Little Known London: Exhibition Road

Exhibition Road is known as a place for tourists and locals alike to enjoy the history and culture of London. But how did this road and these beautiful buildings come to be such a cultural hub?

What's in a Name?

The story of Exhibition Road dates all the way back to 1851 when history was just barely getting to know the Victorian Age. Since her coronation in 1838 Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert and their mutual love for culture covered Great Britain with the broad brush strokes which have come to define the Victorian Era. This shared passion led Prince Albert to host and organise The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations or simply, The Great Exhibition, otherwise known as the Crystal Palace Exhibition named for the feat of architectural engineering, made of cast iron and plate glass, in which the Exhibition was held in Hyde Park.

The Great Exhibition inspired the name of the road and started the first of many World Fairs held across the globe to celebrate mankind's innovation and movement into the industrial age.

After Prince Albert died at the age of 42 after a battle with typhoid fever, a memorial was erected and unveiled in 1872 in Hyde Park, the very same park in which his passion project was held. The memorial holds many symbols and stories etched in stone to commemorate his life, one of which is the book the statue Prince Albert holds, the catalogue of that first Great Exhibition.

Museum Mile

The revenue generated from The Great Exhibition was given back to the people in the form of grants and scholarships for industrial research and perhaps most importantly, the museums found on Exhibition Road which include The Science Museum, The Natural History Museum and most notably, The Victoria & Albert Museum, previously known as The South Kensington Museum.

Once known as Albertopolis, the museums on Exhibition Road were built under the advise of Prince Albert after the land was bought by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, of which he was the President. The name, Albertopolis was used mostly as a satire for his cultural advances and strong influence in Victorian society. After his death in 1861 the name fell out of use and the area became more commonly known as simply South Kensington.

Bombs and the V&A

Our story now moves into a new century, with new concerns. When rumours began hinting at the beginning of World War II, the Victoria & Albert Museum closed its doors to the public in August of 1939 and began moving parts of its exhibits to safer locations. Many small and easily transportable items were moved to the Montecute House in Somerset while other, larger exhibits, such as the Raphael Cartoons, were left in the Museum which remained closed until it reopened a few months later in November.

The Museum became a place of refuge, both physically and mentally, for the people of London throughout the duration of the War. It became a frequent target of incendiary bombs which prompted volunteers to keep a 24-hr fire-watch to protect what the sandbags couldn't. Because of these preventative measures, while the V&A did catch on fire a number of times, the extinguishing water caused more damage than the fires.

However, the most notable damage to the V&A happened on the Westside, near the entrance of the Henry Cole Wing, named for the close friend of Prince Albert and co host of The Great Exhibition. Two powerful bombs hit Exhibition Road embedding shrapnel in the stone exterior, destroying the doors and shattering the glass roofing of the Wing. It was enough to force the rare closure of the Museum to repair the damage and move the affected exhibits.

The exterior damage to the building can still be seen to this day and when asked why they didn't repair the damage, Great Britain responded with this memorial tablet:

Red Telephone Boxes

In the same bombing that hit the V&A a rare red telephone box was damaged as well.

Designed in 1924 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in response to a Post Office sponsored competition, only a little over 200 of the original 1500 K2 designs remain in Britain. This particular kiosk design is most significantly differentiated by the King George V crown at the top made with holes for ventilation. Sir Giles had originally designed the second generation kiosks to be silver instead of red with a blue green interior, however, in order to stay on brand with the post office they were painted the same shade of red that has become a symbol for the city of London.

In the bombing attacks on Exhibition Road, this telephone box received significant damage, shattered windows and most notably the holes that can still be seen on the side of the solid cast iron box near the wall of the Museum. These holes indicate and stand as a true testament to just how powerful the bomb blasts were.

Past to Present

Today, people from all over the world come to see the sights and hear the sounds of Exhibition Road not knowing the significant history that has shaped this small street. Students flood the Imperial College London and the museums surrounding the street. Tourists and locals shop the businesses and enjoy the fine food surrounding South Kensington.

Walking down the street of Exhibition Road from South Kensington Station the air is filled with the sweet and savoury smells of the local restaurants. Bustling with life, filled with the internal thoughts as well as external voices of a million humans focused on their destinations. This is how I came to know this road when I moved to London in September 2019.

A 21 year old student heading home after a long day of study in the Victoria & Albert Museum and feeling the beginnings of a cold coming on. I remember stopping in my now favourite book shop, South Kensington Books, to buy The Haunting of Hill House so I could compare the book and the Netflix series, then moving along toward the tube station and stopping in for some Chinese take-away to treat myself.

Everyday ordinary events happen all around us, shape our everyday lives and possibly those around us, or those we will soon meet. Now, on the tail-end of the Covid-19 lockdowns, yet another historical event in the making, the empty streets hold little more than memories and the hope that one day soon they will again be filled with life and another century of forgotten history.

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