Hello 👋🏼 With more followers joining me I thought it was time to reintroduce myself! My name is India and I’m currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. My research examines the architecture of the Inns of Court in the Early Modern period and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Isaac Newton Trust.
I’m a Londoner living in the wilds of Cambridge. I adore the rich history of my home city and am the Editor of the London Topographical Society’s Newsletter (see @londontopsoc for more info).
I once called Hampstead home and have presented papers on the history of its eighteenth-century spa for @thegeorgiangroup and @aschbuk . During the pandemic I set up @hampsteadthenandnow to compare the Hampstead of the past with present day views.
As a former graphic designer I’m quite particular about the presentation of my ‘grid’ 😅 So you can expect to see plenty of images of old buildings in London and Cambridge with their verticals aligned, along with other historic buildings I encounter on my travels.
Additionally, since working with @historicroyalpalaces on a curatorial research placement I’m a little bit obsessed with the Tudors, so you can also expect some sixteenth-century history content too. 👑 🏰
I’m a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts @thersaorg and I embrace creative collaboration and connection, so do say ‘hello’!
#introducingmyself #historian #architecturalphotographer #seventeenthcenturyarchitecture #earlymodernhistory
Founded in 1352, Corpus Christi College is the sixth-oldest college at the University of Cambridge. Uniquely, it was established by townspeople belonging to two local gilds, making it the only Cambridge college founded by its own community rather than royalty or churchmen. The Gild of Corpus Christi and the Gild of the Blessed Virgin Mary established the college to train priests in the aftermath of the Black Death.
Because the college was initially poor, it lacked its own chapel and members worshipped next door at St Bene’t’s Church - the oldest standing church in Cambridge. Old Court was the original college site and remains the oldest continuously surviving, largely unaltered medieval courtyard in either Oxford or Cambridge.
The college is home to the world-famous Parker Library. Built by former Master and Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, it houses rare, priceless manuscripts, including the St Augustine Gospels (dating back to the 6th century).
#corpuschristi #cambridgecollege #historicarchitecture #cambridge
Remnants of eighteenth century London in Spitalfields. Wandering these streets is to be transported back to a time when merchants and artisans occupied these houses, horses hooves clattered on the cobblestones and the air was thick with coal soot…
#spitalfields #londontownhouse #georgianarchitecture #historiclondon #londonphotography
Last week, after attending the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, I had the pleasure of staying at Hazlitt’s Hotel. It is a place I have long wanted to visit, so I was especially thrilled to be gifted an upgrade to the fabulous Duke of Monmouth suite.
@hazlittshotel is situated on Frith Street in Soho, occupying three Georgian townhouses, two of which (numbers 6 and 7 Frith Street) were built as a pair in c.1718. They were refronted in 1909 with stock brick and red brick dressings but retain their original coupled doorway framed by fluted Doric pilasters, along with recessed sash windows. Inside many beautiful period features remain, including dog leg stairs with turned balusters, wooden panelling, chimneypieces and pilastered openings.
The houses were lovingly restored and opened as a hotel in 1986 by antique collectors Peter McKay and Douglas Blain, who filled the space with over 2,000 original paintings, four poster beds and antique furnishings.
The hotel takes its name from writer and essayist William Hazlitt, who lived at number 6 Frith Street and died there in 1830. An LCC plaque commemorating him can be found to the left of the entrance.
#hazlitts #georgiantownhouse #georgianarchitecture #sohohotel #gifted
This week I was honoured to attend the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace and be presented to HRH the Duke of Gloucester, in my capacity as the Editor of the London Topographical Society’s Newsletter. The Duke is the Patron of @londontopsoc and it was a pleasure to meet him for the second time and discuss the recent efforts of the Society.
The garden party celebrates community service through volunteering, supporting charitable causes and work in frontline roles. It was a joyous occasion, with a delectable afternoon tea and upbeat brass band to enjoy.
Visiting the grounds of Buckingham Palace for the first time felt very special, as did being in the presence of King Charles and Queen Camilla. It was also great fun seeing the outfits worn by other guests and the assortment of uniforms being sported, not least by the Yeoman of the Guard.
#palacegardenparty #buckinghampalace #royalfamily #gardenparty
Imagine if you could travel from place to place with a click of your fingers… a whistle stop tour of the gatehouses of the colleges @cambridgeuniversity . A bit of fun for Friday!
#cambridgecolleges #cambridgeuniversity #gatehouse #seemycity
Meard Street in Soho is a rare survivor of early eighteenth-century London, characterised by a row of Grade II* listed Georgian townhouses developed by John Meard in the 1730s–40s. The four-storey buildings have basements and are built in brown stock brick, retaining original features such as flush frame sash windows and ornate console brackets.
#georgiantownhouse #londontownhouse #soho #londonarchitecture georgianarchitecture
King’s Lynn Guildhall, more generally referred to as King’s Lynn Town Hall, was originally built between 1422 and 1428 to replace an earlier guildhall that had been destroyed by fire in 1421. It was established as a meeting place for the Guild of the Holy Trinity, a religious guild of merchants in the town.
Featuring a distinctive chequered patterned exterior and steep pitched roof, the building was known as the ‘Stone Hall’. However, following the suppression of religious guilds under Edward VI in 1547, the building’s undercroft was converted into a prison in 1571 and its western portion into a house of correction in 1618.
In 1624 an extension was built to the west, replicating the same chequered patterned exterior and including a porch, above which the arms of Elizabeth I were placed in 1624, having been removed from St James’s Church. The arms of Charles II were placed in the gable in 1664.
#kingslynn #guildhall #historictown #medievalport #merchant
Yesterday I was honoured to attend the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace and be presented to HRH the Duke of Gloucester, in my capacity as the Editor of the London Topographical Society’s Newsletter. The Duke is the Patron of @londontopsoc and it was a pleasure to meet him for the second time and discuss the recent efforts of the Society.
The garden party celebrates community service through volunteering, supporting charitable causes and work in frontline roles. It was a joyous occasion, with a delectable afternoon tea and upbeat brass band to enjoy.
Visiting the grounds of Buckingham Palace for the first time felt very special, as did being in the presence of King Charles and Queen Camilla. It was also great fun seeing the outfits worn by other guests and the assortment of uniforms being sported, not least by the Yeoman of the Guard.
#palacegardenparty #buckinghampalace #royalfamily #gardenparty
The King’s Lynn Custom House was built in 1683 by local architect Henry Bell. Described by Pevsner as ‘one of the most perfect classical buildings in provincial England’, Bell assimilated architectural trends seen in London and Holland to create an exquisitely proportioned building of striking architectural refinement.
Built in ashlar limestone from Ketton, the building was originally built with an open arcade to the ground floor as a place for merchants to meet, the upper storey for the Collector of Customs. The building features an assortment of fine architectural details including Doric pilasters, a hipped roof with an acanthus modillion eaves cornice and pedimented dormers. Topped by a hexagonal timber lantern with an ogee cap, the structure also proudly brandishes a niche with a statue of Charles II, flanked by a pair of Corinthian pilasters.
The Custom House continued to be occupied by HM Customs and Excise until 1989 and today remains as a representation of the trade that made King’s Lynn a prosperous port from the Middle Ages.
#kingslynn #customhouse #classicalarchitecture #historicbuildings #port
Houghton Hall, the beautiful Palladian pile built for Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole in the 1720s. No expense was spared on the scheme and spending was so lavish that Walpole burnt the receipts to conceal his excess.
Leading architects of the day, Colen Campbell and James Gibbs contributed to the design of the building, while the opulent interiors include ceilings and furniture designed by William Kent.
Houghton is occupied by Walpole’s descendant, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley and his family, who host contemporary art exhibitions by world-renowned artists in the house and gardens. The major solo exhibition for 2026 is by celebrated post-war sculptor, Lynn Chadwick, spanning works from the 1950s to the 1990s.
Visiting with my father he revealed that he chose my middle name, Sarah, after Lynn Chadwick’s daughter whom he went to school with, because, he said, ‘she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met’!
#houghtonhall #lynnchadwick #palladianarchitecture #eighteenthcentury #contemporarysculpture
