The London Hospital

[Stewart P Evans]

Blow Up

Here's a blow-up of the top right of the photograph with the hospital and building frontages in Whitechapel Road across the bottom centre and the Board School centre right -

[Simon Wood]

Hi Stewart,

Many thanks.

Invaluable.

Regards,

Simon

[m_w_r]

Hello,

Here is the same area on the 1913 OS Map, with the developments in the grounds of, and slightly to the east of, St Philip's Church now in place.

Sorry it's not a great scan - the lighter shading of the map has not shown very well.



Regards,

Mark

[aspallek]

Yes, welcome back, Stewart !

This is obviously an aerial photo. I think we can rule out it's being take from a balloon due to a number of factors including altitude (it would have to be a tethered balloon). Therefore, it is obviously post-1903 and probably several years later than that. My guess would be circa First World War but it is curious that there seems to be no vehicular traffic.

Ed. - Now that I look again, there does seem to be some slight vehicular traffic in Whitechapel Road.

[m_w_r]

Interestingly, St Phillips Church, seen at the back of the Hospital in your diagram, was the church that Merrick famously made a model of from cards, he could just see it from his room.

Hi Jon,

I'm not sure about this. This is a photo of Merrick's model, from Howell and Ford's Illustrated True History (1980). The model itself is in the Royal London Hospital Museum.



Howell and Ford say that Merrick "sent her [Mrs, later Dame Madge, Kendal] one of the cardboard models he had constructed with the aid of the nurses. It was a delicately detailed model of a Gothic church ..." (p.148)

Now, St Augustine's with St Philip's, Stepney, is described by Mervyn Blatch in his book A Guide to London's Churches (1978) in the following terms:

This, the largest church in the East End, was built in 1888-92 by Arthur Cawston largely at the expense of the first vicar, the Revd Sidney Vacher, who was determined to have something better than the dilapidated chapel which existed before. The red brick exterior rises to a great height and, if the western tower had been completed, would have been striking ... (p.419)

Merrick was admitted to the London Hospital in the Summer of 1886, and stayed there until he died in April 1890. It is therefore possible that he saw the "old" church before its replacement by the "new" one, although he evidently never saw the "new" one complete. Here are the outlines of the two churches:

From the OS1873 map (the "old" church):



And from the OS1894 map (the "new church):



You will see that the physical dimensions of the "new" church exceed those of its predecessor, and that the broadly regular shape of the "old" church, which Merrick may have seen, does not resemble that of the model, which has (I believe this is an architectural term) a lot of poking out bits and all sorts. I'd be pretty sure that St Philip's circa 1886-1888 cannot be both the "dilapidated chapel" described by Blatch and Merrick's real-life inspiration for his intricate Gothic cardboard model: so the model, for me, is not of St Philip's, Stepney.

If you look on the web, some people say that the model was of St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham:



But I'm not convinced by this either. It is interesting that Howell and Ford mention that the surviving model was one of many - there is no particular reason to think that Merrick confined his modelling to ecclesiastical subjects, but could he not have been using modelling plans and templates in a bit-part series, having taken out a subscription to some publication or another?... This seems, to me, more likely than the hypothesis that he was using St Philip's, Stepney, as a starting point.

Regards,

Mark

[Septic Blue]

From: "Joseph Carey Merrick: Tribute Website"

http://www.jsitton.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/elephantman/church.htm

"Joseph received the kit church as a gift. It was of German origin. German letters/numbers have been found on the model, presumably denoting a model number. The model would have had no resemblance to the then nearby St. Philip's. It would have taken Joseph numerous days, filled with pain and incalculable patience to build it - even from kit form. We shouldn't undervalue this achievement, especially as he constructed the whole thing single-handed. Only one arm and hand were usable.

The model gives us another insight into Joseph's pleasant character and sensitivity.

As far as the film, 'The Elephant Man' goes, much of the church was built from Joseph's own imagination, as only the uppermost level of St. Philip's, could be seen from his window in Bedstead Square. This makes a good movie, but it simply didn't happen this way. Apart from anything else, St. Philip's wasn't visible from Bedstead Square.

Readers may perhaps be disappointed to hear that Joseph didn't create the model from scratch, from blank pieces of card. The fact that it was created at all was a humongous task.

After Joseph died, Mrs Kendall returned the model to the London Hospital Medical College where it is housed in a glass case at the hospital's resident museum. More than 100 years old, the model is still in wonderful condition.

Therefore, it was not of St. Philip's (the nearby church). In any case, Joseph wouldn't have been able to see it from his window.

This church was assembled by Joseph for the famous London stage actress, Mrs. Madge Kendall, in 1888. He built this model in hopes of meeting her. She never did come to see him but instead, sent her husband to pick it up.

In the film 'the Elephant Man', Mrs. Kendall visits Joseph at his home in the London Hospital annex, Bedstead Square. This is an incorrect account.

St. Philip's was demolished in 1890 (year of Joseph's death). This made way for a much larger church on the same site - also known as St. Philip's. This latter church was designed by Arthur Cawston and still stands today. It is home to the Royal London Hospital's Medical Library, Archives & Museum."


St. Philip's Church, Stepney
from Northwest, February 2007

The Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Philip Stepney was located within the Ancient Parish of St. Dunstan Stepney, until 1866; and within The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, thereafter.

The church's northern wall was situated within the Civil Parish of St. Mary Whitechapel, while the remaining portions were situated within The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town.


Foundation Stone, "1888"
from West, February 2007


Merrick's Card-Church
displayed inside The Royal London Hospital Museum (the basement of St. Philip's Church), February 2007


Merrick's Mask
displayed inside The Royal London Hospital Museum (the basement of St. Philip's Church), February 2007



Colin

[Doctor X]

Cool!

Had the opportunity to go to their pathology museum. I could even see his skeleton which, as the sign noted in withering Queen's English, had been removed from public view because of the "unwarranted attention" of "an American pop-star." The actual quote was far more cutting.

Yours truly,

--J.D.

[Gideon Fell]

Great stuff, I particularly like the Elephant Man material.

[Jon Guy]

Hi Spiro, Mark, Colin, all

Apologies for misleading information. I should learn to read the whole
passage next time.see below

"Joseph constructed a card kit church of German origin.. The film 'the Elephant Man' shows Joseph building it, basing it upon his restricted view of nearby St. Philips church. This wasn't the case - it came in a very 'fiddly' kit form. One can only imagine the difficultiees he had, as one hand and arm was unusable. "

Again ,very sorry and thanks for your corrections

[Monty]

Merrick

Guys,

While we are on the subject of Joseph Merrick, some of you may recall an article I did for Ripperologist some years back.

It it I mentioned the memorial plaque unveilling at the former Gaitey Theatre in Leicester, the place where Merrick first 'showed' himself.

I drove past the spot the other day and unfortunately the plaque is no longer there. Ive not read anything in the local news nor seen anything on Ms Sittons site.

I know the majority wont be interested in this news but I also know that a few who view this site would be.

Monty

[Jon Guy]

Stolen plaque

Hiya Monty

I just had a quick google :

"Artist's Comments
I just got distressing news. The plaque dedicated to Joseph Merrick, the elephant man, has been stolen!

I urge everyone who has a fondness for dear Joe to spread the word and pray for the plaque's safe return"

copied from crystal-gargoyle.deviantart.com. dated April 17th

[Doctor X]

Stories like that deepen my hatred of humanity.

"Look! A souvenir!!"

*Returns to basement to continue work on Death-Ray*

--J.D.

[Robert]

I have Merrick on my list of great Britons.

The scumbag who stole the plaque should have been eugenically aborted.

[Monty]

Cheers for letting me know Jon....

.....wasnt me by the way !

I reckon a plaque, in an obscure side street, wasnt worthy of the man myself.

Should have been a statue near Charles st, a stones throw away from where he was born and raised.

Monty

[Magpie]

Hi everyone.

I've been reading this thread with interest, but haven't contributed since it's far outside my sphere of knowledge.

Just wanted to say thank you to Auspirograph for starting the thread and thanks to everyone who has contributed. Well done everyone!