The Strand
The Strand has origins dating back to Roman times.
Its name comes from the Old English word “strond,” meaning the edge of a river,
as it once ran directly along the north bank of the River Thames. In medieval
London, the Strand became a prestigious location for aristocratic mansions,
including grand riverside homes built by bishops and nobles who wanted easy
access to both the City of London and the royal court at Westminster.
Magnificent residences such as Somerset House and the Savoy Palace lined the
street, reflecting the power and wealth of their occupants. However, many of
these grand buildings were later demolished or repurposed, especially after the
English Civil War and the Great Fire reshaped the city’s layout and priorities.
Over time, the Strand transitioned from a residential district for the elite
into a bustling commercial thoroughfare.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the major Aldwych redevelopment
transformed the eastern end of the Strand, particularly around St Mary le
Strand. This project was part of a broader urban improvement scheme that
cleared away overcrowded and impoverished streets, replacing them with a grand
crescent-shaped boulevard and new public buildings including Australia House
and Bush House, reshaping the character of the Strand while preserving St Mary
le Strand as a central landmark.
The entire length of The Strand is lit by these attractively moulded and painted lamps, erected by the City of Westminster
Charing Cross
Charing Cross takes its' name from the elegant cross which stands on the forecourt of the mainline railway station. The station concourse is over-topped by the elegant Clermont Charing Cross Hotel.
If you’ve ever lingered outside
the mainline station, then you’ll have noticed this richly decorated pinnacle,
thrusting out of the ground beside the taxi rank. Designed by EM Barry (son of
Charles who made the Houses of Parliament), it is decorated with Mandelbrotian
complexity:
Lots of things are fake
about this.
1.
It’s not the original
Charing Cross. That was put up in 1294 as one of several memorials to Queen
Eleanor of Castile, but torn down about 350 years later by Oliver Cromwell.
This one’s a Victorian replacement.
2.
It’s also in the wrong
place. The original was at the top of Whitehall, where today stands the Charles
I statue. That spot is commonly reckoned to be the centre of London for the
purposes of measuring distance. It is still called ‘Charing Cross’, but neither the Charing
Cross nor its replacement can be found there.
3.
It’s also the wrong
shape. The medieval cross was a much plainer, stepped affair. Shorter, too. The
current one looks like a rocket with an encrustation of barnacles.
4. Rumours persist that the monument is actually the spire of a
forgotten church, which gradually sank into the soft earth near the Thames.
At the top of Villiers Street, outside the Charing Cross
Hotel, stands a tree. Thousands of people pass this tree every day with hardly
a second glance. But those who do pause to read its accompanying plaques will
realize this is no ordinary tree. It’s a living memorial to the hundreds of
thousands of trees lost during a terrible storm.
On October 16, 1987, the “Great Storm”
battered England, France, and the Channel Islands. Twenty-two people
perished, and England lost 15 million trees within the few hours the storm tore
across the country. In London, winds of nearly 100 miles per hour lashed
at the cityscape, toppling 250,000 of the city’s trees. Snapped from the
skyline, their felled trunks and branches littered the streets.
After the storm, the Evening Standard newspaper
raised £60,000 to plant new trees in each of London’s 32 boroughs, plus the
City of London. Angus McGill, a columnist at the paper, led the effort.
The English Oak that stands outside the Charing Cross station
was planted a year after the cataclysmic storm. A plaque on the nearby pillar
explains the tree’s significance. In 2017, a second plaque was installed to
honor McGill, who died in 2015.
Northumberland Avenue
Opposite Trafalgar Square, at the very top of the Avenue, on
the left, is a colonnade of shops.
Starting at the archway that houses the book-selling chain
Waterstones on the Strand, and wrapping around a building once known as the
Grand Hotel, (now just The Grand) and continuing until facing Northumberland
Avenue, are a series of 13 faces. These keystone grotesques are the work of
sculptor Barry Baldwin. His works can be found throughout Europe and the United
Kingdom, including Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Each keystone
face wears a different expression. Around the corner into the Avenue, is a
wonderfully carved archway.
This piece is entitled Endangered Species. It
contains depictions of 70 animals at risk of extinction that have been carved
out of limestone. At the top are the two figures depicting Adam and Eve
bookending a central figurehead with a decidedly pensive expression and whose
wristwatch is set at the eleventh hour. A keen observer will notice that the
effigy of Adam is in the process of being bitten in the derrière by a
snake. Somehow, I managed to forget the archway, but I'll be back!
Adelaide Street – A Conversation with Oscar Wilde.
Just off the Strand opposite Charing Cross
Station, where Duncannon Road meets Adelaide Street. The first public monument to Oscar Wilde
outside Ireland is, indeed, a conversation starter. A bust of the
writer’s head, made up of a mass of squiggly lines, emerges from a
coffin-shaped base. His right hand grasps at the nothing, his fingers pinched
together like a bronze tribute to the “one does not simply” meme.
Maggi Hambling created the intriguing work of art, which was
installed in 1998. The artist was chosen from a pool of applicants to construct
a memorial to the late writer. But her work wasn’t met with total fanfare.
Though many appreciated the abstract depiction of the author, others were
horrified by the memorial’s whimsical appearance.
The cigarette Wilde originally clutched in his hand caused
concern, too. People repeatedly pilfered this small part of the sculpture.
After a while, the city stopped replacing the cigarette, which is why his hand
now grips nothing but air.
Unlike most art, this particular sculpture is meant to be
touched. The green granite sarcophagus Wilde’s head and hand rest upon serves
as a bench, inviting passers by to take a seat and have their own conversations
with the memorial or contemplate the quote inscribed at its foot.
Arguably one of the most famous closed underground stations
in London, Aldwych was originally opened in 1907 as Strand station.
Construction of the station began in 1905 and the building that once stood here
was the Royal Strand Theatre. The red-tiled frontage on Surrey Street, was the trademark of the
young architect Leslie Green (1875-1908), who was responsible for this iconic
material being used on over a dozen Tube Stations. It served as the terminus of
the short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn.
Passenger numbers were very low from the 1920s on, and along
with the branch it was considered for closure from time to time. During the
both World War I and World War II, the empty parts of the station and its
tunnels were used to shelter artwork from London's public galleries and museums
(including the famous Elgin marbles) and the general public from the Blitz
bombing.
Service was offered only during weekday peak hours from 1962,
and thanks to it the station was often used as a film set. In 1994, the station
was finally decommissioned, when it was considered too expensive to replace the
lifts, compared to the income it generated.
Its use in film production did not cease when the station was
closed for good. Some of the films shot here include Superman IV (1986), The
Patriot Games (1992), V for Vendetta (2006), Atonement (2007), Fast
& Furious 6 (2013), and Darkest Hour (2017),
among others. Fans of the television series Sherlock may also
recognise it as the fictional "Sumatra Road" station.
The station also appeared in a 2002 episode of the paranormal
reality show Most Haunted, as some say it's haunted by a number of
spirits.
A smaller entrance facade can be located on The Strand,
around the corner, again, finished in Leslie Green's oxblood tiles..
St. Mary-le-Strand
After the Great Fire and the subsequent rebuilding of St Paul’s
Cathedral, the City Commissioners proposed a scheme to build fifty new churches
for London, of which St Mary’s is the first. The original church of St Mary le
Strand was demolished in 1549 to make way for Somerset House. In 1711, the
parishioners successfully petitioned the Commissioners that a church should be
reinstated in the Strand and work begun in 1714.
The new church was consecrated on 1st January 1724. The
church is a fine and beautiful example of baroque design. The church, in its
landmark setting in the middle of the Strand, is a magnificent and memorable
sight, enhanced by the important visual connection with St Clement Danes church
a short way to the east.
The architecture of st mary-le-strand was
controversial from the very beginning. Its architect, James Gibbs, had
originally planned an elegant Italianate design with a small campanile and no
steeple. Instead, a 250-foot column crowned with a statue of Queen Anne was
intended to stand nearby. When the queen died in 1714, the scheme was
abandoned, and Gibbs was instructed to reuse the stone to construct the
church’s striking steeple — dramatically altering his vision.
The richly ornamented Baroque exterior drew criticism, especially after a
decorative urn fell and killed a passer-by in 1802. Its busy location on the
Strand also proved challenging, leading Gibbs to design the ground floor
without windows to reduce traffic noise.
Despite early controversy, the church brought Gibbs considerable fame. Its
lavish interior, inspired by Roman Baroque masters including Pietro da Cortona,
reveals a remarkable blend of drama, elegance, and architectural ambition.
As a Church of England parish church St Mary’s has been a
centre of parish worship and London life since the early 18th Century. The
church’s prominent location in the heart of the metropolis on the processional
route from Westminster and Buckingham Palace to the City of London is just part
of its wider significance. St Mary’s is the London church of the WRENS (the
Women’s Royal Naval Service).
St. Clement Danes
St Clement Dane's is a late 17th-century 'Wren church' on a
traffic island in the centre of The Strand. It is the official church of the
Royal Air Force contains over 8oo badges of RAF squadrons and units.
This church is believed to have been adopted by Danish
residents in the 9th Century when they were allowed into London after
converting to Christianity. One version is that the Danes settled in the
village of Aldwych, outside the city walls of London, and built a church
dedicated to St Clement, patron saint of mariners. An alternative version of
the tale suggests that when Alfred the Great defeated the Danes, evicted them
from London, and forced them to accept Christianity, he ordered the church to
be built.
Another possibility is that the church was built as a
memorial to Danes massacred on the spot. Yet another tale says that when the
Danish Earl of Huntingdon, Tosti, was killed in battle by Siward of
Northumbria, he and his fellow Danes were buried here and a church erected to
mark the spot. And yet another theory is that the church commemorates Harold
Harefoot, the Danish king who died in 1040.
The church was rebuilt by William the Conqueror but
subsequently deteriorated until it was demolished and rebuilt by Christopher
Wren in 1682. The church was gutted by fire on 10th May 1941 after being hit by
a large German incendiary during the London Blitz. The outer walls, the tower
and steeple survived but the interior was totally ruined.
The ten bells crashed to the ground and were put into
storage for recasting after the war. The church remained derelict until 1953
when it was taken over by the Royal Air Force to be dedicated as a memorial to
those men and women of the Allied Air Forces who had lost their lives in the
war. Shrines along the inner walls were included in the redesign to hold Books
of Remembrance listing over 150,000 casualties.
After an appeal for funds the church was completely
restored and reconsecrated on 19th October 1958 as the central church of the
Royal Air Force. The stone floor leading to the altar has over 1000 badges of
RAF squadrons and units, hand carved from Welsh slate. There are also memorials
to the United States Air Force and Polish Air Force plus a considerable array
of memorabilia. The original wooden pulpit (by Grinling Gibbons circa 1700) is
in place, having been removed for safekeeping at the start of the Blitz. The
crypt is now a bright and airy chapel.
The association with the RAF is strengthened by the
presence of two statues outside the church to WWII RAF leaders Hugh Dowding and
Arthur 'Bomber' Harris.
In front of these two statues is a large memorial to William Ewart Gladstone.(1809-1898)
A past rector of the church was William Webb Ellis, who
famously at Rugby school whilst playing football one afternoon, picked up the
ball and ran with it.
The bells of St Clements were made famous in the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons". Or were they? Though St Clement Danes has long claimed to be the church referred to in the rhyme, the church of St Clement Eastcheap, within the square mile of the City, also makes the same claim. That doesn't stop St Clement Danes from holding an annual service to honour St Clement, and after the service oranges and lemons are given out to children.
Royal Courts of Justice
Temple Bar
In the Strand, where it runs into Fleet Street, just outside the Royal Courts of Justice, and where a gateway leads through to Middle Temple, stands one of the dragon guardians of London. These dragons mark the locations of the gates of the City of London.
This particular impressive Victorian-era sculpture was traditionally known to locals as "The Griffin," perhaps due to its feline-like posture and body shape, and its snarl that is reminiscent of a big cat. However, this creature is in fact meant to represent a dragon.
The dragon was created in 1880 by the sculptor Charles Bell Birch, who had been commissioned by the Royal family and government to produce an ornate sculpture to surmount the pedestal marking what were the historic gates of the City of London.
The Victorians were romanticists and consciously revived trends from earlier periods of history. As such, Birch chose the dragon as the subject of the sculpture because the beast had always been a culturally important symbol for the City of London and the English nation.
Dragons are creatures of heraldic significance and are prominent characters within English folklore, from the ancient Anglo-Saxon mythological stories such as Beowulf to the tale of Saint George the dragon slayer and patron saint of England.
This particular dragon also plays another important symbolic role. In keeping with the folkloric beliefs about the treasure-guarding instincts of these mythical beasts, the Temple Bar dragon serves a totemic purpose as a protective guardian of the treasures of London.
Somerset House
Somerset House is a neo-classical London landmark on the
north bank of the River Thames, just off the Strand. The first Somerset House
was built from 1547-50 for the Lord Protector Somerset. The Duke's men
scavenged stone for the building from the charnel house of St Paul's Cathedral,
and the priory church of St John Clerkenwell. The architect of the first
Somerset House is a subject of some debate; it may have been Sir John Thynne,
or John of Padua.
After Somerset's demise in 1552, the house belonged to
Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth. It was from Somerset House that Elizabeth
rode to welcome her sister Mary on the latter's accession to the throne. After
Elizabeth herself came to the throne she gave part of Somerset House to Edward
Seymour, son of the Lord Protector, and kept part of it for her own use, and as
grace and favour apartments for crown retainers.
The house was given to Anne of Denmark in 1603, and it was
used for theatrical performances, including masques by Ben Jonson and Inigo
Jones. The latter had an apartment at Somerset House. Anne of Denmark lay in
state at Somerset House (by then renamed Denmark House) after her death in
1619. James I also lay in state at Denmark House after his death in 1625.
Charles I gave the property to Queen Henrietta Maria, and it
stayed in royal hands until 1645, when Parliament took control, and the name
reverted to Somerset House. Inigo Jones died at Somerset House during the era
of Parliamentary control, and in 1658 Oliver Cromwell lay in state here.
Somerset House was restored in 1660 for Henrietta Maria but
was later used extensively by Catherine of Braganza, Charles II's queen.
Sometime during this period, Somerset House became the first building in
England to use parquet flooring. From 1693 it was used primarily for grace and
favour apartments.
In 1775 Somerset House was demolished and a new building
erected, designed by William Chambers, the Surveyor General. Chambers created a
grand building in neo-classical style, arranged around a central courtyard,
with a separate north wing. In 1788 a statue of George III was built to act as
a focal point for the courtyard.
The Thames came right up to the foot of the south terrace
(this was before the Embankment was built). In 1835 Chambers' design was
extended with the addition of an east wing designed by Robert Smirke.
Somerset House has been the home of several of Britain's most
prestigious organizations over the years, including the Royal Society, the
Society of Antiquities, Royal Navy, and Inland Revenue. But the body most often
associated with Somerset House is the General Register of Births, Deaths, and
Marriages, which occupied the north wing for over a century until 1973.
Now, Somerset House is a multi-purpose venue, with offices,
cafes, art galleries, a seasonal ice rink, and a museum. The Courtauld
Institute of Art moved here in 1990, and the associated Courtauld
Gallery eight years later. The Gilbert Collection of silver, gold, and
mosaics has been housed in Somerset House since 2000.
Visiting Somerset House is quite an experience; the neo-classical architecture is quite spectacular, and the view from the riverside terrace is superb. It is completely free to enter the building, but there is a charge for the Courtauld Gallery. The gallery entrance is on Strand, but the rest of Somerset House can be entered either from Strand or from Embankment.
Highlights of the building interior include two very striking
historic sets of stairs.
Savoy Estate (comprising the Savoy Theatre, Savoy Hotel and Simpsons)
In 1245 Henry III granted this place to
his wife’s uncle, Peter, Count of Savoy, who built himself a palace here. After
the count left in 1263 the Savoy Palace became the residence of Eleanor of
Castile, wife of Prince Edward – who became Edward I in 1272. The palace was
later given to Queen Eleanor’s second son, Edmund of Lancaster. In the latter
part of the 14th century it was the residence of John of Gaunt, who
virtually ruled England from here for several years.
Most of the original buildings were destroyed by Wat
Tyler’s followers during the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, but Henry VII bequeathed
funds for the reconstruction of the palace as a home for the poor, which was
named St John’s Hospital. It became a military hospital, then a barracks under
Charles II.
A chapel was built within the Savoy precinct in 1505-12
and, after the destruction of St Mary le Strand by Edward Seymour, it became
known as St Mary le Savoy. The chapel remains an important part of the Savoy
estate, the Duchy of Lancaster’s principal London landholding. Members of the
public are welcome to attend services in what is now the Queen’s Chapel of
the Savoy.
In the late 17th century the Savoy precinct became a
notorious place of sanctuary for desperadoes and outlaws, who were nicknamed
‘Savoyards’ – a term originally applied to natives of Savoy in France. (Later,
the word was used for performers in, or devotees of, the Savoy operas –
see below.)
Except for the chapel, the old Savoy buildings were
demolished with the construction of John Rennie’s Waterloo Bridge, which was
completed in 1831.
In 1881 the impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte built
the Savoy Theatre to stage his productions of the Gilbert and
Sullivan operettas. It opened with Patience, which transferred from
another theatre, and the first original production here was Iolanthe in
1882. The theatre is now part of the Ambassador group and presents
modern, musical-based productions.
The success of the Savoy operas enabled D’Oyly Carte to
commission the construction of the Savoy hotel, on the site of the former Savoy
Palace. Its first manager was César Ritz (who went on to found the Ritz hotel)
and its first chef was Auguste Escoffier, who created the Peach Melba here in
honour of Dame Nellie Melba’s visit in 1892.
As one walks up to the Savoy’s front
doors from the Strand, they will encounter one of the few places in Britain
where cars drive on the right-hand side of the road. This practice dates back
to the era of stagecoaches and remains in constant effect to this day. Cab
drivers are often given their test using this unique roadway.
Kaspar The Cat. Outside the Savoy Hotel, look closer at the topiary and
you’ll spot a cat-shaped hedge. It’s a reference to a story dating back to 1898
when diamond magnate Wolf Joel hosted a large group for dinner here. When a
guest cancelled last minute, the party numbered 13 and this prompted worries
from the superstitious in the group thinking the first to rise would be the
first to die.
Joel shrugged off such nonsense, confidently rising first
after a good meal. Upon his return to Johannesburg however, he was shot dead.
The Savoy, wanting to make sure no such thing happened again, resolved that
each party of 13 would be accompanied by a staff member. As you can imagine,
this could lead to awkward dinner conversation and so the hotel came up with an
even better plan.
At first, a waiter would be roped in to act as an alternate.
This proved impractical, however, because it denied the dining room of a
server. Towards the end of the 1920s, an architect by the name of Basil Ionides
was redesigning one of the dining rooms and came up with a solution to the
hotel's dilemma. Out of a single piece of wood, he carved a miniature cat;
Kaspar out of polished London Plane. Today it bumps up any ‘unlucky’ party to
14. Not the more talkative of dinner guests, but surely a welcome addition.
It is anybody's guess why Ionides chose the figure of a cat
and named him Kaspar. But anytime there is a function and an extra body is
needed, this lucky grimalkin is called into service, complete with a napkin
tied around his neck. Kaspar may not add much in the way of conversation, but
he is given the same impeccable service as all the other attendees. This
includes an extra saucer of milk for his fortunate presence.
The abominable curse seems to have been lifted, as no deadly
events involving guests were reported after Kaspar’s recruitment. However, the
same cannot be said for Kaspar himself, who was cat-napped during World War II.
Winston Churchill would often use the Savoy as an alternative war room. During
one military meeting, Kaspar's presence was required. At the end of the
gathering, the charmed totem went missing, purloined by some drunken
servicemen. Churchill was unamused and ordered that the feline be returned. Since
then, when not "in service," Kaspar can be seen to the left of
reception in the lobby.
In 1898 the Savoy acquired Simpson’s‑in-the-Strand,
which had evolved from a chess club and coffee house into London’s best-known
restaurant for traditional British fare, especially a roast beef dinner.
The restaurant’s original buildings were demolished when
the Strand was widened in 1903 and Simpson’s was rebuilt as part of the complex
linked to the hotel.
In 1923 the BBC established its first studios in
an office block on Savoy Hill. The building, which is now called Savoy Hill
House, remained the BBC’s headquarters until 1932.
In December 2007 the hotel closed in order to undergo a
lavish restoration that took almost three years to complete. Some of the
Savoy’s historic memorabilia are now on display in a small museum space located
left of the entrance to the American Bar.
Arnold Bennett’s Imperial Palace (1930), his last
and longest novel, is set in the Savoy hotel.
The hotel features as the place of punishment of ‘Godolphin
Horne’, the subject of one of Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for
Children (1907) and a well-born child who is beset by the sin of pride:
“So now Godolphin is the Boy / Who blacks the Boots at the Savoy.”
Twinings
You'll have to excuse the exoticized Chinamen figures atop
the Twinings tea shop doorway at 216 Strand. They've been sitting up there for
about three centuries, in which time the cultural acceptability of such
caricatures has lessened, and tea is more often associated with British gentry
than with Chinese merchants.
Thomas Twining was born in Gloucestershire in 1675 and the
family moved to London (Cripplegate, to be precise) when he was nine years old.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Thomas trained as a weaver but soon
switched to a new trade, working for an East India Company merchant
who imported exotic products from Asia, including that fashionable new
beverage, tea.
By 1706 the young entrepreneur had saved enough money to
strike out along his own path and he opened Tom’s coffee house in Devereux
Court, off the Strand. His knowledge of sourcing and blending tea gave him a
competitive edge over other the area’s many other cafés (some of which began to
buy tea from him). Despite his shop being dedicated to
coffee, Twining soon garnered a reputation for having some of the finest
tea blends in London. Within a decade he ceased selling coffee entirely and
almost exclusively sold dry packaged teas. This allowed women to partake in
tea-drinking at home as well, as coffee houses were male-only establishments.
Thomas had acquired adjacent premises and opened what may
have been the world’s first dry tea and coffee shop, at the sign of the Golden
Lyon. The shop expanded over the decades and – after some extensive rebuilding
and the closure of Tom’s coffee house – ended up with an imposing entrance on
the Strand. The business has now traded for longer from the same site than any
other shop in London, though further rebuilding was required after Devereux
Court was wrecked in the Blitz.
The store’s 18th-century customers included Christopher Wren,
Josiah Wedgwood, Jane Austen, and William Hogarth, who bargained with
Thomas Twining to let him paint his portrait in return for having his unpaid
bill cancelled – at least that’s how the shop’s present-day staff tell
the story.
In 1771 Richard Twining took the reins of the business –
which is still called R Twining and Company Limited today. In his capacity
as spokesman for the tea dealers of London, Richard successfully (and
eloquently†) lobbied the government to drastically reduce the
hitherto punitive taxes on their stock in trade. The Commutation Act of
1784 cut the tax on tea from 119 per cent to 12.5 per cent. Once tea
became affordable to all it quickly established itself as Britain’s de
facto national beverage.
The Twinings logo, a simple, gold sign bearing the company
name, has remained unchanged since 1787, making it the second
oldest corporate logo still in use, behind that of Stella Artois, which
was first introduced in 1366. In 1837, Queen Victoria granted the
company a Royal Warrant, a merit which has given Twinings the honour
of providing tea to the Royal family ever since.
The Twining dynasty also diversified into banking, at first
for the benefit of family and friends, and later for a variety of merchants –
but especially tea traders. The cashiers even changed cheques partly in notes
and coin, with the balance being paid in tea or coffee. Lloyds acquired and
absorbed the Twining and Co. bank in 1892.
The tea side of the business remained independent for longer
– but in 1964 the family sold out to the groceries and retailing
conglomerate Associated British Foods. ABF remains the owner of
R Twining and Co. Ltd. – although you wouldn’t know this from a visit to
the Twinings website.
Thankfully, ABF has kept the shop going strong and retains
the services of tenth-generation tea specialist Stephen Twining, who acts as a
global ambassador for the brand – as well as curating the museum’s collection
of tea caddies. These and other historic artefacts and memorabilia (including
Queen Victoria’s Royal Warrant) are mostly locked away inside
glass-fronted cases towards the rear of the store, although some larger objects
are on open display. In the trading section at the front, the walls above the
shelves are lined with portraits of eminent Twinings.
The only real drawback is that the narrow shopping aisle can
get crowded, especially at weekends. Moving to new, larger premises would be
sacrilege so customers desiring more elbow room just have to visit at quieter
times, such as early on a weekday.
Zimbabwe House
The Zimbabwe Embassy at 429 The Strand. Around the outside of
the third floor, there is a grouping of naked effigies calmly looking down.
The building used to be the headquarters of the British
Medical Association, and in 1908, an artist named Jacob Epstein was
commissioned to sculpt 18 statues to adorn the premises. He beautifully carved
the human body in its natural form. But as this was just after the Victorian
era, the figures' state of undress caused great outrage and consternation.
A petition was filed by a consortium devoted to the
suppression of public "vice and immorality." The appeal eventually
lost and the statues were allowed to remain, but they would still not endure
unscathed.
As these figures were outdoors, they became victims of the
elements and casualties of the ever-growing pollution of industrial London.
Erosion and acid rain had made them susceptible to breakage. In 1937, a piece
fell off onto the street below and almost struck a pedestrian. The owner of the
building, who was not a fan of the artwork in the first place, was given the
opportunity to have the sculptures removed. Any part of the figures that were
protruding—feet, hands, facial features—were chiselled off. Epstein was not
given a chance to save his work from mutilation, and so this is how we still
see them today.
At the top of Milford Lane, where it joins the Strand is this curious sculpture. Reminds me a little of a ship's figurehead. No idea what it is really, but you can tell it was a chilly day today ;)
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