Historic England

Occasionally a character emerges in the archives which one has to follow through ... one such is Harvey Leach, an irascible dwarf comedian of the early Victorian period, best remembered as the 'Gnome Fly:ADELPHI THEATREA curious performance was attempted last night at this theatre. Mr. Yates, in his constant search after novelty, has availed himself of the services of a Milanese dwarf, and as the little man's personal merits are not much ibn his favour, he has presented him successively in the shape of a baboon and a bluebottle fly. Signor HERVIO NANO acquits himself to admiration in both characters, and it is a question whether his mischievous tricks ni the form of the ape, or his agile flight in the personification of the fly, are most amusing. The audience were equally delighted with both, and every chattering of the brute and flutter of the insect brought down thunders of applause. For the purpose of making the doctrine of the transmigration of souls on which the piece turns well understood by the gallery, Signor HERVIO first appears in his proper shape as Alnain, the King of the Gnomes. He then for the purposes of serving his friend, the son of the Grand Mogul, shoots his soul into the body of the King's baboon, and in that disguise performs every trick that a baboon can be guilty of, with a fidelity to nature that shows how closely man and the monkey are allied. Though he looks and acts becomingly in the character he is compelled to abandon it, because the Queen of the Peris counteracts his plans, and causes the Princess, whom he wishes to disenchant, to be locked up in a dreadful tower. He transfuses his spirit into the body of a fly, and buzzes about in the best bluebottle fashion. He flies on invisible wires from the stage to the lofty turret where the Princess is encased, delivers her from the enchantment, and then to prove that he is no impostor, runs up the side pillars of the stage, crosses the ceiling feet up, and descends at the other side. The Queen of the Peris cannot withstand such devotion - the lovers are united and the fly reassumes human shape. The performances are, in fact, very extraordinary. MAZURIER himself could not play the ape with more agility, and as to the fly, the personifcation was so perfect that if it were summer the flies themselves might mistake him for one of their companions. The Morning Post, Thursday, February 01, 1838FRACAS AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, BIRMINGHJAMLast night the theatre was in a state of considerable excitement, in consequence of Hervio Nano (better known as Harvey Leach), the dwarf, not appearing to sustain the character he was announced for in the bills of the day, in a new piece called the Demon Dwarf. Mr. Simpson, the stage manager, explained to the audiecne the cuase of Mr. Leech's refusal to perform, stating that he claimed unjustly 10l. which had been deducted from the receipts of the previous Saturday, as Mr. Yates' share of extra supernumeraries, &c, Leach being engaged by Yates to perform. Mr. Hooper (of the Theatre Royal, Drury-lane, who is also engaged by Mr. Yates) stepped forward, corroborated the stage-manager's explanation, and censured Mr. Leach for his conduct. The Demon Dwarf, however, declared that he would not stir until he got the 10l. and used sundry "demoniacal" expressions, such as liar, &c., jumped on the edge of the lower box circle and addressed the gallery with much emphasis. This procured him considerable applause, which was followed out by the gods, upwards of 1000 in number, tearing up the benches and hurling them into the pit (first having given notice to the pittites who scrambled into the boxes). The work of devastation then began in real earnest. Chandeliers, forms, &c. were a complete wreck; fortunately no person was injured. After some resistance the little man was taken into custody, and now remains in durance vile till responsible bail is given for his liberation.The Standard, Thursday, October 04, 1838GUILDHALLHarvey Leach, the 'Gnome

One of London's less well-known museums, the Motor Museum also takes an unusual approach. Rather than the vintage vehicles which form the core of most collections, its attention is firmly on custom machines. Like the Sewing Machine Museum, it's one person's collection: the owner, Elo, worked in fashion before turning all his attention to his hundreds of cars. There are some other vehicles, too - a small collection of tractors, including a customised one, and even a bicycle. Two caveats - admission isn't cheap (although it costs much less when bought online); and the museum is actually in Hayes, Middlesex, around the corner from the station.

Lavender PumphouseThis was constructed by the Port of London Authority in 1930 to maintain the water level in the old Surrey Commercial Dock.{The image at the top is the London Docklands Development Corporation logo.}

The Pumphouse Educational Trust - heritage museum and nature reserve.Outstanding services to schools, older and young people from 1989.London Borough of Southwark - Voted by the people

To the South Country, and then east... The collection of late Gothic windows along the south aisle of St George's, Brede, proclaims this part of the church to date to the 15th century, though the rest of the building is earlier. It seemed to me to be typical not only of its period but also of its place – the combination of grey stone walls and rich red tiled roof is redolent of Sussex. This happy marriage of building and setting is enhanced further by the fact that the church, set just off the main village street, overlooks a beautiful, broad valley, with views far into the distance. Having this place revealed to me – and by a friend who knows this part of the South Country well – was a great pleasure.I wanted to share this picture, with its associations of both architecture and place, because it sums up one of my main preoccupations. And a summing-up is appropriate because I want to signal a change, temporary I hope, in my postings. Regular readers will have noticed allusions in my posts to the Resident Wise Woman, who sometimes accompanies me on my trips of exploration, frequently shares her knowledge of history with me, and sometimes comments from the sidelines during her periods of non-residence – for her work, and indeed her predilections, regularly take her far away from the territory of English Buildings to the heart of the European mainland.It was on one of these trips recently that she was taken seriously ill. After an emergency operation and a stay in hospital, she is now steadily recovering in our half-restored farmhouse in the Czech Republic, and I am there helping her to get better and waiting on her hand and foot. With few new English buildings to share, and precious little time to write about them, I plan to reprise a few of my favourite earlier posts. I expect I will find it difficult to refrain from making additional comments on these recycled posts, but if these comments are sparse, or if my online appearances are less regular than usual, you know the reason. Here's to good health.

For the annual Museums at Night event, the Wellcome Collection chose a theme it nose is not to be sniffed at! Activities ranged from nose-flute making to something for those of us with sensitive noses: a garden demonstrating which plants do and don't cause hayfever. Bottles of smells confronted visitors with aromas from cinnamon to chloroform. A talk on the nose's cultural history introduced me to the pseudoscience of nasology. A little further investigation shows that this theory, first published in 1848, shines an interesting light on Victorian science and popular culture. The original book, Nasology, was reprinted in seven further editions as Notes on Noses. In fact, its inventor George Jabet had intended it as a joke, a satire on phrenology and ethnology: We believe that, besides being an ornament to the face, a breathing apparatus, or a convenient handle by which to grasp an impudent fellow, it is an important index to its owner's character ... Nasology is strictly in harmony with the deductions of the ablest physiognomists and ethnologists. Such study of moral character through physical characteristics - whether the contours of the skull or the line of the nose - was taken seriously as a scientific enterprise in the nineteenth century. Thus, whatever the author's intentions, the classification he offered fit readily into cultural understandings of the body. The media and even some phrenologists eagerly took it up, not always grasping its intent (and indeed, the Daily Mail was happy to print a very similar article in 2011!). This categorisation of physical characteristics is, of course, not always benign. Nasology offered six types of noses, including the Roman, Greek, Cogitative, Snub and Jewish, as well as discourses on 'national noses' and women's noses. Even if much of the anti-Semitic, racist and sexist exposition was intended to satirise the ethnology and attitudes of the time (and that's often unclear), it makes for unpleasant reading today. On a lighter note, the final nose type - my own - is the Celestial. That may sound charming, but unfortunately the author considered such upturned noses far from heavenly. Their possessors were deemed to have 'natural weakness, mean, disagreeable disposition, with petty insolence'. Thank goodness it's all nonsense ...

I always assumed that St George's Gardens was the graveyard of a long-demolished church, but the other day I actually read the info board at the entrance and it is much more interesting.The site one of the first cemeteries to be located not round a church but in remote fields. London churches could no longer afford the luxury of extensive churchyards, and the dangers to health of crowded graves in the crowded city had become apparent.The land was bought in 1713 to serve two churches, St George Queen Square and St George Bloomsbury, the latter yet to be built. It was some time before the idea of being buried away from the protection of the church took off, and matters cannot have been helped by the cemetery being the site of the very first case of bodysnatching for anatomists, in 1777.Eventually, the cemetery filled and in 1855 it was closed. Thirty years later it was turned into the gardens we see today.This terracotta statue is much later and interesting in itself. Dating from 1898, it was part of a set representing the nine muses that used to stand on the Apollo Inn in Tottenham Court Road. The pub was demolished in 1961 for an extension to Heals, the department store. Ambrose Heal presented this one, Euterpe, the Muse of Instrumental Music, to the borough who placed it in the gardens.Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the architectural historian, got rather peeved about the demolition as he had only just gone to the trouble of researching the Apollo for his famous guide. He more or less forced Heal to sell him the statue of Clio, Muse of History, for the knock-down price of a fiver and put it up in his garden in Hampstead.

Kelso Cochrane, 1927 - 1959, Antiguan carpenter, was fatally wounded on this site. His death outraged and unified the community, leading to the lasting cosmopolitan tradition in North Kensington.Nubian Jak Community TrustHistory talk in association with 1958 RememberedSponsored by Kensington Housing Trust

Rotherhithe Tunnel commenced in 1904 and opened in 1908 by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales. R.A. Robinson, J.P - Chairman of the Council W. Whitaker Thompson - Vice-ChairmanA.A Allen, M.P. - Deputy-ChairmanThe Lord Elcho - Chairman of the Improvements CommitteeW. Burton Stewart - Vice ChairmanMaurice Fitzmaurice, C.M.G. - Chief EngineerEdward H. Tabor - Resident EngineerContractors - Messrs Price and ReevesContractors' Engineer - James Brown London County Council

Rotherhithe Tunnel, the cast steel segments of which this arch is built formed the cutting edge of the shield by means of which the tunnel south of and under the river was constructed.London County Council