View of Cockspur Street
View of Cockspur Street
More information
View of Cockspur Street
SC_PHL_01_537_N61150 (Collage 141281)
London Metropolitan Archives: LCC Photograph Library
View of Cockspur Street, City of Westminster, looking west from the northern end of Whitehall. On a traffic island is an equestrian statue of Charles I in half armour. Commissioned in 1630 by Charles I's Lord Treasurer Sir Richard Weston for his house at Mortlake Park, Roehampton. Cast in 1633 by Hubert Le Sueur, the Portland Stone pedestal is by Joshua Marshall carved in 1674-5 when the statue was moved to this position. It is Grade I listed, number 1357291. Adjacent to the statue is an 1880 cast-iron lamp standard and vent with an ornate bell-shaped base decorated with griffins. Surmounted by an urn on which stand a group of three putti holding festoons and forming the base of the shaft which carries three lamps on curved, scroll-ornamented brackets. It is Grade II* listed, number 1066283. At the southwest corner of Trafalgar square is a statue of General Sir Charles Napier, cast in bronze in 1855 by G. G. Adams on a granite pedestal. An officer in the British Army's Peninsular and 1812 campaigns, and later a Major General of the Bombay Army, during which period he led the military conquest of Sindh, before serving as the Governor of Sindh, and Commander-in-Chief in India. The statue was raised by subscription from private soldiers who had served under Napier in India. It is Grade II* listed, number 1357304. 57-59 Trafalgar Square, flanking the entrance to Admiralty Arch, is a building constructed in Portland Stone as the Ugandan High Commission in 1914-1915 by Sir Reginald Blomfield. Five storeys high with a basement and attic with a balustrade decorated by urns. The signs on the building reads 'Malaysia' as, by the 1970s, the building was shared with Tourism Malaysia. The building is Grade II* listed, number 1266213. Number 60-61, a four-storey building, has since been redeveloped. Number 62-65, a five-storey building with attic, has a sign on the roof parapet for ‘Canadian Pacific’. Faced in Portland Stone with a clocktower and bow windows to the first and second floors. Between the attic windows are bas reliefs. Constructed as the London offices of The Canadian Pacific Railway Company and its affiliated steamship line. Number 66, a three-storey building on the corner with Spring Gardens, was The Union Bank of London. The bank was founded in 1839 and merged in 1902 to form Union of London and Smith's Bank. Built in 1871 by F. W. Porter of Portland Stone and polished red granite, it is now a pub and is Grade II* listed, number 1217744. Number 34 is a three-storey corner building with double attics, and a large clock on the corner. This was formerly Dent and Dent Limited, a watch and clockmakers established in 1814 by Edward J. Dent who manufactured probably the most famous clock in the world - the Great Clock for the Houses of Parliament, known as Big Ben. A Norwegian flag is flying above the building and a sign on the attic parapet reads 'Norway'. In the distance, 20 Cockspur Street has a sign around the attic for 'Canadian National Railways, Canada and USA'. Constructed in 1901 by William Woodward for the International Sleeping Car and European Express Company, it is Grade II* listed, number 1066973. A high-rise block in the distance, on the corner of Pall Mall and Haymarket, has the New Zealand High Commission on the lower floors. On the right, flanking the western side of Trafalgar Square, is Canada House. Built 1824-27 by Sir Robert Smirke as premises for The Royal College of Physicians and The Union Club and altered into Canada House in 1925 by Septimus Warwick. The building was officially opened on 29 June 1925 by King George V and remains the home of the High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom. It is Grade II* listed, number 1217724. In the foreground are several vehicles and pedestrians.
Copyright London Metropolitan Archives, all rights reserved. Provided for research purposes only. For commercial and other uses please contact us via support@londonpicturearchive.org.uk
London Metropolitan Archives. Please cite document title, reference and collection.