Somerset House in the Strand
Somerset House in the Strand
Record No
140434
Title
Somerset House in the Strand
Description
View of Somerset House from Lancaster Place, City of Westminster. A major thoroughfare, the Strand runs east to west from Trafalgar Square to Temple Bar. Named from the Old English 'strond', meaning the edge of a river, as before modern embankments and land reclamation it ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames. Between The Strand and the river, many historically important mansions were built from the twelfth to the seventeenth century. The first palace on this site was built by Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset in 1547, but after his execution in 1552 the property passed to the crown. In 1609 Inigo Jones was invited by James I's queen, Anne of Denmark, to redesign and renovate the palace and it was renamed Denmark House. This was used in the eighteenth century as grace and favour apartments and was eventually demolished in 1775. The new building was constructed between 1776-96 by Sir William Chambers. The Strand block has a nine-window wide front, with three central bays open as carriage arches leading into the quadrangle. In the distance is the block originally opening directly on to the Thames with water-gates. Three main storeys throughout and two and a half storeys of basements, and with a dome. The Royal Academy of Arts became the first resident in 1779, and other occupants have included the Admiralty and the Inland Revenue where it was based for 150 years. The building suffered bomb damage during World War II and in 1950, Sir Alfred Richardson undertook renovation work. The Courtauld Institute of Art moved into the North Wing in 1989 and remains there still. The western edge of the site on Lancaster Place was occupied by a row of houses used as dwellings for Admiralty officials who worked in the South Wing. Between 1851 and 1856, this terrace was expanded and remodelled to provide the Inland Revenue with a new wing of additional office accommodation. As part of this development, its architect James Pennethorne created a monumental new façade alongside the approach road to Waterloo Bridge. This thirteen-bay front is flanked by four bay projecting wings and reworks Chambers' design for the quadrangle elevation of the Strand block. 150 years later this part of the building is still known as the "New Wing. Somerset House is Grade I listed, number 1237041. A number of people are waiting a bus stop.
Date of execution
1942
Section
The London Archives
Collection
LCC Photograph Library
Notes
- Updated 2010 10 28
Medium
photograph
Catalogue No
SC_PHL_01_532_F722
London picture map location
Exact
Subjects
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