The Essex Street Water Gate, London WC2

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He crossed the road and went into the darkness towards the little steps under the archway leading into Essex Street, and I let him go. And that was the last I ever saw of him.

The Diamond Maker (1894) by HG Wells

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Old and New London – Its History, Its People and Its Places (1878).

London’s water gates date from the time before the building of the embankment and the road on the north side of the river, when the tidal wash reached a lot closer to the buildings (and former palaces) that follow The Strand and Fleet Street. The gate in Essex Street dates back to t0 1676, and was used for a time as an emblem by Methuen publishers when they had their premises here.

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A plate from The Romance of London by Alan Ivimey (1931).

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Methuen imprint (1931).

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An etching by Edgar Holloway (1934).

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Methuen imprint (1948).

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The Water Gate as it was on the afternoon of 18th May, 2006.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
The etching and engraving archive

Pestival

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Mark Pilkington is organising this insect arts festival. Looks great, I’ll have to try and get down to see it. Nice that Phase IV, Saul Bass‘s strange and rather fascinating feature film, is one of the highlights.

27 May – 4 June 2006
London Wetland Centre

“If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” E.O Wilson

The First International Arts Pestival is dedicated to raising awareness of the integral role insects play in the global ecosystem and in all animal societies. Many of those insects are increasingly endangered through human action.

Through appreciation of “insects in art and the art of being an insect”, the Pestival aims to create positive PR for this 400-million-year-old, highly evolved taxon that has had thousands of years of bad press.

We are building up a fantastic programme of talks, demonstrations, workshops, art installations, films, music and performance, fusing art and science to reach out to a broad, interested audience of homo sapien adults and children.

Bridget Nicholls & Mark Pilkington

On behalf of the International Arts Pestival
Patron: Zac Goldsmith

Download the Pestival Programme as a PDF (455k)

Download the Press Pack (3.7MB zip)