July 15, 1922J 



NA TURE 



79 



Science and Education at South Kensington. 1 



By. T. Ll. Humberstone. 



A LARGE part of the area shown in the accom- 

 -^ *- panying photograph was at one time Brompton 

 Park, a fine estate famous for its snipe-shooting and 

 for its mild and salubrious air. In 1675 the park 

 became a market-garden, the first of its kind in England. 

 A short distance eastwards was Knightsbridge, an 

 outlying hamlet of London, the scene of frequent 

 skirmishes during the Civil War. Cromwell's associa- 



started from Hyde Park Corner at regular intervals 

 in bands for mutual protection, and a bell was run- 

 to warn pedestrians when the party was about to set 

 out. Thus the effective history of the district for our 

 purpose begins in 1851, when the great International 

 Exhibition was opened in Hyde Park. Its initiation 

 and success were largely due to the Prince Consort, 

 and appropriately, therefore, the estate, which was 



,-? 



Mus 



D = Royal Co 



J = R0YA 



[Photo ' ■ ' 

 IH. B = V*ICTOKIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. C = SdENCE MUSEUM. 



ng). E = Science Library. F = Imi'eriai [nstitute ind University of London, 



ework. H = 1ndia Museum. I = Citv and Guilds Engineering College. 

 School of Mine-. K= Imperial College. L = Roval College of Music. M = Royal Albert Hall. 



N = Royal College of Science (Botany) and Imperial College Union. = Brompton Oratory. 



P = Roval College of Science (Old Building). Q = Serpentine in Hide Park. 



atural H 



Si ib ice (New Bi 

 School of Art N 



tion with the district — there is a tradition that he lived 

 near what is now Queen's Gate — is preserved in the 

 name Cromwell Road. Knightsbridge and Brompton 

 maintained their sequestered character until com- 

 paratively recent times. It is recorded that until the 

 middle of the nineteenth century, which must be well 

 within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, people 



1 It is fitting that Nature should take advantage of the method of obtain- 

 ing "bird's-eye" views by means of aerial photography. Arrangements 

 havejjeen made for a short series of articles dealing with certain London 

 areas.of scientific interest illustrated by such photographs. The first of 

 these, on South Kensington, is here printed. This will be followed by an 

 article on Bloomsbury by the same contributor. 



purchased for the modest sum of 150.000/. from the 

 profits of the Exhibition, is dominated on the northern 

 and higher side by the Albert Memorial in Kensington 

 Gardens and by the Royal Albert Hall. Would it be 

 possible to find, in the whole educational history of the 

 country, an example of money spent to greater advan- 

 tage for the promotion of science and art ? Sites have 

 been provided for a splendid group of educational and 

 public buildings and in addition a considerable annual 

 income is received which is devoted to scientific pur- 

 poses. The Exhibition of 1851 justified the hopes of 

 its founders. It was to be for the nineteenth century 



NO. 



2750, VOL. I io] 



