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Lambeth Bridge Roundabout

August 2017    We object to plans to remove the roundabout and replace it with traffic lights.  Read  OUR RESPONSE HERE

 

Proposed

 

Existing

 

Suffragist Millicent Fawcett - First women honoured in Parliament Square ?

July 2017:  Following an announcement in April 2017 (Read BBC article here), a planning application has now been made.  Millicent Fawcett may have pipped Lady Thatcher to the post !  See our Planning page for link to WCC to make a comment.

Our response to the planning application:  "Although we have no objection to the subject matter of this statue, which is not controversial, we have strong reservations about the current rapid increase in the number of monuments in an area that has been declared a Monument Saturation Zone. This Westminster City Council policy should be adhered to, both now and in the future."

 

 

Visit to HM Treasury building - July 2017

Many thanks to Dan & Rebecca for their tour and commentary as we wandered the corridors and courtyards of the Treasury building. 

Work started at 100 Parliament Street in 1899 to John Bryden's design.  Stately, spacious and light with sweeping stairs and statues.  But it was not until 1907 that the land was purchased for the 2nd half of the building, demolishing narrow streets, houses and churches.  Sir Henry Tanner, a Government Architect, incorporated & finished the new building quickly and cheaply by 1917, ditching some of Bryden's original ideas including 580 fireplaces.  So a building of two halves. 

Moving swiftly forward, it received a much needed revamp in the early 2000's, sympathetically given by (Sir Norman) Foster & Partners via a PFI initiative, including the addition of a new mansard roof and opening up inner courtyards with gardens, ponds and benches.  Today it is an exciting, efficient workplace with every desk having natural light and lots of it !  Although much is open plan now, one cannot avoid the corridors, one is even Listed as a 'heritage corridor'. 

Some ordinary meeting rooms, off our first corridor, were used by Sir Winston & Lady Clementine Churchill as their private living and bedrooms during WW2, not wanting to sleep in the Cabinet War Rooms underneath and underground.  See photo below.  The building has 3 levels of basements and there is a constant flow of water through a channel in the sub-basement.  Our river Tyburn perhaps ?  Now up to the 'heritage corridor', past the Chancellor's enormous, carved office door !  Each current chancellor may choose what artwork they would like from the Government's extensive collection (on view near Tottenham Court Road - a Pippa visit a few year's ago !).  Mr Hammond is said to prefer large, classical pictures but some of Gordon Brown's more smaller, modern pieces are still to be seen.  Now into the very grand Old Chancellor's Room (see photo below) and then the Churchill Room where the creation of the NHS and the Independence of the Bank of England, amongst other monumental plans, were worked on and signed.  Glimpsing, through the net curtains, the narrow balcony where Churchill delivered his VE day speech, which at the time was the Ministry of Health's boardroom.  Then out into 'the Drum', the huge round central courtyard, with tremendous echoes, used for filming The Fast & The Furious and for speeches by George Osborne and the Pope !  Not missing a view, through tall iron gates, past the FCO, straight to No.10 Downing Street.  During the war, the Drum had been covered in anti-torpedo netting.  Very successfully, as a torpedo sat on it from 1914 to 1950 when it was eventually removed. 

We didn't meet Gladstone, the Treasury cat, but his reputation was hailed of catching 14 mice since he had been in residence, bought in to cheer everyone up after the referendum in June 2016.  Thank you again to the organisers for their time and enthusiasm.  Congratulations too on the 100th birthday of the building.

                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Society's Archives

We are continuing our sort out of material not relevant to the Thorney Island area.  If you would like to help in the project, please get in touch.

 

 

Visit to St Margaret's Church - July 2017

Thirty Thorney Island members were delighted to be shown around St Margaret's Church, Westminster, by Blue Badge guide Ian Godfrey. St Margaret's church is full of history and interesting people, the only downside being that it is almost touching Westminster Abbey and is largely ignored by tourists. On the day of our visit on July 11 there were huge queues for the Abbey yet no one but ourselves in the church.

More's the pity because, as Ian pointed out, as the church is a treasure trove of memories. 

 

William Caxton, the pioneer of printing in Britain, who worked a stone's throw from the church has a dedicated stained glass window,  or rather the remnant of one, and is buried there as is Sir Walter Raleigh who was executed around the corner in Old Palace Yard yet promptly given a prime burial place under the altar. 

 

Many interesting people are commemorated in the church including Olaudah Equiano, a freed black slave, who became a celebrity in London and a leading light in the anti-slavery campaign.  Members were pleasantly surprised at the number of Americans who had helped finance stained glass windows and other memorials including Cubby Broccoli of James Bond fame and Frank Sinatra. 

 

The church was built in the perpendicular style and dedicated in 1523 though virtually nothing of the original stone work remains. One of the reasons for its proximity to the Abbey is that the Benedictine monks did not want parishoners interrupting their prayers and other activities inside the monastery as they had traditionally done. 

 

The oldest part is probably the huge stained glass window commemorating the marriage of Henry VIII's elder brother Arthur to Catherine of Aragon which was added later.  St Margaret's - named after Margaret of Antioch - also has a large crypt which, we were told, is full of dust with a skull or two and, sadly, not open to the public. Our heartfelt thanks to Ian for a very entertaining visit. 

 

 

 

Parks: Our Shared Heritage Exhibition - July/August 2017

Two of the exhibits from the The Royal Parks exhibition, in partnership with the Hearsum Collection and the Office of Public Works, Ireland held at the Mall Galleries.

 

Temple of Peace, The Green Park 1748. Courtesy of The Hearsum Collection
Marble Arch in front of the Queens Palace c. 1835. Courtesy of The Hearsum Collection

 

 

Consultation by WCC on Future Growth/Building Height

May 2017

Click here for details of the Consultation.

Although the 8 week Consultation period is officially over, you may share the views expressed in this open letter to WCC.  If you would like to add your name, complete a short form at the end and click the SUBMIT button.

AN OPEN LETTER TO COUNCILLOR DANIEL ASTAIRE & WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL

 

 

Thorney Tales (12) The Jerusalem Chamber

 

Westminster Abbey and its monastic surrounds have seen more great scenes of history than practically anywhere else but seldom more poignantly than the last visit of Henry IV.  In 1413 Henry was on his way to the Holy Land in order to do penance for his misdeeds when he took ill, probably as a result of a stroke, while praying at the shrine of Saint Edward the Confessor in the Abbey.

He was carried unconscious to the Jerusalem Chamber in the Abbot's house and was seated by the fire. Much of the original stonework is still there as is the ceiling above and the walls behind the Victorian panelling. When he recovered his consciousness he asked where he was and was told the "Jerusalem Chamber". He realised then that he was about to end his life because of a prophecy mentioned in the Holinshed Chronicles that he would die in Jerusalem.

Shakespeare took the story further. In Henry IV Part 1, he allows Prince Henry, the future Henry V, to slip into the chamber and, believing his father to be dead, to try on the crown only for Henry lV to wake up in anger.  Father and son, however, were soon reconciled and Henry IV realised that dying in this room fulfilled his destiny:
             
"It hath been prophesied to me many years,
I should not die but in Jerusalem,
Which vainly I suppos’d the Holy Land.
But bear me to that chamber, there I’ll lie,
In that Jerusalem shall Harry die."

The Jerusalem Chamber was also the place where the committee overlooking the writing of the beautifully written King James Bible met and where many celebrated people such as Isaac Newton were laid to rest before being buried in the Abbey.  Today it is one of the private rooms of the Deanery - but it can be glimpsed from outside as it is the room above the Abbey bookshop adjacent to the main entrance. It is not open to the public except on certain open days but sometimes events and lectures are held there which are free to attend.

 

61-71 Victoria Street

 

MARCH 2017

We object to the proposed remodelling and extension of this building on the grounds that it will detract from the only remaining block on Victoria Street that contains a significant late-Victorian building, Artillery Mansions. The existing building compliments Artillery Mansions well, with the robust articulation of the façade, the bold corner turret feature, and a similar height. All these will be lost with the new scheme.

Follow this link to Westminster City Council to view details, documents and drawings.  Click here - Ref. 17/02123/FULL

 

 

Thorney Tales (11) - The Abbey Garden

It is a little known fact to most people that the oldest garden in the country is located at the back of Westminster Abbey and is open to the public several days a week. It is an oasis of tranquility at the heart of one of the busiest cities in the world. 
 
The "Infirmarer's Garden" - as it is officially called - has been in continuous cultivation for 900 years. It was mainly used for growing medicinal herbs, food, fruit and even grape vines for the well-being of the monks. It is still enclosed on two sides by the original medieval wall and its contours are more or less as they were apart from a parcel of land at the north-east end (opposite the Houses of Parliament) that was expropriated by Edward III for his Jewel Tower. 
 
Dig here and you are digging into the very earth which was Thorney Island, the eyot formed by the convergence of the Thames and the Tyburn on which the Abbey was originally built.
 
Among the delights of the garden are two mulberry trees and four fading sculptures by Arnold Quellin who was from the studio of the great Grinling Gibbons (1648 – 1721). They were part of an altarpiece made by Gibbons and Quellin for James II as a Catholic chapel for his wife in Whitehall Palace in 1685. The altar piece later became part of the high altar in the Abbey. The statues became surplus to requirements and were moved to the garden where they command an almost metaphysical presence.  Two of them guard the back door to Westminster School and the other two the rear entrance to the garden in Great College Street. 
 
The garden is open to the public for free several days a week (entrance from Dean's Yard). Here you can experience a rural solitude bang in the centre of London with the Houses of Parliament and the roof of the Abbey in sight. On your way out have a coffee in the Cellarium, an original medieval building, where the monks kept their wine in olden days.
 
 
 
 
  1. WCC say "No" (AGAIN!) to proposed sculpture outside Westminster Central Hall
  2. Westminster Fire Station
  3. Vauxhall Bridge Road/Tachbrook St Draft Development Opportunity
  4. June Stubbs 1927 - 2016

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Articles

  • The Buildings of Green Park, A talk by Andrew Jones via Zoom - 2nd February 2021 6.30pm
  • Visits & Events 2021 - Details
  • LIVE Carols & Thorney Christmas Quiz via Zoom - Monday 7th December
  • Thorney Tales (20) A History of Parliament in Two Glimpses
  • Refurbishment of 7 Millbank
  • The Society's 34th AGM & Talk via Zoom - Tuesday 10th November
  • The definitive book on the history of VTG ......
  • A History of St James's Park through Trees, Talk by Greg Packman - October 2020
  • Westminster Coroner's Court
  • 10 Greycoat Place - Developer's Consultation
  • Visit to the RHS Lindley Library
  • St. James's and The Green Park Update and Movement Strategy - 10th July 2020
  • Caring for the Poor and Vulnerable on Thorney Island, Guided Walk
  • Stephen Myers
  • The Truth behind the National Holocaust Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens
  • Bearskins, Bayonets and Bravery - New Guards Museum podcast
  • Victoria Tower Gardens - Judicial Review brought by the London Gardens Trust
  • Two Africans with strong links to Thorney Island escaped slavery to become role models in London over 250 years ago
  • Collecting fine bookbindings Zoom Talk - June 2020
  • RUSI, The Royal United Services Institute, Whitehall
  • London History Day, 31st May 2020 - 10 Old Pye Street
  • Urban Tree Festival 2020 - Online
  • Live Video of Feeding St James's Park Pelicans
  • St Stephen's Church, Rochester Row
  • Westminster Kingsway College
  • Save Victoria Tower Gardens - Planning Inquiry 6th October - 13th November
  • Thorney Tales (19) Revd James Palmer and Palmer's Village
  • Dear Members
  • Workshop by Jens Jakobsen, Master Florist at the Blewcoat School - March 2020
  • Consultation Begins - Southside, Victoria Street
  • Ignatius Sancho, Short Talk by Victor Keegan - February 2020
  • Christchurch Gardens Reconstruction Short Talk - January 2020
  • Christmas Party 2019
  • 55 Broadway - Planning application
  • Richmond House, Whitehall - The Northern Parliamentary Estate
  • 20mph Throughout Westminster ? YES !
  • The Society's 33rd AGM, 12th November 2019
  • Visit to the Palace of Westminster & Jewel Tower - October 2019
  • Thorney Tales (18) The Buxton Memorial Fountain
  • Mission: Invertebrate, The Green Park - August 2019
  • Tour of Buckingham Palace Gardens - August 2019
  • From Beer to the Bard - A Victoria Walk by Anthony Davis - July 2019
  • Special Tour of Westminster Abbey - July 2019
  • Gems of Thorney Island, A Walk by Victor Keegan - July 2019
  • The Guards Museum, Wellington Barracks - Volunteers
  • Victoria Tower Gardens, poem by Elizabeth Witts
  • The Green Park Tree Walk - May 2019
  • Visit to Bonhams Auctioneers - May 2019
  • Visit to Westminster Cathedral - May 2019
  • Visit to The Speakers House - April 2019
  • Ann Carlton our Co-founder
  • Thorney Tales (17) Westminster Coke and Gas Company
  • Duck Island Volunteer Project
  • Illuminated River
  • Visits & Events 2021
  • Dolphin Square Redevelopment
  • AGM 2018
  • Centenary of Armistice Cenotaph Service and Exhibition in St James's Park
  • Visit to The Queen's Jubilee Galleries, Westminster Abbey - September 2018
  • Thorney Tales (16) College Hall, Westminster Abbey / School
  • Relocation of Emmeline Pankhurst statue from Victoria Tower Gardens
  • Visit to The Church House - August 2018
  • "The Devil's Acre before Peabody" Talk - August 2018
  • Visits to Westminster School - July 2018
  • Purcell Musical Tour of Westminster Abbey - June 2018
  • Reception to mark the opening of The Queen's Jubilee Galleries, Westminster Abbey - June 2018
  • Proposals for Christchurch Gardens, Victoria Street - June 2018
  • Thorney Island Sources Tour of Westminster Archives - June 2018
  • Visit to the Institution of Civil Engineers - May 2018
  • St James's Park Tree Walk - May 2018
  • Unveiling of Millicent Fawcett Statue in Parliament Square - April 2018
  • Visit to Watts & Co, Ecclesiastical Furnishers & Outfitters - April 2018
  • Broadway & Carteret Street
  • Thorney Tales (15) Henry Purcell's Birthplace
  • AGM 2017 & Talk
  • Townsend House, Greycoat Place
  • Thorney Tales (14) Siegfried Sassoon
  • Chelsea College of Art & Design Collaboration
  • Introducing our New Chair
  • Lambeth Bridge Roundabout
  • Tour of St James the Less church in Pimlico - September 2017
  • Local Tree Walk with Paul Akers, WCC Arboriculturalist - September 2017
  • Visit to HM Treasury building - July 2017
  • Thorney Tales (13) - Elizabeth Woodville
  • Suffragist Millicent Fawcett - First women honoured in Parliament Square ?
  • Visit to St Margaret's Church - July 2017
  • Parks: Our Shared Heritage Exhibition - July/August 2017
  • Consultation by WCC on Future Growth/Building Height
  • Proposed memorial statue to Lady Margaret Thatcher in Parliament Square
  • Thorney Tales (12) The Jerusalem Chamber
  • 61-71 Victoria Street
  • Vauxhall Bridge Road/Tachbrook St Draft Development Opportunity
  • Visit to Tate Britain's Archives & Library, November 2016
  • Thorney Tales (11) - The Abbey Garden
  • St Andrew's Club - 150th Anniversary, October 2016
  • June Stubbs 1927 - 2016
  • Henry V's Chantry Chapel Visit, October 2016
  • Thorney Tales (10) - Oliver Cromwell v Charles I
  • The Victoria Tower Gardens & The National Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre
  • Old War Office, 57 Whitehall
  • Our visit to Parliament's hidden medieval places, 28th July 2016
  • Westminster Fire Station
  • Thorney Tales (9) - Governor of Duck Island
  • Thorney Tales (8) Westminster Opera House
  • Fundraising Gala Dinner September 2016
  • Fundraising Gala Dinner September 2016
  • New Scotland Yard, 10 Broadway
  • What is Thorney Island ?
  • Millbank Tower grows taller
  • Welcome
  • Thorney Tales (7) - Storey's Gate
  • Thorney Tales (6) - St Margaret's Church, the amazing history of a window
  • Paddington Tower
  • WCC say "No" (AGAIN!) to proposed sculpture outside Westminster Central Hall
  • Objection to proposed cycle stands in Queen Anne's Gate
  • A visit to the hidden archives of Westminster Abbey, 4th November 2015
  • Visit to new Parliamentary Education Centre, 28th October 2015
  • Thorney Tales (5) - Westminster Hall Roof
  • Thorney Tales (4) - The tomb behind one of Britain's biggest fortunes
  • Thorney Tales (3) - The Jewel Tower
  • Visit to the RHS Lindley Library, 14th July 2015
  • Thorney Tales (2) - The River Tyburn
  • The Garden Bridge Controversy
  • Visit to Bridgewater House
  • Queen's Walk Cycle Route, The Green Park
  • Thorney Tales (1) - Britain's Hidden Treasure Trove
  • AGM 2016 & the Panorama of The Thames Project
  • Annual Review 2014-15

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