Read Online Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: London by Editors of David & Charles - Free Book Online Page B
Book: Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: London by Editors of David & Charles
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Editors of David & Charles
Ads: Link
of Westminster. It was originally to be called William IV Square in honour of one of our less distinguished monarchs but the name Trafalgar Square was adopted on the suggestion of the long-forgotten architect to the Royal Navy George Taylor (1788-1873).
RODS, POLES, PERCHES... BUT NOT AN ANGLER IN SIGHT
On the northern side of the square, in front of the National Gallery, Charles Barry built a terrace on the wall of which in 1876 was engraved a notice which reads:
‘Imperial Standards of length placed on this site by the Standards Department of the Board of Trade, by Permission of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Public Buildings and Works: MDCCCLXXVI
Metal plates set into the wall have the standard lengths of an inch, a foot, two feet and a yard. Along the bottom of the wall is the standard measure of a chain (22 yards) and a standard rod, pole or perch, each of these being one fortieth of a furlong (220 yards). Since the metal plaques expand or contract with varying temperature the standard lengths apply at 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nash and pagoda ash
Nash’s designs were both costly and controversial. All Soul’s, Langham Place, which is at the junction of Portland Place and Regent Street, just in front of the BBC’s Broadcasting House, was criticised for its combination of Gothic spire and Classical rotunda. One MP offered to contribute to the cost of pulling it down but it is now cherished as a London landmark. Carlton House, at the bottom of Regent Street overlooking the Mall, was extended as a residence for the Prince Regent and promptly abandoned by him in favour of Buckingham Palace when he became King in 1820. Carlton House was then demolished and its columns used at the front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, where they remain. Nash turned St James’s Park from a swamp into the present charming green space, celebrating its opening by a firework display that set fire to the bridge across the lake and a decorative Chinese Pagoda which has since vanished from London’s landscape for ever.
ULTIMATE DES RES: THE KING’S HOUSE, PIMLICO
In 1762 George III bought a charming country house on the edge of the built-up area for his mother. It had belonged to the Dukes of Buckingham and became known as ‘The King’s house, Pimlico,’ but today we know it as Buckingham Palace. By the time that John Nash had spent £600,000 (approximately £50m in today’s money) on it under the confusing guidance of George IV it had become an uninhabitable wreck. Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855) later turned it into a suitable home for Queen Victoria and her family.
QUEEN VICTORIA’S FAVOURITE BUILDER
Thomas Cubitt was a ship’s carpenter who invested his profits from a trading voyage to India to create what became one of the largest construction businesses in England. Besides Belgravia he built much of Bloomsbury, Pimlico and Highbury, turning unstable, marshy land into fashionable residential areas. He also rebuilt Buckingham Palace from the wreck left by George IV and John Nash and built Osborne House on the Isle of Wight for Queen Victoria and her family. On his death Victoria wrote that ‘a better, kindhearted or more simple, unassuming man never breathed’. He left the longest will ever recorded, at 386 pages; some of his fortune passed to the present Duchess of Cornwall, his direct descendant.
Thomas Cubitt
Keeping it in the family
How the posh streets got their names
M any London streets took their names from the people who built them or the families which owned them. Thus the Bloomsbury area of London has many names which reflect the fact that this area, near the British Museum, was originally owned by the Dukes of Bedford (Bedford Square) whose family name is Russell (Russell Square and Great Russell Street); whose home is Woburn Abbey (Woburn Square and Woburn Walk); and whose eldest son is the Marquis of Tavistock (Tavistock Square). The name ‘Bloomsbury’ itself refers to the manor, or ‘bury’
RODS, POLES, PERCHES... BUT NOT AN ANGLER IN SIGHT
On the northern side of the square, in front of the National Gallery, Charles Barry built a terrace on the wall of which in 1876 was engraved a notice which reads:
‘Imperial Standards of length placed on this site by the Standards Department of the Board of Trade, by Permission of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Public Buildings and Works: MDCCCLXXVI
Metal plates set into the wall have the standard lengths of an inch, a foot, two feet and a yard. Along the bottom of the wall is the standard measure of a chain (22 yards) and a standard rod, pole or perch, each of these being one fortieth of a furlong (220 yards). Since the metal plaques expand or contract with varying temperature the standard lengths apply at 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nash and pagoda ash
Nash’s designs were both costly and controversial. All Soul’s, Langham Place, which is at the junction of Portland Place and Regent Street, just in front of the BBC’s Broadcasting House, was criticised for its combination of Gothic spire and Classical rotunda. One MP offered to contribute to the cost of pulling it down but it is now cherished as a London landmark. Carlton House, at the bottom of Regent Street overlooking the Mall, was extended as a residence for the Prince Regent and promptly abandoned by him in favour of Buckingham Palace when he became King in 1820. Carlton House was then demolished and its columns used at the front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, where they remain. Nash turned St James’s Park from a swamp into the present charming green space, celebrating its opening by a firework display that set fire to the bridge across the lake and a decorative Chinese Pagoda which has since vanished from London’s landscape for ever.
ULTIMATE DES RES: THE KING’S HOUSE, PIMLICO
In 1762 George III bought a charming country house on the edge of the built-up area for his mother. It had belonged to the Dukes of Buckingham and became known as ‘The King’s house, Pimlico,’ but today we know it as Buckingham Palace. By the time that John Nash had spent £600,000 (approximately £50m in today’s money) on it under the confusing guidance of George IV it had become an uninhabitable wreck. Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855) later turned it into a suitable home for Queen Victoria and her family.
QUEEN VICTORIA’S FAVOURITE BUILDER
Thomas Cubitt was a ship’s carpenter who invested his profits from a trading voyage to India to create what became one of the largest construction businesses in England. Besides Belgravia he built much of Bloomsbury, Pimlico and Highbury, turning unstable, marshy land into fashionable residential areas. He also rebuilt Buckingham Palace from the wreck left by George IV and John Nash and built Osborne House on the Isle of Wight for Queen Victoria and her family. On his death Victoria wrote that ‘a better, kindhearted or more simple, unassuming man never breathed’. He left the longest will ever recorded, at 386 pages; some of his fortune passed to the present Duchess of Cornwall, his direct descendant.
Thomas Cubitt
Keeping it in the family
How the posh streets got their names
M any London streets took their names from the people who built them or the families which owned them. Thus the Bloomsbury area of London has many names which reflect the fact that this area, near the British Museum, was originally owned by the Dukes of Bedford (Bedford Square) whose family name is Russell (Russell Square and Great Russell Street); whose home is Woburn Abbey (Woburn Square and Woburn Walk); and whose eldest son is the Marquis of Tavistock (Tavistock Square). The name ‘Bloomsbury’ itself refers to the manor, or ‘bury’
Similar Books
