5 May 2011
In 2006-08, Museum of London Archaeology undertook archaeological excavations on the site of the former St Giles Court, St Giles High Street, prior to the construction of the Central Saint Giles development designed by Lorenzo Piano. The area had been a notorious slum during the 18th-19th centuries - the St Giles Rookery - well known in contemporary art and literature for its gin houses and licentiousness.
This month, artefacts from the site will be included in an exhibition by the artist Jane Palm-Gold at the Coningsby Gallery. London's Underworld Unearthed: The secret life of the Rookery blends original artworks, archaeology and research to bring the St Giles Rookery to life, and to draw parallels between the Rookery and the modern locale.
The exhibition runs from 17 May until 3 June 2011 at the Coningsby Gallery, 30 Tottenham Street, London, W1T 4RJ. Admission is free. Further details are available on the Coningsby Gallery website (external link).
Artefacts from the RookeryOn display from MOLA will be examples of 18th and 19th-century artefacts which reflect life within the Rookery. Pottery and glass artefacts show contemporary types of domestic vessels used in cooking, as ointment pots and sanitary wares, as well as a variety of everyday objects such as a baby’s glass feeding bottle, bone buttons, metal thimbles, a bone needle holder and glass beads. Clay tobacco pipes, glass wine bottles and a ceramic fuddling cup are witness to the small range of pleasures associated with life in the Rookery, and the clay and glass marbles are reminders of the number of children living in these quarters.
Crossroads of time and eternity © Jane Palm-Gold DACS, 2009The exhibition coincides with the publication of the MOLA report on the findings from the Central Saint Giles site: Medieval settlement to 18-/19th century Rookery. Excavations at Central Saint Giles, London Borough of Camden, 2006-08.
