Unusual Sights in London Weird & Wonderful London Artillery GroundArtillery Ground and Lunardi
London's first 'Aeronaut'
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is just north of the City of London. From 1498, about half of Bunhill Fields 
was set aside for the practice of archery and shooting - hence the name
It is an historic cricket venue and home to the original London Cricket Club. For many years The Artillery Ground was the main venue for cricket played in London, though it fell into disrepute in the late 18th century through unlicensed gambling.
The Artillery Ground is perhaps most notable for being the site of Lunardi's balloon flight. It was the first time that London was seen from the air - prosaic to the modern traveller since most planes arriving at Heathrow, float across the city. Back in the 18th century, maps had long imagined the view from above, but Lunardi was the first to see it.
Vicenzo Lunardi was born in Lucca, Italy and travelled extensively before joining the diplomatic service. He was posted to England as secretary to the Neopolitan Ambassador. This posting co-incided with a 'flying craze' which had swept through France and Scotland, though England remained notably sceptical. To redress this George Biggin and 'Vincent' Lunardi, "The Daredevil Aeronaut" decided to demonstrate the capabilities of a hydrogen balloon by organising England's first flight at the Artillery Ground in London on the 15th September 1784.
A crowd of 200,000 (including the Prince of Wales), a quarter of London's population turned out for the show, but grew impatient and restless. Lunardi was pressured into taking off without Biggin and with the balloon only partially inflated. He was however accompanied by a modest menagerie of fellow travellers: a dog, a cat and a caged pigeon. Accounts of the balloon flight leaving Artillery Ground are limited, but a later flight in Scotland prompted the following comment in the Glasgow press.
'The beauty and grandeur of the spectacle could only be exceeded by the cool, intrepid manner in which the adventurer conducted himself; and indeed he seemed infinitely more at ease than the greater part of his spectators.'
From the Artillery Ground Lunardi travelled in a northerly direction towards Hertfordshire. He made a brief stop in Welham Green, before eventually bringing the balloon to rest in Standon Green End. The road junction in Welham Green near to where Lunardi made his first stop is still called Balloon Corner. Lunardi released several of his animal companions which had been feeling the cold at this point, and there is a memorial stone marker with the following inscription:
Near this spot at 3.30 in the afternoon of September 19th (it's actually the 15th) 1784 Vincenzo Lunardi the Italian balloonist made his first landing whilst on his pioneer flight in the English atmosphere. Having handed out a cat and dog the partners of his flight from London, he re-ascended and continued north-eastward.' (The pigeon apparently escaped shortly after take-off).
Standon Green End where the balloon finally came to rest also has a plaque attached to a boulder with the following inscription:
'Let posterity know and knowing be astonished that on the 15th day of September 1784 Vincent Lunardi, of Lucca in Tuscany, the first aerial traveller in Britain mounting from the artillery ground in London and traversing the regions of the air for two hours and fifteen minutes. In this spot revisited the Earth on this rude monument that wondrous enterprise, successfully achieved by the power of chemistry and the fortitude of man that improvements in science which the great author of all knowledge patronising by his providence the invention of mankind, hath graciously permitted to their benefit and his own eternal glory.'
Landing a lighter-than-air balloon was hazardous at the best of times. Doubly so, when the people below, whose help was required: weren't expecting him, had never seen a balloon before, and generally presumed he was in league with the devil. Fortunately for him, a young girl, Elizabeth Brett, had the presence of mind to seize the rope he was dangling. Her courage emboldened several other bystanders to lend a hand and together they hauled Lunardi's balloon safely to the ground.
According to The Times, some gentlemen who had followed his progress on horseback from London rode up and took Lunardi to the Bull Inn in Ware, for a celebratory drink.
Lunardi was made a member of the Honourable Artillery Company, granted a special audience with the King, and was presented with a watch by the Prince of Wales. His balloon was later exhibited at the Pantheon Theatre in Oxford Street. Lunardi died, poverty stricken in a Portuguese monastery 12 years later, but for a brief period, his derring-do made him the most talked about man in London. Lunardi - The Daredevil Aeronaut and first to see the city of London from the air.
Some lucky balloonists who managed to float across London recently (In the absence of any Lunardi footage on YouTube).
Video courtesy of Adventure Balloons. Visit http://www.adventureballoons.co.uk/products-london.html for futher information about hot air balloon flights over London.
The Artillery Ground, Finsbury, London.
Nearest Tube: Moorgate or Old Street.
