London's Underworld Unearthed - the Secret Life of the Rookery
Date & Time
October 16, 2025 - December 20, 2025 (See info for times)(GMT+01:00)
Event Details
This engaging exhibition blends artworks, archaeology and the history of an infamous quarter at the heart of the West End. It is presented by the artist, curator and historian Jane
Event Details
This engaging exhibition blends artworks, archaeology and the history of an infamous quarter at the heart of the West End. It is presented by the artist, curator and historian Jane Palm-Gold.
Hogarth’s squalid, riotous ‘Gin Lane’ was old St Giles. And back in 1751, London’s most notorious slum was a pit of degradation, poverty and crime that would appal us today. Artist Jane Palm-Gold draws uncanny parallels between that historic parish and the locality we currently know, which has been a troubled West End backwater. The artist presents a vivid account of life in the St Giles Rookery and Seven Dials and juxtaposes the squalor brought on by the gin craze with the anti-social epidemic of today. She builds a multi-layered psychogeography that both mesmerises and disturbs.
Image: From an original illustration ‘A Court for King Cholera’. Adapted artwork by Jane Palm-Gold under Creative Commons licence
TIMES
Mon & Tues: 10am – 6pm
Thurs: 10am – 7pm
Sat: (alternate weeks from Sat 18 Oct): 11am – 5pm
Closed Wed, Fri & Sun
FREE EVENT
FREE – Just turn up