As in Clockwork A ngel, the London of Clockwork Prince is, as much as I could make it, an admixture of the real and the unreal, the famous and the forgotten. (For instance, there real y is a Pyx Chamber in Westminster Abbey.) The geography of real Victorian London is preserved as much as possible, but there were times that wasn’t possible.
For those wondering about the Institute: There was indeed a church cal ed Al -Hal ows-the-Less that burned in the Great Fire of London in 1666; it was located, however, in Upper Thames Street, not where I have placed it, just off Fleet Street. Those familiar with London wil recognize the location of the Institute, and the shape of its spire, as that of the famous St. Bride’s Church, beloved of newspapermen and journalists, which goes unmentioned in the Infernal Devices as the Institute has taken its place. For those wondering about the Institute in York, it is based on Holy Trinity Goodramgate, a church you can stil find and tour in York.
As for the Lightwoods’ house in Chiswick, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was believed Chiswick was far enough from London to be a healthy refuge from the city’s dirt and disease, and wealthy families did have mansions there. The Lightwoods’ is based very sketchily on famous Chiswick House. As for Number 16 Cheyne Walk, where Woolsey Scott lives, it was at the time actual y rented together by Algernon Charles Swinburne, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and George Meredith. They were members of the aesthetic movement, and would have appreciated the motto on Woolsey’s ring—“L’art pour l’art,” or “Art for art’s sake.”
As for the opium den in Whitechapel, much research has been done on the subject but there is no proof that the opium den, much beloved of Sherlock Holmes fans and enthusiasts of the Gothic, ever existed at al . Here it has been replaced by a den of demonic vice. It has never been proved that those existed either, but then, it has never been proved that they didn’t.
For those wondering what Wil says to Tessa just outside the mansion in Chiswick, Caelum denique was the battle cry of the Crusaders and means “Heaven at last!”