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Thank you to all who took the time to write comments and post guesses for our 2nd photo challenge.  The post attracted significant traffic both direct through the website and as referrals from our twitter feed and retweets ( @LondonUnveiled ).  With over 500 visitors to this post the response was excellent so there may be a few more in the months ahead.

If you enjoy these challenges take a look at our first challenge posted earlier this year:  http://londonunveiled.com/2013/03/30/photo-challenge/

And then if you want to see the answers to that challenge go to: http://londonunveiled.com/2013/04/02/photo_answers/

As for this challenge, please see the answers below and congratulations to those who got some of them right.

A hidden oasis of calm

A hidden oasis of calm

(1)  Queen Mary University of London - Charterhouse Square Campus:  This open space is located on the campus of QMUL at Charterhouse Square.  You can access this open park area either from the north, off Old Street between St. John St. and Goswell Rd, or from the south off Carthusian St, heading north on Rutland Place (past the wonderful art deco building that act’s as Hercule Poirot’s home in the recent TV series) - but only on foot.  Since no regular road passes this space it is generally only visited by the University students.  The building you are viewing on the south side is Charterhouse Chapel.  Over the years the Charterhouse complex has been a priory, a Tudor estate, an almshouse, a school, a University and still today as a home for about 40 pensioners, or Brothers.  The Chapel is open to visitors for the London Open House.   Nearest Tube Station: Barbican.

A most unique steeple

A most unique steeple

(2)  St. George’s, Bloomsbury:  Built by Wren’s former pupil and later assistant, Nicholas Hawksmoor, between 1716 and 1731.  Considered one of the finest buildings in London by the Guardian, the church is a masterpiece of English Baroque architecture. The tower and steeple is one of Hawkmoor’s most inspired dramatic and theatrical designs as it is based on the Roman author Pliny the Elder’s description of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (Bodrum, in Turkey) which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  This Grade I listed building is topped with a statue of George I in Roman dress. It is generally open most days from 1-4pm.  Its restoration was aided by the World Monuments Fund, which adopted the church for funding in the 1990s.    The  Located on Bloomsbury Way.  Nearest Tube Station:  Tottenham Court Road or Holborn.

A carriage house from the 1600s

A carriage house from the 1600s

(3) The Stafford Hotel and American Bar, 16-18 St. James’s Place, near Piccadilly.  This picturesque spot on a hidden cobblestone courtyard was originally built in the 17th Century.  Once a private home, then a club and hotel, the current hotel was founded here over 100 years ago.  During WWII, the hotel served as a Club for American and Canadian Officers.  Today this is remembered through the ‘American Bar’ that is located where the carriage house joins the main hotel with plenty of associated American memorabilia.  Well worth a visit, only if to say ‘I found it’.  Many people seeking this location never find the entrance to the courtyard as it is on a very secretive entryway off St. James’s Street, north of St. James’s Place, called ‘Blue Bell Yard’.  As a side note, my favourite spot for a martini is in the nearby - Duke’s.   Nearest Tube Station:  Green Park