The Blackfriars Rotunda was a building in Southwark , near the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge across the River Thames in London, that existed from 1787 to 1958 in various forms. It initially housed the collection of the Leverian Museum after it had been disposed of by lottery. For a period it was home to the Surrey Institution . In the early 1830s it notoriously was the centre for the activities of the Rotunda radicals . Its subsequent existence was long but less remarkable.
35-528: James Parkinson came into possession of the collection of Sir Ashton Lever quite by chance: Lever put it up as a lottery prize, Parkinson's wife bought two tickets, gave one away, and died before the time the lottery draw was carried out. After trying to run the museum in its old location in Leicester Square , but finding the rent too much, Parkinson with other investors put up the Rotunda Building; it
70-592: A bicycle. In the 1998 spy film The Avengers , the bridge is destroyed by a tornado caused by a weather-changing machine built by a mad scientist when he causes a hurricane over London. The bridge was featured in the film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). The Order of the Phoenix passes under it on their flight from number four, Privet Drive to Grimmauld Place. In Terry Gilliam 's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), Heath Ledger 's character Tony
105-487: A centre for radical lectures and meetings. There were also waxworks and wild beasts. The Rotunda radicals , known at the time as Rotundists or Rotundanists , were a diverse group of social, political and religious radical reformers who gathered there, between 1830 and 1832, during Carlile's tenure. During this period almost every well-known radical in London spoke there at meetings which were often rowdy. The Home Office regarded
140-766: A concert room. George Jacob Holyoake was teaching and lecturing there in 1843. At a later point it was the Britannia Music Hall. After an illegal cock fight was discovered, the Rotunda finally lost its entertainment licence, in 1886. In 1912 the Rotunda was in use as a warehouse. The structure was damaged during World War II , and had been patched up by 1950. It was demolished in 1958. 51°30′28″N 0°06′17″W / 51.50791°N 0.10476°W / 51.50791; -0.10476 James Parkinson (museum proprietor) James Parkinson (baptised 28 February 1730, St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury – 25 February 1813)
175-469: A former chairman of Italy's largest private bank, was found hanging from one of its arches with five bricks and around $ 14,000 in three different currencies in his pockets. Calvi's death was initially treated as suicide, but he was on the run from Italy accused of embezzlement and in 2002 forensic experts concluded that he had been murdered by the Mafia , to whom he was indebted. In 2005, five suspected members of
210-430: A junction with the routes created to simplify passage between those bridges to its east and west to the south it would also add to those improvements. This created the junction at St George's Circus between Westminster Bridge Road , Borough Road and the later named Blackfriars Road which crossed the largely open parish of Christchurch Surrey . The continuation to the south at the major junction at Elephant and Castle
245-479: Is found hanging under the Blackfriars Bridge, described by Terry Gilliam as "an homage to Roberto Calvi ". In Cassandra Clare 's book series The Infernal Devices , Tessa Gray and Jem Carstairs meet at the bridge every year from 1878 to 2008 except for 1941 as it was deemed too dangerous due to World War II. They also get married there. The many difficulties encountered and innovations used in building
280-485: Is the committee-room. On the other side of the theatre is the library, which is sixty feet in length, with a gallery on three sides, and an easy access to it by a flight of steps. The building from 1823 was used in a variety of ways until 1855, when it was put to ordinary business use, as the Royal Albion pub. In the 1820s it was a wine and concert room. It also hosted a diorama (a peristrephic panorama as described at
315-473: Is therefore named London Road . Although it was built of Portland stone the workmanship was very faulty. Between 1833 and 1840 extensive repairs were necessary, until at last it was decided to build a new bridge on the same site, which coincided with the creation of the Thames Embankment 's junction with the new Queen Victoria Street and required a major reconfiguration. The original Blackfriars Bridge
350-534: The River Rhine at Rees, Germany , in 1945 by the Royal Canadian Engineers (R.C.E.) was named "Blackfriars Bridge", and, at 558 m (1814 ft) including the ramps at each end, was the longest Bailey bridge then constructed. In Neil Gaiman 's Neverwhere , "Blackfriars Bridge" was named as the home of an unknown order of monks who held the key to an angelic prison. The bridge is also featured in
385-755: The River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge , carrying the A201 road . The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Church , along with Blackfriars station . The south end is in the London Borough of Southwark , near the Tate Modern art gallery and the Oxo Tower . Opened in the 1860s, it replaced an earlier bridge from
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#1732847868772420-471: The 1760s. The first fixed crossing at Blackfriars was a 995-foot (303 m) long toll bridge designed in an Italianate style by Robert Mylne and constructed with nine semi-elliptical arches of Portland stone. Beating designs by John Gwynn and George Dance , it took nine years to build, opening to the public in 1769. It was the third bridge across the Thames in the then built-up area of London, supplementing
455-532: The British Glass Warehouse by the side of the river (in business from 1773), and the Albion Mills over the street (burned down in 1791). Parkinson made serious efforts to promote the collection as a commercial venture. A catalogue and guide was printed in 1790. He also had George Shaw write an illustrated scientific work. Parkinson had some success in getting naturalists to attend the museum, which
490-664: The Mafia were tried in a Rome court for Calvi's murder, but all were acquitted in June 2007 for lack of evidence. On the piers of the bridge are stone carvings of water birds by sculptor John Birnie Philip . On the East (downstream) side (i.e. the side closer to the Thames Estuary and North Sea ), the carvings show marine life and seabirds; those on the West (upstream) side show freshwater birds – reflecting
525-512: The Rotunda as a centre of violence, sedition and blasphemy, and regularly spied on its meetings. In 1831 it was described as the Surrey Rotunda on Albion Place (the area south of Blackfriars Bridge , with the industrial buildings) leading to Albion Street. From 1833 to 1838 it operated as the Globe Theatre; under John Blewitt it was called a "musick hall", and in 1838 the Rotunda was again
560-618: The Thames under the north end of Blackfriars Bridge. The structure was given Grade II listed status in 1972. In 1774 the new bridge was mentioned in a popular song in Charles Dibdin 's opera The Waterman , referring to the boatmen who used to carry fashionable folks to Vauxhall Gardens and Ranelagh Gardens . And did you not hear of the jolly young waterman, Who at Blackfriars Bridge used for to ply? And he feathered his oars with such skill and dexterity, Winning each heart and delighting each eye. A Bailey bridge constructed over
595-582: The adverse opinion of Sir Joseph Banks . In the end, for financial reasons, Parkinson sold the collection in lots by auction in 1806. Among the buyers were Edward Donovan , Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby , and William Bullock ; many items went to other museums, including the Imperial Museum of Vienna . When the Surrey Institution was being proposed, around 1807, the Rotunda Building (as it
630-678: The ancient London Bridge , which dated from several centuries earlier, and Westminster Bridge . It was originally named "William Pitt Bridge" (after the Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder ) as a dedication, but its informal name relating to the precinct within the City named after the Blackfriars Monastery, a Dominican priory which once stood nearby, was generally adopted. It was later made toll free. The City of London Corporation
665-500: The area was under 1000 square yards, however. It was located on Great Surrey Street , fronting on the Georgian terrace there (and was only later properly known as 3 Blackfriars Road, the street name being changed in 1829). The layout is believed to be documented only by a single surviving sketched floor plan. The Leverian collection was moved in from Leicester House in 1788. At the time the nearby buildings on Albion Place were industrial:
700-511: The bridge are shaped like a pulpit in a reference to Black Friars. The bridge gave its name to Blackfriars Bridge railway station on the southern bank which opened in 1864 before closing to passengers in 1885 following the opening of what is today the main Blackfriars station . Blackfriars Bridge station continued as a goods stop until 1964 when it was completely demolished, and much of it redeveloped into offices. The River Fleet empties into
735-415: The collection was dispersed. The auction took place over 65 days, with a total of 8000 lots, and earned a total of £6600. Parkinson had two sons and a daughter. Of the sons, John (1775-1847) who had an interest in minerals became a diplomat, and was elected FRS in 1840 while Joseph (1782-1855) became an architect. Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over
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#1732847868772770-573: The draw had been made and Parkinson later discovered that his wife, now deceased, had won the lottery. The formation of the collection had bankrupted Lever. Parkinson spent nearly two decades trying to make a success of its display, at the Blackfriars Rotunda , which he specially designed with the help of his son, the architect Joseph T. Parkinson . He published various pamphlets; however, the museum did not pay enough for its own maintenance and, after twenty years, he put it up for auction in 1806, and
805-547: The lyrics of the song "The Resurrectionist" by the Pet Shop Boys . In Louis A. Meyer 's Bloody Jack: Being An Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy , Jacky is introduced as an orphan in early 19th-century London who lives with her orphan gang under Blackfriars Bridge. The bridge appears during the opening sequence of the film Happy-Go-Lucky , where the main character rides across it on
840-441: The project. The metalwork for the bridge was ultimately constructed by The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company, Wednesbury , following their acquisition of Lloyds, Foster and Company. The present bridge which on 6 November 1869 was opened by Queen Victoria is 923 feet (281 m) long, consisting of five wrought iron arches built to a design by Joseph Cubitt . Cubitt also designed the adjacent rail bridge (now demolished) and it
875-436: The role of Blackfriars as the tidal turning point. On the north side of the bridge is a statue of Queen Victoria (funded by Sir Alfred Seale Haslam ), to whom the bridge was dedicated. At the north end of the bridge is a commemorative plaque documenting the bridge's history, including its reopening in 1909 by Lord Mayor Truscott, accompanied by a relief of the coat of arms of the City of London Corporation . The ends of
910-450: The time), and a book about its representation of the Greek War of Independence was published in 1828. Under the title Old Rotunda Assembly Rooms the Rotunda is also written into the early history of music hall , for the performances of variety acts offered there in 1829, including the extemporiser Charles Sloman . In May or June 1830 Richard Carlile took over the Rotunda, and it became
945-452: The volume of traffic over the bridge, it was widened between 1907 and 1910, from 70 feet (21 m) to its present 105 feet (32 m). On 14 September 1909 a tram line was opened across the newly widened bridge by the Lord Mayor of London, George Wyatt Truscott . It closed on 5 July 1952. The bridge attracted some international attention in June 1982, when the body of Roberto Calvi ,
980-488: Was a condition that the spans and piers of the two bridges be aligned. Like its predecessor it is owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates , a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation . The Blackfriars and Southwark Bridges Act 1867 put the full length and its southern end within the city's borders, in the parish of St Anne Blackfriars, and not in the adjoining borough of Southwark . Due to
1015-628: Was an English land agent and the proprietor of the Leverian Museum which he won in a lottery. He then moved the Leverian collection to a museum at the Blackfriars Rotunda which was sometimes referred to as "Parkinson's Museum". He has sometimes been confused with the surgeon James Parkinson . Parkinson was the son of James Parkinson and his wife, Jane Birch who had moved from Ireland to Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England, in 1723. His first training
1050-584: Was as a law stationer, but he then became a land agent and accountant. In 1769 he helped in the settlement of Sir Thomas Robinson 's tangled estates at Rokeby , Yorkshire. This success made his reputation. He later became involved in the Ranelagh Gardens . Parkinson's wife Sarah (married around 1775) had bought two tickets at a guinea each of the lottery for the disposal of the Holophusicon collection of Sir Ashton Lever sometime in 1784. On 23 March 1786,
1085-403: Was dismantled in 1860. P.A. Thom & Company won the contract for the bridge's reconstruction, and they placed an order with Lloyds, Foster and Company for the required ironwork. However, P.A. Thom encountered difficulties in finding stable foundations for the bridge, which ultimately led to financial troubles. As a result, Lloyds, Foster and Company went bankrupt, suffering a loss of £250,000 on
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1120-517: Was easier at the time to visit than the British Museum . A visitor in 1799, Heinrich Friedrich Link , was complimentary. A description a visit to the museum for children can be found in The School-Room Party (1800). As well as trying to build it up as a business, Parkinson also tried to sell the contents at various times. One attempt, a proposed purchase by the government, was wrecked by
1155-469: Was of his own design (along with his architect son Joseph Parkinson), was constructed by James Burton , and was opened in 1787. The Rotunda building had a central circular gallery and in brick; the roof was conical and in slate. It was located on the south side of the Thames , and at the time was in the county of Surrey . The dimensions were later given as 120 feet by 132 feet, i.e. 1760 square yards; originally
1190-461: Was responsible for promoting it and the location between the other two bridges was chosen because it was realised that the disused wharfage of the lower River Fleet from the Thames to what became Ludgate Circus would allow access into the north bank without unduly disrupting the neighbourhood; hence its name of New Bridge Street . The Fleet can be seen discharging into the Thames at its north side. By taking an access road from its southern landing to
1225-520: Was then known) was adapted to the Institution's needs by Joseph T. Parkinson , son of James Parkinson. The Institution ran into financial difficulties, and was closed down in 1823. The building was adapted to public lectures, in a large theatre. There were other public rooms: Adjoining the theatre and near the inclosed part appropriated to the lecturer, is the chemical laboratory, in which convenience, compactness, and elegance are united. Contiguous to it
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