View of Trafalgar Square
View of Trafalgar Square
Record No
141214
Title
View of Trafalgar Square
Description
Rooftop view of Trafalgar Square, City of Westminster, looking east. Trafalgar Square was planned as part of the redevelopment of the West Strand Improvements by John Nash following the passing of the Charing Cross Act of 1826. Although it was to be another 30 years before the square was completed, it occupies the area of the former Great Mews of the Crown Stables. Charles Barry was the architect, although he opposed the decision to erect Nelson's Column on the site - he was overruled. The whole square is Grade I listed, number 1001362. Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson's memorial column and sculpture was built 1839-1842, to the design of William Railton with a fluted granite column and Corinthian capital. The statue was by E. H. Baily and the bas-relief panels around the base depicting Nelson's famous naval battles by J. E. Carew, J. Ternouth, M. L. Watson and W. F. Woodington. The four lions by Sir Edwin Landseer were cast by Baron Marochetti and added 1867. The monument is Grade I listed, number 1276052. The fountains were remodelled in 1939 to the designs of Sir Edwin Lutyens with sculpture by Sir Charles Wheeler and W. McMillan. The north terrace is balustraded and stone bollards enclose the open space of the square. These features are Grade II* listed, number 1066235. On the east side of the square is South Africa House. Built on the site of Morley’s Hotel between 1931-1933 by Sir Herbert Baker and Alexander Thomson Scott. It has a steel frame, infilled with reinforced concrete panels and faced with Portland Stone, set on a granite base. In Classical style, with arts and crafts-inspired carved details of indigenous beasts and symbols of South Africa by Joseph Armitage to the designs of Sir Charles Wheeler. It has seven storeys, two attic storeys, cornice and balustrade, and the main elevation facing Trafalgar Square is thirteen windows wide. It is Grade II* listed, number 1066238. On the corner of the Strand and Northumberland Avenue The Grand Hotel building, built on the site of Northumberland House. Designed by F. & H. Francis and James Ebenezer Saunders and built between 1882 and 1887, the hotel had seven floors, 500 rooms, a large ballroom and was decorated with Antonio Salviati mosaics. The building was taken over by the British government in World War I to house military officers, and in the 1930s it became a retail headquarters. By 1972, not only had the stone facade weathered, but the whole building was damaged by the new Jubilee Underground line. It was demolished in 1986 and replaced with the similarly styled Grand Buildings designed by the Sidell Gibson Partnership. Originally built on the site of Northampton House which had been built in 1605 by Henry Howard 1st Earl of Northampton on the site of a former nunnery. It was sold to the Earl of Northumberland in the 1640s when it became Northumberland House. Although no longer a fashionable address in the nineteenth century, the Duke of Northumberland of the day was reluctant to leave his ancestral home, despite pressure from the Metropolitan Board of Works, which wished to build a road through the site to connect to the new roads along the Embankment, now Northumberland Avenue. After a fire, which caused substantial damage, the Duke accepted an offer of £500 000 and the building was demolished in 1874. On the side is a sign advertising 'Isle of Man'. On the adjacent building is a sign for a 'Strand Corner House'. On the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall, 1-9 Northumberland Avenue is the ‘Second Empire’ hotel block, built 1881-82 by F. and H. Francis in stone, with slate roofs. Five storeys and a dormered mansard with two Trench square dome pavilion-roofs. It is now known as Trafalgar Buildings offices with shops on the ground floor and is Grade II* listed, number 1266434. Around the attic is a large sign advertising 'Bovril'. Adjacent on Northumberland Avenue are The Victoria Buildings, formerly The Victoria Hotel, built 1882-87 by Isaacs and Florence, of Portland Stone, with slate roofs. Six storeys plus two storeys of stone dormers in steep slated mansard with central and terminal taller pavilion roofs. Ornamental ironwork balcony to the first floor and stone parapeted balcony to the third floor with bow windows above the entrance. When built, the hotel had only four bathrooms for 500 guests. The hotel was self-powered, generating its own electricity from dynamos. A refurbishment was started in 1911 which was delayed due to the World War I and resulted in a new annexe named The Edward VII Rooms. It closed in 1940 and was used by The War Office in need of extra accommodation. The War Office bought the building outright in 1951, renaming it The Victoria Buildings. It was subsequently renamed Northumberland House and is Grade II* listed, number 1225350. Adjacent to 1-9 Northumberland Avenue is 3 Whitehall; a two-storey building with a dormered pavilion roof with a balustrade, and shop on the ground floor'. Built in the late-nineteenth century of Portland Stone and polished granite. It is Grade II* listed, number 1224053. Number 7-13 Whitehall, five storey building with balustraded balconies on the third floor. A central entrance is flanked by pillars and a bow window above. On the ground floor is the 'Golden Egg' cafe. 15 Whitehall is a four-storey building with steeply pitched roofs occupied by Cox and Company Bank. Founded in 1718, it is now part of Lloyds Banking Group. In the foreground, at the southwest corner of the square, is the 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. At the southwest corner is a statue of General Sir Henry Havelock, cast in bronze in 1861 by W. Behnes. Havelock was a British general who is associated with India and his recapture of Cawnpore during the 1857 First Indian War of Independence (Sepoy Mutiny). It is Grade II* listed, number 1217599. In the square are many pedestrians, numerous pigeons, and several vehicles are driving around the square's one-way system.
Date of execution
1974
Section
The London Archives
Collection
LCC Photograph Library
Medium
photograph
Catalogue No
SC_PHL_01_537_74_20056
London picture map location
Exact
Subjects
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