In the heart of London lies an island, a foreign land in a sea of Englishness. After the wealthy departed Soho in the middle of the 18th century, successive waves of refugees arrived creating a multi-cultural world that attracted artists, revolutionaries, writers and musicians.
Exploring Soho with Nick Black, you will see that some of the original health care buildings survive as a hotel, high commission, restaurant and theatre. Learn how the first hospitals in London for women, for ear diseases and for men with venereal disease came into being. Discover the extraordinary surviving façade of the first private anatomy school. The contrast between bohemian Soho and establishment London is we...
Highlights
40 minutes
Offered in English
Non-refundable
Mobile Ticket
40 minutes
Offered in English
Non-refundable
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
VoiceMap Application
Lifetime access to Soho's Contribution to Health Care History tour
Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
Smartphone
Transportation
Food/Drink
Tickets or entrance fees to any museums or other attractions en route
Meeting Points
Departure
Tottenham Court Road
Starts at the station's Oxford Street exit. Before arrival, install the VoiceMap app and use the code provided on your ticket. This is a self-guided audio tour that you can start, pause, or restart any time and complete at your own pace. Directions to the starting point are in the app.
Return
Guards Crimean War Memorial
Soho's Contribution to Health Care History Walking Audio Tour
Greater London
About
In the heart of London lies an island, a foreign land in a sea of Englishness. After the wealthy departed Soho in the middle of the 18th century, successive waves of refugees arrived creating a multi-cultural world that attracted artists, revolutionaries, writers and musicians.
Exploring Soho with Nick Black, you will see that some of the original health care buildings survive as a hotel, high commission, restaurant and theatre. Learn how the first hospitals in London for women, for ear diseases and for men with venereal disease came into being. Discover the extraordinary surviving façade of the first private anatomy school. The contrast between bohemian Soho and establishment London is we...
Highlights
40 minutes
Offered in English
Non-refundable
Mobile Ticket
40 minutes
Offered in English
Non-refundable
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
VoiceMap Application
Lifetime access to Soho's Contribution to Health Care History tour
Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
Smartphone
Transportation
Food/Drink
Tickets or entrance fees to any museums or other attractions en route
Meeting Points
Departure
Tottenham Court Road
Starts at the station's Oxford Street exit. Before arrival, install the VoiceMap app and use the code provided on your ticket. This is a self-guided audio tour that you can start, pause, or restart any time and complete at your own pace. Directions to the starting point are in the app.
Return
Guards Crimean War Memorial
Itinerary
1
Soho Square
We will walk round this small green oasis and see where Mary Seacole lived on her return from the Crimean war, the site of the first dispensary for children, the first hospital for women, the first home of the Royal Ear Hospital and the site of the original homes of the Dental Hospital of London and National Heart Hospital.
2
Leicester Square
Sadly, little remains of the square's 18th century connections with health care which included displays of medicinal mud bathing aided by 'a bevy of belles' and the home of John Hunter, the founder of modern surgery. However, we can still see the old Royal Dental Hospital, now the Hampshire Hotel.
3
Canada House
Hear how, in the 1820s, Robert Smirke designed the northern half of this building for the Royal College of Physicians and southern half for the Union Club, a gentlemen's club. After both left, it became the Canadian High Commission.
4
Crimean War Memorial
Our walk ends here in St James', the heart of establishment London and world away from Bohemian Soho. This war memorial is unusual for not only honouring soldiers but also a remarkable nurse - Florence Nightingale - whose influence is still felt today internationally.
