the leftover from COVID.
They won't ever develop the exhibitions, but this year we've
returned with an exhibition. I'll tell you about in a minute.
The most popular exhibition theyhad was in 2019 when they tied
(05:16):
in with the bicentenary of John Ruskin.
And they had they were overwhelmed with visitors that
year. Maybe a little bit too much
because it is only a small building, but it was a great
chance to see some of the collections from Sheffield and
the Lake District that he was linked with.
So that's been their remit. And then they got quite creative
with the themes that they've taken up around different
(05:38):
materials. The last one had a more
worldwide brief. It was about the development of
pottery in Africa and then the influence of that on the UK
industries in the 20th century. Always interesting, always
something different. Yeah, pretty wide brief.
And the the Bulldog Trust you'vejust mentioned.
That's why there is a sign of a bulldog hanging outside.
(05:59):
That all makes sense now. That's right.
Yes, one of the crews. In our temple treasure hunt.
But there you go. Wonderful.
So you mentioned about the latest exhibition.
Tell us about that. This year's exhibition is called
The Glass Heart, and it's about glass as a medium for both
(06:22):
stained glass and standalone vessels, as they're called.
And it brings together the collections from Sunderland's
National Glass Centre, the Stained Glass Museum in Ely and
the Stourbridge Glass Museum, which were all centres for glass
production. And you think I didn't know
Sunderland was a centre for glass production, but when you
think of Pyrex, which everybody had a piece of Pyrex in their
(06:44):
house, it shows that it was a a delicate but sturdy material
that had many sorts of uses and obviously as a medium for art as
well. So there's some fantastic pieces
that are complete fight flights of fancy and there are some that
are very practical and commemorative.
So all kinds of interesting things.
(07:05):
For example, there's a little glass boat that commemorates the
which was very popular in the Victorian area and was mass
produced, commemorates the heroic, the exploits of Grace
Darling in the lifeboat where where she saved saved so many
passengers. And it's also this exhibition
(07:27):
has it could have a huge brief because obviously we have
examples of Roman glass, but they've chosen to take the
starting point as the building of the Crystal Palace in 1851,
because obviously it was made ofglass, but also that was the
start of the use of glass as an everyday material.
Stained glass enjoyed a big revival in that era and as a
(07:50):
practical and as an ornamental kind of item, it really became
popular. Lots of examples of how it's
created, how it's blown and somecontemporary artists as well.
There's a piece, for example, byMonster Chetwin.
You know where else she's got a an installation in London at the
moment. There's one to scratch your head
(08:11):
over, Hazel. Not the BNA.
No underground Gloucester Road tube station.
Oh. Yes, and it's very interesting
when you're going through on theeastbound Gloucester Road line,
her illuminated pieces all alongthe side of the track there.
That's it. That is a space which is
normally used for our installations and she has one
(08:32):
there. She's a very creative person,
has turned her skills to glass making as well.
Fantastic. I do love glass as a, I'll say
an art form or a medium. I suppose when you talk about
the Victorian stained glass, a lot of people don't really
realize that a lot of the glass that we see in our churches now
is Victorian, thanks to Cromwellyears and having to rebuild some
(08:53):
of our history on that. I remember one of my best times
of going to Venice was to go to Murano and have a look at how
they made their glass there, andI bought 2 fantastic vases which
still bring warmth to my heart when I look at them now.
It's gorgeous. The way that light hits it and
to see how it's used over the years is absolutely fantastic.
(09:17):
So I'm looking forward to seeingthis one now you mentioned about
the. Asters do you want?
To get us into why the the strong ties are described of the
Astor family with Two Temple Place.
Yeah, sure. The building was commissioned by
William Maldorf Astor, who was the 3rd generation of the
(09:38):
Astors. The original person that's
founded the Astor family was John Jacob Astor, and he
emigrated from Germany and he made his money importing
exporting furs, Beaver furs. And he made so much money that
his son continued and built and invested a lot in buying lots of
(09:59):
land in Manhattan and became thelandlord of New York City.
And so when William Ward off Asda inherited the fortune from
his father in 1890, he was his father.
John Jacob Astor had been known as the landlord of New York.
Unfortunately, a lot of those buildings were slums and
tenements, but he still made a lot of money out of them.
(10:20):
And that made William Waldorf Astor reputedly the richest man
in the world at the time. But he had been based in New
York, as all his family had been, and he had a couple of
unfortunate incidents which drove him to find a new home and
he came to London for example. He had tried public life, but
(10:41):
he'd been a senator briefly. But at that time the press was
very looking for scandals, looking for headlines and they
found him to be rather dull character on the public platform
and they ridiculed him and he was a quite a shy man and he
found that ridicule very hard totake.
Also in society they had a little falling out with his
(11:02):
aunt, who insisted she was the Mrs. Astor and there were no
other Mrs. Asters to be had. And of course society in those
days was so around status and money that was a downside.
And also he worried about the security of his family.
There were quite a lot of kidnappings, children's
kidnappings and so forth going on.
(11:23):
He decided to relocate his family's wife and his five
children to London. And of course he had lots of
money. So he bought himself a very nice
house in Carlton Terrace and he decided he needed an office
building and the site of two Temple Place would be ideal.
And he set about. He gave the brief to the
(11:44):
architect John Loughborough Pearson and he said money, no
object here, build a suitable building.
And he also was very clear aboutthe security of the building.
It was pretty hot on security. And in the basement, for
example, there used to be a hugevault that covered most of the
basement, and there were strong rooms where all the documents
(12:06):
could be held because he ran. We just invented the telephone.
In that era, which is again, it's celebrated in the house and
cables and communication across the Atlantic was possible.
So he was able to run his entirebusiness empire from London, and
that was his little fortress. And there are touches of a
fortress, medieval castle in thedesign, There's cremations.
(12:27):
Along the outside there's a little tower, which is where the
staircase is. So it has little Gothic touches,
although the style is a bit of amixture of architectural styles
from that era. It isn't it.
It is rather romantic, isn't it?It is Castle.
It's funny what you're saying. Yeah.
It's funny what you're saying about John Lefroe Pearson.
(12:47):
Really. Because, but it's it's beautiful
romantic architecture, what we can see at 2 Temple Place.
But knowing that he did so many churches and cathedrals,
Peterborough being one, Leicester another, you can see
that influence in this building design, can't you?
And it's beautiful for what was initially an office.
(13:08):
It is when John Lofra Pearson was given that brief, he was
told money, no object, and he spent £250,000 which but today's
value they say is about 10 million.
So it's certainly very lavish decoration inside, which I'm
sure we'll get on to. But the outside is a sort of
mixture of styles and also incorporated Waldorf's idea of
(13:32):
security was very hot on security, a big vault, he had a
huge vault in the basement. He had lots of strong rooms, and
he although he didn't officiallylive there, he did have a little
sanctuary there where he had a bedroom and a bathroom.
And of course in the basement there were servants, housekeeper
(13:54):
and so forth that would have catered to his needs.
And when his wife died, he pretty much permanently moved in
there. He said he felt more secure
among all the vaults and the strong rooms and there was a
little court case where he wanted to be registered as a
Westminster resident at that address and he won the case and
he was able to cast his vote as a resident of that area.
(14:18):
Fantastic. Who would have thought?
If we're talking about the the outside with this kind of, I
suppose you can say, Gothic revival.
It is beautiful. How would you describe the
interior? I would say it's a Symphony in
wood, because wood was is the main material that's used.
William Waldorf Asda doesn't seem very keen on works of art,
(14:38):
unlike some of his contemporaries who collect a lot
of paintings. He did collect sculpture, but he
didn't want any representations on his wall.
On his decorative scheme, wood is the main thing and as you go
up the building, as you go from the ground floor to the first
floor, you can see a change of use because the ground floor is
(14:58):
panelled in oak, quartered oak which has that lovely grain and
that would have very much the place where his clerks worked
were so he needed to be quite plain, wasn't distracting.
But when he came into the building he came through the
double doors into a vestibule which has of course a beautiful
marble floor made of coloured gemstones, very much similar to
(15:20):
his other masterpiece, the Fitzrovia Chapel are using the
same Craftsman. Robert Davidson was the
Craftsman on that. And so you come into this sort
of Roman style floor. He does mix his eras and then
the first thing that Astor wouldhave seen was his magnificent
mahogany staircase, which he indulged his love of literature.
It's the first time you see it in Temple Place.
(15:42):
It has these beautiful series ofstatues carved by John Nichols
who represent the characters from The Three Musketeers, which
was apparently William Waldorf Astor's favorite book.
So we start with D'artagnan and then on the left hand side we
have the other Musketeers, so wehave Aramis, Artos and Portos,
and on the other side we have other characters, Milady, Moo,
(16:05):
Winter and Barazon who illustrate the whole series.
So the staircase itself is sometimes overlooked because
these statues are so amazing. They're about 18 inches tall and
full of character. Aramis, for example, is looking
quite interested. Apparently if you look, one of
the statues has a thumb missing because they could take them off
(16:27):
to clean them over the years, but I've never been able to spot
the missing thumbs. So it's regularly done, but it's
beautiful detail on those statues and as you go up the
staircase, you come onto the balcony the first floor, which
is amazing. The pillars are made of Ebony
and that length of Ebony is not available now because Ebony is
(16:47):
really a Bush. It's not a tree, it doesn't
often grow that tall and it's sorare they couldn't be replaced
if they were ever lost. And we had the start of the use
of more interesting wood. So though we had mahogany on the
1st floor, there is the panelling is pencil, wood,
cedar, which strangely is from the juniper tree, but it's
(17:10):
called pencil with cedar. If you get very close and sniff
it, it does smell of pencils. That's the plain panelling, but
above the panelling because the stairway is lit by lovely
stained glass by the firm Clayton and Bell, which is a
little bit of a reflection of this exhibition being about
glass. We've got all kinds of carvings
there. We've got two carvings, 6
(17:32):
figures that represent three of William Ward of Astor's favorite
American novels. So we've got Last of the
Mohicans represented, Scarlet Letter and Rip Van Winkle.
So six really large statues. Then above that there are some
more carved freezes, which each represent a different
(17:55):
Shakespearean play. So he's mixing English and
American literature because those were his favourites.
And then you go on to the library which that side of the
building is quite shady, particularly when the Middle
Temple library overlooked it. They decided on satin wood,
which is a very shiny wood, a very light coloured wood as it
(18:16):
would amplify the light in that room.
And these carvings are done of walnut.
And there was once a lovely marble fireplace there, but that
was removed after the war. But it's still a lovely room,
and it was Asta's private library where he used to retreat
to in the afternoons. I think I pitched him there with
with his cigar and his Brandy orwhatever, perhaps having a
(18:38):
little nap in the afternoon and a lovely room when the sun
shines on that satin wood and the little walnut, they're a
little there's. Although all the books have
gone, the bookcases are still there and they're used for the
exhibition. They're an excellent little
cubby holes for little exhibits to go in and above them is a
line of little cherubs, little putty, who represent the modern
(19:00):
arts. So although though one has
traditionally got a little globe, another one's got a
microscope to show you the modern science art.
It's a lovely little room. And then the main hall, the
largest hall of course is is a stunning visage in every aspect
of it is so wonderful. It's a hammer beam roof.
You mentioned John Loughborough Pearson very much sort of a
(19:23):
medievalist, lovely old churchesand for a time he was in charge
of works at Westminster and he renovated Westminster Hall and
obviously he enjoyed the hammer beam, the original medieval
hammer beam roof there and he recreated a slightly smaller
version in this room. So it's got a magnificent hammer
beam roof, but of course it doesn't stop there, the
(19:45):
beautiful panelling. There's carved fireplaces.
What strikes visitors usually first is there's a freeze of
gilded faces around the top of the room, and they're completely
random. They're just characters that
William Mordorf Astor loved, either real people or imaginary
people. So you've got Ophelia from
(20:06):
Shakespeare, but you've also gotBismarck.
You've got, you've got all the sort of heroines he liked, A
tragic heroine. Got all tragic heroines, Mary,
Queen of Scots and so forth, andthey're in no particular order.
So you'll get someone from the 14th century next to someone
from the 19th century. They're not grouped in any way,
but there originally were fifty of these gilded faces around
(20:27):
there. A few of them were lost during
the war, the end of the buildingwas damaged and was
reconstructed. And then above the gilded, the
breeze of faces on the hammer beam roof, there's a series of
statues again, which are from Ivanhoe by Wolf Scott.
So you've got Bade, Marian and Robin Hood and so far and the
story goes with those that the the the Carver and the Craftsman
(20:50):
that created them just did them in wood originally.
But Asda's eyesight was was fading a little bit by this
time, so he asked it to have them gilded so he could see them
more clearly. And the Carver didn't wasn't so
keen on that idea. And as a little kind of
reminder, there's a beautiful door, and above the door there's
(21:10):
an angry putty, a tiny little cherub who's got his arms folded
and is looking rather cross, which is not, and his pose isn't
a normal pose that you'd see a cherub in and be up below the
cherub is a beautiful gilded door, which was which was done
by George Frampton, who you may know you did Peter Pan in
(21:33):
Kensington Gardens. Oh, of course.
Yes, so this is 3 dimensional raised metalwork and it depicts
9 maidens of the Arthurian legends.
So you've got Guinevere and you've got the Lady of the Lake
and they would have been directly opposite because the
photographs show that Astor had his desk facing that door and
(21:53):
all his objects and his collections around him.
He would have had some of his statues and he even had sort of
mannequins in medieval dress around him as well.
I don't know. It's strange that the other
pictures show of his time there and in the next room, which is
now the shop that room into, wasentirely a strong room, so it
has no decoration at all. But now we have some nice
(22:14):
William Morris wallpaper on there and that's the part that's
open to the public. There are other little nooks and
crannies that you can see into that I still used as offices for
the Bulldog Trust. It sounds like a very personal
building project. It was absolutely was he really
indulged his love of literature and how he wanted to be
(22:37):
surrounded her because he could spend whatever money he liked
and that may be why his family sold it after he died and he
died in 1919 and in it was emptyfor a couple of years and it was
bought in 1922 and luckily for us this comes to the is your
other question really about how it's been preserved over time.
(23:00):
We it's really had three very careful owners until the build
or trust and I wonder if the family decided to dispose of it.
Partly because they've moved some of their offices back to
states but because it was so personal whether some whether
those descendants really took that style and of course
fashions change taste change Mayit was very ornate.
(23:23):
The first guardians of it first custodians were an insurance
company Sun Life of Canada. But they were only there for six
years till 1928, and then it wasbought by the Society of
Incorporated Accountants and Auditors.
And it worked well for their uses because they were able to
not only use it as offices but also as a social space for their
(23:46):
members, which of course Asta's rooms really lent themselves to
that as well. And we're lucky that they were
the custodians during Second World War.
They took away, they saved the stained glass, they preserved
it, and they rebuilt very carefully after the war, very in
a very similar style to what hadbeen before, and preserved a lot
of it through that. One thing they did change was
(24:09):
the door. The original doorway to the
building was completely destroyed by an incendiary bomb
just outside. And that had been, again, very
personal. It had the Waldorf family Crest
above it. Because William Waldorf Astor
was very conscious of his heritage, it created this family
Crest. So it was, and it added to the
(24:29):
sort of gothic baronial look at the building when it was
destroyed during the war. It was simply replaced where by
much simpler wooden doorway and the window above was enlarged to
compensate in the sort of balance of the building and a
new wing was added. But so subtly done, so well
done, that you wouldn't really know unless you could pick out
slightly more modern carving. The accountants were very good
(24:51):
custodians, but they gave up thebuilding in 92, the
Pharmaceutical club, Smith and Nephew, inventors of the
Elastoplast. That's where they made their
money. But again, they were very good
custodians. They did change the entrance
foyer area. They updated it.
They gave it a couple of modern 1960s touches, new lamps,
(25:12):
seating area which is upholstered in reindeer leather,
and a lovely pendant clock whichis very modern sort of style.
But it all works quite well in the style in that area, and that
area wasn't particularly decorative before, and that they
did little touches to the building.
They put fire guards on the radiators.
(25:32):
It was one of the very first buildings to have central
heating, right when Asda built. It was one of the first
buildings to have electricity, which is celebrated in the
little lamp posts outside. And so after Smith and Nephew
they they were there for 1959 to1999 and then it was bought by
Sir Richard Hall who establishedthe Bulldog Trust to look after
(25:54):
it. We've been lucky that the
custodians haven't changed very much and also they have
maintained the fabric of the building, which any historic
building needs that to keep going.
Yeah, that's very good, especially as you were saying 8.
Very personal, but also has styles and requirements of an
office building change, so we'revery lucky to to have this one.
(26:16):
Now, there's something that you said at the very beginning about
the choice of location for Two Temple Place, but why did Aster
choose that particular location?I think he was quite impressed
that it was next to Middle Temple, A lot of history there.
Astor was a complete history buff as well as his original
(26:37):
townhouse, Cotton house. He bought Clifton, which he
renovated. He bought Hever Castle, she
renovated. He had quite a thing about Anne
Boleyn, I think she was appearedin quite a few of his things and
apparently she he even had the rosary that that was supposed to
have belonged to her. I think he liked the historical
aspect of it being next to the Middle Temple.
(26:58):
As I say, originally it was nextto the library that was
destroyed during the war, which was a huge Victorian building
with a steep Gable, and that kind of influenced the look of
the building when they when he was working with his architect
to reflect that kind of historicoutlook, he was he qualified as
a lawyer himself. He studied law, so he perhaps
liked the fact that it was law, but also I think it was because
(27:20):
that land was quite reasonable. It was new land, but in the
embankment front of it was created in the 1860s to take the
sewage pipe and the district line underground.
So that was new ground that was going to be land always going to
be landscaped as a garden and ithas many statues in it as well.
I'm sure that would have appealed to Asda.
And so this land it may defunct all the Riverside activities
(27:43):
that had taken place on north ofthat area.
So I think the land was quite reasonable because it it was out
of fashion and its uses had changed.
There was nobody had perhaps hadperhaps but him had a foresight
to see it would be such a livelyarea linked to these other
nearby facilities. I think it was the the land came
up at the right point and it hadthe historical links that he
(28:03):
liked. It was just called Approach Rd.
when he when he bought it. It was just seen as a road that
you approach Middle Temple with.It didn't have its own
character, but I think that his building helped too and there
are other professional buildingsin the road as well.
Helped to give it a little bit more interest and stability,
but. It's also the location is
(28:24):
helpful when he purchased the Palma Gazette and and although
the printing presses etcetera, the observer on on Fleet Street.
He was in. It all wasn't he.
He I think he had. He loved literature, he had
literary aspirations. He wrote novels himself, didn't
he? And they were quite well
received. Apparently the first one he did
have published anonymously, so it wouldn't it would have.
(28:46):
It was it's reviews would be real.
But of course he did fall out with the man with the editor of
the Hal Mile Gazette because he wanted to publish his own
stories in it and he created themagazine so that he could
publish his own stories. Buying the server was a thing
later in life once he was established to head to his
empire publishing empire. There's a connection you've
(29:08):
mentioned with Downton Abbey because you mentioned about
George Frampton and the statue of Peter Pan which is in Downton
Abbey, but also to Temple Place and that beautiful staircase is
used when Lady Rose gets married.
Yes, it stood in for Kingston Hall.
And you do notice I jump up and down now and I've seen ATV
(29:31):
series or a film. There's a a corner of a
staircase or an office used. I think the most well known use
for filming was Bridget. Dangerous Diary has been filmed
there and in one of the early films.
She's sitting waiting. I think it's supposed to be a
doctor's waiting room. She's sitting under one of the
beautiful stained glass windows in the main hall and with the
(29:54):
light coming behind her. But they did use it for later
ones. But you often just see a
corridor, a panel corridor, and I enjoyed the use.
It was made of a recent film of blind spirit with the Judi Dench
played Mrs. Arkati, the medium, and she comes to the offices of
the Society of Mediums or something.
And it's the Asta's main office,and it was in its Victorian
(30:15):
heyday, so it looked scrumptious.
Even dressed, with fake office accoutrements, it looked it
looked very impressive for that kind of organization.
But yes, apparently Batman and all kinds of things like that
been filmed there because peoplewonder as well.
The building is only open four months a year for the art
exhibition, from January to April, and it's closed the rest
of the year. They're encouraging more open
(30:37):
days to happen. Any fundraising they do through
the building being open, sellingsouvenirs and books and things.
Any donations people make help the fabric of the building
itself for them to put on more art exhibitions, more
activities. In the summer they open for a
couple of days family trails, they have some artworks
developed for families and of course they open for open house
(31:00):
in September. But apart from that, the rest of
the year they use for private functions.
Weddings are very popular, obviously a magnificent setting
for a wedding, corporate functions and filming.
Of course, this last year with the writers strike hasn't been
so much filming, but it's certainly on the list of places
that are well used for filming. And because it's closed, it's
obviously easier to set up a filming apparatus there, yeah?
(31:23):
Of course, if anybody hasn't been to Two Temple Place, then
now is your opportunity to go. Maggie.
When does the exhibition is already open?
When does it close? It finishes at the end of April.
Just after Easter it closes. It's open Tuesdays to Sundays.
The opening hours this year are going to be a little later, so
(31:45):
it opens at 11 and stays open till 6.
And the idea is that people perhaps can come after work.
It's shorter hours on a Sunday and it's open late every
Wednesday and during the late night Wednesdays we actually
sell alcohol, beers and wine andthere is entertain, there's
entertainment, there's a full programme of activities going on
(32:06):
in the evenings. There's also workshops and talks
and if you look on the the website for Two Temple Place,
it'll tell you all about those and how to book.
So there are tours down of the building as well.
You can book for those. Excellent.
Plenty to look forward to. We'll put a link to the all of
that in the show notes as well. So you've got everything all in
(32:27):
one place. Maggie, thank you so much.
Oh, thank you, Hazel. That's all for now.
Until next time.
Welcome, dear listeners, to another fascinating episode.
Of the London history. Podcast where we dive into the
vibrant and diverse past of thisgreat city.
I am your host Hazel Baker, a qualified London tour guide and
founder of London guidedwalks.co.uk.
Whether you're a born and bred Londoner or a curious listener,
(00:23):
join us on a journey through time as we explore the city
together. Each episode is supported by
show notes, transcripts, photos and further reading, all to be
found on our website. If you enjoy what?
We do. Then you'll love our guided
walks and private tours that we offer throughout the year.
All bookable. Online@londonguidedwalks.co.uk
(00:47):
Subscribe now to never miss an episode and if you enjoy the
show, please leave us a review and rating to help spread the
word to other history lovers. Nestled amidst the hustle and
bustle of London 2, Temple Placestands on the north Bank of the
Thames, a place where the past whisper secrets to those who are
(01:12):
willing to listen. It's a building with a story to
tell, and today we're here to uncover some of its mysteries.
As we step into this historical treasure trove, we're joined by
Camden tour guide Maggie Coates,someone who knows 2 Temple Place
like the back of her hand. Together we'll explore its
(01:35):
architectural marvels, delve into its fascinating exhibitions
and in cover the stories that make this place a living
testament to the city's grandeur.
Maggie is one of our London guided walks, his tour guides
doing her World War 2 and Churchill tour, and also Magical
Bloomsbury. So welcome, Maggie.
(01:58):
Hello, Hazel. Today, I think we'll be having a
look at the beds, addressing itsarchitecture and its history,
and also some of its fascinatingexhibitions.
Because this is a. Bit of a.
Hidden Gem and I don't think many people would have actually
really noticed this before. So before we get into it and
maybe it's worth, if you give our listeners A brief overview
(02:22):
of maybe where 2 Temple places and its historical relevance.
To London OK, it's 2 Temple places, It's address, so it's
not far from Temple tube stationoverlooking Embankment Gardens
and that's the reason for it being there really.
That whole area was redeveloped in the Victorian era and
(02:44):
previously all the industry. The buildings around there had
been related to Pemside activities and it was chosen by
its owner William Waldorf Astor as being a quite a secretive
little place. When it was built it was between
two large buildings. It's next to Middle Temple, so
there was a large Victorian library which sadly was
(03:08):
destroyed during the Second World War.
But it had a tall, steeped, gabled roof.
And on the other side was a verytall building that belonged to
the London School Board. So it was a small building
nestling among big buildings even from the beginning, and now
it's surrounded by modern officedevelopments going up to the
Strand. It is still a hidden gem I
(03:28):
think. It really is.
It's one of those ones that unless you really walk past and
look at your SO maybe focusing on the the little alleyway to
get through to Fleet Street or focusing and get into what a
temple, you don't really notice it.
And I suppose that's part of themagic, isn't it?
It is we quite often. I'm a volunteer there when the
exhibition is open for four months of the year and quite
(03:51):
often people come in and say I've already passed it.
I've often thought, what is thisbuilding?
Or I used to work around here past it every day and didn't
even realise it was open. So yes, it isn't known very
widely, but hopefully it will get more so as the years go by.
Yes indeed, and it has been hostto a number of fascinating
(04:12):
exhibitions over the years. And can you maybe share some of
the most memorable ones? It opened to the public about 11
years ago when it was bought by the Bulldog Trust, a charity
that was set up to run it. And the first exhibition was
about William Morris, which obviously there's a link in time
there because it's a Victorian building.
(04:33):
It's at the same time as WilliamMorris, which was pretty
popular. In fact, there are still a
couple of items in the building that from that exhibition.
And then each year the brief hasbeen to introduce collections in
the rest of Great Britain. That highlights from some
collections that aren't well known around a particular theme.
So we've had things like the gems that were collected by the
(04:56):
cotton magnets of Manchester, sothe Cornish artists.
So it's had that brief. Last year we had a slight break
from that because of the leftover from COVID.
They won't ever develop the exhibitions, but this year we've
returned with an exhibition. I'll tell you about in a minute.
The most popular exhibition theyhad was in 2019 when they tied
(05:16):
in with the bicentenary of John Ruskin.
And they had they were overwhelmed with visitors that
year. Maybe a little bit too much
because it is only a small building, but it was a great
chance to see some of the collections from Sheffield and
the Lake District that he was linked with.
So that's been their remit. And then they got quite creative
with the themes that they've taken up around different
(05:38):
materials. The last one had a more
worldwide brief. It was about the development of
pottery in Africa and then the influence of that on the UK
industries in the 20th century. Always interesting, always
something different. Yeah, pretty wide brief.
And the the Bulldog Trust you'vejust mentioned.
That's why there is a sign of a bulldog hanging outside.
(05:59):
That all makes sense now. That's right.
Yes, one of the crews. In our temple treasure hunt.
But there you go. Wonderful.
So you mentioned about the latest exhibition.
Tell us about that. This year's exhibition is called
The Glass Heart, and it's about glass as a medium for both
(06:22):
stained glass and standalone vessels, as they're called.
And it brings together the collections from Sunderland's
National Glass Centre, the Stained Glass Museum in Ely and
the Stourbridge Glass Museum, which were all centres for glass
production. And you think I didn't know
Sunderland was a centre for glass production, but when you
think of Pyrex, which everybody had a piece of Pyrex in their
(06:44):
house, it shows that it was a a delicate but sturdy material
that had many sorts of uses and obviously as a medium for art as
well. So there's some fantastic pieces
that are complete fight flights of fancy and there are some that
are very practical and commemorative.
So all kinds of interesting things.
(07:05):
For example, there's a little glass boat that commemorates the
which was very popular in the Victorian area and was mass
produced, commemorates the heroic, the exploits of Grace
Darling in the lifeboat where where she saved saved so many
passengers. And it's also this exhibition
(07:27):
has it could have a huge brief because obviously we have
examples of Roman glass, but they've chosen to take the
starting point as the building of the Crystal Palace in 1851,
because obviously it was made ofglass, but also that was the
start of the use of glass as an everyday material.
Stained glass enjoyed a big revival in that era and as a
(07:50):
practical and as an ornamental kind of item, it really became
popular. Lots of examples of how it's
created, how it's blown and somecontemporary artists as well.
There's a piece, for example, byMonster Chetwin.
You know where else she's got a an installation in London at the
moment. There's one to scratch your head
(08:11):
over, Hazel. Not the BNA.
No underground Gloucester Road tube station.
Oh. Yes, and it's very interesting
when you're going through on theeastbound Gloucester Road line,
her illuminated pieces all alongthe side of the track there.
That's it. That is a space which is
normally used for our installations and she has one
(08:32):
there. She's a very creative person,
has turned her skills to glass making as well.
Fantastic. I do love glass as a, I'll say
an art form or a medium. I suppose when you talk about
the Victorian stained glass, a lot of people don't really
realize that a lot of the glass that we see in our churches now
is Victorian, thanks to Cromwellyears and having to rebuild some
(08:53):
of our history on that. I remember one of my best times
of going to Venice was to go to Murano and have a look at how
they made their glass there, andI bought 2 fantastic vases which
still bring warmth to my heart when I look at them now.
It's gorgeous. The way that light hits it and
to see how it's used over the years is absolutely fantastic.
(09:17):
So I'm looking forward to seeingthis one now you mentioned about
the. Asters do you want?
To get us into why the the strong ties are described of the
Astor family with Two Temple Place.
Yeah, sure. The building was commissioned by
William Maldorf Astor, who was the 3rd generation of the
(09:38):
Astors. The original person that's
founded the Astor family was John Jacob Astor, and he
emigrated from Germany and he made his money importing
exporting furs, Beaver furs. And he made so much money that
his son continued and built and invested a lot in buying lots of
(09:59):
land in Manhattan and became thelandlord of New York City.
And so when William Ward off Asda inherited the fortune from
his father in 1890, he was his father.
John Jacob Astor had been known as the landlord of New York.
Unfortunately, a lot of those buildings were slums and
tenements, but he still made a lot of money out of them.
(10:20):
And that made William Waldorf Astor reputedly the richest man
in the world at the time. But he had been based in New
York, as all his family had been, and he had a couple of
unfortunate incidents which drove him to find a new home and
he came to London for example. He had tried public life, but
(10:41):
he'd been a senator briefly. But at that time the press was
very looking for scandals, looking for headlines and they
found him to be rather dull character on the public platform
and they ridiculed him and he was a quite a shy man and he
found that ridicule very hard totake.
Also in society they had a little falling out with his
(11:02):
aunt, who insisted she was the Mrs. Astor and there were no
other Mrs. Asters to be had. And of course society in those
days was so around status and money that was a downside.
And also he worried about the security of his family.
There were quite a lot of kidnappings, children's
kidnappings and so forth going on.
(11:23):
He decided to relocate his family's wife and his five
children to London. And of course he had lots of
money. So he bought himself a very nice
house in Carlton Terrace and he decided he needed an office
building and the site of two Temple Place would be ideal.
And he set about. He gave the brief to the
(11:44):
architect John Loughborough Pearson and he said money, no
object here, build a suitable building.
And he also was very clear aboutthe security of the building.
It was pretty hot on security. And in the basement, for
example, there used to be a hugevault that covered most of the
basement, and there were strong rooms where all the documents
(12:06):
could be held because he ran. We just invented the telephone.
In that era, which is again, it's celebrated in the house and
cables and communication across the Atlantic was possible.
So he was able to run his entirebusiness empire from London, and
that was his little fortress. And there are touches of a
fortress, medieval castle in thedesign, There's cremations.
(12:27):
Along the outside there's a little tower, which is where the
staircase is. So it has little Gothic touches,
although the style is a bit of amixture of architectural styles
from that era. It isn't it.
It is rather romantic, isn't it?It is Castle.
It's funny what you're saying. Yeah.
It's funny what you're saying about John Lefroe Pearson.
(12:47):
Really. Because, but it's it's beautiful
romantic architecture, what we can see at 2 Temple Place.
But knowing that he did so many churches and cathedrals,
Peterborough being one, Leicester another, you can see
that influence in this building design, can't you?
And it's beautiful for what was initially an office.
(13:08):
It is when John Lofra Pearson was given that brief, he was
told money, no object, and he spent £250,000 which but today's
value they say is about 10 million.
So it's certainly very lavish decoration inside, which I'm
sure we'll get on to. But the outside is a sort of
mixture of styles and also incorporated Waldorf's idea of
(13:32):
security was very hot on security, a big vault, he had a
huge vault in the basement. He had lots of strong rooms, and
he although he didn't officiallylive there, he did have a little
sanctuary there where he had a bedroom and a bathroom.
And of course in the basement there were servants, housekeeper
(13:54):
and so forth that would have catered to his needs.
And when his wife died, he pretty much permanently moved in
there. He said he felt more secure
among all the vaults and the strong rooms and there was a
little court case where he wanted to be registered as a
Westminster resident at that address and he won the case and
he was able to cast his vote as a resident of that area.
(14:18):
Fantastic. Who would have thought?
If we're talking about the the outside with this kind of, I
suppose you can say, Gothic revival.
It is beautiful. How would you describe the
interior? I would say it's a Symphony in
wood, because wood was is the main material that's used.
William Waldorf Asda doesn't seem very keen on works of art,
(14:38):
unlike some of his contemporaries who collect a lot
of paintings. He did collect sculpture, but he
didn't want any representations on his wall.
On his decorative scheme, wood is the main thing and as you go
up the building, as you go from the ground floor to the first
floor, you can see a change of use because the ground floor is
(14:58):
panelled in oak, quartered oak which has that lovely grain and
that would have very much the place where his clerks worked
were so he needed to be quite plain, wasn't distracting.
But when he came into the building he came through the
double doors into a vestibule which has of course a beautiful
marble floor made of coloured gemstones, very much similar to
(15:20):
his other masterpiece, the Fitzrovia Chapel are using the
same Craftsman. Robert Davidson was the
Craftsman on that. And so you come into this sort
of Roman style floor. He does mix his eras and then
the first thing that Astor wouldhave seen was his magnificent
mahogany staircase, which he indulged his love of literature.
It's the first time you see it in Temple Place.
(15:42):
It has these beautiful series ofstatues carved by John Nichols
who represent the characters from The Three Musketeers, which
was apparently William Waldorf Astor's favorite book.
So we start with D'artagnan and then on the left hand side we
have the other Musketeers, so wehave Aramis, Artos and Portos,
and on the other side we have other characters, Milady, Moo,
(16:05):
Winter and Barazon who illustrate the whole series.
So the staircase itself is sometimes overlooked because
these statues are so amazing. They're about 18 inches tall and
full of character. Aramis, for example, is looking
quite interested. Apparently if you look, one of
the statues has a thumb missing because they could take them off
(16:27):
to clean them over the years, but I've never been able to spot
the missing thumbs. So it's regularly done, but it's
beautiful detail on those statues and as you go up the
staircase, you come onto the balcony the first floor, which
is amazing. The pillars are made of Ebony
and that length of Ebony is not available now because Ebony is
(16:47):
really a Bush. It's not a tree, it doesn't
often grow that tall and it's sorare they couldn't be replaced
if they were ever lost. And we had the start of the use
of more interesting wood. So though we had mahogany on the
1st floor, there is the panelling is pencil, wood,
cedar, which strangely is from the juniper tree, but it's
(17:10):
called pencil with cedar. If you get very close and sniff
it, it does smell of pencils. That's the plain panelling, but
above the panelling because the stairway is lit by lovely
stained glass by the firm Clayton and Bell, which is a
little bit of a reflection of this exhibition being about
glass. We've got all kinds of carvings
there. We've got two carvings, 6
(17:32):
figures that represent three of William Ward of Astor's favorite
American novels. So we've got Last of the
Mohicans represented, Scarlet Letter and Rip Van Winkle.
So six really large statues. Then above that there are some
more carved freezes, which each represent a different
(17:55):
Shakespearean play. So he's mixing English and
American literature because those were his favourites.
And then you go on to the library which that side of the
building is quite shady, particularly when the Middle
Temple library overlooked it. They decided on satin wood,
which is a very shiny wood, a very light coloured wood as it
(18:16):
would amplify the light in that room.
And these carvings are done of walnut.
And there was once a lovely marble fireplace there, but that
was removed after the war. But it's still a lovely room,
and it was Asta's private library where he used to retreat
to in the afternoons. I think I pitched him there with
with his cigar and his Brandy orwhatever, perhaps having a
(18:38):
little nap in the afternoon and a lovely room when the sun
shines on that satin wood and the little walnut, they're a
little there's. Although all the books have
gone, the bookcases are still there and they're used for the
exhibition. They're an excellent little
cubby holes for little exhibits to go in and above them is a
line of little cherubs, little putty, who represent the modern
(19:00):
arts. So although though one has
traditionally got a little globe, another one's got a
microscope to show you the modern science art.
It's a lovely little room. And then the main hall, the
largest hall of course is is a stunning visage in every aspect
of it is so wonderful. It's a hammer beam roof.
You mentioned John Loughborough Pearson very much sort of a
(19:23):
medievalist, lovely old churchesand for a time he was in charge
of works at Westminster and he renovated Westminster Hall and
obviously he enjoyed the hammer beam, the original medieval
hammer beam roof there and he recreated a slightly smaller
version in this room. So it's got a magnificent hammer
beam roof, but of course it doesn't stop there, the
(19:45):
beautiful panelling. There's carved fireplaces.
What strikes visitors usually first is there's a freeze of
gilded faces around the top of the room, and they're completely
random. They're just characters that
William Mordorf Astor loved, either real people or imaginary
people. So you've got Ophelia from
(20:06):
Shakespeare, but you've also gotBismarck.
You've got, you've got all the sort of heroines he liked, A
tragic heroine. Got all tragic heroines, Mary,
Queen of Scots and so forth, andthey're in no particular order.
So you'll get someone from the 14th century next to someone
from the 19th century. They're not grouped in any way,
but there originally were fifty of these gilded faces around
(20:27):
there. A few of them were lost during
the war, the end of the buildingwas damaged and was
reconstructed. And then above the gilded, the
breeze of faces on the hammer beam roof, there's a series of
statues again, which are from Ivanhoe by Wolf Scott.
So you've got Bade, Marian and Robin Hood and so far and the
story goes with those that the the the Carver and the Craftsman
(20:50):
that created them just did them in wood originally.
But Asda's eyesight was was fading a little bit by this
time, so he asked it to have them gilded so he could see them
more clearly. And the Carver didn't wasn't so
keen on that idea. And as a little kind of
reminder, there's a beautiful door, and above the door there's
(21:10):
an angry putty, a tiny little cherub who's got his arms folded
and is looking rather cross, which is not, and his pose isn't
a normal pose that you'd see a cherub in and be up below the
cherub is a beautiful gilded door, which was which was done
by George Frampton, who you may know you did Peter Pan in
(21:33):
Kensington Gardens. Oh, of course.
Yes, so this is 3 dimensional raised metalwork and it depicts
9 maidens of the Arthurian legends.
So you've got Guinevere and you've got the Lady of the Lake
and they would have been directly opposite because the
photographs show that Astor had his desk facing that door and
(21:53):
all his objects and his collections around him.
He would have had some of his statues and he even had sort of
mannequins in medieval dress around him as well.
I don't know. It's strange that the other
pictures show of his time there and in the next room, which is
now the shop that room into, wasentirely a strong room, so it
has no decoration at all. But now we have some nice
(22:14):
William Morris wallpaper on there and that's the part that's
open to the public. There are other little nooks and
crannies that you can see into that I still used as offices for
the Bulldog Trust. It sounds like a very personal
building project. It was absolutely was he really
indulged his love of literature and how he wanted to be
(22:37):
surrounded her because he could spend whatever money he liked
and that may be why his family sold it after he died and he
died in 1919 and in it was emptyfor a couple of years and it was
bought in 1922 and luckily for us this comes to the is your
other question really about how it's been preserved over time.
(23:00):
We it's really had three very careful owners until the build
or trust and I wonder if the family decided to dispose of it.
Partly because they've moved some of their offices back to
states but because it was so personal whether some whether
those descendants really took that style and of course
fashions change taste change Mayit was very ornate.
(23:23):
The first guardians of it first custodians were an insurance
company Sun Life of Canada. But they were only there for six
years till 1928, and then it wasbought by the Society of
Incorporated Accountants and Auditors.
And it worked well for their uses because they were able to
not only use it as offices but also as a social space for their
(23:46):
members, which of course Asta's rooms really lent themselves to
that as well. And we're lucky that they were
the custodians during Second World War.
They took away, they saved the stained glass, they preserved
it, and they rebuilt very carefully after the war, very in
a very similar style to what hadbeen before, and preserved a lot
of it through that. One thing they did change was
(24:09):
the door. The original doorway to the
building was completely destroyed by an incendiary bomb
just outside. And that had been, again, very
personal. It had the Waldorf family Crest
above it. Because William Waldorf Astor
was very conscious of his heritage, it created this family
Crest. So it was, and it added to the
(24:29):
sort of gothic baronial look at the building when it was
destroyed during the war. It was simply replaced where by
much simpler wooden doorway and the window above was enlarged to
compensate in the sort of balance of the building and a
new wing was added. But so subtly done, so well
done, that you wouldn't really know unless you could pick out
slightly more modern carving. The accountants were very good
(24:51):
custodians, but they gave up thebuilding in 92, the
Pharmaceutical club, Smith and Nephew, inventors of the
Elastoplast. That's where they made their
money. But again, they were very good
custodians. They did change the entrance
foyer area. They updated it.
They gave it a couple of modern 1960s touches, new lamps,
(25:12):
seating area which is upholstered in reindeer leather,
and a lovely pendant clock whichis very modern sort of style.
But it all works quite well in the style in that area, and that
area wasn't particularly decorative before, and that they
did little touches to the building.
They put fire guards on the radiators.
(25:32):
It was one of the very first buildings to have central
heating, right when Asda built. It was one of the first
buildings to have electricity, which is celebrated in the
little lamp posts outside. And so after Smith and Nephew
they they were there for 1959 to1999 and then it was bought by
Sir Richard Hall who establishedthe Bulldog Trust to look after
(25:54):
it. We've been lucky that the
custodians haven't changed very much and also they have
maintained the fabric of the building, which any historic
building needs that to keep going.
Yeah, that's very good, especially as you were saying 8.
Very personal, but also has styles and requirements of an
office building change, so we'revery lucky to to have this one.
(26:16):
Now, there's something that you said at the very beginning about
the choice of location for Two Temple Place, but why did Aster
choose that particular location?I think he was quite impressed
that it was next to Middle Temple, A lot of history there.
Astor was a complete history buff as well as his original
(26:37):
townhouse, Cotton house. He bought Clifton, which he
renovated. He bought Hever Castle, she
renovated. He had quite a thing about Anne
Boleyn, I think she was appearedin quite a few of his things and
apparently she he even had the rosary that that was supposed to
have belonged to her. I think he liked the historical
aspect of it being next to the Middle Temple.
(26:58):
As I say, originally it was nextto the library that was
destroyed during the war, which was a huge Victorian building
with a steep Gable, and that kind of influenced the look of
the building when they when he was working with his architect
to reflect that kind of historicoutlook, he was he qualified as
a lawyer himself. He studied law, so he perhaps
liked the fact that it was law, but also I think it was because
(27:20):
that land was quite reasonable. It was new land, but in the
embankment front of it was created in the 1860s to take the
sewage pipe and the district line underground.
So that was new ground that was going to be land always going to
be landscaped as a garden and ithas many statues in it as well.
I'm sure that would have appealed to Asda.
And so this land it may defunct all the Riverside activities
(27:43):
that had taken place on north ofthat area.
So I think the land was quite reasonable because it it was out
of fashion and its uses had changed.
There was nobody had perhaps hadperhaps but him had a foresight
to see it would be such a livelyarea linked to these other
nearby facilities. I think it was the the land came
up at the right point and it hadthe historical links that he
(28:03):
liked. It was just called Approach Rd.
when he when he bought it. It was just seen as a road that
you approach Middle Temple with.It didn't have its own
character, but I think that his building helped too and there
are other professional buildingsin the road as well.
Helped to give it a little bit more interest and stability,
but. It's also the location is
(28:24):
helpful when he purchased the Palma Gazette and and although
the printing presses etcetera, the observer on on Fleet Street.
He was in. It all wasn't he.
He I think he had. He loved literature, he had
literary aspirations. He wrote novels himself, didn't
he? And they were quite well
received. Apparently the first one he did
have published anonymously, so it wouldn't it would have.
(28:46):
It was it's reviews would be real.
But of course he did fall out with the man with the editor of
the Hal Mile Gazette because he wanted to publish his own
stories in it and he created themagazine so that he could
publish his own stories. Buying the server was a thing
later in life once he was established to head to his
empire publishing empire. There's a connection you've
(29:08):
mentioned with Downton Abbey because you mentioned about
George Frampton and the statue of Peter Pan which is in Downton
Abbey, but also to Temple Place and that beautiful staircase is
used when Lady Rose gets married.
Yes, it stood in for Kingston Hall.
And you do notice I jump up and down now and I've seen ATV
(29:31):
series or a film. There's a a corner of a
staircase or an office used. I think the most well known use
for filming was Bridget. Dangerous Diary has been filmed
there and in one of the early films.
She's sitting waiting. I think it's supposed to be a
doctor's waiting room. She's sitting under one of the
beautiful stained glass windows in the main hall and with the
(29:54):
light coming behind her. But they did use it for later
ones. But you often just see a
corridor, a panel corridor, and I enjoyed the use.
It was made of a recent film of blind spirit with the Judi Dench
played Mrs. Arkati, the medium, and she comes to the offices of
the Society of Mediums or something.
And it's the Asta's main office,and it was in its Victorian
(30:15):
heyday, so it looked scrumptious.
Even dressed, with fake office accoutrements, it looked it
looked very impressive for that kind of organization.
But yes, apparently Batman and all kinds of things like that
been filmed there because peoplewonder as well.
The building is only open four months a year for the art
exhibition, from January to April, and it's closed the rest
of the year. They're encouraging more open
(30:37):
days to happen. Any fundraising they do through
the building being open, sellingsouvenirs and books and things.
Any donations people make help the fabric of the building
itself for them to put on more art exhibitions, more
activities. In the summer they open for a
couple of days family trails, they have some artworks
developed for families and of course they open for open house
(31:00):
in September. But apart from that, the rest of
the year they use for private functions.
Weddings are very popular, obviously a magnificent setting
for a wedding, corporate functions and filming.
Of course, this last year with the writers strike hasn't been
so much filming, but it's certainly on the list of places
that are well used for filming. And because it's closed, it's
obviously easier to set up a filming apparatus there, yeah?
(31:23):
Of course, if anybody hasn't been to Two Temple Place, then
now is your opportunity to go. Maggie.
When does the exhibition is already open?
When does it close? It finishes at the end of April.
Just after Easter it closes. It's open Tuesdays to Sundays.
The opening hours this year are going to be a little later, so
(31:45):
it opens at 11 and stays open till 6.
And the idea is that people perhaps can come after work.
It's shorter hours on a Sunday and it's open late every
Wednesday and during the late night Wednesdays we actually
sell alcohol, beers and wine andthere is entertain, there's
entertainment, there's a full programme of activities going on
(32:06):
in the evenings. There's also workshops and talks
and if you look on the the website for Two Temple Place,
it'll tell you all about those and how to book.
So there are tours down of the building as well.
You can book for those. Excellent.
Plenty to look forward to. We'll put a link to the all of
that in the show notes as well. So you've got everything all in
(32:27):
one place. Maggie, thank you so much.
Oh, thank you, Hazel. That's all for now.
Until next time.
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