Walks · London · English
5 narrated stops, 15 minutes of stories, 2.7 km on foot. Press play at each stop — no app needed — or open the walk in Avsha and let the stories keep coming as you move.
Stop 1 · 3 min
In short: Lady Wallace’s 1897 bequest established a strict condition that no artwork can ever leave the building, even for temporary exhibitions, and no new works can be added. Consequently, these artworks do not travel or tour and remain in Hertford House.
↓ 1.4 km · 20 min to the next stop
Stop 2 · 3 min
In short: John Wood the Younger designed Brock Street as a deliberate "hinge" to connect his father’s Circus with the Royal Crescent. It serves as a transition that controls the viewer's vision, allowing the expansive horizon of the Royal Crescent to gradually unfold.
↓ 300 m · 5 min to the next stop
Stop 3 · 3 min
In short: Jeremy Bentham's preserved skeleton, called the Auto-Icon, is housed in a glass case at UCL's Student Centre. Dressed in original clothes, he is occasionally recorded in university meeting minutes as being present but not voting.
↓ 200 m · 3 min to the next stop
Stop 4 · 3 min
In short: Due to its national security role during the Cold War, the tower was designated an official secret. Consequently, it was omitted from Ordnance Survey maps until 1993, appearing as a blank space despite being the United Kingdom's tallest building.
↓ 700 m · 10 min to the next stop
Stop 5 · 3 min
In short: Beneath Place d’Armes lie remnants of a seventeenth-century cemetery, hidden tunnels, and vaulted cellars. Additionally, the original Notre-Dame church foundations are buried beneath the nearby asphalt, and a private passage connects the Bank of Montreal to its neighbor.