Comments on: At God’s Convenience

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 21:38:44 +0000

This is an amazingly interesting – and useful – post. I must visit here if I’m ever able to go to London again. In the meantime, I will share this post with all my friends, in case anyone has the chance to visit.

By: David Steers

David Steers — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 21:16:35 +0000

“Never have I seen a more beautifully kept toilet than this, every wooden surface has been waxed, the marble and mosaics shine, and each cubicle has a generous supply of rolls of soft white paper. It is both a flawless illustration of the rigours of the Methodist temperament and an image of what a toilet might be like in heaven.” – Beautiful.

John Wesley visited John Taylor’s Norwich Octagon Chapel but disapproved of it, mainly because of Taylor’s theology. But it didn’t stop him from utilising his octagonal designs in chapels and elsewhere, even – we now learn – echoing down the centuries in the design of Wesleyan toilets.

Wonderful post.

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 18:43:13 +0000

I’ve visited the stunning Victorian ones at Rothesay in Scotland, still in use, but available to tour while there’s no-one in there using them. They cater for both male and female. I first discovered how many amazing ones still survive from a book I have that was written some years ago by Lucinda Lambton.

By: Virginia

Virginia — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 15:52:48 +0000

A feature on the hardworking cleaner?

By: Bailey Jones

Bailey Jones — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 15:05:30 +0000

Is there a similar one for us ladies?

By: Saba

Saba — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 13:53:12 +0000

After many years wandering the countryside as an itinerant preacher, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement (it was not yet a separate denomination), may well have highly approved of clean, comfortable bathrooms.

By: David Antscherl

David Antscherl — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 12:46:05 +0000

This morning’s offering brought back an early childhood memory. Those Victorian toilet bowls were often quite highly decorated and had substantial mahogany seats. While visiting my grandmother in Stoke Newington (I was old enough to read) I had to go to the loo. The toilet bowl declared in large blue letters that it was The Shark. I was terrified.

Thank you, G.A., for your daily parade of the unusual and the fascinating.

By: Cherub

Cherub — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 12:19:47 +0000

The museums and galleries in my home town in Scotland have toilets like this in the basement but on a much smaller scale. When the building was renovated about 10 years ago, it was decided rather than install new toilets the old ones should be restored as they were part of the fabric of the original building.

By: Peter Holford

Peter Holford — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 11:02:38 +0000

Those superior Victorian toilets were built to last. Sadly many have been thoughtlessly destroyed. I know of a couple of others that can compete with this magnificent edifice (not that I go looking for them!) In Liverpool there is a grade 1 listed pub, the Philharmonic Dining Rooms which is renowned as a local of the Beatles before they were famous – an awesome building (well worth Googling). In Hull the toilets on Nelson Street beside the River Humber are less impressive but beautifully maintained, complete with hanging baskets! In 2019 Lonely Planet named them as one of the UK’s top tourist attractions! (https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/lonely-planet-attractions-hull-toilet-3206714)

It speaks volumes that the Victorians built such edifices for the working man while our era sees politicians who won’t fund basic facilities such as these through under-funding. And I’m not talking about the local councils!

By: Achim

Achim — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 10:49:00 +0000

How this “secular problem” was solved in particular public places has always been a most interesting question. Thank you for this wonderful explanation!

Love & Peace
ACHIM