Plaque

Marshalsea 2 - steel

Marshalsea Prison - Angel Alley Marshalsea 2 - steel

Erection date: 24/9/2004

Inscription

Angel Place
This alleyway lies on the site of the old Marshalsea Prison where the author Charles Dickens' father was incarcerated, and which featured strongly in his great book 'Little Dorrit.' The old prison wall still stands.
Thanks to an active local steering group, we now have new lighting, paving, and a new gateway to St George's Gardens. The wall mounted artworks adapt the original illustrations from Little Dorrit. The themes of wealth and poverty, freedom and imprisonment, which run throughout the book, are visually explored. Children from the local St Joseph's and Cathedral schools collaborated on the project and appear in the scenes along with their drawings. This project was completed and opened on 24th September 2004, and was funded by Southwark Council to make the area safer and easier to use.

Bankside Open Spaces Trust, Art in the Park, Southwark Council

The plaque refers to 'wall mounted artworks' but we did not see any on our visit in 2012, unless the plaques now in the ground used to be wall mounted.

Site: Marshalsea Prison - Angel Alley (6 memorials)

SE1, Borough High Street, Angel Alley

We've put the pin for these 6 plaques at the entrance to the alleyway but they are actually laid into the ground, distributed along the alley all the way to Tennis Street. We've numbered them west to east. In our picture you can see the old wall, the steel plaque and the first of the stone plaques.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Marshalsea 2 - steel

Subjects commemorated i

Little Dorrit

A novel by Charles Dickens first published in serial form 1855 and 1857.  The...

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Charles Dickens

Born, son of Elizabeth and John Dickens, at No.1 Mile End Terrace, Landport, ...

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Marshalsea Prison

Originally built to hold prisoners being tried by the Marshalsea Court an...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Marshalsea 2 - steel

Created by i

Art in the Park

Art in the Park is a charity devoted to enriching Londoners' lives and enviro...

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Bankside Open Spaces Trust

Works with local people to develop parks and gardens so they can relax, kick ...

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Southwark Council

The London Borough of Southwark was created as an amalgamation of the Metropo...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Marshalsea 2 - steel

Also at this site i

Marshalsea 1 - stone - round

Marshalsea 1 - stone - round

Quoted from Chapter 3 of Little Dorrit.

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Marshalsea 3 - stone - Little Dorrit

Marshalsea 3 - stone - Little Dorrit

The heroine of Dickens' novel Little Dorrit was one resident who was not a pr...

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Marshalsea 4 - stone - spiral

Marshalsea 4 - stone - spiral

Quoted from Charles Dickens' preface to Little Dorrit.

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Marshalsea 5 - stone - at gates

Marshalsea 5 - stone - at gates

This is our first push-me-pull-you plaque. It is in Angel Alley at the gates...

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Marshalsea 6 - stone - John Dickens

Marshalsea 6 - stone - John Dickens

John Dickens, the father of Charles Dickens, was imprisoned here for debt fro...

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Nearby Memorials

Ivor Novello

Ivor Novello

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The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague in 1905. It opened as the Waldorf Theatre with offices on the top 3rd and 4th floors. Novell...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Lady Byron

Lady Byron

W5, St Mary's Road, University of West London

We thank our colleague, Alan Patient, for providing the photos.

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Royal Arsenal Riverside Guardrooms

Royal Arsenal Riverside Guardrooms

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The same plaque appears on each of the guardrooms.

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School wall relief

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Astley's first venue

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Easter Monday in 1768 was 4 April. The plaque was erected by the Lambeth Estate Residents' Association.

2 subjects commemorated