[OT] Victorian London Questions

[Andrew D. Gable]

OK, second try...foolish me posted this first yesterday. Grr.

In prep for a campaign of Victorian COCd20, I've been perusing some Victorian-themed websites, and I came up w/ a few questions concerning 1890s London. With several Englishmen and Londoners on the board, I figured this was a good place to post it.

1 - On my map (Greenwood's 1827 map), I found a "London Institution" at Finsbury Circus (outside of Whitechapel). Was this an asylum?

2 - Where is the Seven Dials section of London? (The occult goodness inherent in the obelisk w/ seven sundials is just too good to pass up.) Was this, as it seems to me, a worse ghetto than Whitechapel?

3 - Are there several obelisks similar to Cleopatra's Needle, as implied in (I think) the graphic novel of From Hell?

Moderators: I've posted this here rather than on the d20 boards as it'll get more exposure, I think.

 

[NiTessine]

3 - Are there several obelisks similar to Cleopatra's Needle, as implied in (I think) the graphic novel of From Hell?

You mean in London or in general? For London, no idea, but there is another Cleopatra's Needle in New York, if I recall correctly.

 

[Moulin Rogue]

1 - On my map (Greenwood's 1827 map), I found a "London Institution" at Finsbury Circus (outside of Whitechapel). Was this an asylum?

Nope. It was the "boring" instructional kind with lectures and stuff.

2 - Where is the Seven Dials section of London? (The occult goodness inherent in the obelisk w/ seven sundials is just too good to pass up.) Was this, as it seems to me, a worse ghetto than Whitechapel?

See section C5 (south of Oxford St, west of Drury Lane):

http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/dickens_london_map.html

It was a notorious slum/criminal district ("rookery") at one time, yes.

http://www.sevendials.com/seven_dials.html

That link mentioned slum clearance in 1889 so maybe it was getting cleaned up in the 1890s?

3 - Are there several obelisks similar to Cleopatra's Needle, as implied in (I think) the graphic novel of From Hell?

Here's a list of all 26.

http://members.aol.com/Sokamoto31/obelisk.htm#26list

 

[jaerdaph]

Re: Re: [OT] Victorian London Questions

but there is another Cleopatra's Needle in New York, if I recall correctly.

You are correct - in Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Edit: BTW, thanks for the info and links, Moulin Rogue

 

[Moulin Rogue]

I just found a better old London map and replaced the modern one with it in my links.

 

[ninthcouncil]

The Chaosium Victorian-era CoC supplement "Dark Designs" has an adventure ("Eyes For The Blind") where some of the action takes place around Seven Dials and the St.Giles' Rookery.

Also, Tim Powers' very wonderful novel "The Anubis Gates", apart from being a must-read anyway, is partly set in the St.Giles' Rookery.