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Place and space in nineteenth-century representations of old London : the Thieves’ House on West Street
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Smyth, Patricia (2021) Place and space in nineteenth-century representations of old London : the Thieves’ House on West Street. Journal of Victorian Culture, 26 (3). pp. 357-383. doi:10.1093/jvcult/vcab010 ISSN 1355-5502.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/jvcult/vcab010
Abstract
The proposed demolition in 1844 of the infamous ‘Thieves House’, a dilapidated structure situated on West Street in the notorious London slum of West Smithfield, was the focus of great public interest (figure 1). An unremarkable facade belied its strange internal construction, which incorporated trap doors, false walls and secret passages. These were described in detail in several journalistic accounts in which the house was imagined as a lair of thieves and murderers, fitted out for the commission and concealment of crime. In the days prior to and during its demolition, it became a sensation and was reportedly attended by thousands of curious spectators with lamp-lit tours for the likes of the Duke of Cambridge, ‘parties moving in the higher walks of literature’, and other high-ranking figures. It seized the imagination of both authors and artists, becoming the inspiration for serialised fiction, three dramas, and a large body of drawings and prints. While the various representations of the house foreground the familiar ‘slum’ narratives of dereliction, degeneration and criminality, this article uncovers a counter-narrative of nostalgia and regret for the old city as a space shaped by the needs of its inhabitants, in contrast to the emerging metropolis designed for the circulation of labour and capital.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Victorian Culture | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 1355-5502 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | July 2021 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 26 | ||||||||
| Number: | 3 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 357-383 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1093/jvcult/vcab010 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Victorian Culture following peer review. The version of record Patricia Smyth, Place and Space in Nineteenth-Century Representations of Old London: The Thieves’ House on West Street, Journal of Victorian Culture, 2021;, vcab010, is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jvcult/vcab010 | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 5 May 2021 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 11 May 2023 | ||||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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