We all know London’s iconic landmarks. But the UK’s capital is filled with hundreds of fascinating, beautiful and historic unsung gems. Here are five stunning landmarks across the city, which often go under the radar.
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London (Neasden Temple)
Close to the North Circular in the London Borough of Brent – a bit of a trek from just about anywhere, to be honest, unless you live close by – is one of London’s most incredible landmarks, full stop. Popularly known as the Neasden Temple, it is the first traditionally built Hindu Temple in Europe – and remains the continent’s largest.
Made of Indian and Italian marble and Bulgarian limestone, the jaw-dropping temple was made entirely using traditional methods and materials, hand carved by over 1,500 craftsmen in India before being shipped to London and put together by over 1,000 volunteers. It used no iron or steel in the construction – unique for a modern building in the UK. The Mandir has over 500 unique designs, more than 25,000 carved stone pieces and 55 different ceiling designs. It’s an absolute masterpiece, and a wonder to walk around.
The temple also houses a permanent exhibition on Understanding Hinduism, a sculpted garden and has a restaurant on its grounds.
Visit website
Free entry. £2 fee for the Understanding Hinduism exhibition.
The Arab Hall at Leighton House
Leighton House is an initially unremarkable building. An ordinary red brick Victorian house – part of the ‘Holland Park circle’, a community of artists that lived in the area in the 19th century. It houses some of Frederick Leighton’s (in my opinion) unremarkable art, as well as paintings by various others. It is also home to possibly the most beautiful room in London.
Leighton was fascinated by the Middle East, and created the Arab Hall as an extension to his house by architect George Aitchison. It took four years to complete (finished in 1881) and cost more than the entire rest of the house. It features tiles purchased by Leighton across Turkey, Egypt and Syria, arranged by ceramist William De Morgan who also repaired damaged tiles.
It’s a gorgeous, serene and contemplative space. The Arab Hall is also a product of Victorian orientalism. And, as is often the case with collections from his period, the manner in which the tiles was acquired was dubious to say the least, and has in modern times been accused on plunder. A modern mural by Iranian artist Shahrzad Gaffari, hand painted wrapping around a spiral staircase, addresses this tension.
Visit website
£14 entry
The Hill Garden and Pergola (Hampstead Heath)
Hampstead Heath is one of London’s loveliest and most popular parks. Tucked away in the West of the park is one of its lesser visited – but probably most beautiful – delights: The Hill Garden and Pergola.
It was initially the private garden of a manor house (the house no longer being there), owned by Lord Leverhulme. Leverhulme wanted a garden to host extravagant Edwardian parties, and also saw the Pergola as his legacy. He brought on board celebrated landscape architect Thomas Masson and they created the beautiful garden with raised walkways, exotic flowers and hanging vines that we see today. The garden sits 15 feet above the natural lie of the park, giving it a magisterial feel as it looks over the Heath. Fun fact – to give the garden its extra height and rolling hills, Leverhulme sourced the soil that had been dug out for the nearby Northern Line extension to Hampstead, which was going on at the time.
After Leverhulme’s death, the park fell into slow decline before it was opened to the public and renovated in 1963. This gives it a sense of faded grandeur – a symbol of old English wealth, now returned to the public, and it has a moody, atmospheric feel as you walk around, almost like an abandoned city.
It’s especially beautiful when flowers are in bloom. Nearby in Golders Hill Park is a small free zoo.
Visit website
Free entry.
St Dunstan in the East
Surrounded by office blocks in the City of London, passed by unnoticed by thousands most days is a serene, hauntingly beautiful garden in the ruins of a bombed out church.
Originally built in the 1100s, St Dunstan in the East was severely damaged in the Great Fire of London, leading to a restoration by celebrity architect Christopher Wren, fitted with a new tower and steeple. The church was mostly destroyed in the Blitz – though Wren’s tower and steeple were untouched, and remain to this day.
Rather than rebuilding the church, a public garden was created within its ruins. Nature has now well and truly taken over – branches poke through holes that ones held stained glass windows; vines wrap themselves around the ruined walls.
Situated as it is in the City of London – with plenty of office workers and precious little green space – it will often be filled with people taking a few minutes from their desks or tucking into their sandwiches. Its high walls also trap heat, making it even more popular. Its location in the City is a also part of its appeal. Tightly enclosed by more modern office buildings gives it an air of secrecy and otherworldliness, like you’ve just stepped through a portal into a peaceful, ancient world.
In the Autumn and Winter, or on a cloudy day, it’s especially haunting. The weekend is a good time to visit, too, as the City is eerily quiet without its office workers – giving it an even more beautiful, melancholy atmosphere.
Visit website
Free entry.
The Grand Staircase, St Pancras Hotel
St Pancras is many people’s jumping off point for a trip to London. And many people do venture to look at the stunning facade of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel (and the often present sports cars of its guests, outside its main entrance). Few venture inside – but if you did, you’d find a gorgeous, extravagant, spiralling colourful staircase.
The hotel was built in the 1800s following a competition by the Midland Railway Company to build a hotel (there’s something petty about this story: they wanted it to be visible from their rival Great Northern Railway’s own Great Northern Hotel). Architect Sir George Gilbert Scott won the competition with the gothic masterpiece we see today, far bigger than the hotel the MRC had initially envisaged.
The Grand Staircase is one its crowning features. The staircases wind up three tiers, backed by deep red walls, hand stencilled murals, and goals leaf imprints. The floors are lined by a lavishly decorated carpet – and the winding of the staircases gives it a peculiar feeling when you look up at it. It’s breathtaking.
The stairs were designed to be wide enough for two ladies in Victorian bustle dresses to pass by each other. The hotel was shut in 1935 and for half a century used as offices by British Rail – but when the Eurostar opened, it was restored to its former glory, reopening as a hotel in 2011. You might recognise the staircase – it was featured in Spice Girls’ Wannabe music video, Batman Begins, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Anyone can visit the staircase – though only guests can go up them. It’s a bit of a confusing building, so ask at reception if you’re not sure where to go.
Free entry.
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