The Royal Panopticon of Science and Art was one of the grand social institutions and architectural splendours of

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the List of largest cities throughout history, largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of Financial ...

. It was given a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

in 1850 and in July 1851 a lease was taken out on a premium site for 60 years and building commenced. The Royal Panopticon of Science and Art was built on the eastern side of

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

, opening on 18 March 1854.

Exhibitions

As a showcase venue for the very best achievements in sciences and arts of the time, it attracted 1,000 visitors per day. The

rotunda A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...

at the centre of the building was encircled with a 91-metre

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

, creating a panathenaic procession in

Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles ( ) are a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon and other structures from the Acropolis of Athens, removed from Ottoman Greece in the early 19th century and shipped to Britain by agents of Thomas Bruce, 7 ...

. The interior reflected the taste for religiously meaningless ornament. The panopticon cells were designed as reproductions of the

Arch of Titus The Arch of Titus (; ) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 81 AD by Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus to comm ...

Temple of Vesta The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#aedes, Aedes Vestae''; Italian language, Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), was an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. It is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the H ...

, grottas and conservatories, while the

wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...

was changed frequently and displayed

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...

. The

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

of the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art emerged from the contemporary taste for recreational learning, which had been pioneered in London through the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

in 1851. In 1854 the work on the building that was to house the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art was completed. Visitors of the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art could view changing exhibits, including

vacuum flask A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that slows the speed at which its contents change in temperature. It greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or coo ...

s, a

pin A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

making

machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

and a cook stove. Visitors engaged in intellectual improvement as a leisure activity, while at the same time a competitive

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

emerged in London. According to The Athenaeum the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art was the most "delightful lounge in London" which exhibited music, large fountains, interesting experiments and provided opportunities for

shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

. Scientists that practiced at the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art also taught interested students. For example,

George Frederick Ansell __NOTOC__ George Frederick Ansell (4 March 1826 – 21 December 1880) was an English scientific inventor, chemist and assayer, and author of a standard work on the Royal Mint. Biography Ansell was born at Carshalton on 4 March 1826. He was th ...

taught chemistry at the Royal Panopticon and his student

Herbert McLeod Herbert McLeod, FRS (February 1841October 1923) was an English chemist, noted for the invention of the McLeod gauge and for the invention of a sunshine recorder. Biography McLeod was born in Stoke Newington on 9 Feb 1841 and died 3 October 1923 ...

went on to study at the

Royal College of Chemistry file:The Royal College of Chemistry; the laboratories. Lithograph Wellcome V0013588.jpg, The Royal College of Chemistry: the laboratories. Lithograph The Royal College of Chemistry (RCC) was a college originally based on Oxford Street in central Lo ...

Closure

Two years after opening the amateur science

panopticon The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be ...

project closed and the building was sold in 1856. The grand building re-opened as the

Alhambra Theatre of Variety The Alhambra Theatre was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

Architecture

The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts was a building flanked by

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s. This was a very large building for the time. The

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

had tiles made by

Mintons Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...

, shields and

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...

of the most prominent

scientists A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...

, writers and artists, including

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. A prolific author of various literature, he is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian e ...

and

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...

References

{{Authority control Demolished buildings and structures in London Leicester Square