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Thorney Tales (8) Westminster Opera House

What the Opera House would have looked like

When excavations were taking place during the 1870s to construct a new edifice on the site of what today is the Norman Shaw complex near Westminster station, the builders came across the bed of a creek that surrounded Thorney Island. The edifice was no ordinary building. It was planned by James Mapleson, an impressario, to be the grandest opera house in Europe. It was not only planned but it was largely completed until Mapleson ran out of money. The building then fell into disuse and was eventually demolished.

But not completely. The foundations were kept - and are still there today. When Scotland Yard took over in 1890 some of the rooms originally built for opera stars were converted into cells for prisoners. One of the subterranean passages built as part of the opera house was connected to a platform on the District Line at Westminster Station. Another passage was reported to go to Parliament to give peers and MPs easy access to the opera. The building was put to good use by the metropolitan police. But is is sad to think that Thorney Island missed out on an opera house of its own.

What is Thorney Island ?

As all members of the society know, it is an island formed when the Tyburn river - now lost among the submerged sewers - met with the Thames forming a delta on which Westminster Abbey and Parliament now reside. It is a seriously historic island.

Or is it ? A new edition of the celebrated book "The Lost Rivers of London", points out that no reliable maps existed before the seventeenth century and adds: " the island theory still has much to prove". The mainstream (so to speak) view is that when the Tyburn reached what is now Buckingham Palace from its source on the slopes of Hampstead, it bifurcated. One section flowed down to the Thames west of Vauxhall Bridge via Tachbrook Street while the other section flowed from the area of today's Palace along Petty France to the end of Tothill Street where it formed a new delta with one leg reaching the Thames after crossing Whitehall below Downing Street while the other leg meandered around the west of the Abbey wall to empty itself in the Thames at the end of Great College Street where the Abbey Mill was situated and after which Millbank is named.

Historical Publications £22.50

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Millbank Tower grows taller

New Scotland Yard, 10 Broadway

UPDATE - 10th DECEMBER 2015 (See our response on the Planning page)

The developers have had further discussion with the planners and they have submitted a revised planning application. The main changes are:

1) A change to the facade treatment of the two towers at the back of the site, matching better the surrounding buildings, especially St Ermin's Hotel - in our view an improvement

2) A reduction in vehicular entrances across the pavements in Broadway and Dacre Street and more retail units at street level as a result - a definite improvement

3) A change in the treatment of the lower four floors (retail and offices), asked for by the planners - this has allowed for more pavement space on Victoria Street, but in our view leaves a less attractive facade at street level.

Apart from a reduction in height by one floor on one of the rear towers there is no change to the heights of the buildings.

Thorney Tales (7) - Storey's Gate

The brick-and-stone building at the corner of Birdcage Walk and Horse Guards Road is often passed by without being much noticed. This may be because in recent years it has been the police station for St James's Park and the few members of the public who have been inside may have had good reason not to want to brag about it. But now that the police are vacating it, because of the government's public spending cuts, we will be seeing more of it, probably as a snack bar or something similar. This seems appropriate because there was once a coffee house at Storey's Gate before it was demolished in the early 20th century to make way for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The Garden Bridge Controversy

UPDATE - February 2016

We have followed with interest the unfolding story of the Garden Bridge. The proposed location for the bridge, between Temple and the Southbank, is some way outside our geographical area of interest, and consequently the Society is not taking a position on the issue. However, we are aware that many of our members feel strongly on this subject, and also that this high-profile project bears many of the hallmarks of a planning system which is too often susceptible to vested interests.

Objection to proposed cycle stands in Queen Anne's Gate

We have written a formal objection to the siting of cycle stands in front of some of the best preserved and attractive early eighteenth centry houses in London.

Please see our letter in full on our Planning page. FM Conway Ltd is the service provider carrying out the consultation on behalf of Westminster City Council.

Thorney Tales (6) - St Margaret's Church, the amazing history of a window

Window

Courtesy of The British Museum

The beautiful stained glass window which dominates the east side of St Margaret's Church can best be described as ill-timed. It was created in Holland around 1526 to celebrate the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon. But by the time it had been finished Henry had become besotted with Anne Boleyn. Henry is depicted in saintly contemplation in the panel at the bottom left of the window while on the right hand side of the window Catherine, against an almost identical background, is also deep in prayer. Both appear to be looking at the Crucifixion which occupies the whole of the central panel of the window.

Annual Review 2014-15

Our AGM was held on Wednesday 18th November 2015 at the Grange Rochester Hotel.

After the official business of the meeting, Dr Caroline Shenton,
an archivist, historian and writer, gave a fascinating and
humerous talk about her book The Day Parliament Burned Down.

Please go to the About Us page to view the Minutes of our AGM and our Annual and Financial Reports.

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