Vanished London: how health has made and remade the city

Dr Tom Bolton and Ross MacFarlane talk about the way attitudes to health in London have changed, and how the city has changed with them. Entire neighbourhoods, seen as diseased from a physical and a moral perspective, have disappeared. Institutions that deliver our healthcare would be unrecognisable to previous generations. In improving the health of its population, London has reshaped itself. Tom will talk about the places that have changed and vanished as part of this rethinking, from Clare Market and Agar Town to London’s lost spas. Ross will talk about specific spaces in London that have altered and changed as ideas on health have developed – from the Pioneer Health Centre, Peckham to Blackfriars monastery; James Graham's Temple of Health and Colney Hatch Asylum.   

Dr Tom Bolton is an urban researcher and writer, specialising in architecture, urban planning, and regeneration. He leads community review and research at Frame Projects. Tom is the author of Camden Town: Dreams of Another London, Vanished City: London's Lost Neighbourhoods, London’s Lost Rivers: A Walker’s Guide and A Walker's Guide Volume 2.    

Ross MacFarlane has worked at the Wellcome Collection for over 20 years in various roles and is now based at Queen Mary University of London, where he is developing a Health Humanities Research Forum. An archivist by profession, he has researched, lectured, and written on topics including the occult, early recorded sound, and freak shows in Victorian Britain.  

Tickets: Friends & Saviours £10 | General public £12 | Students £5 (incl. a glass of wine and the Eventbrite booking fees)  

Meet: The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ at 6:30pm (doors will open at 6:15pm) 

Images: St Lukes Hopsital, Dr Tom Bolton & Ross MacFarlane

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London, United Kingdom