Kilmorey Mausoleum

Transcription

Addison Lee is proud to sponsor the Ancient World in London series. London is wrapped in thousands of layers of history. From the prehistoric builders of Stonehenge, to Roman and Saxon invasion. Through wars, to today, each layer has left its mark on the city. The MI6 building in Vauxhall is modelled on the Great Ziggurat of Ur in modern Iraq. Famed architect Nicholas Hawksmoor built St George Church to resemble the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And St Pancras Parish Church was modelled on the caryatids of the Erechtheum in Athens, part of which was taken by Lord Elgin and is now on display at the British Museum. Britons have been drawn to Egypt for centuries – it's scorched landscape is a far cry from this drizzly island. From Belzoni, Carter, Carnarvon to yesterday – London's explorers have been braving the desert for centuries trying to explore Egypt's ancient wonders. We sent Nicole on the road to see how Egyptomania has gripped London in modern times. For me, the fascination of Ancient Egypt is the way that it continues to exert its power on us today. It's really not dead. We can see today the tremendous influence that the Ancient Egyptians have had upon things like our own architecture, our own art styles. The most amazing thing is that you can still meet real Ancient Egyptians, you can see the mummies, you can look them in the eye! And really, that's the closest we're ever going to be able to get to jumping into the Tardis and go back to Ancient Egypt. I'm here at Cleopatra's Needle. Unfortunately I can't see everything as it's covered in scaffolding, but don't fear as Jasmine's here to tell us a little more about it. Did you know it's got absolutely nothing to do with Cleopatra? It was built by the Pharaoh Tuthmosis III in about 1350BC, about 3,500 years ago. Although this is an Ancient Egyptian monument thousands of years old, it does have a Victorian history, as it came to London in the Victorian period and was decorated by the Victorians. They built a great stone base for it, including two enormous metal sphinxes, each with an inscription to Tuthmosis III who raised the obelisk. The obelisk itself is mounted on four great metal Egyptian-style wings and on each face there are two rearing cobras and a sun disk with wings. Now these are typical Egyptian symbols and they chose these symbols well because they are solar symbols, and obelisks were thought to represent rays of the sun blessing the Pharaoh. and obelisks were thought to represent rays of the sun blessing the Pharaoh. So why is it here? It was given as a gift to the British government but they unfortunately didn't have the money to bring it to the UK. They were able to get Giovanni Belzoni, the famous explorer of Egyptian tombs, to drag the obelisk all the way to the beach at Alexandria, but that was all they could do for many years, so there it sat. Until they finally raised enough funds to put it inside a giant iron cylinder, which they called the Cleopatra. Then they attached this to a boat which would tow it all the way to London, they hoped. But then there was a terrible storm and the Cleopatra came loose, and in trying to retrieve it, six men lost their lives and these men's names are commemorated on the plaque, which is on the base of the Needle. They finally found the thing floating at sea, attached a new boat, and off it gradually went to London. When the needle was erected in 1878, they inserted a time capsule underneath it. The Ancient Egyptians themselves used to put time capsules in their buildings when they erected them, including little models of the tools they had used to make the buildings with. Harrods Department Store in Knightsbridge was built in 1905 but in 1985 it was bought by the Egyptian businessman Mohammed Al Fayed who loved Egypt style so much, that he decorated the entire basement and first floor with Egyptian lights, fittings, even images of himself as a sphinx! Down in the basement, there's a famous memorial to Dodi and Princess Diana. This beautiful memorial has objects from their last night together and their names written in hieroglyphs around scenes of the beautiful Egyptian marshes. I'm here in Twickenham and I've just gone through a secret door into this garden. Why are we here? We're here for the amazing Kilmorey Mausoleum from 1855. This is actually part of what used to be the grounds of Gordon House which belonged to Francis Jack Needham, the second Earl of Kilmorey, also known as Black Jack. You see, his mistress – Priscilla Hoste – when she died he was heartbroken and he got this wonderful mausoleum for her at Brockten cemetery. Then when he moved house, not once but twice, he had the whole thing dismantled and rebuilt at great expense wherever he was living. Why was it built in such an Egyptian style? Ancient Egypt was all the rage in the early 19th century after Napoleon and his soldiers and scholars had opened up Egypt to the Western World. Are there anymore interesting facts about this? Yes, there is a tunnel discovered in the 1960s which runs from the old grounds of Gordon House right through to the grounds here of the Mausoleum, and we know that Lord Kilmorey used to lied down like a corpse in a winding sheet, in his coffin and would have his servants push him along on a trolley up here to this tomb. His first wife and his second wife were not allowed to visit his tomb, even though his mistress (who he never married) was buried here. Why is this so special to you? This is one of the best surviving examples of Victorian Egyptian viable architecture. Plus the coffins of Black Jack and Priscilla are still sealed inside. A great way to explore London's history is by visiting one of its many cemeteries. Did you know that Highgate cemetery has got its own Egyptian Avenue? Or a short trip outside the city is Highclere Castle, home of Lord Carnarvon and his spooky hilltop grave. So where are we heading next? We are going to The Black Cat Factory! That sounds intriguing! Lets get going! We're here in Camden outside this massive Egyptian style building. Jasmine, tell me – what is this? This is called the Black Cat Factory. It was the Carrera cigarette factory, the Arcadia works, built in 1928. And on the day it was opened, they put sand down in front of it to make it look like an Egyptian temple out in the desert, and they had the whole cast of the Egyptian opera Aida in their costumes standing out the front in a parade, and they even had chariots racing in front of the building. Tell me, why build a cigarette factory that actually looks like an Egyptian temple? It was built in the 1920s when King Tut's tomb had only just been discovered in '22. And that set Egyptian fever among architects everywhere. The other thing is, cigarettes were a luxury item and Ancient Egypt is associated with glamour and beauty and luxury. So it seemed quite logical to build a cigarette factory that looked like an Egyptian temple! So it's the end of our day now and it's been a real eye-opener. I never knew there were so many ancient inspired buildings in London. There's probably something near you so get out and about and try and see what you can find. If you want to find out more, go to Heritage-Key.com Those cheeky Victorians put pictures of pretty girls beneath Cleopatra's Needle along with some mechanical stuff. But what would you put in a time capsule today? Leave your comments below!