Pride of Place


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
June 30, 2015

Having already heard about early trials of this project (but being sworn to secrecy about it!), we’re excited to see today’s launch of Historic England’s new research project Pride of Place.

Historic England (formerly known as English Heritage) are working with historians at Leeds Beckett University’s Centre for Culture and the Arts to identify buildings and places with LGBTQ connections. Looking to map and record, in their words: ‘from the private houses of trailblazing individuals; to the much loved local gay bar; to the first venue in town to host equal marriage and everything in between.’

This is a ground breaking research project that will uncover the untold queer histories of buildings and places people have lived alongside for generations. The result will be a map of England that plots the multitude of buildings across the country that hold a sometimes hidden, sometimes public, LGBTQ history.

People can contribute at www.mapme.com/prideofplace 

Historic England have given a number of introductory examples of places with LGBTQ-connections. Links to some of these can be found within the V&A collections. Hopefully these will get some of you thinking about what LGBTQ places you think should be added to the map.

 

Smallhythe Place, Kent

A property bought by renowned Victorian actress Ellen Terry. On her death it was left to her daughter Edy Craig, an early pioneer of the women’s suffrage movement and theatre director, who lived there in a ménage à trois with the dramatist Chris St John (Christabel Marshall) and the artist Tony (Clare) Atwood.

S.948-2014 Print Lithograph Print of an original sketch showing the main entrance to the home of the actress Ellen Terry (1847-1928) at Smallhythe Place, Kent. It is signed by the artist, Clare Atwood (1866-1962) and dated 1925. Handwritten pencil annotation dedicates the print to "Gabrielle Enthoven, Xmas 1925" Clare Atwood (1866-1962) Kent 1925 Printed
Lithograph print of an original sketch showing the main entrance to the home of the actress Ellen Terry at Smallhythe Place, Kent. Signed by the artist, Clare Atwood, England (Kent), 1925. V&A S.948-2014

 

Strawberry Hill, London

The “queer gothic” home of Horace Walpole, a collector of importance, who also had a notable private life. He never married, wrote affectionate letters to male friends, and contemporaries often commented on his effeminacy. On his death in 1797, Walpole left Strawberry Hill House to his niece, the lesbian sculptor Anne Damer, who lived there until 1811.

CT158394.tif
Watercolour of ‘The Gallery at Strawberry Hill’, by T Sandby, and probably P Sandby and E Edwards, England, 1781. V&A D.1837-1904 NB: This specific drawing is mentioned by Horace Walpole in a letter dated 16 June 1871.

 

Millthorpe, Derbyshire

Where Edward Carpenter (the founding father of gay rights in Britain) lived openly with his partner George Merrill at a time when hundreds of men were prosecuted for homosexuality.

CIS:7610-1938
Portrait of Edward Carpenter (1844-1929), English socialist poet, philosopher, anthologist, and early LGBT activist, platinum print, by Frederick Hollyer, Britain, ca.1890. V&A 7610-1938 Given by Eleanor M. Hollyer

 

The Gateways, London

Opened in the 1930s by a retired colonel, the Gateways club was the longest running lesbian nightclub of the twentieth century. Clientele was diverse throughout the 1940s and 50s and visitors to the club included actresses Joan Collins and Diana Dors, as well as prostitutes and petty criminals. Lesbian-friendly since the 1940s, in the 1950s and 1960s the Gateways later became an almost exclusively lesbian club. It closed in 1985.

The club became internationally famous and celebrated after it featured in the film The Killing of Sister George in 1968 – the extras in the club scenes were genuine Gateways members.

(Admittedly the link here is a little more distant, but to be honest I just really wanted to include these two images of Beryl Reid!)

Susannah York, Beryl Reid and Coral Brown at The Gateways in The Killing of Sister George, 1968. Photo by Everett Collection / Rex Features (534946B)
Susannah York, Beryl Reid and Coral Brown at The Gateways in The Killing of Sister George, 1968. Photo by Everett Collection / Rex Features (534946B)
2006AK9522
Pencil, pen and ink and wash caricature on paper of Beryl Reid in The Killing of Sister George at the New Theatre Oxford, by Gilbert Sommerlad, 11 June 1965. V&A S.133:74-2002

About the author


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
June 30, 2015

I am an Assistant Curator working on the development of the new Europe 1600-1800 Galleries. My interests are wide-ranging but subjects I have particularly enjoyed exploring for this project include:...

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